Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
95618211 SS |
1 | What has changed in GDB? |
2 | (Organized release by release) | |
3 | ||
8456141b AC |
4 | *** Changes since GDB-4.17: |
5 | ||
ab796a3d SS |
6 | * New native configurations |
7 | ||
8 | M68K Linux m68*-*-linux* | |
9 | ||
10 | * New targets | |
11 | ||
12 | Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf* | |
13 | Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-* | |
14 | ||
8456141b AC |
15 | * GDB Remote protocol |
16 | ||
17 | For 64 bit targets, the memory packets ("M" and "m") can now contain a | |
18 | full 64 bit address. The class-obscure gdb command: | |
19 | set targetaddresssize 32 | |
20 | can be used to revert to the old behavour. For existing remote stubs | |
21 | the change should not be noticed as the additional address information | |
ab796a3d | 22 | will be discarded. |
8456141b AC |
23 | |
24 | ||
dfbb701a | 25 | *** Changes in GDB-4.17: |
9391c997 FF |
26 | |
27 | * New native configurations | |
28 | ||
e3147bf2 | 29 | Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux* |
dfbb701a SS |
30 | Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2* |
31 | Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6* | |
e3147bf2 | 32 | PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux* |
dfbb701a | 33 | PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris* |
e3147bf2 | 34 | Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux* |
32e3c8b8 | 35 | Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv |
9391c997 | 36 | |
4db54939 SS |
37 | * New targets |
38 | ||
dfbb701a SS |
39 | Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-* |
40 | Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-* | |
41 | Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-* | |
42 | Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-* | |
43 | MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf* | |
44 | MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf* | |
45 | MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf* | |
46 | Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-* | |
47 | Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf* | |
48 | Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-* | |
49 | NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-* | |
50 | ||
51 | * New debugging protocols | |
52 | ||
53 | ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-* | |
4db54939 | 54 | M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf} |
dfbb701a SS |
55 | DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-* |
56 | PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi | |
57 | PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi | |
58 | Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi | |
59 | ||
60 | * DWARF 2 | |
61 | ||
62 | All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging | |
63 | format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2 | |
64 | information. | |
65 | ||
6e8bee16 | 66 | start-sanitize-java |
dfbb701a SS |
67 | * Java frontend |
68 | ||
69 | GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is | |
70 | only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code. | |
71 | ||
6e8bee16 | 72 | end-sanitize-java |
dfbb701a SS |
73 | * solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path |
74 | ||
75 | For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for | |
76 | loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for | |
77 | locating non-absolute shared library symbol files. | |
78 | ||
79 | * Live range splitting | |
80 | ||
81 | GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live | |
82 | range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for | |
83 | more details on the expected format of the stabs information. | |
84 | ||
85 | * Hurd support | |
86 | ||
87 | GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been | |
88 | updated to work with current versions of the Hurd. | |
89 | ||
90 | * ARM Thumb support | |
91 | ||
92 | GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit | |
93 | instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb | |
94 | instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing | |
95 | accordingly. | |
96 | ||
97 | * MIPS16 support | |
98 | ||
99 | GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit | |
100 | instruction set. | |
101 | ||
102 | * Overlay support | |
103 | ||
104 | GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been | |
105 | linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB | |
106 | will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to | |
107 | control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement | |
108 | additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring | |
109 | in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail. | |
110 | ||
111 | * info symbol | |
112 | ||
113 | The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about | |
114 | the symbol at the specified address. | |
115 | ||
116 | * Trace support | |
117 | ||
118 | The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows | |
119 | asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires | |
120 | extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode | |
121 | includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the | |
122 | file tracepoint.c for more details. | |
123 | ||
124 | * MIPS simulator | |
125 | ||
126 | Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed | |
127 | by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets | |
128 | of most MIPS variants. | |
129 | ||
130 | * Sparc simulator | |
131 | ||
132 | Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed | |
133 | by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into | |
134 | Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it. | |
135 | ||
136 | * set architecture | |
137 | ||
138 | For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a | |
139 | basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the | |
140 | architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists | |
141 | the possible architectures. | |
4db54939 | 142 | |
a0e1eb42 | 143 | *** Changes in GDB-4.16: |
2ad5709f | 144 | |
bf4e0fe7 FF |
145 | * New native configurations |
146 | ||
a0e1eb42 FF |
147 | Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32 |
148 | M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd* | |
149 | PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix* | |
150 | PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos* | |
151 | PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32 | |
152 | RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4* | |
bf4e0fe7 | 153 | |
972821a3 | 154 | * New targets |
bf4e0fe7 | 155 | |
a0e1eb42 FF |
156 | ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-* |
157 | I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff | |
158 | MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks* | |
159 | MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf* | |
160 | PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi* | |
161 | Hitachi SH3 sh-*-* | |
162 | Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-* | |
163 | ||
164 | * PowerPC simulator | |
165 | ||
166 | The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator, | |
167 | contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner. | |
168 | PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only | |
169 | basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit | |
170 | performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details. | |
171 | ||
172 | * Solaris 2.5 | |
173 | ||
174 | GDB now works with Solaris 2.5. | |
175 | ||
176 | * Windows 95/NT native | |
177 | ||
178 | GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT. | |
179 | To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment, | |
180 | which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools. | |
181 | Further information, binaries, and sources are available at | |
182 | ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32. | |
183 | ||
184 | * dont-repeat command | |
185 | ||
186 | If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the | |
187 | command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is | |
188 | useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental | |
189 | extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times. | |
bf4e0fe7 | 190 | |
b3fd4c06 SS |
191 | * Send break instead of ^C |
192 | ||
