]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/binutils-gdb.git/blame - gdb/NEWS
2011-10-24 Phil Muldoon <pmuldoon@redhat.com>
[thirdparty/binutils-gdb.git] / gdb / NEWS
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1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
3
31916278 4*** Changes since GDB 7.3.1
d6e00af6 5
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6* GDB has two new commands: "set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit"
7 and "show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit". These allows to
8 set or show the maximum length limit (in bytes) of a remote
9 target hardware watchpoint.
10
11 This allows e.g. to use "unlimited" hardware watchpoints with the
12 gdbserver integrated in Valgrind version >= 3.7.0. Such Valgrind
13 watchpoints are slower than real hardware watchpoints but are
14 significantly faster than gdb software watchpoints.
15
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16* Python scripting
17
32d1c362 18 ** The register_pretty_printer function in module gdb.printing now takes
7d0aff21 19 an optional `replace' argument. If True, the new printer replaces any
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20 existing one.
21
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22 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" command has been
23 deprecated, and a new command: "set python print-stack on|off" has
24 replaced it. Additionally, the default for "print-stack" is now
25 "off".
26
27 ** A prompt subsitution hook (prompt_hook) is now available to the
28 Python API.
713389e0 29
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30 ** A new command set/show extended-prompt has been added.
31
32 ** A new Python module, gdb.prompt has been added to the GDB Python
33 modules library. This module provides functionality for
34 escape sequentions in prompts (used by set/show
35 extended-prompt). These escape sequences are replaced by their
36 corresponding value.
37
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38 ** Python commands and convenience-functions located in
39 'data-directory'/python/gdb/command and
40 'data-directory'/python/gdb/function are now automatically loaded
41 on GDB start-up.
42
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43 ** Blocks now provide four new attributes. global_block and
44 static_block will return the global and static blocks
45 respectively. is_static and is_global are boolean attributes
46 that indicate if the block is one of those two types.
47
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48 ** Symbols now provide the "type" attribute, the type of the symbol.
49
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50 ** The "gdb.breakpoint" function has been deprecated in favor of
51 "gdb.breakpoints".
52
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53 ** Type objects for struct and union types now allow access to
54 the fields using standard Python dictionary (mapping) methods.
55 For example, "some_type['myfield']" now works, as does
56 "some_type.items()".
57
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58 ** A new event "gdb.new_objfile" has been added, triggered by loading a
59 new object file.
60
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61* libthread-db-search-path now supports two special values: $sdir and $pdir.
62 $sdir specifies the default system locations of shared libraries.
63 $pdir specifies the directory where the libpthread used by the application
64 lives.
65
66 GDB no longer looks in $sdir and $pdir after it has searched the directories
67 mentioned in libthread-db-search-path. If you want to search those
68 directories, they must be specified in libthread-db-search-path.
69 The default value of libthread-db-search-path on GNU/Linux and Solaris
70 systems is now "$sdir:$pdir".
71
72 $pdir is not supported by gdbserver, it is currently ignored.
73 $sdir is supported by gdbserver.
74
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75* New configure option --with-iconv-bin.
76 When using the internationalization support like the one in the GNU C
77 library, GDB will invoke the "iconv" program to get a list of supported
78 character sets. If this program lives in a non-standard location, one can
79 use this option to specify where to find it.
80
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81* When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
82 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports masked hardware
83 watchpoints, which specify a mask in addition to an address to watch.
84 The mask specifies that some bits of an address (the bits which are
85 reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching the address accessed
86 by the inferior against the watchpoint address. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
87 section in the user manual for more details.
88
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89* The new option --once causes GDBserver to stop listening for connections once
90 the first connection is made. The listening port used by GDBserver will
91 become available after that.
92
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93* New commands "info macros", "info definitions",
94 and "alias" have been added.
edc84990 95
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96* New function parameters suffix @entry specifies value of function parameter
97 at the time the function got called. Entry values are available only since
98 gcc version 4.7.
99
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100* Changed commands
101
102watch EXPRESSION mask MASK_VALUE
103 The watch command now supports the mask argument which allows creation
104 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this feature.
105
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106info auto-load-scripts [REGEXP]
107 This command was formerly named "maintenance print section-scripts".
108 It is now generally useful and is no longer a maintenance-only command.
109
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110* Tracepoints can now be enabled and disabled at any time after a trace
111 experiment has been started using the standard "enable" and "disable"
112 commands. It is now possible to start a trace experiment with no enabled
113 tracepoints; GDB will display a warning, but will allow the experiment to
114 begin, assuming that tracepoints will be enabled as needed while the trace
115 is running.
116
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117* New options
118
119set print entry-values (both|compact|default|if-needed|no|only|preferred)
120show print entry-values
121 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
122 GDB can determine the value of function argument which was passed by the
123 function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function.
124
125set debug entry-values
126show debug entry-values
127 Control display of debugging info for determining frame argument values at
128 function entry and virtual tail call frames.
129
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130* New remote packets
131
132QTEnable
133
134 Dynamically enable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
135
136QTDisable
137
138 Dynamically disable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
139
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140* Dcache size (number of lines) and line-size are now runtime-configurable
141 via "set dcache line" and "set dcache line-size" commands.
142
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143* New targets
144
145Texas Instruments TMS320C6x tic6x-*-*
146
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147*** Changes in GDB 7.3.1
148
149* The build failure for NetBSD and OpenBSD targets have now been fixed.
150
d6e00af6 151*** Changes in GDB 7.3
797054e6 152
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153* GDB has a new command: "thread find [REGEXP]".
154 It finds the thread id whose name, target id, or thread extra info
155 matches the given regular expression.
156
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157* The "catch syscall" command now works on mips*-linux* targets.
158
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159* The -data-disassemble MI command now supports modes 2 and 3 for
160 dumping the instruction opcodes.
161
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162* New command line options
163
164-data-directory DIR Specify DIR as the "data-directory".
165 This is mostly for testing purposes.
166
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167* The "maint set python auto-load on|off" command has been renamed to
168 "set auto-load-scripts on|off".
169
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170* GDB has a new command: "set directories".
171 It is like the "dir" command except that it replaces the
172 source path list instead of augmenting it.
173
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174* GDB now understands thread names.
175
176 On GNU/Linux, "info threads" will display the thread name as set by
177 prctl or pthread_setname_np.
178
179 There is also a new command, "thread name", which can be used to
180 assign a name internally for GDB to display.
181
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182* OpenCL C
183 Initial support for the OpenCL C language (http://www.khronos.org/opencl)
184 has been integrated into GDB.
185
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186* Python scripting
187
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188 ** The function gdb.Write now accepts an optional keyword 'stream'.
189 This keyword, when provided, will direct the output to either
190 stdout, stderr, or GDB's logging output.
191
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192 ** Parameters can now be be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
193 you may implement the get_set_doc and get_show_doc functions.
194 This improves how Parameter set/show documentation is processed
195 and allows for more dynamic content.
196
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197 ** Symbols, Symbol Table, Symbol Table and Line, Object Files,
198 Inferior, Inferior Thread, Blocks, and Block Iterator APIs now
199 have an is_valid method.
200
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201 ** Breakpoints can now be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
202 you may implement a 'stop' function that is executed each time
203 the inferior reaches that breakpoint.
204
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205 ** New function gdb.lookup_global_symbol looks up a global symbol.
206
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207 ** GDB values in Python are now callable if the value represents a
208 function. For example, if 'some_value' represents a function that
209 takes two integer parameters and returns a value, you can call
210 that function like so:
211
212 result = some_value (10,20)
213
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214 ** Module gdb.types has been added.
215 It contains a collection of utilities for working with gdb.Types objects:
216 get_basic_type, has_field, make_enum_dict.
217
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218 ** Module gdb.printing has been added.
219 It contains utilities for writing and registering pretty-printers.
220 New classes: PrettyPrinter, SubPrettyPrinter,
221 RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter.
222 New function: register_pretty_printer.
223
224 ** New commands "info pretty-printers", "enable pretty-printer" and
225 "disable pretty-printer" have been added.
226
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227 ** gdb.parameter("directories") is now available.
228
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229 ** New function gdb.newest_frame returns the newest frame in the
230 selected thread.
231
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232 ** The gdb.InferiorThread class has a new "name" attribute. This
233 holds the thread's name.
234
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235 ** Python Support for Inferior events.
236 Python scripts can add observers to be notified of events
824446ad 237 occurring in the process being debugged.
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238 The following events are currently supported:
239 - gdb.events.cont Continue event.
240 - gdb.events.exited Inferior exited event.
241 - gdb.events.stop Signal received, and Breakpoint hit events.
242
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243* C++ Improvements:
244
245 ** GDB now puts template parameters in scope when debugging in an
246 instantiation. For example, if you have:
247
248 template<int X> int func (void) { return X; }
249
250 then if you step into func<5>, "print X" will show "5". This
251 feature requires proper debuginfo support from the compiler; it
252 was added to GCC 4.5.
253
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254 ** The motion commands "next", "finish", "until", and "advance" now
255 work better when exceptions are thrown. In particular, GDB will
256 no longer lose control of the inferior; instead, the GDB will
257 stop the inferior at the point at which the exception is caught.
258 This functionality requires a change in the exception handling
259 code that was introduced in GCC 4.5.
260
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261* GDB now follows GCC's rules on accessing volatile objects when
262 reading or writing target state during expression evaluation.
263 One notable difference to prior behavior is that "print x = 0"
264 no longer generates a read of x; the value of the assignment is
265 now always taken directly from the value being assigned.
266
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267* GDB now has some support for using labels in the program's source in
268 linespecs. For instance, you can use "advance label" to continue
269 execution to a label.
270
271* GDB now has support for reading and writing a new .gdb_index
272 section. This section holds a fast index of DWARF debugging
273 information and can be used to greatly speed up GDB startup and
274 operation. See the documentation for `save gdb-index' for details.
275
b56df873 276* The "watch" command now accepts an optional "-location" argument.
14c0d4e1 277 When used, this causes GDB to watch the memory referred to by the
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278 expression. Such a watchpoint is never deleted due to it going out
279 of scope.
280
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281* GDB now supports thread debugging of core dumps on GNU/Linux.
282
283 GDB now activates thread debugging using the libthread_db library
284 when debugging GNU/Linux core dumps, similarly to when debugging
285 live processes. As a result, when debugging a core dump file, GDB
286 is now able to display pthread_t ids of threads. For example, "info
287 threads" shows the same output as when debugging the process when it
288 was live. In earlier releases, you'd see something like this:
289
290 (gdb) info threads
291 * 1 LWP 6780 main () at main.c:10
292
293 While now you see this:
294
295 (gdb) info threads
296 * 1 Thread 0x7f0f5712a700 (LWP 6780) main () at main.c:10
297
298 It is also now possible to inspect TLS variables when debugging core
299 dumps.
300
301 When debugging a core dump generated on a machine other than the one
302 used to run GDB, you may need to point GDB at the correct
303 libthread_db library with the "set libthread-db-search-path"
304 command. See the user manual for more details on this command.
305
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306* When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
307 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports ranged breakpoints,
308 which stop execution of the inferior whenever it executes an instruction
309 at any address within the specified range. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
310 section in the user manual for more details.
311
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312* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
313
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314 ** GDBserver is now supported on PowerPC LynxOS (versions 4.x and 5.x),
315 and i686 LynxOS (version 5.x).
248c9dbc 316
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317 ** GDBserver is now supported on Blackfin Linux.
318
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319* New native configurations
320
321ia64 HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
322
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323* New targets:
324
325Analog Devices, Inc. Blackfin Processor bfin-*
326
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327* Ada task switching is now supported on sparc-elf targets when
328 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
329 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
330 in the GDB user manual.
331
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332* Guile support was removed.
333
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334* New features in the GNU simulator
335
336 ** The --map-info flag lists all known core mappings.
337
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338 ** CFI flashes may be simulated via the "cfi" device.
339
76b8507d 340*** Changes in GDB 7.2
bfbf3774 341
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342* Shared library support for remote targets by default
343
344 When GDB is configured for a generic, non-OS specific target, like
345 for example, --target=arm-eabi or one of the many *-*-elf targets,
346 GDB now queries remote stubs for loaded shared libraries using the
347 `qXfer:libraries:read' packet. Previously, shared library support
348 was always disabled for such configurations.
349
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350* C++ Improvements:
351
352 ** Argument Dependent Lookup (ADL)
353
354 In C++ ADL lookup directs function search to the namespaces of its
355 arguments even if the namespace has not been imported.
356 For example:
357 namespace A
358 {
359 class B { };
360 void foo (B) { }
361 }
362 ...
363 A::B b
364 foo(b)
365 Here the compiler will search for `foo' in the namespace of 'b'
366 and find A::foo. GDB now supports this. This construct is commonly
367 used in the Standard Template Library for operators.
368
369 ** Improved User Defined Operator Support
370
371 In addition to member operators, GDB now supports lookup of operators
372 defined in a namespace and imported with a `using' directive, operators
373 defined in the global scope, operators imported implicitly from an
374 anonymous namespace, and the ADL operators mentioned in the previous
375 entry.
376 GDB now also supports proper overload resolution for all the previously
377 mentioned flavors of operators.
378
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379 ** static const class members
380
381 Printing of static const class members that are initialized in the
382 class definition has been fixed.
383
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384* Windows Thread Information Block access.
385
386 On Windows targets, GDB now supports displaying the Windows Thread
387 Information Block (TIB) structure. This structure is visible either
388 by using the new command `info w32 thread-information-block' or, by
389 dereferencing the new convenience variable named `$_tlb', a
390 thread-specific pointer to the TIB. This feature is also supported
391 when remote debugging using GDBserver.
392
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393* Static tracepoints
394
395 Static tracepoints are calls in the user program into a tracing
396 library. One such library is a port of the LTTng kernel tracer to
397 userspace --- UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer, http://lttng.org/ust).
