Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
94d86c7c | 1 | What has changed since GDB-3.5? |
24db5b87 | 2 | (Organized release by release) |
94d86c7c | 3 | |
b69ce5ab SG |
4 | *** Changes in GDB-4.5: |
5 | ||
6 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
7 | ||
8 | IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000 | |
9 | ||
10 | SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4 | |
11 | ||
12 | * New malloc package | |
13 | ||
14 | GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc. | |
15 | Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also | |
16 | capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later. | |
17 | This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a | |
18 | pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For | |
19 | more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi. | |
20 | ||
21 | * info proc | |
22 | ||
23 | The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See | |
24 | 'help info proc' for details. | |
25 | ||
26 | * MIPS ecoff symbol table format | |
27 | ||
28 | The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts. | |
29 | Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this | |
30 | possible. | |
31 | ||
32 | * File name changes for MS-DOS | |
33 | ||
34 | Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to | |
35 | support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name | |
36 | conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32 | |
37 | environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note | |
38 | that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations | |
39 | in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging. | |
40 | ||
41 | * Cross byte order fixes | |
42 | ||
43 | Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS | |
44 | targets from hosts whose byte order differs. | |
45 | ||
46 | * New -mapped and -readnow options | |
47 | ||
48 | If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap' | |
49 | system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or | |
50 | `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your | |
51 | program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is | |
3bc82410 | 52 | called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'. |
b69ce5ab SG |
53 | Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file, |
54 | and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading | |
55 | the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped' | |
56 | option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as | |
57 | starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option. | |
58 | ||
59 | You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using | |
60 | the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table | |
61 | information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command | |
62 | slower, but makes future operations faster. | |
63 | ||
64 | The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to | |
65 | build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information. | |
66 | A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future | |
67 | use is: | |
68 | ||
69 | gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname | |
70 | ||
71 | The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run. | |
72 | It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be | |
73 | shared across multiple host platforms. | |
74 | ||
75 | * longjmp() handling | |
76 | ||
77 | GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and | |
78 | siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to | |
79 | all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based | |
80 | platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4. | |
81 | ||
82 | * Solaris 2.0 | |
83 | ||
84 | Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At | |
85 | this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of | |
86 | reading symbols. | |
87 | ||
88 | * Bug fixes | |
89 | ||
90 | As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread. | |
91 | People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious | |
92 | crashes and trashed symbol tables. | |
93 | ||
f006dac1 JG |
94 | *** Changes in GDB-4.4: |
95 | ||
96 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
97 | ||
98 | SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco | |
99 | (except core files) | |
75c86b57 JG |
100 | BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd |
101 | Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix | |
a8cd573f | 102 | |
f006dac1 JG |
103 | * New machines supported (target) |
104 | ||
105 | AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none | |
106 | ||
75c86b57 JG |
107 | * C++ support |
108 | ||
109 | GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better. | |
110 | The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as | |
111 | per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide. | |
a8cd573f | 112 | |
75c86b57 JG |
113 | GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS |
114 | `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily | |
115 | extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a | |
116 | good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option | |
117 | will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is | |
118 | released. | |
a8cd573f SG |
119 | |
120 | * New features for SVR4 | |
121 | ||
75c86b57 JG |
122 | GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS |
123 | shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present | |
124 | only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs. | |
a8cd573f | 125 | |
75c86b57 JG |
126 | The `info proc' command will print out information about any process |
127 | on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment, | |
128 | it prints the address mappings of the process. | |
a8cd573f | 129 | |
75c86b57 JG |
130 | If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to |
131 | bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any). | |
a8cd573f | 132 | |
75c86b57 | 133 | * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS |
a8cd573f | 134 | |
75c86b57 JG |
135 | Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols |
136 | now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic | |
137 | skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which | |
138 | make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the | |
139 | same code linked statically. | |
f006dac1 | 140 | |
a8cd573f | 141 | * New Getopt |
f006dac1 | 142 | |
75c86b57 JG |
143 | GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This |
144 | version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will | |
145 | continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well. | |
146 | Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity | |
147 | added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the | |
148 | future by other options that begin with the same letter. | |
f006dac1 | 149 | |
75c86b57 | 150 | * Bugs fixed |
f006dac1 | 151 | |
75c86b57 JG |
152 | The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. |
153 | Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. | |
f006dac1 JG |
154 | See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. |
155 | ||
f006dac1 | 156 | |
fbda4193 JG |
157 | *** Changes in GDB-4.3: |
158 | ||
159 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
160 | ||
fbda4193 JG |
161 | Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix |
162 | NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000 | |
163 | Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88 | |
164 | ||
4882e5dc JG |
