1 If you find inaccuracies in this list, please send mail to
2 gdb-patches@sourceware.cygnus.com. If you would like to work on any
3 of these, you should consider sending mail to the same address, to
4 find out whether anyone else is working on it.
10 Below is a list of problems identified during the GDB 5.0 release
11 cycle. People hope to have these problems fixed in 5.1.
15 Update GDB's coding standard documentation. Known topics:
17 o alloca/malloc et.al.
29 Wow, three bug reports for the same problem in one day! We should
30 probably make fixing this a real priority :-).
32 Anyway, thanks for reporting.
34 The following patch will fix the problems with setting breakpoints in
35 dynamically loaded objects:
37 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00230.html
39 This patch isn't checked in yet (ping Michael/JimB), but I hope this
40 will be in the next GDB release.
42 There should really be a test in the testsuite for this problem, since
43 it keeps coming up :-(. Any volunteers?
49 x86 linux GDB and SIGALRM (???)
50 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00803.html
52 This problem has been fixed, but a regression test still needs to be
53 added to the testsuite:
54 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00309.html
58 [The test has been submitted for approval - cagney]
62 RFD: infrun.c: No bpstat_stop_status call after proceed over break?
63 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00665.html
65 GDB misses watchpoint triggers after proceeding over a breakpoint on
70 GDB 5.0 doesn't work on Linux/SPARC
72 There are two parts to this.
74 o GDB 5.0 doesn't work on GNU/Linux/SPARC32
76 o GDB 5.0 doesn't work on the new target
79 GDB does build on both these targets.
81 The first problem is the one that should be fixed.
85 GDB 5.1 - New features
86 ======================
88 The following new features should be included in 5.1.
92 Enable MI by default. Old code can be deleted after 5.1 is out.
96 o syntax change where a list would
98 [ foo=a, foo=b, foo=c ]
100 { foo=a, foo=b, foo=c }
102 o kill off the idea of a reverse
111 Pascal (Pierre Muller, David Taylor)
113 Pierre Muller has contributed patches for adding Pascal Language
116 2 pascal language patches inserted in database
117 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00521.html
120 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00496.html
122 [I think this has been merged, need to confirm - cagney]
126 Java (Anthony Green, David Taylor)
128 Anthony Green has a number of Java patches that did not make it into
129 the 5.0 release. The first two are in cvs now, but the third needs
130 some fixing up before it can go in.
133 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00512.html
136 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00515.html
138 Patch: handle N_MAIN stab
139 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00527.html
145 A predicate to this is the multi-arching of SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP(). A
146 patch has been submitted.
153 The following code cleanups will hopefully be applied to GDB 5.1.
157 Resolve the build status of all broken targets as identified by the
160 o arm-* vs NetBSD's lack of ``unix''
161 o arm-* vs IRIX (see below)
167 Obsolete some targets.
169 Possible selection criteria are:
171 o uses a deprecated feature
175 o doesn't have a maintainer
179 o post proposals to gdb@ (DONE)
181 o post announcement to gdb-announce@
182 crossed with gdb@ reply-to to gdb@
199 configure.{in,host,tgt}
201 *-tdep.c *-nat.c *-xdep.c
208 Change documentation to GFDL license.
210 ``It is time to make an effort to start using the GFDL more
211 thoroughly. Would all GNU maintainers please change the license to
212 the GFDL, for all manuals and other major documentation files?
214 The GFDL and some instructions for using it can be found in
215 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/''
221 Fix copyright notices.
223 Turns out that ``1998-2000'' isn't considered valid :-(
225 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00467.html
229 GDB 5.1 - Known Problems
230 ========================
236 The z8k has suffered bit rot and is known to not build. The problem
237 was occuring in the opcodes directory.
241 Solaris 8 x86 CURSES_H problem
242 http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2000-07/msg00038.html
244 The original problem was worked around with:
246 2000-06-06 Michael Snyder <msnyder@cygnus.com>
248 * configure.in: Enable autoconf to find curses.h on Solaris 2.8.
249 * configure: Regenerate.
251 When building both GDB and SID using the same source tree the problem
252 will still occure. sid/component/configure.in mis-configures
253 <curses.h> and leaves wrong information in the config cache.
262 Thread support. Right now, as soon as a thread finishes and exits,
263 you're hosed. This problem is reported once a week or so.
267 GDB 5.2 - New features
268 ======================
272 GCC 3.0 ABI support (but hopefully sooner...).
276 Objective C/C++ support (but hopefully sooner...).
283 The following cleanups have been identified as part of GDB 5.2.
287 Remove old code that does not use ui_out functions and all the related
288 "ifdef"s. This also allows the elimination of -DUI_OUT from
289 Makefile.in and configure.in.
295 Eliminate all warnings for at least one host/target for the flags:
296 -Wimplicit -Wreturn-type -Wcomment -Wtrigraphs -Wformat -Wparentheses
297 -Wpointer-arith -Wuninitialized
301 Restructure gdb directory tree so that it avoids any 8.3 and 14
306 Convert GDB build process to AUTOMAKE.
308 See also sub-directory configure below.
310 The current convention is (kind of) to use $(<header>_h) in all
311 dependency lists. It isn't done in a consistent way.
315 GDB 5.2 - Known Problems
316 ========================
320 Code Cleanups: General
321 ======================
323 The following are more general cleanups and fixes. They are not tied
324 to any specific release.