398 When debugging with GDBserver, GDB now supports combining the GDB
399 tracepoint machinery with such libraries. For example: the user can
400 use GDB to probe a static tracepoint marker (a call from the user
401 program into the tracing library) with the new "strace" command (see
402 "New commands" below). This creates a "static tracepoint" in the
403 breakpoint list, that can be manipulated with the same feature set
404 as fast and regular tracepoints. E.g., collect registers, local and
405 global variables, collect trace state variables, and define
406 tracepoint conditions. In addition, the user can collect extra
407 static tracepoint marker specific data, by collecting the new
408 $_sdata internal variable. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
409 inspect $_sdata like any other variable available to GDB. For more
410 information, see the "Tracepoints" chapter in GDB user manual. New
411 remote packets have been defined to support static tracepoints, see
412 the "New remote packets" section below.
413
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414* Better reconstruction of tracepoints after disconnected tracing
415
416 GDB will attempt to download the original source form of tracepoint
417 definitions when starting a trace run, and then will upload these
418 upon reconnection to the target, resulting in a more accurate
419 reconstruction of the tracepoints that are in use on the target.
420
421* Observer mode
422
423 You can now exercise direct control over the ways that GDB can
424 affect your program. For instance, you can disallow the setting of
425 breakpoints, so that the program can run continuously (assuming
426 non-stop mode). In addition, the "observer" variable is available
427 to switch all of the different controls; in observer mode, GDB
428 cannot affect the target's behavior at all, which is useful for
429 tasks like diagnosing live systems in the field.
430
431* The new convenience variable $_thread holds the number of the
432 current thread.
433
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434* New remote packets
435
436qGetTIBAddr
437
438 Return the address of the Windows Thread Information Block of a given thread.
439
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440qRelocInsn
441
442 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may now
443 also respond with a number of intermediate `qRelocInsn' request
444 packets before the final result packet, to have GDB handle
445 relocating an instruction to execute at a different address. This
446 is particularly useful for stubs that support fast tracepoints. GDB
447 reports support for this feature in the qSupported packet.
448
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449qTfSTM, qTsSTM
450
451 List static tracepoint markers in the target program.
452
453qTSTMat
454
455 List static tracepoint markers at a given address in the target
456 program.
457
458qXfer:statictrace:read
459
460 Read the static trace data collected (by a `collect $_sdata'
461 tracepoint action). The remote stub reports support for this packet
462 to gdb's qSupported query.
463
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464QAllow
465
466 Send the current settings of GDB's permission flags.
467
468QTDPsrc
469
470 Send part of the source (textual) form of a tracepoint definition,
471 which includes location, conditional, and action list.
472
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473* The source command now accepts a -s option to force searching for the
474 script in the source search path even if the script name specifies
475 a directory.
476
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477* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
478
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479 - GDBserver now support tracepoints (including fast tracepoints, and
480 static tracepoints). The feature is currently supported by the
481 i386-linux and amd64-linux builds. See the "Tracepoints support
482 in gdbserver" section in the manual for more information.
483
484 GDBserver JIT compiles the tracepoint's conditional agent
485 expression bytecode into native code whenever possible for low
486 overhead dynamic tracepoints conditionals. For such tracepoints,
487 an expression that examines program state is evaluated when the
488 tracepoint is reached, in order to determine whether to capture
489 trace data. If the condition is simple and false, processing the
490 tracepoint finishes very quickly and no data is gathered.
491
492 GDBserver interfaces with the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer) library
493 for static tracepoints support.
d337e9f0 494
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495 - GDBserver now supports x86_64 Windows 64-bit debugging.
496
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497* GDB now sends xmlRegisters= in qSupported packet to indicate that
498 it understands register description.
499
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500* The --batch flag now disables pagination and queries.
501
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502* X86 general purpose registers
503
504 GDB now supports reading/writing byte, word and double-word x86
505 general purpose registers directly. This means you can use, say,
506 $ah or $ax to refer, respectively, to the byte register AH and
507 16-bit word register AX that are actually portions of the 32-bit
508 register EAX or 64-bit register RAX.
509
95a42b64 510* The `commands' command now accepts a range of breakpoints to modify.
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511 A plain `commands' following a command that creates multiple
512 breakpoints affects all the breakpoints set by that command. This
513 applies to breakpoints set by `rbreak', and also applies when a
514 single `break' command creates multiple breakpoints (e.g.,
515 breakpoints on overloaded c++ functions).
95a42b64 516
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517* The `rbreak' command now accepts a filename specification as part of
518 its argument, limiting the functions selected by the regex to those
519 in the specified file.
520
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521* Support for remote debugging Windows and SymbianOS shared libraries
522 from Unix hosts has been improved. Non Windows GDB builds now can
523 understand target reported file names that follow MS-DOS based file
524 system semantics, such as file names that include drive letters and
525 use the backslash character as directory separator. This makes it
526 possible to transparently use the "set sysroot" and "set
527 solib-search-path" on Unix hosts to point as host copies of the
528 target's shared libraries. See the new command "set
529 target-file-system-kind" described below, and the "Commands to
530 specify files" section in the user manual for more information.
531
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532* New commands
533
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534eval template, expressions...
535 Convert the values of one or more expressions under the control
536 of the string template to a command line, and call it.
537
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538set target-file-system-kind unix|dos-based|auto
539show target-file-system-kind
540 Set or show the assumed file system kind for target reported file
541 names.
542
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543save breakpoints <filename>
544 Save all current breakpoint definitions to a file suitable for use
545 in a later debugging session. To read the saved breakpoint
546 definitions, use the `source' command.
547
548`save tracepoints' is a new alias for `save-tracepoints'. The latter
549is now deprecated.
550
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551info static-tracepoint-markers
552 Display information about static tracepoint markers in the target.
553
554strace FN | FILE:LINE | *ADDR | -m MARKER_ID
555 Define a static tracepoint by probing a marker at the given
556 function, line, address, or marker ID.
557
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558set observer on|off
559show observer
560 Enable and disable observer mode.
561
562set may-write-registers on|off
563set may-write-memory on|off
564set may-insert-breakpoints on|off
565set may-insert-tracepoints on|off
566set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on|off
567set may-interrupt on|off
568 Set individual permissions for GDB effects on the target. Note that
569 some of these settings can have undesirable or surprising
570 consequences, particularly when changed in the middle of a session.
571 For instance, disabling the writing of memory can prevent
572 breakpoints from being inserted, cause single-stepping to fail, or
573 even crash your program, if you disable after breakpoints have been
574 inserted. However, GDB should not crash.
575
576set record memory-query on|off
577show record memory-query
578 Control whether to stop the inferior if memory changes caused
579 by an instruction cannot be recorded.
580
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581* Changed commands
582
583disassemble
584 The disassemble command now supports "start,+length" form of two arguments.
585
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586* Python scripting
587
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588** GDB now provides a new directory location, called the python directory,
589 where Python scripts written for GDB can be installed. The location
590 of that directory is <data-directory>/python, where <data-directory>
591 is the GDB data directory. For more details, see section `Scripting
592 GDB using Python' in the manual.
593
adc36818 594** The GDB Python API now has access to breakpoints, symbols, symbol
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595 tables, program spaces, inferiors, threads and frame's code blocks.
596 Additionally, GDB Parameters can now be created from the API, and
597 manipulated via set/show in the CLI.
f870a310 598
fa33c3cd 599** New functions gdb.target_charset, gdb.target_wide_charset,
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600 gdb.progspaces, gdb.current_progspace, and gdb.string_to_argv.
601
602** New exception gdb.GdbError.
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603
604** Pretty-printers are now also looked up in the current program space.
f3e9a817 605
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606** Pretty-printers can now be individually enabled and disabled.
607
8a1ea21f
DE
608** GDB now looks for names of Python scripts to auto-load in a
609 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts', in addition to looking
610 for a OBJFILE-gdb.py script when OBJFILE is read by the debugger.
611
a7bdde9e
VP
612* Tracepoint actions were unified with breakpoint commands. In particular,
613there are no longer differences in "info break" output for breakpoints and
614tracepoints and the "commands" command can be used for both tracepoints and
615regular breakpoints.
616
05071a4d
PA
617* New targets
618
619ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
620
6aecb9c2
JB
621* D language support.
622 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the D programming
623 language.
624
431e49aa
TJB
625* GDB now supports the extended ptrace interface for PowerPC which is
626 available since Linux kernel version 2.6.34. This automatically enables
627 any hardware breakpoints and additional hardware watchpoints available in
628 the processor. The old ptrace interface exposes just one hardware
629 watchpoint and no hardware breakpoints.
630
631* GDB is now able to use the Data Value Compare (DVC) register available on
632 embedded PowerPC processors to implement in hardware simple watchpoint
633 conditions of the form:
634
635 watch ADDRESS|VARIABLE if ADDRESS|VARIABLE == CONSTANT EXPRESSION
636
637 This works in native GDB running on Linux kernels with the extended ptrace
638 interface mentioned above.
639
bfbf3774 640*** Changes in GDB 7.1
abc7453d 641
4eef138c
TT
642* C++ Improvements
643
644 ** Namespace Support
71dee663
SW
645
646 GDB now supports importing of namespaces in C++. This enables the
647 user to inspect variables from imported namespaces. Support for
648 namepace aliasing has also been added. So, if a namespace is
649 aliased in the current scope (e.g. namepace C=A; ) the user can
650 print variables using the alias (e.g. (gdb) print C::x).
651
4eef138c
TT
652 ** Bug Fixes
653
654 All known bugs relating to the printing of virtual base class were
655 fixed. It is now possible to call overloaded static methods using a
656 qualified name.
657
658 ** Cast Operators
659
660 The C++ cast operators static_cast<>, dynamic_cast<>, const_cast<>,
661 and reinterpret_cast<> are now handled by the C++ expression parser.
662
2d1c1221
ME
663* New targets
664
665Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze-*-*
34207b9e 666Renesas RX rx-*-elf
2d1c1221
ME
667
668* New Simulators
669
670Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze
34207b9e 671Renesas RX rx
2d1c1221 672
6c95b8df
PA
673* Multi-program debugging.
674
675 GDB now has support for multi-program (a.k.a. multi-executable or
676 multi-exec) debugging. This allows for debugging multiple inferiors
677 simultaneously each running a different program under the same GDB
678 session. See "Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs" in the
679 manual for more information. This implied some user visible changes
680 in the multi-inferior support. For example, "info inferiors" now
681 lists inferiors that are not running yet or that have exited
682 already. See also "New commands" and "New options" below.
683
d5551862
SS
684* New tracing features
685
686 GDB's tracepoint facility now includes several new features:
687
688 ** Trace state variables
f61e138d
SS
689
690 GDB tracepoints now include support for trace state variables, which
691 are variables managed by the target agent during a tracing
692 experiment. They are useful for tracepoints that trigger each
693 other, so for instance one tracepoint can count hits in a variable,
694 and then a second tracepoint has a condition that is true when the
695 count reaches a particular value. Trace state variables share the
696 $-syntax of GDB convenience variables, and can appear in both
697 tracepoint actions and condition expressions. Use the "tvariable"
698 command to create, and "info tvariables" to view; see "Trace State
699 Variables" in the manual for more detail.
7a697b8d 700
d5551862 701 ** Fast tracepoints
7a697b8d
SS
702
703 GDB now includes an option for defining fast tracepoints, which
704 targets may implement more efficiently, such as by installing a jump
705 into the target agent rather than a trap instruction. The resulting
706 speedup can be by two orders of magnitude or more, although the
707 tradeoff is that some program locations on some target architectures
708 might not allow fast tracepoint installation, for instance if the
709 instruction to be replaced is shorter than the jump. To request a
710 fast tracepoint, use the "ftrace" command, with syntax identical to
711 the regular trace command.
712
d5551862
SS
713 ** Disconnected tracing
714
715 It is now possible to detach GDB from the target while it is running
716 a trace experiment, then reconnect later to see how the experiment
717 is going. In addition, a new variable disconnected-tracing lets you
718 tell the target agent whether to continue running a trace if the
719 connection is lost unexpectedly.
720
00bf0b85
SS
721 ** Trace files
722
723 GDB now has the ability to save the trace buffer into a file, and
724 then use that file as a target, similarly to you can do with
725 corefiles. You can select trace frames, print data that was
726 collected in them, and use tstatus to display the state of the
727 tracing run at the moment that it was saved. To create a trace
728 file, use "tsave <filename>", and to use it, do "target tfile
729 <name>".
4daf5ac0
SS
730
731 ** Circular trace buffer
732
733 You can ask the target agent to handle the trace buffer as a
734 circular buffer, discarding the oldest trace frames to make room for
735 newer ones, by setting circular-trace-buffer to on. This feature may
736 not be available for all target agents.
737
21a0512e
PP
738* Changed commands
739
740disassemble
741 The disassemble command, when invoked with two arguments, now requires
742 the arguments to be comma-separated.
743
0fe7935b
DJ
744info variables
745 The info variables command now displays variable definitions. Files
746 which only declare a variable are not shown.
747
fb2e7cb4
JB
748source
749 The source command is now capable of sourcing Python scripts.
750 This feature is dependent on the debugger being build with Python
751 support.
752
753 Related to this enhancement is also the introduction of a new command
754 "set script-extension" (see below).
755
6c95b8df
PA
756* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
757
399cd161
MS
758record save [<FILENAME>]
759 Save a file (in core file format) containing the process record
760 execution log for replay debugging at a later time.
761
762record restore <FILENAME>
763 Restore the process record execution log that was saved at an
764 earlier time, for replay debugging.
765
6c95b8df
PA
766add-inferior [-copies <N>] [-exec <FILENAME>]
767 Add a new inferior.
768
769clone-inferior [-copies <N>] [ID]
770 Make a new inferior ready to execute the same program another
771 inferior has loaded.