193 | The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break | |
194 | rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default, | |
195 | GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1. | |
196 | ||
a0e1eb42 FF |
197 | * Remote protocol timeout |
198 | ||
199 | The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout' | |
200 | that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying | |
201 | to read from the target. The default value is 2. | |
202 | ||
203 | * Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only) | |
87273c71 JL |
204 | |
205 | By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are | |
a0e1eb42 FF |
206 | loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set |
207 | stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior | |
208 | when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints | |
209 | in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior. | |
210 | ||
211 | Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link | |
212 | /usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work | |
213 | automatically on hpux10. | |
214 | ||
215 | * Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support | |
216 | ||
217 | Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints. | |
218 | ||
219 | * Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit" | |
87273c71 | 220 | |
a0e1eb42 FF |
221 | When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you |
222 | may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting | |
223 | the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore | |
224 | every character. The default value is 1050. | |
87273c71 | 225 | |
e8f1ad9a FF |
226 | * Recording and replaying remote debug sessions |
227 | ||
a0e1eb42 FF |
228 | If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it |
229 | a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be | |
230 | replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for | |
231 | details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing | |
232 | remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it | |
233 | to someone else, who can then recreate the problem. | |
234 | ||
235 | * Speedups for remote debugging | |
236 | ||
237 | GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using | |
238 | the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator, | |
239 | and more efficient S-record downloading. | |
240 | ||
241 | * Memory use reductions and statistics collection | |
242 | ||
243 | GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage. | |
244 | Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example. | |
e8f1ad9a | 245 | |
0764fb04 FF |
246 | *** Changes in GDB-4.15: |
247 | ||
bf4e0fe7 FF |
248 | * Psymtabs for XCOFF |
249 | ||
250 | The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This | |
251 | can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables. | |
252 | ||
0764fb04 FF |
253 | * Remote targets use caching |
254 | ||
255 | Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the | |
bf4e0fe7 FF |
256 | remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because |
257 | it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to | |
258 | debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache | |
259 | off' turns the the data cache off. | |
0764fb04 | 260 | |
bf4e0fe7 | 261 | * Remote targets may have threads |
24e60978 | 262 | |
bf4e0fe7 FF |
263 | The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads |
264 | in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See | |
265 | gdb/remote.c for details. | |
24e60978 | 266 | |
bf4e0fe7 | 267 | * NetROM support |
24e60978 | 268 | |
bf4e0fe7 FF |
269 | If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include |
270 | support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM | |
271 | acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can | |
272 | write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of | |
273 | support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use | |
274 | another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual | |
275 | sequence is something like | |
276 | ||
277 | target nrom <netrom-hostname> | |
278 | load <prog> | |
279 | target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235 | |
280 | ||
281 | * Macintosh host | |
282 | ||
283 | GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It | |
284 | may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and | |
285 | it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are | |
286 | available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the | |
287 | device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main | |
288 | directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration | |
289 | scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the | |
290 | mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested. | |
291 | ||
292 | * Autoconf | |
293 | ||
294 | GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible, | |
295 | but does simplify configuration and building. | |
296 | ||
297 | * hpux10 | |
298 | ||
cd857a2d | 299 | GDB now supports hpux10. |
24e60978 | 300 | |
95618211 SS |
301 | *** Changes in GDB-4.14: |
302 | ||
303 | * New native configurations | |
304 | ||
305 | x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd | |
306 | x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd | |
307 | NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd | |
308 | Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd | |
309 | ||
310 | * New targets | |
311 | ||
312 | A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks | |
313 | HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro* | |
314 | CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est* | |
315 | PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf | |
316 | WDC 65816 w65-*-* | |
3ddcdc59 | 317 | |
2592eef8 PS |
318 | * Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs |
319 | ||
320 | GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it | |
321 | possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc | |
322 | filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines | |
323 | the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems | |
324 | if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started. | |
325 | ||
95618211 SS |
326 | * Arguments to user-defined commands |
327 | ||
328 | User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace. | |
329 | Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A | |
330 | trivial example: | |
0f8cdd9b JL |
331 | define adder |
332 | print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2 | |
333 | ||
334 | To execute the command use: | |
335 | adder 1 2 3 | |
336 | ||
337 | Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments. | |
338 | Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables, | |
339 | use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls. | |
340 | ||
95618211 SS |
341 | * New `if' and `while' commands |
342 | ||
343 | This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined | |
344 | commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the | |
345 | expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to | |
346 | execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being | |
347 | terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an | |
348 | `else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only | |
349 | if the expression is zero. | |
350 | ||
351 | * Fortran source language mode | |
352 | ||
353 | GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize | |
354 | Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but | |
355 | variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work | |
356 | with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other | |
357 | Fortran compilers. | |
358 | ||
359 | * Better HPUX support | |
360 | ||
361 | Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs | |
362 | running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked | |
363 | processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so | |
364 | for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change | |
365 | that behavior do the following before running the program: | |
366 | ||
367 | adb -w a.out | |
368 | __dld_flags?W 0x5 | |
369 | control-d | |
370 | ||
371 | This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write. | |
372 | To revert to the normal behavior, do this: | |
373 | ||
374 | adb -w a.out | |
375 | __dld_flags?W 0x4 | |