328 Revised UDP support (was: Re: [Fwd: [patch] UDP transport support])
329 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00000.html
331 (Broken) support for GDB's remote protocol across UDP is to be
332 included in the follow-on release.
334 It should be noted that UDP can only work when the [Gg] packet fits in
337 There is also much debate over the merit of this.
341 Can't build IRIX -> arm GDB.
342 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00356.html
345 > Now I'm building for an embedded arm target. If there is a way of turning
346 > remote-rdi off, I couldn't find it. It looks like it gets built by default
347 > in gdb/configure.tgt(line 58) Anyway, the build dies in
348 > gdb/rdi-share/unixcomm.c. SERPORT1 et. al. never get defined because we
349 > aren't one of the architectures supported.
353 Problem with weak functions
354 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-05/msg00060.html
356 Dan Nicolaescu writes:
357 > It seems that gdb-4.95.1 does not display correctly the function when
358 > stoping in weak functions.
360 > It stops in a function that is defined as weak, not in the function
361 > that is actually run...
365 Follow through `make check' with --enable-shared.
367 When the srcware tree is configured with --enable-shared, the `expect'
368 program won't run properly. Jim Wilson found out gdb has a local hack
369 to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH, but, AFAIK, no other project has been hacked
372 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00845.html
376 Delete macro TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE.
378 Patches in the database.
382 printcmd.c (print_address_numeric):
384 NOTE: This assumes that the significant address information is kept in
385 the least significant bits of ADDR - the upper bits were either zero
386 or sign extended. Should ADDRESS_TO_POINTER() or some
387 ADDRESS_TO_PRINTABLE() be used to do the conversion?
391 The BFD directory requires bug-fixed AUTOMAKE et.al.
393 AUTOMAKE 1.4 incorrectly set the TEXINPUTS environment variable. It
394 contained the full path to texinfo.tex when it should have only
395 contained the directory. The bug has been fixed in the current
396 AUTOMAKE sources. Automake snapshots can be found in:
397 ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/gdb/snapshots
398 and ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/binutils
402 Find something better than DEFAULT_BFD_ARCH, DEFAULT_BFD_VEC to
403 determine the default isa/byte-order.
407 Rely on BFD_BIG_ENDIAN and BFD_LITTLE_ENDIAN instead of host dependent
408 BIG_ENDIAN and LITTLE_ENDIAN.
412 Eliminate more compiler warnings.
414 Of course there also needs to be the usual debate over which warnings
415 are valid and how to best go about this.
417 One method: choose a single option; get agreement that it is
418 reasonable; try it out to see if there isn't anything silly about it
419 (-Wunused-parameters is an example of that) then incrementally hack
422 The other method is to enable all warnings and eliminate them from one
427 Elimination of ``(catch_errors_ftype *) func''.
429 Like make_cleanup_func it isn't portable.
430 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00791.html
431 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00814.html
435 Nuke #define CONST_PTR.
443 [PATCH/5] src/intl/Makefile.in:distclean additions
444 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00363.html
446 Do not forget to merge the patch back into the trunk.
450 Rationalize the host-endian code (grep for HOST_BYTE_ORDER).
452 At present defs.h includes <endian.h> (which is linux specific) yet
453 almost nothing depends on it. Suggest "gdb_endian.h" which can also
454 handle <machine/endian.h> and only include that where it is really
459 Replace savestring() with something from libiberty.
461 An xstrldup()? but that would have different semantics.
465 Rationalize use of floatformat_unknown in GDB sources.
467 Instead of defaulting to floatformat_unknown, should hosts/targets
468 specify the value explicitly?
470 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
474 Add a ``name'' member to include/floatformat.h:struct floatformat.
475 Print that name in gdbarch.c.
479 Sort out the harris mess in include/floatformat.h (it hardwires two
480 different floating point formats).
484 See of the GDB local floatformat_do_doublest() and libiberty's
485 floatformat_to_double (which was once GDB's ...) can be merged some
490 Eliminate mmalloc(), mstrsave() et.al. from GDB.
492 Also eliminate it from defs.h.
496 Eliminate PTR. ISO-C allows ``void *''.
502 GDB should never abort. GDB should either throw ``error ()'' or
503 ``internal_error ()''. Better still GDB should naturally unwind with
508 GDB probably doesn't build on FreeBSD pre 2.2.x
509 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00378.html
511 Fixes to get FreeBSD working on 2.2.x, 3.x and 4.x caused the code to
516 Deprecate "fg". Apparently ``fg'' is actually continue.
518 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00417.html
522 Deprecate current use of ``floatformat_unknown''.
524 Require all targets to explicitly provide their float format instead
525 of defaulting to floatformat unknown. Doing the latter leads to nasty
528 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
532 Rationalize floatformat_to_double() vs floatformat_to_doublest().
534 Looks like GDB migrated floatformat_to_double() to libiberty but then
535 turned around and created a ..._to_doublest() the latter containing
538 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00472.html
542 Move floatformat_ia64_ext to libiberty/include floatformat.[ch].
544 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00466.html
548 The ``maintenance deprecate set endian big'' command doesn't notice
549 that it is deprecating ``set endian'' and not ``set endian big'' (big
550 is implemented using an enum). Is anyone going to notice this?
554 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
555 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
559 Eliminate ``arm_register_names[j] = (char *) regnames[j]'' and the
560 like from arm-tdep.c.