772
773remove-inferior ID
774 Remove an inferior.
775
776maint info program-spaces
777 List the program spaces loaded into GDB.
778
9a7071a8
JB
779set remote interrupt-sequence [Ctrl-C | BREAK | BREAK-g]
780show remote interrupt-sequence
781 Allow the user to select one of ^C, a BREAK signal or BREAK-g
782 as the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
783 Ctrl-C is a default. Some system prefers BREAK which is high level of
784 serial line for some certain time. Linux kernel prefers BREAK-g, a.k.a
785 Magic SysRq g. It is BREAK signal and character 'g'.
786
787set remote interrupt-on-connect [on | off]
788show remote interrupt-on-connect
789 When interrupt-on-connect is ON, gdb sends interrupt-sequence to
790 remote target when gdb connects to it. This is needed when you debug
791 Linux kernel.
792
793set remotebreak [on | off]
794show remotebreak
795Deprecated. Use "set/show remote interrupt-sequence" instead.
796
f61e138d
SS
797tvariable $NAME [ = EXP ]
798 Create or modify a trace state variable.
799
800info tvariables
801 List trace state variables and their values.
802
803delete tvariable $NAME ...
804 Delete one or more trace state variables.
805
6da95a67
SS
806teval EXPR, ...
807 Evaluate the given expressions without collecting anything into the
808 trace buffer. (Valid in tracepoint actions only.)
809
7a697b8d
SS
810ftrace FN / FILE:LINE / *ADDR
811 Define a fast tracepoint at the given function, line, or address.
812
b0f02ee9
JK
813* New expression syntax
814
815 GDB now parses the 0b prefix of binary numbers the same way as GCC does.
816 GDB now parses 0b101010 identically with 42.
817
6c95b8df
PA
818* New options
819
820set follow-exec-mode new|same
821show follow-exec-mode
822 Control whether GDB reuses the same inferior across an exec call or
823 creates a new one. This is useful to be able to restart the old
824 executable after the inferior having done an exec call.
825
236f1d4d
SS
826set default-collect EXPR, ...
827show default-collect
828 Define a list of expressions to be collected at each tracepoint.
829 This is a useful way to ensure essential items are not overlooked,
830 such as registers or a critical global variable.
831
d5551862
SS
832set disconnected-tracing
833show disconnected-tracing
834 If set to 1, the target is instructed to continue tracing if it
835 loses its connection to GDB. If 0, the target is to stop tracing
836 upon disconnection.
837
4daf5ac0
SS
838set circular-trace-buffer
839show circular-trace-buffer
840 If set to on, the target is instructed to use a circular trace buffer
841 and discard the oldest trace frames instead of stopping the trace due
842 to a full trace buffer. If set to off, the trace stops when the buffer
843 fills up. Some targets may not support this.
844
fb2e7cb4
JB
845set script-extension off|soft|strict
846show script-extension
847 If set to "off", the debugger does not perform any script language
848 recognition, and all sourced files are assumed to be GDB scripts.
849 If set to "soft" (the default), files are sourced according to
850 filename extension, falling back to GDB scripts if the first
851 evaluation failed.
852 If set to "strict", files are sourced according to filename extension.
853
2b71fc8e
JB
854set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on|off
855show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
856 If off, activate a workaround against a bug in the debugging information
857 generated by the compiler for PAD types (see gcc/exp_dbug.ads in
858 the GCC sources for more information about the GNAT encoding and
859 PAD types in particular). It is always safe to set this option to
860 off, but this introduces a slight performance penalty. The default
861 is on.
862
de2e5182
TT
863* Python API Improvements
864
865 ** GDB provides the new class gdb.LazyString. This is useful in
866 some pretty-printing cases. The new method gdb.Value.lazy_string
867 provides a simple way to create objects of this type.
868
869 ** The fields returned by gdb.Type.fields now have an
870 `is_base_class' attribute.
871
872 ** The new method gdb.Type.range returns the range of an array type.
873
874 ** The new method gdb.parse_and_eval can be used to parse and
875 evaluate an expression.
876
f61e138d
SS
877* New remote packets
878
879QTDV
880 Define a trace state variable.
881
882qTV
883 Get the current value of a trace state variable.
884
d5551862
SS
885QTDisconnected
886 Set desired tracing behavior upon disconnection.
887
4daf5ac0
SS
888QTBuffer:circular
889 Set the trace buffer to be linear or circular.
890
d5551862
SS
891qTfP, qTsP
892 Get data about the tracepoints currently in use.
893
2d483d34
MS
894* Bug fixes
895
896Process record now works correctly with hardware watchpoints.
897
6e0e5977
JB
898Multiple bug fixes have been made to the mips-irix port, making it
899much more reliable. In particular:
900 - Debugging threaded applications is now possible again. Previously,
901 GDB would hang while starting the program, or while waiting for
902 the program to stop at a breakpoint.
903 - Attaching to a running process no longer hangs.
904 - An error occurring while loading a core file has been fixed.
905 - Changing the value of the PC register now works again. This fixes
906 problems observed when using the "jump" command, or when calling
907 a function from GDB, or even when assigning a new value to $pc.
908 - With the "finish" and "return" commands, the return value for functions
909 returning a small array is now correctly printed.
910 - It is now possible to break on shared library code which gets executed
911 during a shared library init phase (code executed while executing
912 their .init section). Previously, the breakpoint would have no effect.
913 - GDB is now able to backtrace through the signal handler for
914 non-threaded programs.
915
93c26624
JK
916PIE (Position Independent Executable) programs debugging is now supported.
917This includes debugging execution of PIC (Position Independent Code) shared
918libraries although for that, it should be possible to run such libraries as an
919executable program.
920
abc7453d 921*** Changes in GDB 7.0
75feb17d 922
4efc6507
DE
923* GDB now has an interface for JIT compilation. Applications that
924dynamically generate code can create symbol files in memory and register
925them with GDB. For users, the feature should work transparently, and
926for JIT developers, the interface is documented in the GDB manual in the
927"JIT Compilation Interface" chapter.
928
782b2b07
SS
929* Tracepoints may now be conditional. The syntax is as for
930breakpoints; either an "if" clause appended to the "trace" command,
931or the "condition" command is available. GDB sends the condition to
932the target for evaluation using the same bytecode format as is used
933for tracepoint actions.
934
53a71c06
CR
935* The disassemble command now supports: an optional /r modifier, print the
936raw instructions in hex as well as in symbolic form, and an optional /m
937modifier to print mixed source+assembly.
e6158f16 938
e7a8dbfb
HZ
939* Process record and replay
940
941 In a architecture environment that supports ``process record and
942 replay'', ``process record and replay'' target can record a log of
943 the process execution, and replay it with both forward and reverse
944 execute commands.
945
64644d9b
MS
946* Reverse debugging: GDB now has new commands reverse-continue, reverse-
947step, reverse-next, reverse-finish, reverse-stepi, reverse-nexti, and
948set execution-direction {forward|reverse}, for targets that support
949reverse execution.
950
b9412953
DD
951* GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on MIPS/Linux systems. This
952feature is available with a native GDB running on kernel version
9532.6.28 or later.
954
6c7a06a3
TT
955* GDB now has support for multi-byte and wide character sets on the
956target. Strings whose character type is wchar_t, char16_t, or
957char32_t are now correctly printed. GDB supports wide- and unicode-
958literals in C, that is, L'x', L"string", u'x', u"string", U'x', and
959U"string" syntax. And, GDB allows the "%ls" and "%lc" formats in
960`printf'. This feature requires iconv to work properly; if your
961system does not have a working iconv, GDB can use GNU libiconv. See
962the installation instructions for more information.
963
f1838a98
UW
964* GDB now supports automatic retrieval of shared library files from
965remote targets. To use this feature, specify a system root that begins
966with the `remote:' prefix, either via the `set sysroot' command or via
967the `--with-sysroot' configure-time option.
968
55333a84
DE
969* "info sharedlibrary" now takes an optional regex of libraries to show,
970and it now reports if a shared library has no debugging information.
971
7f6a6314
PM
972* Commands `set debug-file-directory', `set solib-search-path' and `set args'
973now complete on file names.
974
65d12d83
TT
975* When completing in expressions, gdb will attempt to limit
976completions to allowable structure or union fields, where appropriate.
977For instance, consider:
978
979 # struct example { int f1; double f2; };
980 # struct example variable;
981 (gdb) p variable.
982
983If the user types TAB at the end of this command line, the available
984completions will be "f1" and "f2".
985
edb3359d
DJ
986* Inlined functions are now supported. They show up in backtraces, and
987the "step", "next", and "finish" commands handle them automatically.
988
2fae03e8
TT
989* GDB now supports the token-splicing (##) and stringification (#)
990operators when expanding macros. It also supports variable-arity
991macros.
992
47a3467a 993* GDB now supports inspecting extra signal information, exported by
58d6951d
DJ
994the new $_siginfo convenience variable. The feature is currently
995implemented on linux ARM, i386 and amd64.
996
997* GDB can now display the VFP floating point registers and NEON vector
998registers on ARM targets. Both ARM GNU/Linux native GDB and gdbserver
999can provide these registers (requires Linux 2.6.30 or later). Remote
1000and simulator targets may also provide them.
47a3467a 1001
08388c79
DE
1002* New remote packets
1003
1004qSearch:memory:
1005 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
1006
a6f3e723
SL
1007QStartNoAckMode
1008 Turn off `+'/`-' protocol acknowledgments to permit more efficient
1009 operation over reliable transport links. Use of this packet is
1010 controlled by the `set remote noack-packet' command.
1011
d7713ae0
EZ
1012vKill
1013 Kill the process with the specified process ID. Use this in preference
1014 to `k' when multiprocess protocol extensions are supported.
1015
07e059b5
VP
1016qXfer:osdata:read
1017 Obtains additional operating system information
1018
47a3467a
PA
1019qXfer:siginfo:read
1020qXfer:siginfo:write
1021 Read or write additional signal information.
1022
060871df
PA
1023* Removed remote protocol undocumented extension
1024
1025 An undocumented extension to the remote protocol's `S' stop reply
1026 packet that permited the stub to pass a process id was removed.
1027 Remote servers should use the `T' stop reply packet instead.
1028
c055b101 1029* GDB now supports multiple function calling conventions according to the
a0ef4274 1030DWARF-2 DW_AT_calling_convention function attribute.
c055b101
CV
1031
1032* The SH target utilizes the aforementioned change to distinguish between gcc
a0ef4274
DJ
1033and Renesas calling convention. It also adds the new CLI commands
1034`set/show sh calling-convention'.
c055b101 1035
31fffb02
CS
1036* GDB can now read compressed debug sections, as produced by GNU gold
1037with the --compress-debug-sections=zlib flag.
1038
88d8a8e0
JB
1039* 64-bit core files are now supported on AIX.
1040
7f99b190
JB
1041* Thread switching is now supported on Tru64.
1042
ccd213ac
DJ
1043* Watchpoints can now be set on unreadable memory locations, e.g. addresses
1044which will be allocated using malloc later in program execution.
1045
1fddbabb 1046* The qXfer:libraries:read remote procotol packet now allows passing a
31fffb02 1047list of section offsets.
1fddbabb 1048
a0ef4274
DJ
1049* On GNU/Linux, GDB can now attach to stopped processes. Several race
1050conditions handling signals delivered during attach or thread creation
1051have also been fixed.
1052
bfb8797a 1053* GDB now supports the use of DWARF boolean types for Ada's type Boolean.
158c7665
PH
1054From the user's standpoint, all unqualified instances of True and False
1055are treated as the standard definitions, regardless of context.
bfb8797a 1056
71c25dea
TT
1057* GDB now parses C++ symbol and type names more flexibly. For
1058example, given:
1059
1060 template<typename T> class C { };
1061 C<char const *> c;
1062
1063GDB will now correctly handle all of:
1064
1065 ptype C<char const *>
1066 ptype C<char const*>
1067 ptype C<const char *>
1068 ptype C<const char*>
1069
ccd213ac
DJ
1070* New features in the GDB remote stub, gdbserver
1071
1072 - The "--wrapper" command-line argument tells gdbserver to use a
1073 wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
1074
7ae0e2a2
UW
1075 - On PowerPC and S/390 targets, it is now possible to use a single
1076 gdbserver executable to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
1077 (This requires gdbserver itself to be built as a 64-bit executable.)
1078
a6f3e723
SL
1079 - gdbserver uses the new noack protocol mode for TCP connections to
1080 reduce communications latency, if also supported and enabled in GDB.
1081
da8bd9a3
DJ
1082 - Support for the sparc64-linux-gnu target is now included in
1083 gdbserver.
1084
d70e31dd
DE
1085 - The amd64-linux build of gdbserver now supports debugging both
1086 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
1087
1088 - The i386-linux, amd64-linux, and i386-win32 builds of gdbserver
1089 now support hardware watchpoints, and will use them automatically
1090 as appropriate.
1091
d57a3c85
TJB
1092* Python scripting
1093
1094 GDB now has support for scripting using Python. Whether this is
1095 available is determined at configure time.
1096
d8906c6f
TJB
1097 New GDB commands can now be written in Python.
1098
aadc346a
JB
1099* Ada tasking support
1100
1101 Ada tasks can now be inspected in GDB. The following commands have
1102 been introduced:
1103
1104 info tasks
1105 Print the list of Ada tasks.
1106 info task N
1107 Print detailed information about task number N.
1108 task
1109 Print the task number of the current task.
1110 task N
1111 Switch the context of debugging to task number N.
1112
adb483fe
DJ
1113* Support for user-defined prefixed commands. The "define" command can
1114add new commands to existing prefixes, e.g. "target".
1115
2277426b
PA
1116* Multi-inferior, multi-process debugging.
1117
1118 GDB now has generalized support for multi-inferior debugging. See
1119 "Debugging Multiple Inferiors" in the manual for more information.
1120 Although availability still depends on target support, the command
1121 set is more uniform now. The GNU/Linux specific multi-forks support
1122 has been migrated to this new framework. This implied some user
1123 visible changes; see "New commands" and also "Removed commands"
1124 below.
1125
08d16641
PA
1126* Target descriptions can now describe the target OS ABI. See the
1127"Target Description Format" section in the user manual for more
1128information.
1129
e35359c5
UW
1130* Target descriptions can now describe "compatible" architectures
1131to indicate that the target can execute applications for a different
1132architecture in addition to those for the main target architecture.