165 | * Almost SCO Unix support |
166 | ||
167 | We had hoped to support: | |
168 | SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco | |
169 | (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release | |
170 | that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry | |
171 | about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes. | |
fbda4193 JG |
172 | |
173 | * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support | |
174 | ||
175 | GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle | |
176 | debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support | |
177 | is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please | |
178 | send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were | |
179 | reqired (if any). | |
180 | ||
4882e5dc JG |
181 | * New Readline |
182 | ||
183 | GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change | |
184 | is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously | |
185 | required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?). | |
186 | ||
fbda4193 JG |
187 | * Bugs fixed |
188 | ||
189 | The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. | |
190 | Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. | |
191 | See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. | |
192 | ||
193 | * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered): | |
194 | ||
195 | GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers | |
196 | supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These | |
197 | symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses. | |
198 | ||
199 | Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called | |
200 | mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level | |
201 | debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship | |
202 | mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc | |
203 | version 2. | |
204 | ||
205 | Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not | |
206 | really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get | |
207 | line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local | |
208 | variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the | |
209 | situation somewhat. | |
210 | ||
211 | When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck. | |
212 | However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and | |
213 | methods. | |
214 | ||
215 | We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on | |
216 | DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff | |
217 | encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet. | |
218 | ||
219 | ||
b1dcd6ac JG |
220 | *** Changes in GDB-4.2: |
221 | ||
222 | * Improved configuration | |
223 | ||
224 | Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying. | |
225 | Porting BFD is simpler. | |
226 | ||
227 | * Stepping improved | |
228 | ||
229 | The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction | |
230 | of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur | |
231 | in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a | |
232 | function that has debugging information is called within the line. | |
233 | ||
234 | * Bug fixing | |
235 | ||
236 | Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain. | |
237 | ||
238 | * New host supported (not target) | |
239 | ||
240 | Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach | |
241 | ||
242 | ||
24db5b87 JG |
243 | *** Changes in GDB-4.1: |
244 | ||
245 | * Multiple source language support | |
246 | ||
247 | GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages. | |
248 | It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension, | |
249 | and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the | |
250 | language of the function in the currently selected stack frame. | |
251 | You can also specifically set the language to be used, with | |
252 | `set language c' or `set language modula-2'. | |
94d86c7c JG |
253 | |
254 | * GDB and Modula-2 | |
255 | ||
256 | GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler, | |
257 | currently under development at the State University of New York at | |
258 | Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will | |
259 | continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992. | |
260 | ||
261 | Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to | |
262 | debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the | |
24db5b87 JG |
263 | symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though! |
264 | ||
265 | There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking, | |
266 | in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work. | |
267 | ||
268 | * set write on/off | |
269 | ||
270 | GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch | |
271 | a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify | |
272 | the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g. | |
273 | by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take | |
274 | effect immediately. | |
275 | ||
276 | * Automatic SunOS shared library reading | |
277 | ||
278 | When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its | |
279 | shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols. | |
280 | The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when | |
281 | examining core files. | |
282 | ||
283 | * set listsize | |
284 | ||
285 | You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows. | |
286 | The default is 10. | |
287 | ||
288 | * New machines supported (host and target) | |
289 | ||
290 | SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris | |
291 | Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news | |
292 | Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3 | |
293 | ||
294 | * New hosts supported (not targets) | |
295 | ||
296 | IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc | |
297 | ||
298 | * New targets supported (not hosts) | |
299 | ||
300 | AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff | |
301 | AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout | |
302 | Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern | |
303 | ||
304 | * New remote interfaces | |
305 | ||
306 | AMD 29000 Adapt | |
307 | AMD 29000 Minimon | |
308 | ||
309 | ||
310 | *** Changes in GDB-4.0: | |
dd3b648e RP |
311 | |
312 | * New Facilities | |
313 | ||
81049e47 | 314 | Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable. |
dd3b648e RP |
315 | |
316 | Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a | |
317 | target machine of another type. Communication with the target system | |
318 | is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the | |
319 | remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the | |
81049e47 JG |
320 | remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb |
321 | also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks, | |
322 | using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger | |
323 | stub on the target system. | |
dd3b648e RP |
324 | |
325 | New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960. | |
326 | ||
327 | GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file'' | |
328 | library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple | |
329 | object file types such as a.out and coff. | |
330 | ||
d7c2f2dd RP |
331 | There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets |
332 | refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it). | |
dd3b648e RP |
333 | |
334 | ||
335 | * Control-Variable user interface simplified | |
336 | ||
337 | All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set | |
338 | by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command. | |