564 Fix uses of ->function.cfunc = set_function().
566 The command.c code calls sfunc() when a set command. Rather than
567 change it suggest fixing the callback function so that it is more
570 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00062.html
572 See also ``Fix implementation of ``target xxx''.'' below.
576 IRIX 3.x support is probably broken.
580 Delete sim/SIM_HAVE_BREAKPOINTS and gdb/SIM_HAS_BREAKPOINTS.
581 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-07/msg00042.html
583 Apart from the d30v, are there any sim/common simulators that make use
586 A brief summary of what happened is that sim/common/sim-break.c was
587 created as a good idea. It turned out a better idea was to use
588 SIM_SIGBREAK and have GDB pass back sim_resume (..., SIGBREAK).
592 Move remote_remove_hw_breakpoint, remote_insert_hw_breakpoint,
593 remote_remove_watchpoint, remote_insert_watchpoint into target vector.
597 Eliminate ``extern'' from C files.
601 Replace ``STREQ()'' et.al. with ``strcmp() == 0'' et.al.
603 Extreme care is recommeded - perhaps only modify tests that are
604 exercised by the testsuite (as determined using some type of code
609 Replace the file gdb/CONTRIBUTE with a file that is generated from the
610 gdb/doc/*.texinfo directory.
614 New Features and Fixes
615 ======================
617 These are harder than cleanups but easier than work involving
618 fundamental architectural change.
622 Hardware watchpoint problems on x86 OSes, including Linux:
624 1. Delete/disable hardware watchpoints should free hardware debug
626 2. Watch for different values on a viariable with one hardware debug
629 According to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@delorie.com>:
631 These are not GDB/ia32 issues per se: the above features are all
632 implemented in the DJGPP port of GDB and work in v5.0. Every
633 x86-based target should be able to lift the relevant parts of
634 go32-nat.c and use them almost verbatim. You get debug register
635 sharing through reference counts, and the ability to watch large
636 regions (up to 16 bytes) using multiple registers. (The required
637 infrastructure in high-level GDB application code, mostly in
638 breakpoint.c, is also working since v5.0.)
642 Add built-by, build-date, tm, xm, nm and anything else into gdb binary
643 so that you can see how the GDB was created.
647 Add an "info bfd" command that displays supported object formats,
648 similarly to objdump -i.
650 Is there a command already?
654 Fix ``I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that.'' from symfile.c.
656 This requires internationalization.
662 (gdb) p fwprintf(stdout,L"%S\n", f)
663 No symbol "L" in current context.
667 Cleanup configury support for optional sub-directories.
669 Check how GCC handles multiple front ends for an example of how things
670 could work. A tentative first step is to rationalize things so that
671 all sub directories are handled in a fashion similar to gdb/mi.
673 See also automake above.
677 Add a transcript mechanism to GDB.
679 Such a mechanism might log all gdb input and output to a file in a
680 form that would allow it to be replayed. It could involve ``gdb
681 --transcript=FILE'' or it could involve ``(gdb) transcript file''.
685 Can the xdep files be replaced by autoconf?
689 Document trace machinery
693 Document ui-out and ui-file.
695 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00121.html
699 Update texinfo.tex to latest?
703 Incorporate agentexpr.texi into gdb.texinfo
705 agentexpr.texi mostly describes the details of the byte code used for
706 tracepoints, not the internals of the support for this in GDB. So it
707 looks like gdb.texinfo is a better place for this information.
709 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00566.html
713 Document overlay machinery.
717 ``(gdb) catch signal SIGNAL''
719 Overlaps with ``handle SIGNAL'' but the implied behavior is different.
720 You can attach commands to a catch but not a handle. A handle has a
721 limited number of hardwired actions.
725 Get the TUI working on all platforms.
729 Add support for ``gdb --- PROGRAM ARGS ...''.
730 Add support for ``gdb -cmd=...''
732 Along with many variations. Check:
734 ????? for a full discussion.
740 Implement ``(gdb) !ls''.
742 Which is very different from ``(gdb) ! ls''. Implementing the latter
745 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00034.html
749 Change the (char *list[]) to (const char (*)[]) so that dynamic lists can
754 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
755 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
759 Replace the code that uses the host FPU with an emulator of the target
764 The "ocd reset" command needs to flush the dcache, which requires breaking
765 the abstraction layer between the target independent and target code. One
766 way to address this is provide a generic "reset" command and target vector.
768 http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-10/msg00011.html
777 Generic: lin-thread cannot handle thread exit (Mark Kettenis, Michael
778 Snyder) http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00525.html
780 The thread_db assisted debugging code doesn't handle exiting threads
781 properly, at least in combination with glibc 2.1.3 (the framework is
782 there, just not the actual code). There are at least two problems
783 that prevent this from working.
785 As an additional reference point, the pre thread_db code did not work
790 GNU/Linux/x86 and random thread signals (and Solaris/SPARC but not
792 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00336.html
794 Christopher Blizzard writes:
796 So, I've done some more digging into this and it looks like Jim
797 Kingdon has reported this problem in the past:
799 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/bug-gdb/1999-10/msg00058.html
801 I can reproduce this problem both with and without Tom's patch. Has
802 anyone seen this before? Maybe have a solution for it hanging around?