1133See the "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for
1134more information.
1135
85e747d2
UW
1136* Multi-architecture debugging.
1137
1138 GDB now includes general supports for debugging applications on
1139 hybrid systems that use more than one single processor architecture
1140 at the same time. Each such hybrid architecture still requires
1141 specific support to be added. The only hybrid architecture supported
1142 in this version of GDB is the Cell Broadband Engine.
1143
1144* GDB now supports integrated debugging of Cell/B.E. applications that
1145use both the PPU and SPU architectures. To enable support for hybrid
1146Cell/B.E. debugging, you need to configure GDB to support both the
1147powerpc-linux or powerpc64-linux and the spu-elf targets, using the
1148--enable-targets configure option.
1149
11ade57a
PA
1150* Non-stop mode debugging.
1151
1152 For some targets, GDB now supports an optional mode of operation in
1153 which you can examine stopped threads while other threads continue
1154 to execute freely. This is referred to as non-stop mode, with the
1155 old mode referred to as all-stop mode. See the "Non-Stop Mode"
1156 section in the user manual for more information.
1157
1158 To be able to support remote non-stop debugging, a remote stub needs
1159 to implement the non-stop mode remote protocol extensions, as
1160 described in the "Remote Non-Stop" section of the user manual. The
1161 GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been adjusted to support these
1162 extensions on linux targets.
1163
d7713ae0 1164* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
75feb17d 1165
a96d9b2e
SDJ
1166catch syscall [NAME(S) | NUMBER(S)]
1167 Catch system calls. Arguments, which should be names of system
1168 calls or their numbers, mean catch only those syscalls. Without
1169 arguments, every syscall will be caught. When the inferior issues
1170 any of the specified syscalls, GDB will stop and announce the system
1171 call, both when it is called and when its call returns. This
1172 feature is currently available with a native GDB running on the
1173 Linux Kernel, under the following architectures: x86, x86_64,
1174 PowerPC and PowerPC64.
1175
08388c79
DE
1176find [/size-char] [/max-count] start-address, end-address|+search-space-size,
1177 val1 [, val2, ...]
1178 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
1179
d57a3c85
TJB
1180maint set python print-stack
1181maint show python print-stack
1182 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Python script.
1183
1184python [CODE]
1185 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Python interpreter.
1186
d7713ae0
EZ
1187macro define
1188macro list
1189macro undef
1190 These allow macros to be defined, undefined, and listed
1191 interactively.
1192
1193info os processes
1194 Show operating system information about processes.
1195
2277426b
PA
1196info inferiors
1197 List the inferiors currently under GDB's control.
1198
1199inferior NUM
1200 Switch focus to inferior number NUM.
1201
1202detach inferior NUM
1203 Detach from inferior number NUM.
1204
1205kill inferior NUM
1206 Kill inferior number NUM.
1207
d7713ae0
EZ
1208* New options
1209
3285f3fe
UW
1210set spu stop-on-load
1211show spu stop-on-load
1212 Control whether to stop for new SPE threads during Cell/B.E. debugging.
1213
ff1a52c6
UW
1214set spu auto-flush-cache
1215show spu auto-flush-cache
1216 Control whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache
1217 during Cell/B.E. debugging.
1218
d7713ae0
EZ
1219set sh calling-convention
1220show sh calling-convention
1221 Control the calling convention used when calling SH target functions.
1222
e0a3ce09 1223set debug timestamp
75feb17d 1224show debug timestamp
d7713ae0
EZ
1225 Control display of timestamps with GDB debugging output.
1226
1227set disassemble-next-line
1228show disassemble-next-line
1229 Control display of disassembled source lines or instructions when
1230 the debuggee stops.
1231
1232set remote noack-packet
1233show remote noack-packet
1234 Set/show the use of remote protocol QStartNoAckMode packet. See above
1235 under "New remote packets."
1236
1237set remote query-attached-packet
1238show remote query-attached-packet
1239 Control use of remote protocol `qAttached' (query-attached) packet.
1240
1241set remote read-siginfo-object
1242show remote read-siginfo-object
1243 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:read' (read-siginfo-object)
1244 packet.
1245
1246set remote write-siginfo-object
1247show remote write-siginfo-object
1248 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:write' (write-siginfo-object)
1249 packet.
1250
40ab02ce
MS
1251set remote reverse-continue
1252show remote reverse-continue
1253 Control use of remote protocol 'bc' (reverse-continue) packet.
1254
1255set remote reverse-step
1256show remote reverse-step
1257 Control use of remote protocol 'bs' (reverse-step) packet.
1258
d7713ae0
EZ
1259set displaced-stepping
1260show displaced-stepping
1261 Control displaced stepping mode. Displaced stepping is a way to
1262 single-step over breakpoints without removing them from the debuggee.
1263 Also known as "out-of-line single-stepping".
1264
1265set debug displaced
1266show debug displaced
1267 Control display of debugging info for displaced stepping.
1268
1269maint set internal-error
1270maint show internal-error
1271 Control what GDB does when an internal error is detected.
1272
1273maint set internal-warning
1274maint show internal-warning
1275 Control what GDB does when an internal warning is detected.
75feb17d 1276
ccd213ac
DJ
1277set exec-wrapper
1278show exec-wrapper
1279unset exec-wrapper
1280 Use a wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
fa4727a6 1281
aad4b048
JB
1282set multiple-symbols (all|ask|cancel)
1283show multiple-symbols
1284 The value of this variable can be changed to adjust the debugger behavior
1285 when an expression or a breakpoint location contains an ambiguous symbol
1286 name (an overloaded function name, for instance).
1287
74960c60
VP
1288set breakpoint always-inserted
1289show breakpoint always-inserted
1290 Keep breakpoints always inserted in the target, as opposed to inserting
1291 them when resuming the target, and removing them when the target stops.
1292 This option can improve debugger performance on slow remote targets.
1293
0428b8f5
DJ
1294set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
1295show arm fallback-mode
1296set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
1297show arm force-mode
1298 These commands control how ARM GDB determines whether instructions
1299 are ARM or Thumb. The default for both settings is auto, which uses
1300 the current CPSR value for instructions without symbols; previous
1301 versions of GDB behaved as if "set arm fallback-mode arm".
1302
10568435
JK
1303set disable-randomization
1304show disable-randomization
1305 Standalone programs run with the virtual address space randomization enabled
1306 by default on some platforms. This option keeps the addresses stable across
1307 multiple debugging sessions.
1308
d7713ae0
EZ
1309set non-stop
1310show non-stop
1311 Control whether other threads are stopped or not when some thread hits
1312 a breakpoint.
1313
b3eb342c 1314set target-async
d7713ae0 1315show target-async
b3eb342c
VP
1316 Requests that asynchronous execution is enabled in the target, if available.
1317 In this case, it's possible to resume target in the background, and interact
1318 with GDB while the target is running. "show target-async" displays the
1319 current state of asynchronous execution of the target.
1320
6c7a06a3
TT
1321set target-wide-charset
1322show target-wide-charset
1323 The target-wide-charset is the name of the character set that GDB
1324 uses when printing characters whose type is wchar_t.
1325
84603566
SL
1326set tcp auto-retry (on|off)
1327show tcp auto-retry
1328set tcp connect-timeout
1329show tcp connect-timeout
1330 These commands allow GDB to retry failed TCP connections to a remote stub
1331 with a specified timeout period; this is useful if the stub is launched
1332 in parallel with GDB but may not be ready to accept connections immediately.
1333
17a37d48
PP
1334set libthread-db-search-path
1335show libthread-db-search-path
1336 Control list of directories which GDB will search for appropriate
1337 libthread_db.
1338
d4db2f36
PA
1339set schedule-multiple (on|off)
1340show schedule-multiple
1341 Allow GDB to resume all threads of all processes or only threads of
1342 the current process.
1343
4e5d721f
DE
1344set stack-cache
1345show stack-cache
1346 Use more aggressive caching for accesses to the stack. This improves
1347 performance of remote debugging (particularly backtraces) without
1348 affecting correctness.
1349
910c5da8
JB
1350set interactive-mode (on|off|auto)
1351show interactive-mode
1352 Control whether GDB runs in interactive mode (on) or not (off).
1353 When in interactive mode, GDB waits for the user to answer all
1354 queries. Otherwise, GDB does not wait and assumes the default
1355 answer. When set to auto (the default), GDB determines which
1356 mode to use based on the stdin settings.
1357
2277426b
PA
1358* Removed commands
1359
1360info forks
1361 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `info
1362 inferiors' command. To list checkpoints, you can still use the
1363 `info checkpoints' command, which was an alias for the `info forks'
1364 command.
1365
1366fork NUM
1367 Replaced by the new `inferior' command. To switch between
1368 checkpoints, you can still use the `restart' command, which was an
1369 alias for the `fork' command.
1370
1371process PID
1372 This is removed, since some targets don't have a notion of
1373 processes. To switch between processes, you can still use the
1374 `inferior' command using GDB's own inferior number.
1375
1376delete fork NUM
1377 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `kill
1378 inferior' command. To delete a checkpoint, you can still use the
1379 `delete checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `delete
1380 fork' command.
1381
1382detach fork NUM
1383 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `detach
1384 inferior' command. To detach a checkpoint, you can still use the
1385 `detach checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `detach
1386 fork' command.
1387
a80b95ba
TG
1388* New native configurations
1389
1390x86/x86_64 Darwin i[34567]86-*-darwin*
1391
b8bfd3ed
JB
1392x86_64 MinGW x86_64-*-mingw*
1393
75a2d5e7
TT
1394* New targets
1395
c28c63d8 1396Lattice Mico32 lm32-*
75a2d5e7 1397x86 DICOS i[34567]86-*-dicos*
4c1d2973 1398x86_64 DICOS x86_64-*-dicos*
5f814c3b 1399S+core 3 score-*-*
75a2d5e7 1400
6de3146c
PA
1401* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports x86 Windows CE
1402 (mingw32ce) debugging.
1403
d5cbbe6e
JB
1404* Removed commands
1405
1406catch load
1407catch unload
1408 These commands were actually not implemented on any target.
1409
75feb17d 1410*** Changes in GDB 6.8
f9ed52be 1411
af5ca30d
NH
1412* New native configurations
1413
1414NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*netbsd*
94a0e877 1415Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
af5ca30d
NH
1416
1417* New targets
1418
1419NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*-netbsd*
94a0e877 1420Xtensa GNU/Lunux xtensa*-*-linux*
af5ca30d 1421
7a404eba
PA
1422* Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
1423
1424 When the '-p NUMBER' or '--pid NUMBER' options are used, and
1425 attaching to process NUMBER fails, GDB no longer attempts to open a
1426 core file named NUMBER. Attaching to a program using the -c option
1427 is no longer supported. Instead, use the '-p' or '--pid' options.
1428
430ebac9
PA
1429* GDB can now be built as a native debugger for debugging Windows x86
1430(mingw32) Portable Executable (PE) programs.
1431
fe6fbf8b 1432* Pending breakpoints no longer change their number when their address
8d5f9c6f 1433is resolved.
fe6fbf8b
VP
1434
1435* GDB now supports breakpoints with multiple locations,
8d5f9c6f
DJ
1436including breakpoints on C++ constructors, inside C++ templates,
1437and in inlined functions.
fe6fbf8b 1438
10665d76
JB
1439* GDB's ability to debug optimized code has been improved. GDB more
1440accurately identifies function bodies and lexical blocks that occupy
1441more than one contiguous range of addresses.
1442
7cc46491
DJ
1443* Target descriptions can now describe registers for PowerPC.
1444
d71340b8
DJ
1445* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the AltiVec and SPE
1446registers on PowerPC targets.
1447
523c4513
DJ
1448* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports thread debugging on GNU/Linux
1449targets even when the libthread_db library is not available.
1450
a6b151f1
DJ
1451* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the new file transfer
1452commands (remote put, remote get, and remote delete).
1453
2d717e4f
DJ
1454* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports run and attach in
1455extended-remote mode.
1456
24a836bd 1457* hppa*64*-*-hpux11* target broken
d001be7a
DJ
1458The debugger is unable to start a program and fails with the following
1459error: "Error trying to get information about dynamic linker".
1460The gdb-6.7 release is also affected.
24a836bd 1461
d0c678e6
UW
1462* GDB now supports the --enable-targets= configure option to allow
1463building a single GDB executable that supports multiple remote
1464target architectures.
1465
d64a946d
TJB
1466* GDB now supports debugging C and C++ programs which use the
1467Decimal Floating Point extension. In addition, the PowerPC target
1468now has a set of pseudo-registers to inspect decimal float values
1469stored in two consecutive float registers.
1470
ee163bf5
VP
1471* The -break-insert MI command can optionally create pending
1472breakpoints now.
1473
b93b6ca7 1474* Improved support for debugging Ada
d001be7a
DJ
1475Many improvements to the Ada language support have been made. These
1476include:
b93b6ca7
JB
1477 - Better support for Ada2005 interface types
1478 - Improved handling of arrays and slices in general
1479 - Better support for Taft-amendment types
1480 - The '{type} ADDRESS' expression is now allowed on the left hand-side
1481 of an assignment
1482 - Improved command completion in Ada
1483 - Several bug fixes
1484
d001be7a
DJ
1485* GDB on GNU/Linux and HP/UX can now debug through "exec" of a new
1486process.
1487
a6b151f1
DJ
1488* New commands
1489
6d53d0af
JB
1490set print frame-arguments (all|scalars|none)
1491show print frame-arguments
1492 The value of this variable can be changed to control which argument
1493 values should be printed by the debugger when displaying a frame.
1494
a6b151f1
DJ
1495remote put
1496remote get
1497remote delete
1498 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
1499
1500* New MI commands
1501
1502-target-file-put
1503-target-file-get
1504-target-file-delete
1505 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
1506
1507* New remote packets
1508
1509vFile:open:
1510vFile:close:
1511vFile:pread:
1512vFile:pwrite:
1513vFile:unlink:
1514 Open, close, read, write, and delete files on the remote system.
d0c678e6 1515
2d717e4f
DJ
1516vAttach
1517 Attach to an existing process on the remote system, in extended-remote
1518 mode.
