gdb/TODO

   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.
   5
   6
   7                         GDB 5.1 - Fixes
   8                         ===============
   9
  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.
  12
  13 --
  14
  15 Hardware watchpint problems on x86 OSes, including Linux:
  16
  17 1. Delete/disable hardware watchpoints should free hardware debug
  18 registers.
  19 2. Watch for different values on a viariable with one hardware debug
  20 register.
  21
  22 According to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@delorie.com>:
  23
  24 These are not GDB/ia32 issues per se: the above features are all
  25 implemented in the DJGPP port of GDB and work in v5.0.  Every
  26 x86-based target should be able to lift the relevant parts of
  27 go32-nat.c and use them almost verbatim.  You get debug register
  28 sharing through reference counts, and the ability to watch large
  29 regions (up to 16 bytes) using multiple registers.  (The required
  30 infrastructure in high-level GDB application code, mostly in
  31 breakpoint.c, is also working since v5.0.)
  32
  33 --
  34
  35 RFD: infrun.c: No bpstat_stop_status call after proceed over break?
  36 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00665.html
  37
  38 GDB misses watchpoint triggers after proceeding over a breakpoint on
  39 x86 targets.
  40
  41 --
  42
  43 x86 linux GDB and SIGALRM (???)
  44 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00803.html
  45
  46 This problem has been fixed, but a regression test still needs to be
  47 added to the testsuite:
  48 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00309.html
  49
  50 Mark
  51
  52 --
  53
  54 Can't build IRIX -> arm GDB.
  55 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00356.html
  56
  57 David Whedon writes:
  58 > Now I'm building for an embedded arm target.  If there is a way of turning
  59 > remote-rdi off, I couldn't find it. It looks like it gets built by default
  60 > in gdb/configure.tgt(line 58) Anyway, the build dies in
  61 > gdb/rdi-share/unixcomm.c.  SERPORT1 et. al. never get defined because we
  62 > aren't one of the architectures supported.
  63
  64 --
  65
  66 Problem with weak functions
  67 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-05/msg00060.html
  68
  69 Dan Nicolaescu writes:
  70 > It seems that gdb-4.95.1  does not display correctly the function when
  71 > stoping in weak functions.
  72 >
  73 > It stops in a function that is defined as weak, not in the function
  74 > that is actually run...
  75
  76 --
  77
  78 GDB 5.0 doesn't work on Linux/SPARC
  79
  80 --
  81
  82 Thread support.  Right now, as soon as a thread finishes and exits,
  83 you're hosed.  This problem is reported once a week or so.
  84
  85 --
  86
  87 Wow, three bug reports for the same problem in one day!  We should
  88 probably make fixing this a real priority :-).
  89
  90 Anyway, thanks for reporting.
  91
  92 The following patch will fix the problems with setting breakpoints in
  93 dynamically loaded objects:
  94
  95    http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00230.html
  96
  97 This patch isn't checked in yet (ping Michael/JimB), but I hope this
  98 will be in the next GDB release.
  99
 100 There should really be a test in the testsuite for this problem, since
 101 it keeps coming up :-(.  Any volunteers?
 102
 103 Mark
 104
 105 --
 106
 107 Re: GDB 5.0.1?
 108 http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2000-07/msg00038.html
 109
 110 Is the Solaris 8 x86 problem fixed?  When you configure it, configure
 111 incorrectly determines that I have no curses.h.  This causes mucho
 112 compilation errors later on.
 113
 114 Simply editing the config.h to define CURSES_H fixes the problem, and
 115 then the build works fine.
 116
 117 The status for this problem:
 118
 119 Solaris 8 x86 (PIII-560)
 120 gcc 2.95.2
 121
 122 I had the same problem with several of the snapshots shortly before
 123 5.0 became official, and 5.0 has the same problem.
 124
 125 I sent some mail in about it long ago, and never saw a reply.
 126
 127 I haven't had time to figure it out myself, especially since I get all
 128 confused trying to figure out what configure does, I was happy to find
 129 the workaround.