805 There's a test case for this documented at:
807 when debugging threaded applications you get extra SIGTRAPs
808 http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=9565
810 [There should be a GDB testcase - cagney]
814 GDB5 TOT on unixware 7
815 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00119.html
818 > I just spun the top of tree of the GDB5 branch on UnixWare 7. As a
819 > practical matter, the current thread support is somewhat more annoying
820 > than when GDB was thread-unaware.
824 Migrate qfThreadInfo packet -> qThreadInfo. (Andrew Cagney)
826 Add support for packet enable/disable commands with these thread
827 packets. General cleanup.
829 [PATCH] Document the ThreadInfo remote protocol queries
830 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00832.html
832 [PATCH] "info threads" queries for remote.c
833 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00831.html
840 New languages come onto the scene all the time.
844 Re: Various C++ things
846 value_headof/value_from_vtable_info are worthless, and should be
847 removed. The one place in printcmd.c that uses it should use the RTTI
850 RTTI for g++ should be using the typeinfo functions rather than the
851 vtables. The typeinfo functions are always at offset 4 from the
852 beginning of the vtable, and are always right. The vtables will have
853 weird names like E::VB sometimes. The typeinfo function will always
854 be "E type_info function", or somesuch.
856 value_virtual_fn_field needs to be fixed so there are no failures for
857 virtual functions for C++ using g++.
859 Testsuite cases are the major priority right now for C++ support,
860 since i have to make a lot of changes that could potentially break
865 Add support for Modula3
867 Get DEC/Compaq to contribute their Modula-3 support.
871 Remote Protocol Support
872 =======================
876 Remote protocol doco feedback.
878 Too much feedback to mention needs to be merged in (901660). Search
879 for the word ``remote''.
882 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00023.html
883 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00056.html
884 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00382.html
888 GDB doesn't recover gracefully from remote protocol errors.
890 GDB wasn't checking for NAKs from the remote target. Instead a NAK is
891 ignored and a timeout is required before GDB retries. A pre-cursor to
892 fixing this this is making GDB's remote protocol packet more robust.
894 While downloading to a remote protocol target, gdb ignores packet
895 errors in so far as it will continue to download with chunk N+1 even
896 if chunk N was not correctly sent. This causes gdb.base/remote.exp to
897 take a painfully long time to run. As a PS that test needs to be
898 fixed so that it builds on 16 bit machines.
902 Add the cycle step command.
904 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00237.html
908 Resolve how to scale things to support very large packets.
912 Resolve how to handle a target that changes things like its endianess
913 on the fly - should it be returned in the ``T'' packet?
915 Underlying problem is that the register file is target endian. If the
916 target endianess changes gdb doesn't know.
920 Rename read_register{,_pid}() to read_unsigned_register{,_pid}().
927 If / when GDB starts to support the debugging of multi-processor
928 (rather than multi-thread) applications the symtab code will need to
929 be updated a little so that several independent symbol tables are
930 active at a given time.
932 The other interesting change is a clarification of the exact meaning
933 of CORE_ADDR and that has had consequences for a few targets (that
934 were abusing that data type).
938 Investiagate ways of reducing memory.
942 Investigate ways of improving load time.
946 Get the d10v to use POINTER_TO_ADDRESS and ADDRESS_TO_POINTER.
948 Consequence of recent symtab clarification. No marks for figuring out
949 who maintains the d10v.
953 Get the MIPS to correctly sign extend all address <-> pointer
956 Consequence of recent symtab clarification. No marks for figuring out
957 who maintains the MIPS.
961 GDB truncates 64 bit enums.
963 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00290.html
970 There are never to many testcases.
974 Better thread testsuite.
978 Better C++ testsuite.
982 Look at adding a GDB specific testsuite directory so that white box
983 tests of key internals can be added (eg ui_file).
987 Separate out tests that involve the floating point (FP).
989 (Something for people brining up new targets). FP and non-fp tests
990 are combined. I think there should be set of basic tests that
991 exercise pure integer support and then a more expanded set that
992 exercise FP and FP/integer interactions.
994 As an example, the MIPS, for n32 as problems with passing FP's and
995 structs. Since most inferior call tests include FP it is difficult to
996 determine of the integer tests are ok.
1000 Architectural Changes: General
1001 ==============================
1003 These are harder than simple cleanups / fixes and, consequently
1004 involve more work. Typically an Architectural Change will be broken
1005 down into a more digestible set of cleanups and fixes.
1009 Cleanup software single step.
1011 At present many targets implement software single step by directly
1012 blatting memory (see rs6000-tdep.c). Those targets should register
1013 the applicable breakpoints using the breakpoint framework. Perhaphs a
1014 new internal breakpoint class ``step'' is needed.
1018 Replace READ_FP() with FRAME_HANDLE().
1020 READ_FP() is a hangover from the days of the vax when the ABI really
1021 did have a frame pointer register. Modern architectures typically
1022 construct a virtual frame-handle from the stack pointer and various
1023 other bits of string.
1025 Unfortunately GDB still treats this synthetic FP register as though it
1026 is real. That in turn really confuses users (arm and ``print $fp'' VS
1027 ``info registers fp''). The synthetic FP should be separated out of
1028 the true register set presented to the user.