339 | ||
340 | For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>. | |
341 | ``Show prompt'' produces the response: | |
342 | Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>. | |
343 | ||
344 | What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will | |
345 | print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO'' | |
adf2bb58 JG |
346 | will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show |
347 | all of the variable descriptions and their current settings. | |
dd3b648e | 348 | |
a1002e9a | 349 | confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are |
dd3b648e RP |
350 | hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while |
351 | it is already running. Default is ON. | |
352 | ||
353 | editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing | |
354 | of input. Previous lines can be recalled with | |
355 | control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B, | |
356 | you can search for commands with control-R, etc. | |
357 | Default is ON. | |
358 | ||
359 | history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history | |
360 | will be stored. The default is .gdb_history, | |
361 | or the value of the environment variable | |
362 | GDBHISTFILE. | |
363 | ||
364 | history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The | |
365 | default is 256, or the value of the environment variable | |
366 | HISTSIZE. | |
367 | ||
90262bf9 | 368 | history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will |
dd3b648e RP |
369 | be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the |
370 | file will not be saved. The default is OFF. | |
371 | ||
372 | history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like | |
373 | history expansion will be performed on | |
374 | command line input. The default is OFF. | |
375 | ||
376 | radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set | |
377 | to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted | |
378 | in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op. | |
379 | ||
adf2bb58 JG |
380 | height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default |
381 | is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#'' | |
382 | setting from the termcap entry matching the environment | |
383 | variable TERM. | |
dd3b648e | 384 | |
adf2bb58 JG |
385 | width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line. |
386 | Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#'' | |
387 | setting from the termcap entry matching the environment | |
388 | variable TERM. | |
dd3b648e | 389 | |
a1002e9a JK |
390 | Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and |
391 | ``set width'' instead. | |
dd3b648e | 392 | |
a1002e9a | 393 | print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays, |
dd3b648e RP |
394 | such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks |
395 | more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more | |
396 | ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON. | |
397 | ||
a1002e9a | 398 | print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default |
dd3b648e RP |
399 | is OFF. |
400 | ||
a1002e9a JK |
401 | print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on, |
402 | "raw" form if off. | |
dd3b648e | 403 | |
a1002e9a JK |
404 | print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts |
405 | like instructions. | |
dd3b648e | 406 | |
a1002e9a | 407 | print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF. |
dd3b648e RP |
408 | |
409 | ||
410 | * Support for Epoch Environment. | |
411 | ||
412 | The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One | |
413 | new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you | |
414 | are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own | |
415 | window. | |
416 | ||
417 | ||
418 | * Support for Shared Libraries | |
419 | ||
420 | GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries. | |
421 | Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced | |
422 | before the shared library has been linked with the program (this | |
423 | happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered). | |
424 | At any time after this linking (including when examining core files | |
425 | from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each | |
426 | shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command. | |
427 | It can be abbreviated ``share''. | |
428 | ||
429 | sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files | |
430 | matching a unix regular expression. No argument | |
431 | indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries. | |
432 | ||
433 | info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries. | |
434 | ||
435 | ||
436 | * Watchpoints | |
437 | ||
438 | A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an | |
439 | expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution | |
440 | tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is | |
441 | quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse | |
442 | problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this | |
443 | more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware. | |
444 | ||
445 | watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression. | |
446 | ||
447 | info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints. | |
448 | ||
449 | delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
450 | disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
451 | enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). | |
452 | ||
453 | ||
454 | * C++ multiple inheritance | |
455 | ||
456 | When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance | |
457 | for C++ programs. | |
458 | ||
459 | * C++ exception handling | |
460 | ||
461 | Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing | |
462 | ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on | |
463 | the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the | |
464 | handler's context). | |
465 | ||
466 | catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope, | |
467 | set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there. | |
468 | Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught. | |
469 | ||
470 | info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the | |
471 | current stack frame. | |
472 | ||
473 | ||
474 | * Minor command changes | |
475 | ||
476 | The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print | |
477 | command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result | |
478 | is void. This is similar to dbx usage. | |
479 | ||
480 | The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up | |
481 | at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change | |
482 | frames without printing. | |
483 | ||
484 | * New directory command | |
485 | ||
486 | 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path. | |
487 | The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information | |
488 | about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even | |
adf2bb58 JG |
489 | with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't |
490 | find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .". | |
dd3b648e RP |
491 | |
492 | * Configuring GDB for compilation | |
493 | ||
adf2bb58 JG |
494 | For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo |
495 | for more details. | |
dd3b648e RP |
496 | |
497 | GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between | |
adf2bb58 | 498 | two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''. |
75c86b57 | 499 | Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine |
dd3b648e | 500 | where the program that you are debugging will run. |