376 | control-d | |
377 | ||
378 | You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after | |
379 | the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have | |
380 | external linkage. | |
381 | ||
382 | GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on | |
383 | HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support). | |
384 | ||
385 | * Target byte order now dynamically selectable | |
386 | ||
387 | You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the | |
388 | commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the | |
389 | current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command | |
390 | "set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order | |
391 | associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS | |
392 | configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order. | |
7de5c5e2 | 393 | |
95618211 | 394 | * New DOS host serial code |
e3581971 | 395 | |
95618211 SS |
396 | This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you |
397 | no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to | |
398 | a PC's serial port. | |
2848f793 | 399 | |
72e35288 JK |
400 | *** Changes in GDB-4.13: |
401 | ||
7de5c5e2 FF |
402 | * New "complete" command |
403 | ||
404 | This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it | |
405 | were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs. | |
72e35288 | 406 | |
7de5c5e2 FF |
407 | * Trailing space optional in prompt |
408 | ||
409 | "set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This | |
72e35288 JK |
410 | allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not. |
411 | ||
7de5c5e2 FF |
412 | * Breakpoint hit counts |
413 | ||
414 | "info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint | |
415 | has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you | |
416 | can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info | |
417 | to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one | |
418 | less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of | |
419 | that breakpoint. | |
420 | ||
421 | * Ability to stop printing at NULL character | |
422 | ||
423 | "set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of | |
424 | an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large | |
425 | arrays actually contain only short strings. | |
426 | ||
427 | * Shared library breakpoints | |
428 | ||
429 | In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set | |
430 | breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run. | |
431 | ||
432 | * Hardware watchpoints | |
433 | ||
434 | There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite | |
435 | targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note. | |
436 | ||
437 | Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under Linux. | |
438 | ||
439 | * Annotations | |
440 | ||
441 | Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces, | |
442 | and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these. | |
443 | ||
444 | * Improved Irix 5 support | |
445 | ||
446 | GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2. | |
447 | ||
448 | * Improved HPPA support | |
449 | ||
450 | GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS. | |
451 | ||
452 | * New native configurations | |
453 | ||
454 | Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4 | |
455 | HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf* | |
456 | Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4* | |
457 | RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos* | |
458 | ||
459 | * New targets | |
460 | ||
461 | OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k | |
462 | MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf} | |
463 | Sparc64 sparc64-*-* | |
464 | ||
465 | * Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support | |
466 | ||
467 | There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE. | |
468 | This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH. | |
469 | ||
470 | * Fixes | |
471 | ||
472 | As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic | |
473 | and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail. | |
474 | ||
4901e77d FF |
475 | *** Changes in GDB-4.12: |
476 | ||
477 | * Irix 5 is now supported | |
478 | ||
479 | * HPPA support | |
480 | ||
481 | GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable | |
482 | to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and | |
483 | GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release | |
484 | of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12 | |
485 | can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist. | |
486 | ||
487 | ||
617b4ae8 FF |
488 | *** Changes in GDB-4.11: |
489 | ||
490 | * User visible changes: | |
491 | ||
492 | * Remote Debugging | |
803f7af5 | 493 | |
41a6194d | 494 | The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote |
803f7af5 JK |
495 | target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's |
496 | debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an | |
497 | integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more | |
498 | debugging info for the mips target). | |
41a6194d | 499 | |
617b4ae8 FF |
500 | * DEC Alpha native support |
501 | ||
502 | GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable | |
503 | debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should | |
504 | work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few | |
505 | Alpha-specific notes. | |
506 | ||
507 | * Preliminary thread implementation | |
508 | ||
509 | GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS. | |
510 | ||
511 | * LynxOS native and target support for 386 | |
512 | ||
513 | This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured | |
514 | to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README | |
515 | for details). | |
516 | ||
517 | * Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling. | |
518 | ||
519 | This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name | |
520 | mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table, | |
521 | call methods, ...etc. | |
522 | ||
41a6194d | 523 | *** Changes in GDB-4.10: |
21cc14d8 RP |
524 | |
525 | * User visible changes: | |
526 | ||
5b336d29 | 527 | Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now |
be9af13c JK |
528 | supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some |
529 | other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it | |
530 | somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download. | |
5b336d29 | 531 | |
a32ebcfd JK |
532 | Filename completion now works. |
533 | ||
534 | When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the | |
535 | arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints | |
be9af13c | 536 | addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex). |
a32ebcfd | 537 | |
21cc14d8 RP |
538 | All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called |
539 | vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb | |
540 | should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if | |
541 | your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens | |
542 | to be on the far side of a thin network line. | |
543 | ||
ebb962cd FF |
544 | * DEC alpha support |
545 | ||
546 | This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for | |
547 | cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet. | |
548 | ||
549 | ||
cb46c402 JG |
550 | *** Changes in GDB-4.9: |
551 | ||
c787ca55 FF |
552 | * Testsuite |
553 | ||
554 | This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite. | |
555 | The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available | |
556 | via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software. | |
557 | ||
558 | * C++ demangling | |
559 | ||
45364c8a | 560 | 'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to |
0a4a0f09 FF |
561 | emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated |
562 | Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite | |
563 | disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to | |
564 | use gdb with AT&T cfront. | |
45364c8a | 565 | |
c787ca55 | 566 | * Simulators |
8ae56378 SC |
567 | |
568 | GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library. | |
569 | So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the | |
570 | Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H. | |
571 | ||
572 | * New targets supported | |
573 | ||
574 | H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms | |
575 | H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms | |
576 | SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh | |
577 | Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim | |
8b946797 | 578 | IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff |
8ae56378 | 579 | |
cb46c402 JG |
580 | Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom |
581 | version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the | |
0a4a0f09 | 582 | GO32 memory extender. |
cb46c402 | 583 | |
0a4a0f09 | 584 | * New remote protocols |
cb46c402 | 585 | |
0a4a0f09 | 586 | MIPS remote debugging protocol. |
cb46c402 | 587 | |
0a4a0f09 | 588 | * New source languages supported |
cb46c402 | 589 | |
0a4a0f09 FF |
590 | This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language |
591 | used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated | |
592 | into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available. | |
cb46c402 | 593 | |
cb46c402 | 594 | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
595 | *** Changes in GDB-4.8: |
596 | ||
3421ec35 | 597 | * HP Precision Architecture supported |
c5cc95b1 | 598 | |
3421ec35 JG |
599 | GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary |
600 | version of this support was available as a set of patches from the | |
601 | University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs | |
602 | compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file | |
6d0380ee | 603 | format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS |
3421ec35 | 604 | (as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z). |
c5cc95b1 | 605 | |
3421ec35 | 606 | Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed. |
c5cc95b1 SG |
607 | |
608 | * Faster and better demangling | |
609 | ||
610 | We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style | |
611 | demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide | |
612 | character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now | |
613 | only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in. | |
3421ec35 JG |
614 | This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate |
615 | increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
616 | symbol lookups. |
617 | ||
618 | `Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written | |
619 | from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's | |
620 | compiler does not actually implement. | |
621 | ||
6d0380ee JG |
622 | * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem |
623 | ||
624 | In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple | |
625 | inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We | |
626 | recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a | |
627 | very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes. | |
628 | The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to | |
629 | circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete | |
630 | fix. | |
631 | ||
632 | The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7 | |
633 | release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2. | |
634 | ||
c5cc95b1 SG |
635 | * Improved configure script |
636 | ||
3421ec35 JG |
637 | The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if |
638 | you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a | |
639 | host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is | |
640 | done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details. | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
641 | |
642 | We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's | |
643 | version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular, | |
3421ec35 JG |
644 | `--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller. |
645 | The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats -- | |
646 | only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system. | |
647 | We hope to make this the default in a future release. | |
648 | ||
649 | * Documentation improvements | |
650 | ||
651 | There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to | |
652 | produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it | |
653 | before submitting changes. | |
654 | ||
655 | The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane | |
656 | M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built | |
657 | `info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch, | |
658 | you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in | |
659 | a future texinfo-X.Y release. | |
660 | ||
661 | *NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang. | |
662 | We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has | |
663 | been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141 | |
664 | or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in | |
665 | `texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work | |
666 | around this problem. | |
c5cc95b1 | 667 | |
3421ec35 | 668 | * New features |
c5cc95b1 | 669 | |
3421ec35 JG |
670 | GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by |
671 | the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type | |
672 | `print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in | |
673 | the target program. | |
c5cc95b1 | 674 | |
3421ec35 JG |
675 | The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates |
676 | how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor. | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
677 | |
678 | * New native hosts supported | |
679 | ||
680 | HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
681 | 386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4 |
682 | ||
683 | * New targets supported | |
684 | ||
685 | AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k | |
686 | ||
687 | * New file formats supported | |
688 | ||
3421ec35 JG |
689 | BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?), |
690 | HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files. | |
691 | ||
692 | * Major bug fixes | |
693 | ||
694 | Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports. | |
695 | ||
696 | We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by | |
697 | printf_filtered("%s") problems. | |
698 | ||
699 | We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files | |
700 | for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7 | |
701 | release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB. | |
702 | ||
703 | You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This | |
704 | will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB. | |
705 | ||
706 | We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors | |
707 | for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was | |
708 | especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared | |
709 | libraries. | |
c5cc95b1 | 710 | |
3421ec35 JG |
711 | The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number |
712 | information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next' | |
713 | command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was | |
714 | any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems | |
715 | when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines. | |
716 | ||
717 | * Internal improvements | |
718 | ||
719 | GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support | |
720 | debugging of multiple languages in the future. | |
721 | ||
722 | GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally. | |
723 | Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial | |
724 | symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols | |
725 | contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write | |
726 | shared code that handles any of them. | |
727 | ||
728 | * New command line options | |
c5cc95b1 SG |
729 | |
730 | We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet. | |
731 | ||
3421ec35 | 732 | * Mmalloc licensing |
c5cc95b1 | 733 | |
3421ec35 JG |
734 | The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library |
735 | General Public License. | |
c5cc95b1 | 736 | |
76ba9b5b SG |
737 | *** Changes in GDB-4.7: |
738 | ||
c00d8242 JG |
739 | * Host/native/target split |
740 | ||
741 | GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for | |
742 | hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote | |
743 | target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging | |
744 | local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will | |