1032 Register Cache Cleanup (below from Andrew Cagney)
1034 I would depict the current register architecture as something like:
1036 High GDB --> Low GDB
1041 register + REGISTER_BYTE(reg_nr)
1044 -------------------------
1045 | extern register[] |
1046 -------------------------
1048 where neither the high (valops.c et.al.) or low gdb (*-tdep.c) are
1049 really clear on what mechanisms they should be using to manipulate that
1050 buffer. Further, much code assumes, dangerously, that registers are
1051 contigious. Having got mips-tdep.c to support multiple ABIs, believe
1052 me, that is a bad assumption. Finally, that register cache layout is
1053 determined by the current remote/local target and _not_ the less
1054 specific target ISA. In fact, in many cases it is determined by the
1055 somewhat arbitrary layout of the [gG] packets!
1058 How I would like the register file to work is more like:
1086 The main objectives being:
1088 o a clear separation between the low
1089 level target and the high level GDB
1091 o a mechanism that solves the general
1092 problem of register aliases, overlaps
1093 etc instead of treating them as optional
1094 extras that can be wedged in as an after
1095 thought (that is a reasonable description
1096 of the current code).
1098 Identify then solve the hard case and the
1099 rest just falls out. GDB solved the easy
1100 case and then tried to ignore the real
1103 o a removal of the assumption that the
1104 mapping between the register cache
1105 and virtual registers is largely static.
1106 If you flip the USR/SSR stack register
1107 select bit in the status-register then
1108 the corresponding stack registers should
1111 o a mechanism that clearly separates the
1112 gdb internal register cache from any
1113 target (not architecture) dependent
1114 specifics such as [gG] packets.
1116 Of course, like anything, it sounds good in theory. In reality, it
1117 would have to contend with many<->many relationships at both the
1118 virt<->cache and cache<->target level. For instance:
1121 Modifying an mmx register may involve
1122 scattering values across both FP and
1123 mmpx specific parts of a buffer
1126 When writing back a SP it may need to
1127 both be written to both SP and USP.
1132 Rather than let this like the last time it was discussed, just slip, I'm
1133 first going to add this e-mail (+ references) to TODO. I'd then like to
1134 sketch out a broad strategy I think could get us there.
1137 First thing I'd suggest is separating out the ``extern registers[]''
1138 code so that we can at least identify what is using it. At present
1139 things are scattered across many files. That way we can at least
1140 pretend that there is a cache instead of a global array :-)
1142 I'd then suggest someone putting up a proposal for the pseudo-reg /
1143 high-level side interface so that code can be adopted to it. For old
1144 code, initially a blanket rename of write_register_bytes() to
1145 deprecated_write_register_bytes() would help.
1147 Following that would, finaly be the corresponding changes to the target.
1151 Check that GDB can handle all BFD architectures (Andrew Cagney)
1153 There should be a test that checks that BFD/GDB are in sync with
1154 regard to architecture changes. Something like a test that first
1155 queries GDB for all supported architectures and then feeds each back
1156 to GDB.. Anyone interested in learning how to write tests? :-)
1160 Architectural Change: Multi-arch et al.
1161 =======================================
1163 The long term objective is to remove all assumptions that there is a
1164 single target with a single address space with a single instruction
1165 set architecture and single application binary interface.
1167 This is an ongoing effort. The first milestone is to enable
1168 ``multi-arch'' where by all architectural decisions are made at
1171 It should be noted that ``gdbarch'' is really ``gdbabi'' and
1172 ``gdbisa''. Once things are multi-arched breaking that down correctly
1173 will become much easier.
1177 GDBARCH cleanup (Andrew Cagney)
1179 The non-generated parts of gdbarch.{sh,h,c} should be separated out
1180 into arch-utils.[hc].
1182 Document that gdbarch_init_ftype could easily fail because it didn't
1183 identify an architecture.
1187 Fix BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION. Change it to BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION_P?
1189 At present there is still #ifdef BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION code in the
1194 Fix target_signal_from_host() etc.
1196 The name is wrong for starters. ``target_signal'' should probably be
1197 ``gdb_signal''. ``from_host'' should be ``from_target_signal''.
1198 After that it needs to be multi-arched and made independent of any
1199 host signal numbering.
1203 Update ALPHA so that it uses ``struct frame_extra_info'' instead of
1206 This is a barrier to replacing mips_extra_func_info with something
1207 that works with multi-arch.
1211 Multi-arch mips_extra_func_info.
1213 This first needs the alpha to be updated so that it uses ``struct
1218 Rationalize TARGET_SINGLE_FORMAT and TARGET_SINGLE_BIT et al.
1220 Surely one of them is redundant.
1224 Convert ALL architectures to MULTI-ARCH.
1228 Select the initial multi-arch ISA / ABI based on --target or similar.
1230 At present the default is based on what ever is first in the BFD
1231 archures table. It should be determined based on the ``--target=...''
1236 Make MIPS pure multi-arch.
1238 It is only at the multi-arch enabled stage.
1244 Enable the code to recognize --enable-targets=.... like BINUTILS does.
1246 Can the tm.h and nm.h files be eliminated by multi-arch.
1250 Architectural Change: MI, LIBGDB and scripting languages
1251 ========================================================
1253 See also architectural changes related to the event loop. LIBGDB
1254 can't be finished until there is a generic event loop being used by
1257 The long term objective is it to be possible to integrate GDB into
1258 scripting languages.