1519
1520vRun
1521 Run a new process on the remote system, in extended-remote mode.
1522
8d5f9c6f 1523*** Changes in GDB 6.7
6dd09645 1524
19d378fc
MS
1525* Resolved 101 resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, etc. in gdb,
1526bfd, libiberty and opcodes, as revealed by static analysis donated by
1527Coverity, Inc. (http://scan.coverity.com).
1528
3a40aaa0
UW
1529* When looking up multiply-defined global symbols, GDB will now prefer the
1530symbol definition in the current shared library if it was built using the
1531-Bsymbolic linker option.
1532
a6ec25f2
BW
1533* When the Text User Interface (TUI) is not configured, GDB will now
1534recognize the -tui command-line option and print a message that the TUI
1535is not supported.
1536
6dd09645
JB
1537* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now has lower overhead for high
1538frequency signals (e.g. SIGALRM) via the QPassSignals packet.
1539
c9bb8148
DJ
1540* GDB for MIPS targets now autodetects whether a remote target provides
154132-bit or 64-bit register values.
1542
0d5de010
DJ
1543* Support for C++ member pointers has been improved.
1544
23181151
DJ
1545* GDB now understands XML target descriptions, which specify the
1546target's overall architecture. GDB can read a description from
1547a local file or over the remote serial protocol.
1548
ea37ba09
DJ
1549* Vectors of single-byte data use a new integer type which is not
1550automatically displayed as character or string data.
1551
1552* The /s format now works with the print command. It displays
1553arrays of single-byte integers and pointers to single-byte integers
1554as strings.
e1f48ead 1555
123dc839
DJ
1556* Target descriptions can now describe target-specific registers,
1557for architectures which have implemented the support (currently
8d5f9c6f 1558only ARM, M68K, and MIPS).
123dc839 1559
05a4558a
DJ
1560* GDB and the GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now support the XScale
1561iWMMXt coprocessor.
fb1e4ffc 1562
7c963485
PA
1563* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support
1564ARM Windows CE (mingw32ce) debugging, and GDB Windows CE support
1565has been rewritten to use the standard GDB remote protocol.
1566
b18be20d
DJ
1567* GDB can now step into C++ functions which are called through thunks.
1568
0ca420ce
UW
1569* GDB for the Cell/B.E. SPU now supports overlay debugging.
1570
31d99776
DJ
1571* The GDB remote protocol "qOffsets" packet can now honor ELF segment
1572layout. It also supports a TextSeg= and DataSeg= response when only
1573segment base addresses (rather than offsets) are available.
1574
a4642986
MR
1575* The /i format now outputs any trailing branch delay slot instructions
1576immediately following the last instruction within the count specified.
1577
cfa9d6d9
DJ
1578* The GDB remote protocol "T" stop reply packet now supports a
1579"library" response. Combined with the new "qXfer:libraries:read"
1580packet, this response allows GDB to debug shared libraries on targets
1581where the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries (e.g.
1582Windows and SymbianOS).
255e7678
DJ
1583
1584* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports dynamic link libraries
1585(DLLs) on Windows and Windows CE targets.
f5db8714
JK
1586
1587* GDB now supports a faster verification that a .debug file matches its binary
1588according to its build-id signature, if the signature is present.
cfa9d6d9 1589
c9bb8148
DJ
1590* New commands
1591
23776285
MR
1592set remoteflow
1593show remoteflow
1594 Enable or disable hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) on the serial port
1595 when debugging using remote targets.
1596
c9bb8148
DJ
1597set mem inaccessible-by-default
1598show mem inaccessible-by-default
1599 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
1600 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
1601 prevents GDB from accessing memory outside the memory map. This
1602 is useful for targets with memory mapped registers or which react
1603 badly to accesses of unmapped address space.
1604
1605set breakpoint auto-hw
1606show breakpoint auto-hw
1607 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
1608 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
1609 lets GDB use hardware breakpoints automatically for memory regions
1610 where it can not use software breakpoints. This covers both the
1611 "break" command and internal breakpoints used for other commands
1612 including "next" and "finish".
1613
0e420bd8
JB
1614catch exception
1615catch exception unhandled
1616 Stop the program execution when Ada exceptions are raised.
1617
1618catch assert
1619 Stop the program execution when an Ada assertion failed.
1620
f822c95b
DJ
1621set sysroot
1622show sysroot
1623 Set an alternate system root for target files. This is a more
1624 general version of "set solib-absolute-prefix", which is now
1625 an alias to "set sysroot".
1626
83cc5c53
UW
1627info spu
1628 Provide extended SPU facility status information. This set of
1629 commands is available only when debugging the Cell/B.E. SPU
1630 architecture.
1631
bd372731
MK
1632* New native configurations
1633
1634OpenBSD/sh sh*-*openbsd*
1635
23181151
DJ
1636set tdesc filename
1637unset tdesc filename
1638show tdesc filename
1639 Use the specified local file as an XML target description, and do
1640 not query the target for its built-in description.
1641
c9bb8148
DJ
1642* New targets
1643
54fe9172 1644OpenBSD/sh sh*-*-openbsd*
c9bb8148 1645MIPS64 GNU/Linux (gdbserver) mips64-linux-gnu
c077150c 1646Toshiba Media Processor mep-elf
c9bb8148 1647
6dd09645
JB
1648* New remote packets
1649
1650QPassSignals:
1651 Ignore the specified signals; pass them directly to the debugged program
1652 without stopping other threads or reporting them to GDB.
1653
23181151
DJ
1654qXfer:features:read:
1655 Read an XML target description from the target, which describes its
1656 features.
6dd09645 1657
83cc5c53
UW
1658qXfer:spu:read:
1659qXfer:spu:write:
1660 Read or write contents of an spufs file on the target system. These
1661 packets are available only on the Cell/B.E. SPU architecture.
1662
cfa9d6d9
DJ
1663qXfer:libraries:read:
1664 Report the loaded shared libraries. Combined with new "T" packet
1665 response, this packet allows GDB to debug shared libraries on
1666 targets where the operating system manages the list of loaded
1667 libraries (e.g. Windows and SymbianOS).
1668
483367ee
DJ
1669* Removed targets
1670
1671Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
1672
d08950c4
UW
1673alpha*-*-osf1*
1674alpha*-*-osf2*
7ce59000 1675d10v-*-*
483367ee
DJ
1676hppa*-*-hiux*
1677i[34567]86-ncr-*
1678i[34567]86-*-dgux*
1679i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
1680i[34567]86-*-netware*
1681i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v5*
1682i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v4*
1683i[34567]86-*-sco*
1684i[34567]86-*-sysv4.2*
1685i[34567]86-*-sysv4*
1686i[34567]86-*-sysv5*
1687i[34567]86-*-unixware2*
1688i[34567]86-*-unixware*
1689i[34567]86-*-sysv*
1690i[34567]86-*-isc*
1691m68*-cisco*-*
1692m68*-tandem-*
ad527d2e 1693mips*-*-pe
483367ee 1694rs6000-*-lynxos*
ad527d2e 1695sh*-*-pe
483367ee 1696
7ce59000
DJ
1697* Other removed features
1698
1699target abug
1700target cpu32bug
1701target est
1702target rom68k
1703
1704 Various m68k-only ROM monitors.
1705
ea35711c
DJ
1706target hms
1707target e7000
1708target sh3
1709target sh3e
1710
1711 Various Renesas ROM monitors and debugging interfaces for SH and
1712 H8/300.
1713
1714target ocd
1715
1716 Support for a Macraigor serial interface to on-chip debugging.
1717 GDB does not directly support the newer parallel or USB
1718 interfaces.
1719
7ce59000
DJ
1720DWARF 1 support
1721
1722 A debug information format. The predecessor to DWARF 2 and
1723 DWARF 3, which are still supported.
1724
54d61198
DJ
1725Support for the HP aCC compiler on HP-UX/PA-RISC
1726
1727 SOM-encapsulated symbolic debugging information, automatic
1728 invocation of pxdb, and the aCC custom C++ ABI. This does not
1729 affect HP-UX for Itanium or GCC for HP-UX/PA-RISC. Code compiled
1730 with aCC can still be debugged on an assembly level.
1731
ea35711c
DJ
1732MIPS ".pdr" sections
1733
1734 A MIPS-specific format used to describe stack frame layout
1735 in debugging information.
1736
1737Scheme support
1738
1739 GDB could work with an older version of Guile to debug
1740 the interpreter and Scheme programs running in it.
1741
1a69e1e4
DJ
1742set mips stack-arg-size
1743set mips saved-gpreg-size
1744
1745 Use "set mips abi" to control parameter passing for MIPS.
1746
6dd09645 1747*** Changes in GDB 6.6
e374b601 1748
ca3bf3bd
DJ
1749* New targets
1750
1751Xtensa xtensa-elf
9c309e77 1752Cell Broadband Engine SPU spu-elf
ca3bf3bd 1753
6aec2e11
DJ
1754* GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
1755(mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
1756running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
1757
1758* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
1759Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
1760supported.
1761
17218d91
DJ
1762* The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
1763broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
1764
9ebce043
DJ
1765* The "load" command now supports writing to flash memory, if the remote
1766stub provides the required support.
1767
7d3d3ece
DJ
1768* Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
1769longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
1770
4f8253f3
JB
1771* New commands
1772
1773set substitute-path
1774unset substitute-path
1775show substitute-path
1776 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
1777 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
1778 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
1779 between compilation and debugging.
1780
9fa66fd7
AS
1781set trace-commands
1782show trace-commands
1783 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
1784 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
1785 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
1786
1f5befc1
DJ
1787* REMOVED features
1788
1789The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
1790
2ec3381a
DJ
1791Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
1792an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
1793
3d00d119
DJ
1794The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
1795
be2a5f71
DJ
1796* New remote packets
1797
1798qSupported:
1799 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
1800 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
1801 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
1802 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
1803 target.
1804
0876f84a
DJ
1805qXfer:auxv:read:
1806 Fetch an OS auxilliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
1807 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
1808
9ebce043
DJ
1809qXfer:memory-map:read:
1810 Fetch a memory map from the remote stub, including information about
1811 RAM, ROM, and flash memory devices.
1812
1813vFlashErase:
1814vFlashWrite:
1815vFlashDone:
1816 Erase and program a flash memory device.
1817
0876f84a
DJ
1818* Removed remote packets
1819
1820qPart:auxv:read:
1821 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
1822 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
1823
e374b601 1824*** Changes in GDB 6.5
53e5f3cf 1825
96309189
MS
1826* New targets
1827
1828Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
1829
1830Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
1831
53e5f3cf
AS
1832* New commands
1833
1834init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
1835 only if it doesn't already have a value.
1836
ac264b3b
MS
1837The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
1838
1839checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
1840
1841restart <n> Return the program state to a
1842 previously saved state.
1843
1844info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
1845
1846delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
1847
1848set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
1849 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
1850
1851info forks List forks of the user program that
1852 are available to be debugged.
1853
1854fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
1855 forks of the user program that are
1856 available to be debugged.
1857
1858delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
1859 that are available to be debugged (and
1860 kill the forked process).
1861
1862detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
1863 that are available to be debugged (and
1864 allow the process to continue).
1865
3950dc3f
NS
1866* New architecture
1867
1868Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
1869
0ea3f30e
DJ
1870* Improved Windows host support
1871
1872GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
1873native console support, and remote communications using either
1874network sockets or serial ports.
1875
f79daebb
GM
1876* Improved Modula-2 language support
1877
1878GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
1879basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
1880pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
1881printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
1882written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
1883GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
1884
acab6ab2
MM
1885* REMOVED features
1886
1887The ARM rdi-share module.
1888
f4267320
DJ
1889The Netware NLM debug server.
1890
53e5f3cf 1891*** Changes in GDB 6.4
156a53ca 1892
e0ecbda1
MK
1893* New native configurations
1894
02a677ac 1895OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
e0ecbda1
MK
1896OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
1897
d64a6579
KB
1898* New targets
1899
1900Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
1901
b33a6190
AS
1902* New command line options
1903
1904--batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
1905--return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
1906 the child (debugged) program exited with.
1907--eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
1908 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
1909 specified multiple times and in conjunction
1910 with the --command (-x) option.
1911
11dced61
AC
1912* Deprecated commands removed
1913
1914The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
1915removed:
1916
1917 Command Replacement
1918 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
1919 othernames set arm disassembler
1920 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
1921 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
1922 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
1923 regs info registers
1924
6fe85783
MK
1925* New BSD user-level threads support
1926
1927It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
1928library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
1929configurations are:
1930
1931FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
1932FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
1933OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
1934
1935Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
1936are not yet supported.
1937
5260ca71
MS
1938* New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
1939(Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
1940
e84ecc99
AC
1941* REMOVED configurations and files
1942
1943VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
9445aa30 1944Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
9445aa30 1945National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
156a53ca 1946
31e35378
JB
1947* New "set print array-indexes" command
1948
1949After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
1950when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
1951behavior.
1952
e85e5c83
MK
1953* VAX floating point support
1954
1955GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
1956
d91e9901
AS
1957* User-defined command support
1958
1959In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
1960to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
1961section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
1962
f2cb65ca
MC
1963*** Changes in GDB 6.3:
1964
f47b1503
AS
1965* New command line option
1966
1967GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
1968debugging.
1969
f2cb65ca
MC
1970* GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
1971
1972GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
1973information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
1974by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
1975proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
1976to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
860660cb 1977
d08c0230
AC
1978* Internationalization
1979
1980When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
1981internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
1982continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
1983
117ea3cf
PH
1984* Ada
1985
1986Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
1987implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
1988into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
1989
d08c0230
AC
1990* New native configurations
1991
1992GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
1993
1994* Remote 'p' packet
1995
1996GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
1997packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
1998
1999* END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
2000
2001GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
2002The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
2003features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
2004i386 application).