 130
 131 Mike
 132
 133 --
 134
 135                 GDB 5.1 - New features
 136                 ======================
 137
 138 The following new features should be included in 5.1.
 139
 140 --
 141
 142 Enable MI by default.  Old code can be deleted after 5.1 is out.
 143
 144 --
 145
 146 Pascal (Pierre Muller, David Taylor)
 147
 148 Pierre Muller has contributed patches for adding Pascal Language
 149 support to GDB.
 150
 151 2 pascal language patches inserted in database
 152 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00521.html
 153
 154 Indent -gnu ?
 155 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00496.html
 156
 157 --
 158
 159 Java (Anthony Green, David Taylor)
 160
 161 Anthony Green has a number of Java patches that did not make it into
 162 the 5.0 release.  The first two are in cvs now, but the third needs
 163 some fixing up before it can go in.
 164
 165 Patch: java tests
 166 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00512.html
 167
 168 Patch: java booleans
 169 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00515.html
 170
 171 Patch: handle N_MAIN stab
 172 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00527.html
 173
 174 --
 175
 176 [Comming...]
 177
 178 Modify gdb to work correctly with Pascal.
 179
 180 --
 181
 182 Revised UDP support (was: Re: [Fwd: [patch] UDP transport support])
 183 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00000.html
 184
 185 (Broken) support for GDB's remote protocol across UDP is to be
 186 included in the follow-on release.
 187
 188 It should be noted that UDP can only work when the [Gg] packet fits in
 189 a single UDP packet.
 190
 191 There is also much debate over the merit of this.
 192
 193 --
 194
 195                 GDB 5.1 - Cleanups
 196                 ==================
 197
 198 The following code cleanups will hopefully be applied to GDB 5.1.
 199
 200 --
 201
 202 Change documentation to GFDL license.
 203
 204 ``It is time to make an effort to start using the GFDL more
 205 thoroughly.  Would all GNU maintainers please change the license to
 206 the GFDL, for all manuals and other major documentation files?
 207
 208 The GFDL and some instructions for using it can be found in
 209 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/''
 210
 211         RMS
 212
 213 --
 214
 215 Delete macro TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE.
 216
 217 Patches in the database.
 218
 219 --
 220
 221 Fix copyright notices.
 222
 223 Turns out that ``1998-2000'' isn't considered valid :-(
 224
 225 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00467.html
 226
 227 --
 228
 229 Purge PARAMS.
 230
 231 Eliminate all uses of PARAMS in GDB's source code.
 232
 233 --
 234
 235 printcmd.c (print_address_numeric):
 236
 237 NOTE: This assumes that the significant address information is kept in
 238 the least significant bits of ADDR - the upper bits were either zero
 239 or sign extended.  Should ADDRESS_TO_POINTER() or some
 240 ADDRESS_TO_PRINTABLE() be used to do the conversion?
 241
 242 --
 243
 244 Compiler warnings.
 245
 246 Eliminate all warnings for at least one host/target for the flags:
 247 -Wimplicit -Wreturn-type -Wcomment -Wtrigraphs -Wformat -Wparentheses
 248 -Wpointer-arith -Wuninitialized
 249
 250 --
 251
 252 Follow through `make check' with --enable-shared.
 253
 254 When the srcware tree is configured with --enable-shared, the `expect'
 255 program won't run properly.  Jim Wilson found out gdb has a local hack
 256 to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH, but, AFAIK, no other project has been hacked
 257 similarly.
 258
 259 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00845.html
 260
 261 --
 262
 263                 GDB 5.2 - Fixes
 264                 ===============
 265
 266 --
 267
 268 Fix at least one thread bug.
 269
 270 --
 271
 272                 GDB 5.2 - New features
 273                 ======================
 274
 275 --
 276
 277 Objective C/C++ Support.  Bu hopefully sooner...
 278
 279 --
 280
 281                 GDB 5.2 - Cleanups
 282                 ==================
 283
 284 The following cleanups have been identified as part of GDB 5.2.
 285
 286 --
 287
 288 Remove old code that does not use ui_out functions and all the related
 289 "ifdef"s.