745 | ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible. | |
746 | ||
747 | The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in | |
748 | GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB | |
749 | is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific | |
750 | code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on | |
751 | any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be | |
752 | built when the host and target are the same system. Child process | |
753 | handling and core file support are two common `native' examples. | |
754 | ||
755 | GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner. | |
756 | It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector, | |
757 | plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc. | |
758 | ||
759 | * New hosts supported | |
760 | ||
761 | HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd | |
762 | 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd | |
763 | 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco | |
764 | ||
765 | * New targets supported | |
76ba9b5b | 766 | |
c00d8242 JG |
767 | Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite |
768 | 68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-* | |
5f5be54c | 769 | |
c00d8242 | 770 | * New native hosts supported |
5f5be54c | 771 | |
c00d8242 JG |
772 | 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd |
773 | (386bsd is not well tested yet) | |
774 | 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco | |
5f5be54c | 775 | |
c00d8242 | 776 | * New file formats supported |
5f5be54c | 777 | |
c00d8242 JG |
778 | BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It |
779 | supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out | |
780 | format extended with minimal information about multiple sections. | |
5f5be54c | 781 | |
c00d8242 | 782 | * New commands |
5f5be54c | 783 | |
c00d8242 JG |
784 | `show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'. |
785 | `show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'. | |
786 | These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work. | |
5f5be54c | 787 | |
c00d8242 | 788 | `info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'. |
5f5be54c | 789 | |
c00d8242 JG |
790 | You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command |
791 | scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed | |
792 | prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be | |
793 | executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo. | |
794 | ||
795 | * C++ improvements | |
796 | ||
797 | We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type | |
798 | info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which | |
799 | symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses. | |
800 | ||
801 | Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well. | |
5f5be54c SG |
802 | |
803 | * Major bug fixes | |
804 | ||
c00d8242 JG |
805 | The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is |
806 | fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output | |
807 | by the compiler. | |
5f5be54c | 808 | |
c00d8242 JG |
809 | We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file |
810 | support, with help from a dozen people on the net. | |
811 | ||
812 | John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so | |
813 | slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was | |
814 | that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal | |
815 | purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing | |
816 | the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++ | |
817 | mangled symbol sped things up a great deal. | |
818 | ||
819 | Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter | |
820 | about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol | |
821 | completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as | |
822 | we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6. | |
823 | ||
824 | * AMD 29k support | |
5f5be54c | 825 | |
c00d8242 JG |
826 | A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can |
827 | specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB | |
828 | calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the | |
829 | usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work | |
830 | in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces. | |
831 | ||
832 | We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger | |
833 | Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all | |
834 | of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to | |
835 | resolve this, and hope to have it available soon. | |
836 | ||
837 | * Remote interfaces | |
838 | ||
839 | We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets | |
840 | with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T') | |
841 | message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message. | |
842 | This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB | |
843 | needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional | |
844 | breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for | |
845 | each instruction being stepped through. | |
846 | ||
847 | The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for | |
848 | registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run. | |
849 | ||
850 | There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can | |
851 | find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the | |
852 | Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC | |
853 | processor with a serial port. | |
854 | ||
855 | * Configuration | |
856 | ||
857 | Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new | |
858 | `table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are | |
859 | supported, and what files each one uses. | |
860 | ||
861 | * Library changes | |
862 | ||
863 | There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the | |
864 | disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains | |
865 | Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and | |
866 | disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines. | |
867 | ||
868 | The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General | |
869 | Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++ | |
870 | can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License | |
871 | grants all the rights from the General Public License. | |
872 | ||
873 | * Documentation | |
874 | ||
875 | The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete | |
876 | reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far | |
877 | as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We | |
878 | encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your | |
879 | system, and send improvements on the document in general (to | |
880 | bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu). | |
5f5be54c SG |
881 | |
882 | And, of course, many bugs have been fixed. | |
76ba9b5b | 883 | |
c00d8242 | 884 | |
3ddcdc59 SG |
885 | *** Changes in GDB-4.6: |
886 | ||
887 | * Better support for C++ function names | |
888 | ||
889 | GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function | |
890 | names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names | |
891 | (using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of | |
892 | single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'. | |
893 | Make use of command completion, it is your friend. | |
894 | ||
895 | GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are | |
896 | the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style. | |
897 | You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu, | |
898 | lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo' | |
899 | for the list of formats. | |
900 | ||
901 | * G++ symbol mangling problem | |
902 | ||
903 | Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for | |
904 | C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this | |
905 | directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you | |
906 | can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The | |
907 | usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains | |
908 | about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has | |
909 | this problem.) | |
910 | ||
911 | * New 'maintenance' command | |
912 | ||
913 | All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of | |
914 | the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This | |