2005
2006GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the the registers[]
2007compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
2008continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
2009configurations:
2010
2011hppa-*-hpux
2012ia64-*-aix
2013mips-*-irix*
2014*-*-lynx
2015mips-*-linux-gnu
2016sds protocol
2017xdr protocol
2018powerpc bdm protocol
2019
2020Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
2021made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
2022
2023* OBSOLETE configurations and files
2024
2025Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2026been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2027configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2028permanently REMOVED.
2029
2030h8300-*-*
2031mcore-*-*
2032mn10300-*-*
2033ns32k-*-*
2034sh64-*-*
2035v850-*-*
2036
ebb7c577
AC
2037*** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
2038
2039* MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
2040
2041When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
2042heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
2043been fixed.
2044
2045* MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
2046
2047When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
2048fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
2049IRIX long double values).
2050
2051* VAX and "next"
2052
2053A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
2054command. This problem has been fixed.
2055
860660cb 2056*** Changes in GDB 6.2:
faae5abe 2057
0dea2468
AC
2058* Fix for ``many threads''
2059
2060On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
2061rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
2062error message:
2063
2064 ptrace: No such process.
2065 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
2066
2067This problem has been fixed.
2068
2c07db7a
AC
2069* "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
2070
2071Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
2072GDB to dump core).
2073
c23968a2
JB
2074* New ``start'' command.
2075
2076This command runs the program until the begining of the main procedure.
2077
71009278
MK
2078* New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
2079
2080Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
2081live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
2082platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
2083
2084FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
2085FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
2086NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
2087NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
2088NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
2089OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
2090OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
2091OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
2092OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
2093
3c0b7db2
AC
2094* Signal trampoline code overhauled
2095
2096Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
2097These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
2098of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
2099call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
2100signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
2101
73cc75f3
AC
2102Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
2103features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
2104include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
3c0b7db2 2105
7243600a
BF
2106* Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
2107
6f606e1c
MK
2108* New native configurations
2109
97dc871c 2110GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
0e56aeaf 2111OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
bf2ca189
MK
2112OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
2113OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
d195bc9f 2114OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
6f606e1c 2115NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
9f076e7a 2116OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
6f606e1c 2117
a1b461bf
AC
2118* END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
2119
2120GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
2121The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
2122including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
2123migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
2124compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
2125work, was also included.
2126
2127GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
2128module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
2129
2130h8300-*-*
2131mcore-*-*
2132mn10300-*-*
2133ns32k-*-*
2134sh64-*-*
2135v850-*-*
2136xstormy16-*-*
2137
2138Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
2139made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
2140
3c7012f5
AC
2141* REMOVED configurations and files
2142
2143Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
2144Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
2145Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
2146Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
2147Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
2148AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
2149Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
2150decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
2151riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
2152sonymips mips-sony-*
2153sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
2154
e5fe55f7
AC
2155*** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
2156
2157* TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
2158
2159The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
2160GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
2161command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
2162program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
2163with GDB".
2164
2165* Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
2166
2167Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
2168libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
2169cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
2170GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
2171shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
2172the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
2173are created.
2174
2175Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
2176
2177* Fixed ISO-C build problems
2178
2179The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
2180non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
2181compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
2182
2183* Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
2184
2185Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
2186wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
2187
2188* Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
2189
2190The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
2191permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
2192systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
2193
2194* Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
2195
2196Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
2197has been updated to use constant array sizes.
2198
2199* Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
2200
2201GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
2202its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
2203panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
2204
2205* Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
2206
2207When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
2208by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
2209not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
2210
faae5abe 2211*** Changes in GDB 6.1:
f2c06f52 2212
9175c9a3
MC
2213* Removed --with-mmalloc
2214
2215Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
2216conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
2217
3cc87ec0
MK
2218* Changes in AMD64 configurations
2219
2220The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
2221the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
2222and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
2223you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
2224
f0424ef6
MK
2225* Revised SPARC target
2226
2227The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
2228FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
03cebad2
MK
2229support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
2230from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
2231(Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
f0424ef6 2232
59659be2
ILT
2233* New C++ demangler
2234
2235GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
2236names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
2237with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
2238programs.
2239
9e08b29b
DJ
2240* DWARF 2 Location Expressions
2241
2242GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
2243arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
2244encountered these.
2245
8dfe8985
DC
2246* C++ nested types and namespaces
2247
2248GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
2249improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
2250is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
2251Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
2252namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
2253"Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
2254frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
2255if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
2256GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
2257
cced5e27
MK
2258* New native configurations
2259
2260NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
27d1e716 2261OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
2031c21a 2262OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
f2cab569
MK
2263OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
2264OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
cced5e27 2265
b4b4b794
KI
2266* New debugging protocols
2267
2268M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
2269
7989c619
AC
2270* "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
2271
2272The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
2273and its very obscure effet on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
2274tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
2275
5994185b
AC
2276* OBSOLETE configurations and files
2277
2278Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2279been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2280configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2281permanently REMOVED.
2282
2283Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
2284Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
2285Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
2286Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
2287Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
2288AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
2289Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
0748d941
AC
2290decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
2291riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
2292sonymips mips-sony-*
2293sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
5994185b 2294
0ddabb4c
AC
2295* REMOVED configurations and files
2296
2297SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
2298SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
4a8269c0
AC
2299Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
2300Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
2301H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
2302HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
2303HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
2304HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
2305PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
cf7c5c23 2306386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
4a8269c0
AC
2307Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
2308 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
2309 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
f0424ef6
MK
2310SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
2311SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
4a8269c0
AC
2312Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
2313Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
0ddabb4c 2314
c7f1390e
DJ
2315*** Changes in GDB 6.0:
2316
1fe43d45
AC
2317* Objective-C
2318
2319Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
2320integrated into GDB.
2321
e6beb428
AC
2322* New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
2323
2324DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
2325information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
2326By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
2327backtraces.
2328
2329The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
2330have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
2331DWARF 2 CFI support.
2332
2333* Hosted file I/O.
2334
2335GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
2336file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
2337remote protocol documentation for details.
2338
2339* All targets using the new architecture framework.
2340
2341All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
2342architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
2343to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
2344ppc32 on ppc64).
2345
2346* GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
2347
2348GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
2349per-thread variables.
2350
2351* GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
2352
2353GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
2354GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
2355
2356* Separate debug info.
2357
2358GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
2359automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
2360of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
2361system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
2362and optional debug files.
2363
2364* DWARF 2 Location Expressions
2365
2366DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
2367describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
2368debugger.
2369
2370GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
2371for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
2372
2373* Java
2374
2375A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
2376Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
2377considered "useable".
2378
85f8f974
DJ
2379* GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
2380
2381The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
2382commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
2383kernel.
2384
0fac0b41
DJ
2385* GDB supports logging output to a file
2386
2387There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
2388used to capture GDB's output to a file.
f2c06f52 2389
6ad8ae5c
DJ
2390* The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
2391
2392The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
2393disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
2394command.
2395
e286caf2 2396* d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
5f601589
AC
2397
2398The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
2399registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
2400
d28f9cdf
DJ
2401* Profiling support
2402
2403A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
2404be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
2405session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
2406"--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
2407data, for more informative profiling results.
2408
da0f9dcd
AC
2409* Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
2410
2411The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
2412option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
b68767c1 2413"mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
da0f9dcd
AC
2414
2415Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
2416removed.
2417
fb9b6b35
JJ
2418Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
2419Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
2420Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
2421 in a subsequent -var-update.
2422
954a4db8
MK
2423* New native configurations.
2424
2425FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
2426
6760f9e6
JB
2427* Multi-arched targets.
2428
b4263afa 2429HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
85a453d5 2430Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
6760f9e6 2431
1b831c93
AC
2432* OBSOLETE configurations and files
2433
2434Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2435been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2436configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2437permanently REMOVED.
2438
8b0e5691 2439Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
67f16606 2440Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
fd2299bd 2441H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
56056df7
AC
2442HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
2443HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
2444HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
78c43945 2445PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
2fbce691
AC
2446Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
2447 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
2448 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
f81824a9
AC
2449Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
2450Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
fd2299bd 2451
5835abe7
NC
2452* REMOVED configurations and files
2453
2454V850EA ISA
1b831c93
AC
2455Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
2456IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
2457i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
2458i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
2459i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
2460HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
2461 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
2462 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
2463Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
2464Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
2465Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
2466OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
2467I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5835abe7 2468
a094c6fb
AC
2469* MIPS $fp behavior changed
2470
2471The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
2472the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
2473context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
2474address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
2475The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
2476
299ffc64 2477*** Changes in GDB 5.3:
37057839 2478
46248966
AC
2479* GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
2480
2481When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
2482`/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
2483in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
2484library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
2485shared libs like mad''.
2486
b9d14705 2487* ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
6da02953 2488
b9d14705
DJ
2489Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
2490the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
2491arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
2492powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
6da02953 2493
e0e9281e
JB
2494* GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
2495
2496GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
2497and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
2498they expand.
2499
dd73b9bb
AC
2500The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
2501invocations in expression, and shows the result.
2502
2503The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
2504macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
2505
e0e9281e
JB
2506Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
2507information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
2508your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
2509information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
2510
2250ee0c
CV
2511* Multi-arched targets.
2512
6e3ba3b8
JT
2513DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
2514DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
2250ee0c 2515NEC V850 v850-*-*
6e3ba3b8 2516National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
a1789893
GS
2517Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
2518Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
2250ee0c 2519
cd9bfe15 2520* New targets.
e33ce519 2521
456f8b9d
DB
2522Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
2523
e33ce519 2524
da8ca43d
JT
2525* New native configurations
2526
2527Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
029923d4 2528SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
45888261 2529MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
9ce5c36a 2530UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
da8ca43d 2531
cd9bfe15
AC
2532* OBSOLETE configurations and files
2533
2534Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2535been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2536configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2537permanently REMOVED.
2538
92eb23c5 2539Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
a99a9e1b 2540OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
1c7cc583 2541IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
7a3085c1 2542Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
7fb623f7 2543Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
eb4c54a2 2544Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
d8ee244c
MK
2545i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
2546i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
2547i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
822e978b
AC
2548HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
2549 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
2550 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
4d210288 2551I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
92eb23c5 2552
db034ac5
AC
2553* OBSOLETE languages
2554
2555CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
2556
cd9bfe15
AC
2557* REMOVED configurations and files
2558
2559AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
2560A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
2561AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
2562AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
2563AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
2564
2565testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
2566
20f01a46
DH
2567* New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
2568
2569This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
2570commands. The default is 1024.
2571
a5941fbf
MK
2572* Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
2573
2574Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
2575
89743e04
MS
2576* New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
2577
2578These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
2579to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
2580from a file into memory (restore).
37057839 2581
9fb14e79
JB
2582* Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
2583
2584The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
2585including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
2586of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
2587
2037aebb
AC
2588*** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
2589
2590* New targets.
2591
2592Atmel AVR avr*-*-*
2593
2594* Bug fixes
2595
2596gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
2597mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
2598Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
2599
2600gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
2601dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
2602Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
2603
2604Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
2605Surprisingly enough, it works now.
2606By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
2607
2608i386 hardware watchpoint support:
2609avoid misses on second run for some targets.
2610By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
2611
37057839 2612*** Changes in GDB 5.2:
eb7cedd9 2613
1a703748
MS
2614* New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
2615
2616This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
2617really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
2618In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
2619target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
2620This can be a significant performance improvement on some
2621(notably embedded) targets.
2622
cefd4ef5
MS
2623* New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
2624
55241689
AC
2625This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
2626process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
2627GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
2628hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
cefd4ef5 2629
352ed7b4
MS
2630* New command line option
2631
2632GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
2633
2634* Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
2635
2636There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
2637command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
2638a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
2639be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
2640open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
2641issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
2642a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
2643it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
2644GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
2645is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
2646
fe419ffc
RE
2647* Changes in ARM configurations.
2648
2649Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
2650configuration is fully multi-arch.
2651
eb7cedd9
MK
2652* New native configurations
2653
fe419ffc 2654ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
eb7cedd9 2655x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
55241689 2656AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
768f0842 2657Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
eb7cedd9 2658
c9f63e6b
CV
2659* New targets
2660
2661Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
2662
9b4ff276
AC
2663* OBSOLETE configurations and files
2664
2665Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2666been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2667configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2668permanently REMOVED.
2669
2670AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
2671A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
2672AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
2673AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
2674AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
2675
b4ceaee6 2676testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
9b4ff276 2677
e2caac18
AC
2678* REMOVED configurations and files
2679
2680TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
7bc65f05 2681WDC 65816 w65-*-*
7768dd6c
AC
2682PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
2683PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
2684PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
5e734e1f 2685Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
1406caf7
AC
2686Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
2687 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
7e24f0b1 2688SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
9b567150 2689Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
3680c638
AC
2690Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
2691ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
a752853e 2692Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
e2caac18 2693
c2a727fa
TT
2694* Changes to command line processing
2695
2696The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
2697for the inferior from gdb's command line.
2698
467d8519
TT
2699* Changes to key bindings
2700
2701There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
2702
7072a954
AC
2703*** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
2704
2705Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
2706
2707Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
2708corrupted.
2709
2710Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
2711
2712Numerous documentation fixes.
2713
2714Numerous testsuite fixes.
2715
34f47bc4 2716*** Changes in GDB 5.1:
139760b7
MK
2717
2718* New native configurations
2719
2720Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
2721x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
55241689 2722MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
e23194cb
EZ
2723MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
2724ia64 AIX ia64-*-aix*
55241689 2725s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
139760b7 2726
bf64bfd6
AC
2727* New targets
2728
def90278 2729Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
24be5c34 2730CRIS cris-axis
55241689 2731UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
def90278 2732
17e78a56 2733* OBSOLETE configurations and files
bf64bfd6
AC
2734
2735x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
9b9c068d 2736Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
bb19ff3b
AC
2737Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
2738 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
76f4ea53
AC
2739TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
2740WDC 65816 w65-*-*
4a1968f4 2741Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
1b2b2c16
AC
2742PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
2743PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
2744PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
24f89b68 2745SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
514e603d
AC
2746Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
2747ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
d036b4d9 2748Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
bf64bfd6 2749
17e78a56
AC
2750stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
2751kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
2752
7fcca85b
AC
2753Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2754been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2755configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2756permanently REMOVED.