 290
 291 --
 292
 293 Eliminate more compiler warnings.
 294
 295 --
 296
 297 Restructure gdb directory tree so that it avoids any 8.3 and 14
 298 filename problems.
 299
 300 --
 301
 302 Convert GDB build process to AUTOMAKE.
 303
 304 See also sub-directory configure below.
 305
 306 The current convention is (kind of) to use $(<header>_h) in all
 307 dependency lists.  It isn't done in a consistent way.
 308
 309 --
 310
 311                 Code Cleanups: General
 312                 ======================
 313
 314 The following are more general cleanups and fixes.  They are not tied
 315 to any specific release.
 316
 317 --
 318
 319 The BFD directory requires bug-fixed AUTOMAKE et.al.
 320
 321 AUTOMAKE 1.4 incorrectly set the TEXINPUTS environment variable.  It
 322 contained the full path to texinfo.tex when it should have only
 323 contained the directory.  The bug has been fixed in the current
 324 AUTOMAKE sources.  Automake snapshots can be found in:
 325         ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/gdb/snapshots
 326 and     ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/binutils
 327
 328 --
 329
 330 Find something better than DEFAULT_BFD_ARCH, DEFAULT_BFD_VEC to
 331 determine the default isa/byte-order.
 332
 333 --
 334
 335 Rely on BFD_BIG_ENDIAN and BFD_LITTLE_ENDIAN instead of host dependent
 336 BIG_ENDIAN and LITTLE_ENDIAN.
 337
 338 --
 339
 340 Eliminate more compiler warnings.
 341
 342 Of course there also needs to be the usual debate over which warnings
 343 are valid and how to best go about this.
 344
 345 One method: choose a single option; get agreement that it is
 346 reasonable; try it out to see if there isn't anything silly about it
 347 (-Wunused-parameters is an example of that) then incrementally hack
 348 away.
 349
 350 The other method is to enable all warnings and eliminate them from one
 351 file at a time.
 352
 353 --
 354
 355 Elimination of ``(catch_errors_ftype *) func''.
 356
 357 Like make_cleanup_func it isn't portable.
 358 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00791.html
 359 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00814.html
 360
 361 --
 362
 363 Nuke #define CONST_PTR.
 364
 365 --
 366
 367 Nuke USG define.
 368
 369 --
 370
 371 [PATCH/5] src/intl/Makefile.in:distclean additions
 372 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00363.html
 373
 374 Do not forget to merge the patch back into the trunk.
 375
 376 --
 377
 378 Rationalize the host-endian code (grep for HOST_BYTE_ORDER).
 379
 380 At present defs.h includes <endian.h> (which is linux specific) yet
 381 almost nothing depends on it.  Suggest "gdb_endian.h" which can also
 382 handle <machine/endian.h> and only include that where it is really
 383 needed.
 384
 385 --
 386
 387 Replace savestring() with something from libiberty.
 388
 389 An xstrldup()? but that would have different semantics.
 390
 391 --
 392
 393 Rationalize use of floatformat_unknown in GDB sources.
 394
 395 Instead of defaulting to floatformat_unknown, should hosts/targets
 396 specify the value explicitly?
 397
 398 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
 399
 400 --
 401
 402 Add a ``name'' member to include/floatformat.h:struct floatformat.
 403 Print that name in gdbarch.c.
 404
 405 --
 406
 407 Sort out the harris mess in include/floatformat.h (it hardwires two
 408 different floating point formats).
 409
 410 --
 411
 412 See of the GDB local floatformat_do_doublest() and libiberty's
 413 floatformat_to_double (which was once GDB's ...) can be merged some
 414 how.
 415
 416 --
 417
 418 Eliminate mmalloc(), mstrsave() et.al. from GDB.
 419
 420 Also eliminate it from defs.h.
 421
 422 --
 423
 424 Eliminate PTR.  ISO-C allows ``void *''.
 425
 426 --
 427
 428 Eliminate abort ().
 429
 430 GDB should never abort.  GDB should either throw ``error ()'' or
 431 ``internal_error ()''.  Better still GDB should naturally unwind with
 432 an error status.