915 | can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made: | |
916 | ||
917 | dump-me -> maintenance dump-me | |
918 | info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints | |
919 | printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms | |
920 | printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles | |
921 | printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols | |
922 | printsyms -> maintenance print symbols | |
923 | ||
924 | The following commands are new: | |
925 | ||
926 | maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to | |
927 | demangle a C++ link name and prints the result. | |
928 | maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol | |
929 | ||
930 | * Change to .gdbinit file processing | |
931 | ||
932 | We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments | |
933 | (e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to | |
934 | be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still | |
935 | read after argv processing. | |
936 | ||
937 | * New hosts supported | |
938 | ||
939 | Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2 | |
940 | ||
941 | Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux | |
942 | ||
943 | We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This | |
944 | is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it | |
945 | for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or | |
946 | masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the | |
947 | fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option. | |
948 | It costs extra. | |
949 | ||
950 | * New targets supported | |
951 | ||
952 | Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms | |
953 | ||
954 | * More smarts about finding #include files | |
955 | ||
956 | GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for | |
957 | all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This | |
958 | greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files, | |
959 | especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from | |
960 | the one that contains your sources. | |
961 | ||
962 | We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting | |
963 | breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to | |
964 | try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.) | |
965 | ||
966 | * Interesting infernals change | |
967 | ||
968 | GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each | |
969 | section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the | |
970 | target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded | |
971 | stabs used by Solaris-2.0. | |
972 | ||
973 | * Bug fixes (of course!) | |
974 | ||
975 | There have been loads of fixes for the following things: | |
976 | mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k, | |
977 | i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc... | |
978 | ||
979 | See the ChangeLog for details. | |
980 | ||
981 | *** Changes in GDB-4.5: | |
982 | ||
983 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
984 | ||
985 | IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000 | |
986 | ||
987 | SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4 | |
988 | ||
989 | * New malloc package | |
990 | ||
991 | GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc. | |
992 | Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also | |
993 | capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later. | |
994 | This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a | |
995 | pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For | |
996 | more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi. | |
997 | ||
998 | * info proc | |
999 | ||
1000 | The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See | |
1001 | 'help info proc' for details. | |
1002 | ||
1003 | * MIPS ecoff symbol table format | |
1004 | ||
1005 | The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts. | |
1006 | Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this | |
1007 | possible. | |
1008 | ||
1009 | * File name changes for MS-DOS | |
1010 | ||
1011 | Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to | |
1012 | support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name | |
1013 | conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32 | |
1014 | environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note | |
1015 | that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations | |
1016 | in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging. | |
1017 | ||
1018 | * Cross byte order fixes | |
1019 | ||
1020 | Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS | |
1021 | targets from hosts whose byte order differs. | |
1022 | ||
1023 | * New -mapped and -readnow options | |
1024 | ||
1025 | If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap' | |
1026 | system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or | |
1027 | `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your | |
1028 | program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is | |
1029 | called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'. | |
1030 | Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file, | |
1031 | and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading | |
1032 | the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped' | |
1033 | option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as | |
1034 | starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option. | |
1035 | ||
1036 | You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using | |
1037 | the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table | |
1038 | information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command | |
1039 | slower, but makes future operations faster. | |
1040 | ||
1041 | The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to | |
1042 | build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information. | |
1043 | A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future | |
1044 | use is: | |
1045 | ||
1046 | gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname | |
1047 | ||
1048 | The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run. | |
1049 | It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be | |
1050 | shared across multiple host platforms. | |
1051 | ||
1052 | * longjmp() handling | |
1053 | ||
1054 | GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and | |
1055 | siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to | |
1056 | all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based | |
1057 | platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4. | |
1058 | ||
1059 | * Solaris 2.0 | |
1060 | ||
1061 | Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At | |
1062 | this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of | |
1063 | reading symbols. | |
1064 | ||
1065 | * Bug fixes | |
1066 | ||
1067 | As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread. | |
1068 | People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious | |
1069 | crashes and trashed symbol tables. | |
1070 | ||
1071 | *** Changes in GDB-4.4: | |
1072 | ||
1073 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
1074 | ||
1075 | SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco | |
1076 | (except core files) | |
1077 | BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd | |
1078 | Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix | |
1079 | ||
1080 | * New machines supported (target) | |
1081 | ||
1082 | AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none | |
1083 | ||
1084 | * C++ support | |
1085 | ||
1086 | GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better. | |
1087 | The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as | |
1088 | per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide. | |
1089 | ||
1090 | GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS | |
1091 | `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily | |
1092 | extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a | |
1093 | good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option | |
1094 | will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is | |
1095 | released. | |
1096 | ||
1097 | * New features for SVR4 | |
1098 | ||
1099 | GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS | |
1100 | shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present | |
1101 | only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs. | |
1102 | ||