2757
a196c81c 2758* REMOVED configurations and files
7fcca85b
AC
2759
2760Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
2761Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
2762Pyramid pyramid-*-*
2763ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
2764Tahoe tahoe-*-*
a196c81c 2765ser-ocd.c *-*-*
bf64bfd6 2766
6d6b80e5 2767* GDB has been converted to ISO C.
e23194cb 2768
6d6b80e5 2769GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
e23194cb
EZ
2770sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
2771present.
2772
bf64bfd6
AC
2773* Other news:
2774
e23194cb
EZ
2775* "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
2776
2777* The MI enabled by default.
2778
2779The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
2780revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
2781engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
2782using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
2783which is now deprecated.
2784
2785* Support for debugging Pascal programs.
2786
2787GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
2788main features are supported:
2789
2790 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
2791
2792 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
2793 extension;
2794
2795 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
2796
2797 - a Pascal expression parser.
2798
2799However, some important features are not yet supported.
2800
2801 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
2802
2803 - there are some problems with boolean types;
2804
2805 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
2806 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
2807
2808 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
2809
2810 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
2811
2812* Changes in completion.
2813
2814Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
2815to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
2816users expect at the shell prompt.
2817
2818Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
2819`breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
2820program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
2821files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
2822be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
2823considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
2824name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
2825
2826`set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
2827
2828* New platform-independent commands:
2829
2830It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
2831hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
2832documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
2833
2834* Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
2835
d7275149
MK
2836Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
2837revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
2838many threads as your system allows you to have.
2839
e23194cb
EZ
2840Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
2841
d7275149
MK
2842Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
2843multi-threaded programs though.
e23194cb
EZ
2844
2845* Changes in MIPS configurations.
bf64bfd6
AC
2846
2847Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
2848
e23194cb
EZ
2849GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
2850debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
2851supported.)
2852
2853* Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
2854
2855Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
2856breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
2857implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
2858put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
2859and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
2860registers.
2861
2862The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
2863debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
2864watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
2865
2866* Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
2867
2868New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
2869the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
2870
2871New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
2872display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
2873IDT.
2874
2875New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
2876from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
2877New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
2878a given linear address.
2879
2880GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
2881program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
2882which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
2883
2884DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
2885
6c56c069
EZ
2886It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
2887
e23194cb
EZ
2888* Changes in documentation.
2889
2890All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
2891Documentation License.
2892
2893Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
2894manual.
2895
2896TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
2897
2898Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
2899manual.
2900
2901The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
2902documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
2903hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
2904
5d6640b1
AC
2905* GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
2906
2907The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
2908``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
2909contents of this file.
2910
1a1d8446
AC
2911* gdba.el deleted
2912
2913GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
139760b7 2914
9debab2f 2915*** Changes in GDB 5.0:
7a292a7a 2916
c63ce875
EZ
2917* Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
2918
2919Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
2920programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
2921displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
2922greater level of detail.
2923
2924* Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
2925
2926It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
2927bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
2928on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
2929written.
2930
2931* Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
2932
2933The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
2934necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
2935machines ``out of the box''.
2936
2937The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
2938possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
2939signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
2940would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
2941interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
2942
2943It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
2944standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
2945even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
2946and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
2947terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
2948
2949The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
2950enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
2951also works.
2952
2953DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
2954GDB.
2955
2956It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
2957directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
2958times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
2959breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
2960
ed9a39eb
JM
2961* New native configurations
2962
2963ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
afc05dd4 2964PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
ed9a39eb 2965
7a292a7a
SS
2966* New targets
2967
96baa820 2968Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
adf40b2e
JM
2969x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
2970PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
7a292a7a
SS
2971TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
2972
085dd6e6
JM
2973* OBSOLETE configurations
2974
2975Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
2976Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
9846de1b 2977Pyramid pyramid-*-*
ed9a39eb 2978ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
104c1213 2979Tahoe tahoe-*-*
7a292a7a 2980
9debab2f
AC
2981Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
2982but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
2983these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
2984be permanently REMOVED.
2985
5330533d
SS
2986* Gould support removed
2987
2988Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
2989
bc9e5bbf
AC
2990* New features for SVR4
2991
2992On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
2993without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
2994load symbols from the running process's executable file.
2995
2996* Many C++ enhancements
2997
2998C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
2999in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
3000
adf40b2e
JM
3001* Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
3002
3003A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
3004sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
3005with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
3006``|<program> <args>'' vis:
3007
3008 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
3009 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
3010
43e526b9
JM
3011* MIPS 64 remote protocol
3012
3013A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
3014expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transfered as 32
3015instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
3016
3017The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
3018added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
3019
96baa820
JM
3020* ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
3021
3022The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
3023``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
3024include ``set remote P-packet''.
3025
11cf8741
JM
3026* Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
3027
3028The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
3029accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
3030``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
3031
7876dd43
DB
3032* ``apropos'' command added.
3033
3034The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
3035documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
3036try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
3037
bc9e5bbf
AC
3038* New MI interface
3039
3040A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
3041interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
7162c0ca
EZ
3042process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
3043"GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
3044enabled by configuring with:
bc9e5bbf
AC
3045
3046 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
3047
c906108c
SS
3048*** Changes in GDB-4.18:
3049
3050* New native configurations
3051
3052HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
3053HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
55241689 3054M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
c906108c
SS
3055
3056* New targets
3057
3058Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
3059Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
3060Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
3061
3062* OBSOLETE configurations
3063
3064Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
3065
3066Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
3067but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
3068these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
3069be permanently REMOVED.
3070
3071* ANSI/ISO C
3072
3073As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
3074buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
3075containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
3076use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
3077available. If this is not true, please report the affected
3078configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
3079information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
3080already.
3081
3082* Readline 2.2
3083
3084GDB now uses readline 2.2.
3085
3086* set extension-language
3087
3088You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
3089languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
3090you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
3091 set extension-language .c c++
3092The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
3093and their associated languages.
3094
3095* Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
3096
3097When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
3098you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
3099PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
3100
3101 set processor NAME
3102
3103sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
3104following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
3105
3106 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
3107 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
3108 403 IBM PowerPC 403
3109 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
3110 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
3111 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
3112 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
3113 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
3114 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
3115 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
3116 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
3117
3118At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
3119special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
3120registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
3121only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
3122
3123* HP-UX support
3124
3125Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
3126more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
3127library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
3128support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
3129for xdb and dbx commands.
3130
3131* Catchpoints
3132
3133HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
3134generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
3135to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
3136
3137This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
3138argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
3139output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
3140
3141* Debugging across forks
3142
3143On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
3144in the inferior.
3145
3146* TUI
3147
3148HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
3149it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
3150configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
3151
3152* GDB remote protocol additions
3153
3154A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
3155Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
3156fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
3157allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
3158
3159For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
3160full 64-bit address. The command
3161
3162 set remoteaddresssize 32
3163
3164can be used to revert to the old behaviour. For existing remote stubs
3165the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
3166will be discarded.
3167
3168In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
3169command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
3170
3171 maint packet heythere
3172
3173sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
3174disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
3175time.
3176
3177The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
3178target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
3179downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
3180
3181* Tracing can collect general expressions
3182
3183You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
3184further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
3185doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
3186
3187* mask-address variable for Mips
3188
3189For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
3190a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
3191of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
3192
3193* Higher serial baud rates
3194
3195GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
3196230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
3197to achieve all of these rates.)
3198
3199* i960 simulator
3200
3201The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
3202builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
3203
3204
3205*** Changes in GDB-4.17:
3206
3207* New native configurations
3208
3209Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
3210Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
3211Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
3212PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
3213PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
3214Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
3215Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
3216
3217* New targets
3218
3219Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
3220Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
3221Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
3222Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
3223MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
3224MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
3225MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
3226Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
3227Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
3228Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
3229NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
3230
3231* New debugging protocols
3232
3233ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
3234M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
3235DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
3236PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
3237PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
3238Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
3239
3240* DWARF 2
3241
3242All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
3243format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
3244information.
3245
3246* Java frontend
3247
3248GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
3249only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
3250
3251* solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
3252
3253For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
3254loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
3255locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
3256
3257* Live range splitting
3258
3259GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
3260range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
3261more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
3262
3263* Hurd support
3264
3265GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
3266updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
3267
3268* ARM Thumb support
3269
3270GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
3271instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
3272instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
3273accordingly.
3274
3275* MIPS16 support
3276
3277GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
3278instruction set.
3279
3280* Overlay support
3281
3282GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
3283linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
3284will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
3285control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
3286additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
3287in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
3288
3289* info symbol
3290
3291The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
3292the symbol at the specified address.
3293
3294* Trace support
3295
3296The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
3297asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
3298extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
3299includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
3300file tracepoint.c for more details.
3301
3302* MIPS simulator
3303
3304Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
3305by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
3306of most MIPS variants.
3307
3308* Sparc simulator
3309
3310Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
3311by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
3312Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
3313
3314* set architecture
3315
3316For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
3317basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
3318architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
3319the possible architectures.
3320
3321*** Changes in GDB-4.16:
3322
3323* New native configurations
3324
3325Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
3326M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
3327PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
3328PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
3329PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
3330RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
3331
3332* New targets
3333
3334ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
3335I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
3336MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
3337MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
3338PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
3339Hitachi SH3 sh-*-*
3340Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
3341
3342* PowerPC simulator
3343
3344The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
3345contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
3346PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
3347basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
3348performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
3349
3350* Solaris 2.5
3351
3352GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
3353
3354* Windows 95/NT native
3355
3356GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
3357To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
3358which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
3359Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
3360ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
3361
3362* dont-repeat command
3363
3364If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
3365command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
3366useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
3367extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
3368
3369* Send break instead of ^C
3370
3371The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
3372rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
3373GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
3374
3375* Remote protocol timeout
3376
3377The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
3378that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
3379to read from the target. The default value is 2.
3380
3381* Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
3382
3383By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
3384loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
3385stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
3386when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
3387in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
3388
3389Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
3390/usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
3391automatically on hpux10.
3392
3393* Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
3394
3395Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
3396
3397* Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
3398
3399When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
3400may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
3401the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
3402every character. The default value is 1050.
3403
3404* Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
3405
3406If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
3407a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
3408replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
3409details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
3410remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
3411to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
3412
3413* Speedups for remote debugging
3414
3415GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
3416the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
3417and more efficient S-record downloading.
3418
3419* Memory use reductions and statistics collection
3420
3421GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
3422Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
3423
3424*** Changes in GDB-4.15:
3425
3426* Psymtabs for XCOFF
3427
3428The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
3429can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
3430
3431* Remote targets use caching
3432
3433Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
3434remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
3435it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
3436debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
3437off' turns the the data cache off.
3438
3439* Remote targets may have threads
3440
3441The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
3442in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
3443gdb/remote.c for details.
3444
3445* NetROM support
3446
3447If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
3448support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
3449acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
3450write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
3451support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
3452another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
3453sequence is something like
3454
3455 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
3456 load <prog>
3457 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
3458
3459* Macintosh host
3460
3461GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
3462may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
3463it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
3464available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
3465device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
3466directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
3467scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
3468mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
3469
3470* Autoconf
3471
3472GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
3473but does simplify configuration and building.
3474
3475* hpux10
3476
3477GDB now supports hpux10.
3478
3479*** Changes in GDB-4.14:
3480
3481* New native configurations
3482
3483x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
3484x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
3485NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
3486Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
3487
3488* New targets
3489
3490A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
3491HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
3492CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
3493PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
3494WDC 65816 w65-*-*
3495
3496* Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
3497
3498GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
3499possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
3500filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
3501the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
3502if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
3503
3504* Arguments to user-defined commands
3505
3506User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
3507Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
3508trivial example:
3509define adder
3510 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
3511
3512To execute the command use:
3513adder 1 2 3
3514
3515Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
3516Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
3517use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
3518
3519* New `if' and `while' commands
3520
3521This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
3522commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
3523expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
3524execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
3525terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
3526`else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
3527if the expression is zero.
3528
3529* Fortran source language mode
3530
3531GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
3532Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
3533variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
3534with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
3535Fortran compilers.
3536
3537* Better HPUX support
3538
3539Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
3540running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
3541processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
3542for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
3543that behavior do the following before running the program:
3544
3545 adb -w a.out
3546 __dld_flags?W 0x5
3547 control-d
3548
3549This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
3550To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
3551
3552 adb -w a.out
3553 __dld_flags?W 0x4
3554 control-d
3555
3556You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
3557the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
3558external linkage.
3559
3560GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
3561HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
3562
3563* Target byte order now dynamically selectable
3564
3565You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
3566commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
3567current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
3568"set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
3569associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
3570configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
3571
3572* New DOS host serial code
3573
3574This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
3575no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
3576a PC's serial port.
3577
3578*** Changes in GDB-4.13:
3579
3580* New "complete" command
3581
3582This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
3583were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
3584
3585* Trailing space optional in prompt
3586
3587"set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
3588allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
3589
3590* Breakpoint hit counts
3591
3592"info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
3593has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
3594can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
3595to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
3596less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
3597that breakpoint.
3598
3599* Ability to stop printing at NULL character
3600
3601"set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
3602an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
3603arrays actually contain only short strings.
3604
3605* Shared library breakpoints
3606
3607In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
3608breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
3609
3610* Hardware watchpoints
3611
3612There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
3613targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
3614
55241689 3615Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
c906108c
SS
3616
3617* Annotations
3618
3619Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
3620and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
3621
3622* Improved Irix 5 support
3623
3624GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
3625
3626* Improved HPPA support
3627
3628GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
3629
3630* New native configurations
3631
3632Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
3633HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
3634Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
3635RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
3636
3637* New targets
3638
3639OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
3640MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
3641Sparc64 sparc64-*-*
3642
3643* Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
3644
3645There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
3646This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
3647
3648* Fixes
3649
3650As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
3651and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
3652
3653*** Changes in GDB-4.12:
3654
3655* Irix 5 is now supported
3656
3657* HPPA support
3658
3659GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
3660to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
3661GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
3662of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
3663can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
3664
3665
3666*** Changes in GDB-4.11:
3667
3668* User visible changes:
3669
3670* Remote Debugging
3671
3672The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
3673target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
3674debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
3675integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
3676debugging info for the mips target).