1262 Implement generic ``(gdb) commmand > file''
1264 Once everything is going through ui_file it should be come fairly
1267 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00104.html
1271 Replace gdb_stdtarg with gdb_targout (and possibly gdb_targerr).
1273 gdb_stdtarg is easily confused with gdb_stdarg.
1277 Extra ui_file methods - dump.
1279 Very useful for whitebox testing.
1283 Eliminate error_begin().
1285 With ui_file, there is no need for the statefull error_begin ()
1290 Send normal output to gdb_stdout.
1291 Send error messages to gdb_stderror.
1292 Send debug and log output log gdb_stdlog.
1294 GDB still contains many cases where (f)printf or printf_filtered () is
1295 used when it should be sending the messages to gdb_stderror or
1296 gdb_stdlog. The thought of #defining printf to something has crossed
1301 Re-do GDB's output pager.
1303 GDB's output pager still relies on people correctly using *_filtered
1304 for gdb_stdout and *_unfiltered for gdb_stdlog / gdb_stderr.
1305 Hopefully, with all normal output going to gdb_stdout, the pager can
1306 just look at the ui_file that the output is on and then use that to
1307 decide what to do about paging. Sounds good in theory.
1311 Check/cleanup MI documentation.
1313 The list of commands specified in the documentation needs to be
1314 checked against the mi-cmds.c table in a mechanical way (so that they
1315 two can be kept up-to-date).
1319 Convert MI into libgdb
1321 MI provides a text interface into what should be many of the libgdb
1322 functions. The implementation of those functions should be separated
1323 into the MI interface and the functions proper. Those functions being
1324 moved to gdb/lib say.
1330 The first part can already be found in defs.h.
1334 MI's input does not use buffering.
1336 At present the MI interface reads raw characters of from an unbuffered
1337 FD. This is to avoid several nasty buffer/race conditions. That code
1338 should be changed so that it registers its self with the event loop
1339 (on the input FD) and then push commands up to MI as they arrive.
1341 The serial code already does this.
1345 Make MI interface accessible from existing CLI.
1349 Add a breakpoint-edit command to MI.
1351 It would be similar to MI's breakpoint create but would apply to an
1352 existing breakpoint. It saves the need to delete/create breakpoints
1353 when ever they are changed.
1357 Add directory path to MI breakpoint.
1359 That way the GUI's task of finding the file within which the
1360 breakpoint was set is simplified.
1364 Add a mechanism to reject certain expression classes to MI
1366 There are situtations where you don't want GDB's expression
1367 parser/evaluator to perform inferior function calls or variable
1368 assignments. A way of restricting the expression parser so that such
1369 operations are not accepted would be very helpful.
1373 Remove sideffects from libgdb breakpoint create function.
1375 The user can use the CLI to create a breakpoint with partial
1376 information - no file (gdb would use the file from the last
1379 The libgdb interface currently affects that environment which can lead
1380 to confusion when a user is setting breakpoints via both the MI and
1383 This is also a good example of how getting the CLI ``right'' will be
1388 Move gdb_lasterr to ui_out?
1390 The way GDB throws errors and records them needs a re-think. ui_out
1391 handles the correct output well. It doesn't resolve what to do with
1392 output / error-messages when things go wrong.
1396 do_setshow_command contains a 1024 byte buffer.
1398 The function assumes that there will never be any more than 1024 bytes
1399 of enum. It should use mem_file.
1403 Should struct cmd_list_element . completer take the command as an
1408 Should the bulk of top.c:line_completion_function() be moved to
1409 command.[hc]? complete_on_cmdlist() and complete_on_enums() could
1410 then be made private.
1414 top.c (execute_command): Should a command being valid when the target
1415 is running be made an attribute (predicate) to the command rather than
1416 an explicit set of tests.
1420 top.c (execute_command): Should the bulk of this function be moved
1421 into command.[hc] so that top.c doesn't grub around in the command
1426 Architectural Change: Async
1427 ===========================
1429 While GDB uses an event loop when prompting the user for input. That
1430 event loop is not exploited by targets when they allow the target
1431 program to continue. Typically targets still block in (target_wait())
1432 until the program again halts.
1434 The closest a target comes to supporting full asynchronous mode are
1435 the remote targets ``async'' and ``extended-async''.
1439 Asynchronous expression evaluator
1441 Inferior function calls hang GDB.
1445 Fix implementation of ``target xxx''.
1447 At present when the user specifies ``target xxxx'', the CLI maps that
1448 directly onto a target open method. It is then assumed that the
1449 target open method should do all sorts of complicated things as this
1450 is the only chance it has. Check how the various remote targets
1451 duplicate the target operations. Check also how the various targets
1452 behave differently for purely arbitrary reasons.
1454 What should happen is that ``target xxxx'' should call a generic
1455 ``target'' function and that should then co-ordinate the opening of
1456 ``xxxx''. This becomes especially important when you're trying to
1457 open an asynchronous target that may need to perform background tasks
1458 as part of the ``attach'' phase.
1460 Unfortunately, due to limitations in the old/creaking command.h
1461 interface, that isn't possible. The function being called isn't told
1462 of the ``xxx'' or any other context information.
1464 Consequently a precursor to fixing ``target xxxx'' is to clean up the
1465 CLI code so that it passes to the callback function (attatched to a
1466 command) useful information such as the actual command and a context
1467 for that command. Other changes such as making ``struct command''
1468 opaque may also help.