1103 | The `info proc' command will print out information about any process | |
1104 | on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment, | |
1105 | it prints the address mappings of the process. | |
1106 | ||
1107 | If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to | |
1108 | bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any). | |
1109 | ||
1110 | * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS | |
1111 | ||
1112 | Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols | |
1113 | now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic | |
1114 | skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which | |
1115 | make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the | |
1116 | same code linked statically. | |
1117 | ||
1118 | * New Getopt | |
1119 | ||
1120 | GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This | |
1121 | version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will | |
1122 | continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well. | |
1123 | Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity | |
1124 | added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the | |
1125 | future by other options that begin with the same letter. | |
1126 | ||
1127 | * Bugs fixed | |
1128 | ||
1129 | The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. | |
1130 | Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. | |
1131 | See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. | |
1132 | ||
1133 | ||
1134 | *** Changes in GDB-4.3: | |
1135 | ||
1136 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
1137 | ||
1138 | Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix | |
1139 | NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000 | |
1140 | Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88 | |
1141 | ||
1142 | * Almost SCO Unix support | |
1143 | ||
1144 | We had hoped to support: | |
1145 | SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco | |
1146 | (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release | |
1147 | that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry | |
1148 | about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes. | |
1149 | ||
1150 | * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support | |
1151 | ||
1152 | GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle | |
1153 | debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support | |
1154 | is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please | |
1155 | send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were | |
1156 | reqired (if any). | |
1157 | ||
1158 | * New Readline | |
1159 | ||
1160 | GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change | |
1161 | is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously | |
1162 | required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?). | |
1163 | ||
1164 | * Bugs fixed | |
1165 | ||
1166 | The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. | |
1167 | Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. | |
1168 | See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. | |
1169 | ||
1170 | * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered): | |
1171 | ||
1172 | GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers | |
1173 | supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These | |
1174 | symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses. | |
1175 | ||
1176 | Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called | |
1177 | mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level | |
1178 | debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship | |
1179 | mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc | |
1180 | version 2. | |
1181 | ||
1182 | Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not | |
1183 | really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get | |
1184 | line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local | |
1185 | variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the | |
1186 | situation somewhat. | |
1187 | ||
1188 | When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck. | |
1189 | However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and | |
1190 | methods. | |
1191 | ||
1192 | We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on | |
1193 | DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff | |
1194 | encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet. | |
1195 | ||
1196 | ||
1197 | *** Changes in GDB-4.2: | |
1198 | ||
1199 | * Improved configuration | |
1200 | ||
1201 | Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying. | |
1202 | Porting BFD is simpler. | |
1203 | ||
1204 | * Stepping improved | |
1205 | ||
1206 | The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction | |
1207 | of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur | |
1208 | in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a | |
1209 | function that has debugging information is called within the line. | |
1210 | ||
1211 | * Bug fixing | |
1212 | ||
1213 | Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain. | |
1214 | ||
1215 | * New host supported (not target) | |
1216 | ||
1217 | Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach | |
1218 | ||
1219 | ||
1220 | *** Changes in GDB-4.1: | |
1221 | ||
1222 | * Multiple source language support | |
1223 | ||
1224 | GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages. | |
1225 | It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension, | |
1226 | and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the | |
1227 | language of the function in the currently selected stack frame. | |
1228 | You can also specifically set the language to be used, with | |
1229 | `set language c' or `set language modula-2'. | |
1230 | ||
1231 | * GDB and Modula-2 | |
1232 | ||
1233 | GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler, | |
1234 | currently under development at the State University of New York at | |
1235 | Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will | |
1236 | continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992. | |
1237 | ||
1238 | Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to | |
1239 | debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the | |
1240 | symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though! | |
1241 | ||
1242 | There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking, | |
1243 | in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work. | |
1244 | ||
1245 | * set write on/off | |
1246 | ||
1247 | GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch | |
1248 | a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify | |
1249 | the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g. | |
1250 | by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take | |
1251 | effect immediately. | |
1252 | ||
1253 | * Automatic SunOS shared library reading | |
1254 | ||
1255 | When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its | |
1256 | shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols. | |
1257 | The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when | |
1258 | examining core files. | |
1259 | ||
1260 | * set listsize | |
1261 | ||
1262 | You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows. | |
1263 | The default is 10. | |
1264 | ||
1265 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
1266 | ||
1267 | SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris | |
1268 | Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news | |
1269 | Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3 | |
1270 | ||
1271 | * New hosts supported (not targets) | |
1272 | ||
1273 | IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc | |
1274 | ||
1275 | * New targets supported (not hosts) | |
1276 | ||
1277 | AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff | |
1278 | AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout | |
1279 | Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern | |
1280 | ||
1281 | * New remote interfaces | |
1282 | ||
1283 | AMD 29000 Adapt | |
1284 | AMD 29000 Minimon | |
1285 | ||
1286 | ||
1287 | *** Changes in GDB-4.0: | |
1288 | ||
1289 | * New Facilities | |
1290 | ||
1291 | Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable. | |
1292 | ||
1293 | Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a | |
1294 | target machine of another type. Communication with the target system | |
1295 | is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the | |
