What has changed in GDB?
(Organized release by release)
-*** Changes since GDB 7.7
+*** Changes since GDB 7.10
+
+* Support for tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver.
+
+*** Changes in GDB 7.10
+
+* Support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on aarch64*-linux*
+ targets has been added. GDB now supports recording of A64 instruction set
+ including advance SIMD instructions.
+
+* Support for Sun's version of the "stabs" debug file format has been removed.
+
+* GDB now honors the content of the file /proc/PID/coredump_filter
+ (PID is the process ID) on GNU/Linux systems. This file can be used
+ to specify the types of memory mappings that will be included in a
+ corefile. For more information, please refer to the manual page of
+ "core(5)". GDB also has a new command: "set use-coredump-filter
+ on|off". It allows to set whether GDB will read the content of the
+ /proc/PID/coredump_filter file when generating a corefile.
+
+* The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
+ cpu information :
+ "info os cpus" Listing of all cpus/cores on the system
+
+* GDB has two new commands: "set serial parity odd|even|none" and
+ "show serial parity". These allows to set or show parity for the
+ remote serial I/O.
+
+* The "info source" command now displays the producer string if it was
+ present in the debug info. This typically includes the compiler version
+ and may include things like its command line arguments.
+
+* The "info dll", an alias of the "info sharedlibrary" command,
+ is now available on all platforms.
+
+* Directory names supplied to the "set sysroot" commands may be
+ prefixed with "target:" to tell GDB to access shared libraries from
+ the target system, be it local or remote. This replaces the prefix
+ "remote:". The default sysroot has been changed from "" to
+ "target:". "remote:" is automatically converted to "target:" for
+ backward compatibility.
+
+* The system root specified by "set sysroot" will be prepended to the
+ filename of the main executable (if reported to GDB as absolute by
+ the operating system) when starting processes remotely, and when
+ attaching to already-running local or remote processes.
+
+* GDB now supports automatic location and retrieval of executable
+ files from remote targets. Remote debugging can now be initiated
+ using only a "target remote" or "target extended-remote" command
+ (no "set sysroot" or "file" commands are required). See "New remote
+ packets" below.
+
+* The "dump" command now supports verilog hex format.
+
+* GDB now supports the vector ABI on S/390 GNU/Linux targets.
+
+* On GNU/Linux, GDB and gdbserver are now able to access executable
+ and shared library files without a "set sysroot" command when
+ attaching to processes running in different mount namespaces from
+ the debugger. This makes it possible to attach to processes in
+ containers as simply as "gdb -p PID" or "gdbserver --attach PID".
+ See "New remote packets" below.
+
+* The "tui reg" command now provides completion for all of the
+ available register groups, including target specific groups.
+
+* The HISTSIZE environment variable is no longer read when determining
+ the size of GDB's command history. GDB now instead reads the dedicated
+ GDBHISTSIZE environment variable. Setting GDBHISTSIZE to "-1" or to "" now
+ disables truncation of command history. Non-numeric values of GDBHISTSIZE
+ are ignored.
+
+* Guile Scripting
+
+ ** Memory ports can now be unbuffered.
+
+* Python Scripting
+
+ ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "username",
+ which is the name of the objfile as specified by the user,
+ without, for example, resolving symlinks.
+ ** You can now write frame unwinders in Python.
+ ** gdb.Type objects have a new method "optimized_out",
+ returning optimized out gdb.Value instance of this type.
+ ** gdb.Value objects have new methods "reference_value" and
+ "const_value" which return a reference to the value and a
+ "const" version of the value respectively.
+
+* New commands
+
+maint print symbol-cache
+ Print the contents of the symbol cache.
+
+maint print symbol-cache-statistics
+ Print statistics of symbol cache usage.
+
+maint flush-symbol-cache
+ Flush the contents of the symbol cache.
+
+record btrace bts
+record bts
+ Start branch trace recording using Branch Trace Store (BTS) format.
+
+compile print
+ Evaluate expression by using the compiler and print result.
+
+tui enable
+tui disable
+ Explicit commands for enabling and disabling tui mode.
+
+show mpx bound
+set mpx bound on i386 and amd64
+ Support for bound table investigation on Intel(R) MPX enabled applications.