 433
 434 --
 435
 436 Add __LINE__ and __FILE__ to internal_error().
 437
 438 --
 439
 440 GDB probably doesn't build on FreeBSD pre 2.2.x
 441 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00378.html
 442
 443 Fixes to get FreeBSD working on 2.2.x, 3.x and 4.x caused the code to
 444 suffer bit rot.
 445
 446 --
 447
 448 Deprecate "fg".  Apparently ``fg'' is actually continue.
 449
 450 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00417.html
 451
 452 --
 453
 454 Deprecate current use of ``floatformat_unknown''.
 455
 456 Require all targets to explicitly provide their float format instead
 457 of defaulting to floatformat unknown.  Doing the latter leads to nasty
 458 bugs.
 459
 460 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
 461
 462 --
 463
 464 Rationalize floatformat_to_double() vs floatformat_to_doublest().
 465
 466 Looks like GDB migrated floatformat_to_double() to libiberty but then
 467 turned around and created a ..._to_doublest() the latter containing
 468 several bug fixes.
 469
 470 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00472.html
 471
 472 --
 473
 474 Move floatformat_ia64_ext to libiberty/include floatformat.[ch].
 475
 476 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00466.html
 477
 478 --
 479
 480 The ``maintenance deprecate set endian big'' command doesn't notice
 481 that it is deprecating ``set endian'' and not ``set endian big'' (big
 482 is implemented using an enum).  Is anyone going to notice this?
 483
 484 --
 485
 486 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
 487 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
 488
 489 --
 490
 491 Eliminate ``arm_register_names[j] = (char *) regnames[j]'' and the
 492 like from arm-tdep.c.
 493
 494 --
 495
 496 Fix uses of ->function.cfunc = set_function().
 497
 498 The command.c code calls sfunc() when a set command.  Rather than
 499 change it suggest fixing the callback function so that it is more
 500 useful.  See:
 501
 502 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00062.html
 503
 504 See also ``Fix implementation of  ``target xxx''.'' below.
 505
 506 --
 507
 508 IRIX 3.x support is probably broken.
 509
 510 --
 511
 512 Delete sim/SIM_HAVE_BREAKPOINTS and gdb/SIM_HAS_BREAKPOINTS.
 513 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-07/msg00042.html
 514
 515 Apart from the d30v, are there any sim/common simulators that make use
 516 of this?
 517
 518 A brief summary of what happened is that sim/common/sim-break.c was
 519 created as a good idea.  It turned out a better idea was to use
 520 SIM_SIGBREAK and have GDB pass back sim_resume (..., SIGBREAK).
 521
 522 --
 523
 524 Move remote_remove_hw_breakpoint, remote_insert_hw_breakpoint,
 525 remote_remove_watchpoint, remote_insert_watchpoint into target vector.
 526
 527 --
 528
 529 Eliminate ``extern'' from C files.
 530
 531 --
 532
 533 Replace ``STREQ()'' et.al. with ``strcmp() == 0'' et.al.
 534
 535 Extreme care is recommeded - perhaps only modify tests that are
 536 exercised by the testsuite (as determined using some type of code
 537 coverage analysis).
 538
 539 --
 540
 541                         New Features and Fixes
 542                         ======================
 543
 544 These are harder than cleanups but easier than work involving
 545 fundamental architectural change.
 546
 547 --
 548
 549 Add built-by, build-date, tm, xm, nm and anything else into gdb binary
 550 so that you can see how the GDB was created.
 551
 552 --
 553
 554 Add an "info bfd" command that displays supported object formats,
 555 similarly to objdump -i.