3677
3678* DEC Alpha native support
3679
3680GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
3681debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
3682work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
3683Alpha-specific notes.
3684
3685* Preliminary thread implementation
3686
3687GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
3688
3689* LynxOS native and target support for 386
3690
3691This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
3692to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
3693for details).
3694
3695* Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
3696
3697This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
3698mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
3699call methods, ...etc.
3700
3701*** Changes in GDB-4.10:
3702
3703 * User visible changes:
3704
3705Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
3706supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
3707other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
3708somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
3709
3710Filename completion now works.
3711
3712When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
3713arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
3714addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
3715
3716All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
3717vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
3718should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
3719your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
3720to be on the far side of a thin network line.
3721
3722 * DEC alpha support
3723
3724This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
3725cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
3726
3727
3728*** Changes in GDB-4.9:
3729
3730 * Testsuite
3731
3732This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
3733The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
3734via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
3735
3736 * C++ demangling
3737
3738'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
3739emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
3740Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
3741disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
3742use gdb with AT&T cfront.
3743
3744 * Simulators
3745
3746GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
3747So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
3748Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
3749
3750 * New targets supported
3751
3752H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
3753H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
3754SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
3755Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
3756IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
3757
3758Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
3759version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
3760GO32 memory extender.
3761
3762 * New remote protocols
3763
3764MIPS remote debugging protocol.
3765
3766 * New source languages supported
3767
3768This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
3769used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
3770into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available.
3771
3772
3773*** Changes in GDB-4.8:
3774
3775 * HP Precision Architecture supported
3776
3777GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
3778version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
3779University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
3780compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
3781format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
3782(as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
3783
3784Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
3785
3786 * Faster and better demangling
3787
3788We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
3789demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
3790character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
3791only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
3792This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
3793increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
3794symbol lookups.
3795
3796`Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
3797from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
3798compiler does not actually implement.
3799
3800 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
3801
3802In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
3803inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
3804recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
3805very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
3806The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
3807circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
3808fix.
3809
3810The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
3811release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
3812
3813 * Improved configure script
3814
3815The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
3816you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
3817host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
3818done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
3819
3820We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
3821version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
3822`--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
3823The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
3824only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
3825We hope to make this the default in a future release.
3826
3827 * Documentation improvements
3828
3829There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
3830produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
3831before submitting changes.
3832
3833The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
3834M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
3835`info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
3836you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
3837a future texinfo-X.Y release.
3838
3839*NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
3840We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
3841been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
3842or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
3843`texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
3844around this problem.
3845
3846 * New features
3847
3848GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
3849the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
3850`print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
3851the target program.
3852
3853The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
3854how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
3855
3856 * New native hosts supported
3857
3858HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
3859386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
3860
3861 * New targets supported
3862
3863AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
3864
3865 * New file formats supported
3866
3867BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
3868HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
3869
3870 * Major bug fixes
3871
3872Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
3873
3874We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
3875printf_filtered("%s") problems.
3876
3877We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
3878for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
3879release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
3880
3881You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
3882will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
3883
3884We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
3885for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
3886especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
3887libraries.
3888
3889The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
3890information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
3891command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
3892any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
3893when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
3894
3895 * Internal improvements
3896
3897GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
3898debugging of multiple languages in the future.
3899
3900GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
3901Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
3902symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
3903contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
3904shared code that handles any of them.
3905
3906 * New command line options
3907
3908We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
3909
3910 * Mmalloc licensing
3911
3912The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
3913General Public License.
3914
3915*** Changes in GDB-4.7:
3916
3917 * Host/native/target split
3918
3919GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
3920hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
3921target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
3922local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
3923ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
3924
3925The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
3926GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
3927is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
3928code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
3929any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
3930built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
3931handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
3932
3933GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
3934It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
3935plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
3936
3937 * New hosts supported
3938
3939HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
3940386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
3941386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
3942
3943 * New targets supported
3944
3945Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
394668030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
3947
3948 * New native hosts supported
3949
3950386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
3951 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
3952386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
3953
3954 * New file formats supported
3955
3956BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
3957supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
3958format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
3959
3960 * New commands
3961
3962`show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
3963`show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
3964These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
3965
3966`info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
3967
3968You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
3969scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
3970prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
3971executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
3972
3973 * C++ improvements
3974
3975We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
3976info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
3977symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
3978
3979Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
3980
3981 * Major bug fixes
3982
3983The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
3984fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
3985by the compiler.
3986
3987We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
3988support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
3989
3990John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
3991slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
3992that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
3993purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
3994the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
3995mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
3996
3997Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
3998about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
3999completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
4000we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
4001
4002 * AMD 29k support
4003
4004A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
4005specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
4006calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
4007usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
4008in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
4009
4010We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
4011Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
4012of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
4013resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
4014
4015 * Remote interfaces
4016
4017We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
4018with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
4019message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
4020This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
4021needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
4022breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
4023each instruction being stepped through.
4024
4025The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
4026registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
4027
4028There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
4029find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
4030Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
4031processor with a serial port.
4032
4033 * Configuration
4034
4035Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
4036`table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
4037supported, and what files each one uses.
4038
4039 * Library changes
4040
4041There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
4042disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
4043Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
4044disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
4045
4046The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
4047Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
4048can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
4049grants all the rights from the General Public License.
4050
4051 * Documentation
4052
4053The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
4054reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
4055as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
4056encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
4057system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
4058bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
4059
4060And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
4061
4062
4063*** Changes in GDB-4.6:
4064
4065 * Better support for C++ function names
4066
4067GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
4068names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
4069(using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
4070single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
4071Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
4072
4073GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
4074the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
4075You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
4076lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
4077for the list of formats.
4078
4079 * G++ symbol mangling problem
4080
4081Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
4082C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
4083directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
4084can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The
4085usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
4086about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
4087this problem.)
4088
4089 * New 'maintenance' command
4090
4091All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
4092the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
4093can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
4094
4095 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
4096 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
4097 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
4098 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
4099 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
4100 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
4101
4102The following commands are new:
4103
4104 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
4105 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
4106 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
4107
4108 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
4109
4110We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
4111(e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
4112be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
4113read after argv processing.
4114
4115 * New hosts supported
4116
4117Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
4118
55241689 4119GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
c906108c
SS
4120
4121We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
4122is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
4123for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
4124masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
4125fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
4126It costs extra.
4127
4128 * New targets supported
4129
4130Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
4131
4132 * More smarts about finding #include files
4133
4134GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
4135all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
4136greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
4137especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
4138the one that contains your sources.
4139
4140We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
4141breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
4142try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
4143
4144 * Interesting infernals change
4145
4146GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
4147section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
4148target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
4149stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
4150
4151 * Bug fixes (of course!)
4152
4153There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
4154 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
4155 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
4156
4157See the ChangeLog for details.
4158
4159*** Changes in GDB-4.5:
4160
4161 * New machines supported (host and target)
4162
4163IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
4164
4165SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
4166
4167 * New malloc package
4168
4169GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
4170Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also
4171capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
4172This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
4173pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
4174more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
4175
4176 * info proc
4177
4178The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
4179'help info proc' for details.
4180
4181 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
4182
4183The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
4184Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
4185possible.
4186
4187 * File name changes for MS-DOS
4188
4189Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
4190support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
4191conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
4192environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
4193that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
4194in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
4195
4196 * Cross byte order fixes
4197
4198Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
4199targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
4200
4201 * New -mapped and -readnow options
4202
4203If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
4204system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
4205`symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
4206program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
4207called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
4208Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
4209and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
4210the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
4211option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
4212starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
4213
4214You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
4215the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
4216information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
4217slower, but makes future operations faster.
4218
4219The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
4220build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
4221A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
4222use is:
4223
4224 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
4225
4226The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
4227It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
4228shared across multiple host platforms.
4229
4230 * longjmp() handling
4231
4232GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
4233siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
4234all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
4235platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
4236
4237 * Solaris 2.0
4238
4239Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
4240this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
4241reading symbols.
4242
4243 * Bug fixes
4244
4245As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
4246People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
4247crashes and trashed symbol tables.
4248
4249*** Changes in GDB-4.4:
4250
4251 * New machines supported (host and target)
4252
4253SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
4254 (except core files)
4255BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
4256Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
4257
4258 * New machines supported (target)
4259
4260AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
4261
4262 * C++ support
4263
4264GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
4265The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
4266per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
4267
4268GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
4269`ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
4270extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
4271good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
4272will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
4273released.
4274
4275 * New features for SVR4
4276
4277GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
4278shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
4279only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
4280
4281The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
4282on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
4283it prints the address mappings of the process.
4284
4285If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
4286bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
4287
4288 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
4289
4290Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
4291now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
4292skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
4293make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
4294same code linked statically.
4295
4296 * New Getopt
4297
4298GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
4299version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
4300continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
4301Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
4302added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
4303future by other options that begin with the same letter.
4304
4305 * Bugs fixed
4306
4307The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
4308Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
4309See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
4310
4311
4312*** Changes in GDB-4.3:
4313
4314 * New machines supported (host and target)
4315
4316Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
4317NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
4318Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
4319
4320 * Almost SCO Unix support
4321
4322We had hoped to support:
4323SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
4324(except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
4325that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
4326about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
4327
4328 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
4329
4330GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
4331debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
4332is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
4333send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
4334reqired (if any).
4335
4336 * New Readline
4337
4338GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
4339is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
4340required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
4341
4342 * Bugs fixed
4343
4344The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
4345Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
4346See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
4347
4348 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
4349
4350GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
4351supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
4352symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
4353
4354Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
4355mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
4356debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
4357mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
4358version 2.
4359
4360Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
4361really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
4362line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
4363variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
4364situation somewhat.
4365
4366When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
4367However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
4368methods.
4369
4370We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
4371DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
4372encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
4373
4374
4375*** Changes in GDB-4.2:
4376
4377 * Improved configuration
4378
4379Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
4380Porting BFD is simpler.
4381
4382 * Stepping improved
4383
4384The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
4385of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
4386in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
4387function that has debugging information is called within the line.
4388
4389 * Bug fixing
4390
4391Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
4392
4393 * New host supported (not target)
4394
4395Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
4396
4397
4398*** Changes in GDB-4.1:
4399
4400 * Multiple source language support
4401
4402GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
4403It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
4404and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
4405language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
4406You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
4407`set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
4408
4409 * GDB and Modula-2
4410
4411GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
4412currently under development at the State University of New York at
4413Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
4414continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
4415
4416Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
4417debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
4418symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
4419
4420There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
4421in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
4422
4423 * set write on/off
4424
4425GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
4426a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
4427the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
4428by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
4429effect immediately.
4430
4431 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
4432
4433When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
4434shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
4435The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
4436examining core files.
4437
4438 * set listsize
4439
4440You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
4441The default is 10.
4442
4443 * New machines supported (host and target)
4444
4445SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
4446Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
4447Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
4448
4449 * New hosts supported (not targets)
4450
4451IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
4452
4453 * New targets supported (not hosts)
4454
4455AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
4456AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
4457Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
4458
4459 * New remote interfaces
4460
4461AMD 29000 Adapt
4462AMD 29000 Minimon
4463
4464
4465*** Changes in GDB-4.0:
4466
4467 * New Facilities
4468
4469Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
4470
4471Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
4472target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
4473is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
4474remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
4475remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
4476also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
4477using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
4478stub on the target system.
4479
4480New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
4481
4482GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
4483library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
4484object file types such as a.out and coff.
4485
4486There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
4487refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
4488
4489
4490 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
4491
4492All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
4493by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
4494
4495For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
4496``Show prompt'' produces the response:
4497Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
4498
4499What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
4500print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
4501will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
4502all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
4503
4504confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
4505 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
4506 it is already running. Default is ON.
4507
4508editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
4509 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
4510 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
4511 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
4512 Default is ON.
4513
4514history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
4515 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
4516 or the value of the environment variable
4517 GDBHISTFILE.
4518
4519history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
4520 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
4521 HISTSIZE.
4522
4523history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
4524 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
4525 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
4526
4527history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
4528 history expansion will be performed on
4529 command line input. The default is OFF.
4530
4531radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
4532 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
4533 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
4534
4535height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
4536 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
4537 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
4538 variable TERM.
4539
4540width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
4541 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
4542 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
4543 variable TERM.
4544
4545Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
4546``set width'' instead.
4547
4548print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
4549 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
4550 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
4551 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
4552
4553print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
4554 is OFF.
4555
4556print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
4557 "raw" form if off.
4558
4559print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
4560 like instructions.
4561
4562print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
4563
4564
4565 * Support for Epoch Environment.
4566
4567The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
4568new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
4569are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
4570window.
4571
4572
4573 * Support for Shared Libraries
4574
4575GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
4576Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
4577before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
4578happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
4579At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
4580from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
4581shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
4582It can be abbreviated ``share''.
4583
4584sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
4585 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
4586 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
4587
4588info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
4589
4590
4591 * Watchpoints
4592
4593A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
4594expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
4595tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
4596quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
4597problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
4598more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
4599
4600watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
4601
4602info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
4603
4604delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
4605disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
4606enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
4607
4608
4609 * C++ multiple inheritance
4610
4611When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
4612for C++ programs.
4613
4614 * C++ exception handling
4615
4616Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
4617ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
4618the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
4619handler's context).
4620
4621catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
4622 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
4623 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
4624
4625info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
4626 current stack frame.
4627
4628
4629 * Minor command changes
4630
4631The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
4632command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
4633is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
4634
4635The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
4636at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
4637frames without printing.
4638
4639 * New directory command
4640
4641'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
4642The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
4643about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
4644with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
4645find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
4646
4647 * Configuring GDB for compilation
4648
4649For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
4650for more details.
4651
4652GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
4653two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
4654Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
4655where the program that you are debugging will run.