+
+record btrace pt
+record pt
+ Start branch trace recording using Intel(R) Processor Trace format.
+
+maint info btrace
+ Print information about branch tracing internals.
+
+maint btrace packet-history
+ Print the raw branch tracing data.
+
+maint btrace clear-packet-history
+ Discard the stored raw branch tracing data.
+
+maint btrace clear
+ Discard all branch tracing data. It will be fetched and processed
+ anew by the next "record" command.
+
+* New options
+
+set debug dwarf-die
+ Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-die".
+show debug dwarf-die
+ Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-die".
+
+set debug dwarf-read
+ Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-read".
+show debug dwarf-read
+ Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-read".
+
+maint set dwarf always-disassemble
+ Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble".
+maint show dwarf always-disassemble
+ Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble".
+
+maint set dwarf max-cache-age
+ Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age".
+maint show dwarf max-cache-age
+ Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age".
+
+set debug dwarf-line
+show debug dwarf-line
+ Control display of debugging info regarding DWARF line processing.
+
+set max-completions
+show max-completions
+ Set the maximum number of candidates to be considered during
+ completion. The default value is 200. This limit allows GDB
+ to avoid generating large completion lists, the computation of
+ which can cause the debugger to become temporarily unresponsive.
+
+set history remove-duplicates
+show history remove-duplicates
+ Control the removal of duplicate history entries.
+
+maint set symbol-cache-size
+maint show symbol-cache-size
+ Control the size of the symbol cache.
+
+set|show record btrace bts buffer-size
+ Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
+ BTS format.
+ The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
+ record" to see the obtained buffer size.
+
+set debug linux-namespaces
+show debug linux-namespaces
+ Control display of debugging info regarding Linux namespaces.
+
+set|show record btrace pt buffer-size
+ Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
+ Intel(R) Processor Trace format.
+ The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
+ record" to see the obtained buffer size.
+
+maint set|show btrace pt skip-pad
+ Set and show whether PAD packets are skipped when computing the
+ packet history.
+
+* The command 'thread apply all' can now support new option '-ascending'
+ to call its specified command for all threads in ascending order.
+
+* Python/Guile scripting
+
+ ** GDB now supports auto-loading of Python/Guile scripts contained in the
+ special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts'.
+
+* New remote packets
+
+qXfer:btrace-conf:read
+ Return the branch trace configuration for the current thread.
+
+Qbtrace-conf:bts:size
+ Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in BTS format.
+
+Qbtrace:pt
+ Enable Intel(R) Procesor Trace-based branch tracing for the current
+ process. The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's
+ qSupported query.
+
+Qbtrace-conf:pt:size
+ Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in Intel(R) Processor
+ Trace format.
+
+swbreak stop reason
+ Indicates a memory breakpoint instruction was executed, irrespective
+ of whether it was GDB that planted the breakpoint or the breakpoint
+ is hardcoded in the program. This is required for correct non-stop
+ mode operation.
+
+hwbreak stop reason
+ Indicates the target stopped for a hardware breakpoint. This is
+ required for correct non-stop mode operation.
+
+vFile:fstat:
+ Return information about files on the remote system.
+
+qXfer:exec-file:read
+ Return the full absolute name of the file that was executed to
+ create a process running on the remote system.
+
+vFile:setfs:
+ Select the filesystem on which vFile: operations with filename
+ arguments will operate. This is required for GDB to be able to
+ access files on remote targets where the remote stub does not
+ share a common filesystem with the inferior(s).
+
+fork stop reason
+ Indicates that a fork system call was executed.
+
+vfork stop reason
+ Indicates that a vfork system call was executed.
+
+vforkdone stop reason
+ Indicates that a vfork child of the specified process has executed
+ an exec or exit, allowing the vfork parent to resume execution.
+
+fork-events and vfork-events features in qSupported
+ The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for fork and
+ vfork events using new 'gdbfeatures' fork-events and vfork-events,
+ and the qSupported response can contain the corresponding
+ 'stubfeatures'. Set and show commands can be used to display
+ whether these features are enabled.