 556
 557 Is there a command already?
 558
 559 --
 560
 561 Fix ``I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that.'' from symfile.c.
 562
 563 This requires internationalization.
 564
 565 --
 566
 567 Add support for:
 568
 569 (gdb) p fwprintf(stdout,L"%S\n", f)
 570 No symbol "L" in current context.
 571
 572 --
 573
 574 Cleanup configury support for optional sub-directories.
 575
 576 Check how GCC handles multiple front ends for an example of how things
 577 could work.  A tentative first step is to rationalize things so that
 578 all sub directories are handled in a fashion similar to gdb/mi.
 579
 580 See also automake above.
 581
 582 --
 583
 584 Add a transcript mechanism to GDB.
 585
 586 Such a mechanism might log all gdb input and output to a file in a
 587 form that would allow it to be replayed.  It could involve ``gdb
 588 --transcript=FILE'' or it could involve ``(gdb) transcript file''.
 589
 590 --
 591
 592 Can the xdep files be replaced by autoconf?
 593
 594 --
 595
 596 Document trace machinery
 597
 598 --
 599
 600 Document ui-out and ui-file.
 601
 602 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00121.html
 603
 604 --
 605
 606 Update texinfo.tex to latest?
 607
 608 --
 609
 610 Incorporate agentexpr.texi into gdb.texinfo
 611
 612 agentexpr.texi mostly describes the details of the byte code used for
 613 tracepoints, not the internals of the support for this in GDB.  So it
 614 looks like gdb.texinfo is a better place for this information.
 615
 616 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00566.html
 617
 618 --
 619
 620 Document overlay machinery.
 621
 622 --
 623
 624 ``(gdb) catch signal SIGNAL''
 625
 626 Overlaps with ``handle SIGNAL'' but the implied behavior is different.
 627 You can attach commands to a catch but not a handle.  A handle has a
 628 limited number of hardwired actions.
 629
 630 --
 631
 632 Get the TUI working on all platforms.
 633
 634 --
 635
 636 Add support for ``gdb --- PROGRAM ARGS ...''.
 637 Add support for ``gdb -cmd=...''
 638
 639 Along with many variations.  Check:
 640
 641 ????? for a full discussion.
 642
 643 for a discussion.
 644
 645 --
 646
 647 Implement ``(gdb) !ls''.
 648
 649 Which is very different from ``(gdb) ! ls''.  Implementing the latter
 650 is trivial.
 651
 652 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00034.html
 653
 654 --
 655
 656 Change the (char *list[]) to (const char (*)[]) so that dynamic lists can
 657 be passed.
 658
 659 --
 660
 661 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
 662 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
 663
 664 --
 665
 666 Replace the code that uses the host FPU with an emulator of the target
 667 FPU.
 668
 669 --
 670
 671 The "ocd reset" command needs to flush the dcache, which requires breaking
 672 the abstraction layer between the target independent and target code.  One
 673 way to address this is provide a generic "reset" command and target vector.
 674
 675 http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-10/msg00011.html
 676
 677 --
 678
 679                         Thread Support
 680                         ==============
 681
 682 --
 683
 684 Generic: lin-thread cannot handle thread exit (Mark Kettenis, Michael
 685 Snyder) http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00525.html
 686
 687 The thread_db assisted debugging code doesn't handle exiting threads
 688 properly, at least in combination with glibc 2.1.3 (the framework is
 689 there, just not the actual code).  There are at least two problems
 690 that prevent this from working.
 691
 692 As an additional reference point, the pre thread_db code did not work
 693 either.
 694
 695 --
 696
 697 GNU/Linux/x86 and random thread signals (and Solaris/SPARC but not
 698 Solaris/x86).
 699 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00336.html
 700
 701 Christopher Blizzard writes:
 702
 703 So, I've done some more digging into this and it looks like Jim
 704 Kingdon has reported this problem in the past:
 705
 706 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/bug-gdb/1999-10/msg00058.html
 707
 708 I can reproduce this problem both with and without Tom's patch.  Has
 709 anyone seen this before?  Maybe have a solution for it hanging around?