1471 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00062.html
1475 Make "target xxx" command interruptible.
1477 As things become async this becomes possible. A target would start
1478 the connect and then return control to the event loop. A cntrl-c
1479 would notify the target that the operation is to be abandoned and the
1480 target code could respond.
1484 Add a "suspend" subcommand of the "continue" command to suspend gdb
1485 while continuing execution of the subprocess. Useful when you are
1486 debugging servers and you want to dodge out and initiate a connection
1487 to a server running under gdb.
1496 Frequently requested but not approved requests.
1500 Eliminate unused argument warnings using ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED.
1502 The benefits on this one are thought to be marginal - GDBs design
1503 means that unused parameters are very common. GCC 3.0 will also
1504 include the option -Wno-unused-parameter which means that ``-Wall
1505 -Wno-unused-parameters -Werror'' can be specified.
1514 This list is not up to date, and opinions vary about the importance or
1515 even desirability of some of the items. If you do fix something, it
1516 always pays to check the below.
1520 @c This does not work (yet if ever). FIXME.
1521 @c @item --parse=@var{lang} @dots{}
1522 @c Configure the @value{GDBN} expression parser to parse the listed languages.
1523 @c @samp{all} configures @value{GDBN} for all supported languages. To get a
1524 @c list of all supported languages, omit the argument. Without this
1525 @c option, @value{GDBN} is configured to parse all supported languages.
1529 START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED need never be defined to 2, since that
1530 is its default value. Clean this up.
1534 It should be possible to use symbols from shared libraries before we know
1535 exactly where the libraries will be loaded. E.g. "b perror" before running
1536 the program. This could maybe be done as an extension of the "breakpoint
1537 re-evaluation" after new symbols are loaded.
1541 Make single_step() insert and remove breakpoints in one operation.
1543 [If this is talking about having single_step() insert the breakpoints,
1544 run the target then pull the breakpoints then it is wrong. The
1545 function has to return as control has to eventually be passed back to
1546 the main event loop.]
1550 Speed up single stepping by avoiding extraneous ptrace calls.
1554 Speed up single stepping by not inserting and removing breakpoints
1555 each time the inferior starts and stops.
1557 Breakpoints should not be inserted and deleted all the time. Only the
1558 one(s) there should be removed when we have to step over one. Support
1559 breakpoints that don't have to be removed to step over them.
1561 [this has resulted in numerous debates. The issue isn't clear cut]
1565 Provide "voodoo" debugging of core files. This creates a zombie
1566 process as a child of the debugger, and loads it up with the data,
1567 stack, and regs of the core file. This allows you to call functions
1568 in the executable, to manipulate the data in the core file.
1574 GDB reopens the source file on every line, as you "next" through it.
1576 [still true? I've a memory of this being fixed]
1580 Perhaps "i source" should take an argument like that of "list".
1584 Remove "at 0xnnnn" from the "b foo" response, if `print address off' and if
1585 it matches the source line indicated.
1589 The prompt at end of screen should accept space as well as CR.
1593 Backtrace should point out what the currently selected frame is, in
1594 its display, perhaps showing "@3 foo (bar, ...)" or ">3 foo (bar,
1595 ...)" rather than "#3 foo (bar, ...)".
1599 "i program" should work for core files, and display more info, like what
1600 actually caused it to die.
1604 "x/10i" should shorten the long name, if any, on subsequent lines.
1608 "next" over a function that longjumps, never stops until next time you happen
1609 to get to that spot by accident. E.g. "n" over execute_command which has
1614 "set zeroprint off", don't bother printing members of structs which
1615 are entirely zero. Useful for those big structs with few useful
1620 GDB does four ioctl's for every command, probably switching terminal modes
1621 to/from inferior or for readline or something.
1625 terminal_ours versus terminal_inferior: cache state. Switch should be a noop
1626 if the state is the same, too.
1630 "i frame" shows wrong "arglist at" location, doesn't show where the args
1631 should be found, only their actual values.
1635 There should be a way for "set" commands to validate the new setting
1636 before it takes effect.
1640 "ena d" is ambiguous, why? "ena delete" seems to think it is a command!
1644 i line VAR produces "Line number not known for symbol ``var''.". I
1645 thought we were stashing that info now!
1649 We should be able to write to random files at hex offsets like adb.
1653 [elena - delete this]
1655 Handle add_file with separate text, data, and bss addresses. Maybe
1656 handle separate addresses for each segment in the object file?
1660 [Jimb/Elena delete this one]
1662 Handle free_named_symtab to cope with multiply-loaded object files
1663 in a dynamic linking environment. Should remember the last copy loaded,
1664 but not get too snowed if it finds references to the older copy.
1668 [elena delete this also]
1670 Remove all references to:
1677 now that we have BFD. All remaining are in machine dependent files.
1681 Re-organize help categories into things that tend to fit on a screen
1686 Add in commands like ADB's for searching for patterns, etc. We should
1687 be able to examine and patch raw unsymboled binaries as well in gdb as
1688 we can in adb. (E.g. increase the timeout in /bin/login without source).
1690 [actually, add ADB interface :-]
1694 When doing "step" or "next", if a few lines of source are skipped between
1695 the previous line and the current one, print those lines, not just the
1696 last line of a multiline statement.
1700 Handling of "&" address-of operator needs some serious overhaul
1701 for ANSI C and consistency on arrays and functions.