+
+* Extended-remote fork events
+
+ ** GDB now has support for fork events on extended-remote Linux
+ targets. For targets with Linux kernels 2.5.60 and later, this
+ enables follow-fork-mode and detach-on-fork for both fork and
+ vfork, as well as fork and vfork catchpoints.
+
+* The info record command now shows the recording format and the
+ branch tracing configuration for the current thread when using
+ the btrace record target.
+ For the BTS format, it shows the ring buffer size.
+
+* GDB now has support for DTrace USDT (Userland Static Defined
+ Tracing) probes. The supported targets are x86_64-*-linux-gnu.
+
+* GDB now supports access to vector registers on S/390 GNU/Linux
+ targets.
+
+* Removed command line options
+
+-xdb HP-UX XDB compatibility mode.
+
+* Removed targets and native configurations
+
+HP/PA running HP-UX hppa*-*-hpux*
+Itanium running HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
+
+* New configure options
+
+--with-intel-pt
+ This configure option allows the user to build GDB with support for
+ Intel(R) Processor Trace (default: auto). This requires libipt.
+
+--with-libipt-prefix=PATH
+ Specify the path to the version of libipt that GDB should use.
+ $PATH/include should contain the intel-pt.h header and
+ $PATH/lib should contain the libipt.so library.
+
+*** Changes in GDB 7.9.1
+
+* Python Scripting
+
+ ** Xmethods can now specify a result type.
+
+*** Changes in GDB 7.9
+
+* GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on x86 GNU Hurd.
+
+* Python Scripting
+
+ ** You can now access frame registers from Python scripts.
+ ** New attribute 'producer' for gdb.Symtab objects.
+ ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "progspace",
+ which is the gdb.Progspace object of the containing program space.
+ ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "owner".
+ ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "build_id",
+ which is the build ID generated when the file was built.
+ ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new method "add_separate_debug_file".
+ ** A new event "gdb.clear_objfiles" has been added, triggered when
+ selecting a new file to debug.
+ ** You can now add attributes to gdb.Objfile and gdb.Progspace objects.
+ ** New function gdb.lookup_objfile.
+
+ New events which are triggered when GDB modifies the state of the
+ inferior.
+
+ ** gdb.events.inferior_call_pre: Function call is about to be made.
+ ** gdb.events.inferior_call_post: Function call has just been made.
+ ** gdb.events.memory_changed: A memory location has been altered.
+ ** gdb.events.register_changed: A register has been altered.
+
+* New Python-based convenience functions:
+
+ ** $_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
+ ** $_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
+ ** $_any_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
+ ** $_any_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
+
+* GDB now supports the compilation and injection of source code into
+ the inferior. GDB will use GCC 5.0 or higher built with libcc1.so
+ to compile the source code to object code, and if successful, inject
+ and execute that code within the current context of the inferior.
+ Currently the C language is supported. The commands used to
+ interface with this new feature are:
+
+ compile code [-raw|-r] [--] [source code]
+ compile file [-raw|-r] filename
+
+* New commands
+
+demangle [-l language] [--] name
+ Demangle "name" in the specified language, or the current language
+ if elided. This command is renamed from the "maint demangle" command.
+ The latter is kept as a no-op to avoid "maint demangle" being interpreted
+ as "maint demangler-warning".
+
+queue-signal signal-name-or-number
+ Queue a signal to be delivered to the thread when it is resumed.
+
+add-auto-load-scripts-directory directory
+ Add entries to the list of directories from which to load auto-loaded
+ scripts.
+
+maint print user-registers
+ List all currently available "user" registers.
+
+compile code [-r|-raw] [--] [source code]
+ Compile, inject, and execute in the inferior the executable object
+ code produced by compiling the provided source code.
+
+compile file [-r|-raw] filename
+ Compile and inject into the inferior the executable object code
+ produced by compiling the source code stored in the filename
+ provided.
+
+* On resume, GDB now always passes the signal the program had stopped
+ for to the thread the signal was sent to, even if the user changed
+ threads before resuming. Previously GDB would often (but not
+ always) deliver the signal to the thread that happens to be current
+ at resume time.
+
+* Conversely, the "signal" command now consistently delivers the
+ requested signal to the current thread. GDB now asks for
+ confirmation if the program had stopped for a signal and the user
+ switched threads meanwhile.