 710 :)
 711
 712 There's a test case for this documented at:
 713
 714 when debugging threaded applications you get extra SIGTRAPs
 715 http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=9565
 716
 717 [There should be a GDB testcase - cagney]
 718
 719 --
 720
 721 GDB5 TOT on unixware 7
 722 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00119.html
 723
 724 Robert Lipe writes:
 725 > I just spun the top of tree of the GDB5 branch on UnixWare 7.  As a
 726 > practical matter, the current thread support is somewhat more annoying
 727 > than when GDB was thread-unaware.
 728
 729 --
 730
 731 Migrate qfThreadInfo packet -> qThreadInfo. (Andrew Cagney)
 732
 733 Add support for packet enable/disable commands with these thread
 734 packets.  General cleanup.
 735
 736 [PATCH] Document the ThreadInfo remote protocol queries
 737 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00832.html
 738
 739 [PATCH] "info threads" queries for remote.c
 740 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00831.html
 741
 742 --
 743
 744                         Language Support
 745                         ================
 746
 747 New languages come onto the scene all the time.
 748
 749 --
 750
 751 Re: Various C++ things
 752
 753 value_headof/value_from_vtable_info are worthless, and should be
 754 removed.  The one place in printcmd.c that uses it should use the RTTI
 755 functions.
 756
 757 RTTI for g++ should be using the typeinfo functions rather than the
 758 vtables.  The typeinfo functions are always at offset 4 from the
 759 beginning of the vtable, and are always right. The vtables will have
 760 weird names like E::VB sometimes.  The typeinfo function will always
 761 be "E type_info function", or somesuch.
 762
 763 value_virtual_fn_field needs to be fixed so there are no failures for
 764 virtual functions for C++ using g++.
 765
 766 Testsuite cases are the major priority right now for C++ support,
 767 since i have to make a lot of changes that could potentially break
 768 each other.
 769
 770 --
 771
 772 Add support for Modula3
 773
 774 Get DEC/Compaq to contribute their Modula-3 support.
 775
 776 --
 777
 778                 Remote Protocol Support
 779                 =======================
 780
 781 --
 782
 783 Remote protocol doco feedback.
 784
 785 Too much feedback to mention needs to be merged in (901660).  Search
 786 for the word ``remote''.
 787
 788
 789 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00023.html
 790 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00056.html
 791 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00382.html
 792
 793 --
 794
 795 GDB doesn't recover gracefully from remote protocol errors.
 796
 797 GDB wasn't checking for NAKs from the remote target.  Instead a NAK is
 798 ignored and a timeout is required before GDB retries.  A pre-cursor to
 799 fixing this this is making GDB's remote protocol packet more robust.
 800
 801 While downloading to a remote protocol target, gdb ignores packet
 802 errors in so far as it will continue to download with chunk N+1 even
 803 if chunk N was not correctly sent.  This causes gdb.base/remote.exp to
 804 take a painfully long time to run.  As a PS that test needs to be
 805 fixed so that it builds on 16 bit machines.
 806
 807 --
 808
 809 Add the cycle step command.
 810
 811 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00237.html
 812
 813 --
 814
 815 Resolve how to scale things to support very large packets.
 816
 817 --
 818
 819 Resolve how to handle a target that changes things like its endianess
 820 on the fly - should it be returned in the ``T'' packet?
 821
 822 Underlying problem is that the register file is target endian.  If the
 823 target endianess changes gdb doesn't know.
 824
 825 --
 826
 827 Rename read_register{,_pid}() to read_unsigned_register{,_pid}().
 828
 829 --
 830
 831                         Symbol Support
 832                         ==============
 833
 834 If / when GDB starts to support the debugging of multi-processor
 835 (rather than multi-thread) applications the symtab code will need to
 836 be updated a little so that several independent symbol tables are
 837 active at a given time.
 838
 839 The other interesting change is a clarification of the exact meaning
 840 of CORE_ADDR and that has had consequences for a few targets (that
 841 were abusing that data type).