1296 | remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the | |
1297 | remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb | |
1298 | also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks, | |
1299 | using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger | |
1300 | stub on the target system. | |
1301 | ||
1302 | New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960. | |
1303 | ||
1304 | GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file'' | |
1305 | library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple | |
1306 | object file types such as a.out and coff. | |
1307 | ||
1308 | There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets | |
1309 | refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it). | |
1310 | ||
1311 | ||
1312 | * Control-Variable user interface simplified | |
1313 | ||
1314 | All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set | |
1315 | by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command. | |
1316 | ||
1317 | For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>. | |
1318 | ``Show prompt'' produces the response: | |
1319 | Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>. | |
1320 | ||
1321 | What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will | |
1322 | print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO'' | |
1323 | will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show | |
1324 | all of the variable descriptions and their current settings. | |
1325 | ||
1326 | confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are | |
1327 | hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while | |
1328 | it is already running. Default is ON. | |
1329 | ||
1330 | editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing | |
1331 | of input. Previous lines can be recalled with | |
1332 | control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B, | |
1333 | you can search for commands with control-R, etc. | |
1334 | Default is ON. | |
1335 | ||
1336 | history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history | |
1337 | will be stored. The default is .gdb_history, | |
1338 | or the value of the environment variable | |
1339 | GDBHISTFILE. | |
1340 | ||
1341 | history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The | |
1342 | default is 256, or the value of the environment variable | |
1343 | HISTSIZE. | |
1344 | ||
1345 | history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will | |
1346 | be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the | |
1347 | file will not be saved. The default is OFF. | |
1348 | ||
1349 | history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like | |
1350 | history expansion will be performed on | |
1351 | command line input. The default is OFF. | |
1352 | ||
1353 | radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set | |
1354 | to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted | |
1355 | in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op. | |
1356 | ||
1357 | height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default | |
1358 | is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#'' | |
1359 | setting from the termcap entry matching the environment | |
1360 | variable TERM. | |
1361 | ||
1362 | width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line. | |
1363 | Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#'' | |
1364 | setting from the termcap entry matching the environment | |
1365 | variable TERM. | |
1366 | ||
1367 | Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and | |
1368 | ``set width'' instead. | |
1369 | ||
1370 | print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays, | |
1371 | such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks | |
1372 | more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more | |
1373 | ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON. | |
1374 | ||
1375 | print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default | |
1376 | is OFF. | |
1377 | ||
1378 | print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on, | |
1379 | "raw" form if off. | |
1380 | ||
1381 | print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts | |
1382 | like instructions. | |
1383 | ||
1384 | print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF. | |
1385 | ||
1386 | ||
1387 | * Support for Epoch Environment. | |
1388 | ||
1389 | The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One | |
1390 | new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you | |
1391 | are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own | |
1392 | window. | |
1393 | ||
1394 | ||
1395 | * Support for Shared Libraries | |
1396 | ||
1397 | GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries. | |
1398 | Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced | |
1399 | before the shared library has been linked with the program (this | |
1400 | happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered). | |
1401 | At any time after this linking (including when examining core files | |
1402 | from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each | |
1403 | shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command. | |
1404 | It can be abbreviated ``share''. | |
1405 | ||
1406 | sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files | |
1407 | matching a unix regular expression. No argument | |
1408 | indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries. | |
1409 | ||
1410 | info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries. | |
1411 | ||
1412 | ||
1413 | * Watchpoints | |
1414 | ||
1415 | A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an | |
1416 | expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution | |
1417 | tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is | |
1418 | quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse | |
1419 | problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this | |
1420 | more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware. | |
1421 | ||
1422 | watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression. | |
1423 | ||
1424 | info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints. | |
1425 | ||
1426 | delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
1427 | disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
1428 | enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
1429 | ||
1430 | ||
1431 | * C++ multiple inheritance | |
1432 | ||
1433 | When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance | |
1434 | for C++ programs. | |
1435 | ||
1436 | * C++ exception handling | |
1437 | ||
1438 | Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing | |
1439 | ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on | |
1440 | the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the | |
1441 | handler's context). | |
1442 | ||
1443 | catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope, | |
1444 | set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there. | |
1445 | Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught. | |
1446 | ||
1447 | info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the | |
1448 | current stack frame. | |
1449 | ||
1450 | ||
1451 | * Minor command changes | |
1452 | ||
1453 | The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print | |
1454 | command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result | |
1455 | is void. This is similar to dbx usage. | |
1456 | ||
1457 | The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up | |
1458 | at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change | |
1459 | frames without printing. | |
1460 | ||
1461 | * New directory command | |
1462 | ||
1463 | 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path. | |
1464 | The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information | |
1465 | about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even | |
1466 | with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't | |
1467 | find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .". | |
1468 | ||
1469 | * Configuring GDB for compilation | |
1470 | ||
1471 | For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo | |
1472 | for more details. | |
1473 | ||
1474 | GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between | |
1475 | two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''. | |
1476 | Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine | |
1477 | where the program that you are debugging will run. |