+
+* "breakpoint always-inserted" modes "off" and "auto" merged.
+
+ Now, when 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' is set to "off", GDB
+ won't remove breakpoints from the target until all threads stop,
+ even in non-stop mode. The "auto" mode has been removed, and "off"
+ is now the default mode.
+
+* New options
+
+set debug symbol-lookup
+show debug symbol-lookup
+ Control display of debugging info regarding symbol lookup.
+
+* MI changes
+
+ ** The -list-thread-groups command outputs an exit-code field for
+ inferiors that have exited.
+
+* New targets
+
+MIPS SDE mips*-sde*-elf*
+
+* Removed targets
+
+Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
+
+Alpha running OSF/1 (or Tru64) alpha*-*-osf*
+SGI Irix-5.x mips-*-irix5*
+SGI Irix-6.x mips-*-irix6*
+VAX running (4.2 - 4.3 Reno) BSD vax-*-bsd*
+VAX running Ultrix vax-*-ultrix*
+
+* The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
+ and "assf"), have been removed. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
+ its alias "share", instead.
+
+*** Changes in GDB 7.8
* New command line options
native target for the run, attach, etc. commands when not connected
to any target yet. See also "target native" below.
+set record btrace replay-memory-access (read-only|read-write)
+show record btrace replay-memory-access
+ Control what memory accesses are allowed during replay.
+
+maint set target-async (on|off)
+maint show target-async
+ This controls whether GDB targets operate in synchronous or
+ asynchronous mode. Normally the default is asynchronous, if it is
+ available; but this can be changed to more easily debug problems
+ occurring only in synchronous mode.
+
+set mi-async (on|off)
+show mi-async
+ Control whether MI asynchronous mode is preferred. This supersedes
+ "set target-async" of previous GDB versions.
+
+* "set target-async" is deprecated as a CLI option and is now an alias
+ for "set mi-async" (only puts MI into async mode).
+
+* Background execution commands (e.g., "c&", "s&", etc.) are now
+ possible ``out of the box'' if the target supports them. Previously
+ the user would need to explicitly enable the possibility with the
+ "set target-async on" command.
+
* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
** New option --debug-format=option1[,option2,...] allows one to add
can be used to launch native programs even when "set
auto-connect-native-target" is set to off.
+* GDB now supports access to Intel(R) MPX registers on GNU/Linux.
+
+* Support for Intel(R) AVX-512 registers on GNU/Linux.
+ Support displaying and modifying Intel(R) AVX-512 registers
+ $zmm0 - $zmm31 and $k0 - $k7 on GNU/Linux.
+
* New remote packets
qXfer:btrace:read's annex
** Valid Python operations on gdb.Value objects representing
structs/classes invoke the corresponding overloaded operators if
available.
+ ** New `Xmethods' feature in the Python API. Xmethods are
+ additional methods or replacements for existing methods of a C++
+ class. This feature is useful for those cases where a method
+ defined in C++ source code could be inlined or optimized out by
+ the compiler, making it unavailable to GDB.
* New targets
PowerPC64 GNU/Linux little-endian powerpc64le-*-linux*
and "assf"), have been deprecated. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
its alias "share", instead.
+* The commands "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" are no longer
+ supported. Use "set serial baud" and "show serial baud" (respectively)
+ instead.
+
+* MI changes
+
+ ** A new option "-gdb-set mi-async" replaces "-gdb-set
+ target-async". The latter is left as a deprecated alias of the
+ former for backward compatibility. If the target supports it,
+ CLI background execution commands are now always possible by
+ default, independently of whether the frontend stated a
+ preference for asynchronous execution with "-gdb-set mi-async".
+ Previously "-gdb-set target-async off" affected both MI execution
+ commands and CLI execution commands.
+
*** Changes in GDB 7.7
* Improved support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on
two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
where the program that you are debugging will run.
-
- * GDB now supports access to Intel(R) MPX registers on GNU/Linux.
-
- * Support for Intel(R) AVX-512 registers on GNU/Linux.
-
-Support displaying and modifying Intel(R) AVX-512 registers $zmm0 - $zmm31 and
-$k0 - $k7 on GNU/Linux.