1702 For "float point[15];":
1703 ptype &point[4] ==> Attempt to take address of non-lvalue.
1704 For "char *malloc();":
1705 ptype malloc ==> "char *()"; should be same as
1706 ptype &malloc ==> "char *(*)()"
1707 call printf ("%x\n", malloc) ==> weird value, should be same as
1708 call printf ("%x\n", &malloc) ==> correct value
1712 Fix dbxread.c symbol reading in the presence of interrupts. It
1713 currently leaves a cleanup to blow away the entire symbol table when a
1714 QUIT occurs. (What's wrong with that? -kingdon, 28 Oct 1993).
1716 [I suspect that the grype was that, on a slow system, you might want
1717 to cntrl-c and get just half the symbols and then load the rest later
1718 - scary to be honest]
1722 Mipsread.c reads include files depth-first, because the dependencies
1723 in the psymtabs are way too inclusive (it seems to me). Figure out what
1724 really depends on what, to avoid recursing 20 or 30 times while reading
1729 value_add() should be subtracting the lower bound of arrays, if known,
1730 and possibly checking against the upper bound for error reporting.
1734 When listing source lines, check for a preceding \n, to verify that
1735 the file hasn't changed out from under us.
1737 [fixed by some other means I think. That hack wouldn't actually work
1738 reliably - the file might move such that another \n appears. ]
1742 Get all the remote systems (where the protocol allows it) to be able to
1743 stop the remote system when the GDB user types ^C (like remote.c
1744 does). For ebmon, use ^Ak.
1748 Possible feature: A version of the "disassemble" command which shows
1749 both source and assembly code ("set symbol-filename on" is a partial
1752 [has this been done? It was certainly done for MI and GDBtk]
1756 investigate "x/s 0" (right now stops early) (I think maybe GDB is
1757 using a 0 address for bad purposes internally).
1761 Make "info path" and path_command work again (but independent of the
1762 environment either of gdb or that we'll pass to the inferior).
1766 Make GDB understand the GCC feature for putting octal constants in
1767 enums. Make it so overflow on an enum constant does not error_type
1768 the whole type. Allow arbitrarily large enums with type attributes.
1769 Put all this stuff in the testsuite.
1773 Make TYPE_CODE_ERROR with a non-zero TYPE_LENGTH more useful (print
1774 the value in hex; process type attributes). Add this to the
1775 testsuite. This way future compilers can add new types and old
1776 versions of GDB can do something halfway reasonable.
1780 Fix mdebugread.c:parse_type to do fundamental types right (see
1781 rs6000_builtin_type in stabsread.c for what "right" is--the point is
1782 that the debug format fixes the sizes of these things and it shouldn't
1783 depend on stuff like TARGET_PTR_BIT and so on. For mdebug, there seem
1784 to be separate bt* codes for 64 bit and 32 bit things, and GDB should
1785 be aware of that). Also use a switch statement for clarity and speed.
1789 Investigate adding symbols in target_load--some targets do, some
1794 Put dirname in psymtabs and change lookup*symtab to use dirname (so
1795 /foo/bar.c works whether compiled by cc /foo/bar.c, or cd /foo; cc
1800 Merge xcoffread.c and coffread.c. Use breakpoint_re_set instead of
1805 Make a watchpoint which contains a function call an error (it is
1806 broken now, making it work is probably not worth the effort).
1810 New test case based on weird.exp but in which type numbers are not
1811 renumbered (thus multiply defining a type). This currently causes an
1812 infinite loop on "p v_comb".
1816 [Hey! Hint Hint Delete Delete!!!]
1818 Fix 386 floating point so that floating point registers are real
1819 registers (but code can deal at run-time if they are missing, like
1820 mips and 68k). This would clean up "info float" and related stuff.
1824 gcc -g -c enummask.c then gdb enummask.o, then "p v". GDB complains
1825 about not being able to access memory location 0.
1827 -------------------- enummask.c
1848 If try to modify value in file with "set write off" should give
1849 appropriate error not "cannot access memory at address 0x65e0".
1853 Allow core file without exec file on RS/6000.
1857 Make sure "shell" with no arguments works right on DOS.
1861 Make gdb.ini (as well as .gdbinit) be checked on all platforms, so
1862 the same directory can be NFS-mounted on unix or DOS, and work the
1867 [Is this another delete???]
1869 Get SECT_OFF_TEXT stuff out of objfile_relocate (might be needed to
1870 get RS/6000 to work right, might not be immediately relevant).
1874 Work out some kind of way to allow running the inferior to be done as
1875 a sub-execution of, eg. breakpoint command lists. Currently running
1876 the inferior interupts any command list execution. This would require
1877 some rewriting of wait_for_inferior & friends, and hence should
1878 probably be done in concert with the above.
1882 Add function arguments to gdb user defined functions.
1886 Add convenience variables that refer to exec file, symbol file,
1887 selected frame source file, selected frame function, selected frame
1892 Modify the handling of symbols grouped through BINCL/EINCL stabs to
1893 allocate a partial symtab for each BINCL/EINCL grouping. This will
1894 seriously decrease the size of inter-psymtab dependencies and hence
1895 lessen the amount that needs to be read in when a new source file is
1900 Add a command for searching memory, a la adb. It specifies size,
1901 mask, value, start address. ADB searches until it finds it or hits
1902 an error (or is interrupted).
1906 Remove the range and type checking code and documentation, if not