 842
 843 --
 844
 845 Investiagate ways of reducing memory.
 846
 847 --
 848
 849 Investigate ways of improving load time.
 850
 851 --
 852
 853 Get the d10v to use POINTER_TO_ADDRESS and ADDRESS_TO_POINTER.
 854
 855 Consequence of recent symtab clarification.  No marks for figuring out
 856 who maintains the d10v.
 857
 858 --
 859
 860 Get the MIPS to correctly sign extend all address <-> pointer
 861 conversions.
 862
 863 Consequence of recent symtab clarification.  No marks for figuring out
 864 who maintains the MIPS.
 865
 866 --
 867
 868 GDB truncates 64 bit enums.
 869
 870 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00290.html
 871
 872 --
 873
 874                         Testsuite Support
 875                         =================
 876
 877 There are never to many testcases.
 878
 879 --
 880
 881 Better thread testsuite.
 882
 883 --
 884
 885 Better C++ testsuite.
 886
 887 --
 888
 889 Look at adding a GDB specific testsuite directory so that white box
 890 tests of key internals can be added (eg ui_file).
 891
 892 --
 893
 894 Separate out tests that involve the floating point (FP).
 895
 896 (Something for people brining up new targets).  FP and non-fp tests
 897 are combined.  I think there should be set of basic tests that
 898 exercise pure integer support and then a more expanded set that
 899 exercise FP and FP/integer interactions.
 900
 901 As an example, the MIPS, for n32 as problems with passing FP's and
 902 structs.  Since most inferior call tests include FP it is difficult to
 903 determine of the integer tests are ok.
 904
 905 --
 906
 907                 Architectural Changes: General
 908                 ==============================
 909
 910 These are harder than simple cleanups / fixes and, consequently
 911 involve more work.  Typically an Architectural Change will be broken
 912 down into a more digestible set of cleanups and fixes.
 913
 914 --
 915
 916 Cleanup software single step.
 917
 918 At present many targets implement software single step by directly
 919 blatting memory (see rs6000-tdep.c).  Those targets should register
 920 the applicable breakpoints using the breakpoint framework.  Perhaphs a
 921 new internal breakpoint class ``step'' is needed.
 922
 923 --
 924
 925 Replace READ_FP() with FRAME_HANDLE().
 926
 927 READ_FP() is a hangover from the days of the vax when the ABI really
 928 did have a frame pointer register.  Modern architectures typically
 929 construct a virtual frame-handle from the stack pointer and various
 930 other bits of string.
 931
 932 Unfortunately GDB still treats this synthetic FP register as though it
 933 is real.  That in turn really confuses users (arm and ``print $fp'' VS
 934 ``info registers fp'').  The synthetic FP should be separated out of
 935 the true register set presented to the user.
 936
 937 --
 938
 939 Register Cache Cleanup (below from Andrew Cagney)
 940
 941 I would depict the current register architecture as something like:
 942
 943         High GDB  -->   Low GDB
 944             |              |
 945            \|/            \|/
 946             --- REG NR -----
 947                    |
 948     register + REGISTER_BYTE(reg_nr)
 949                    |
 950                   \|/
 951         -------------------------
 952         |  extern register[]    |
 953         -------------------------
 954
 955 where neither the high (valops.c et.al.) or low gdb (*-tdep.c) are
 956 really clear on what mechanisms they should be using to manipulate that
 957 buffer.   Further, much code assumes, dangerously, that registers are
 958 contigious.  Having got mips-tdep.c to support multiple ABIs, believe
 959 me, that is a bad assumption.  Finally, that register cache layout is
 960 determined by the current remote/local target and _not_ the less
 961 specific target ISA.  In fact, in many cases it is determined by the
 962 somewhat arbitrary layout of the [gG] packets!
 963
 964
 965 How I would like the register file to work is more like:
 966
 967
 968           High GDB
 969              |
 970             \|/
 971        pseudo reg-nr
 972              |
 973         map pseudo <->
 974         random cache
 975         bytes
 976              |
 977             \|/
 978         ------------
 979         | register |
 980         |  cache   |
 981         ------------
 982             /|\
 983              |
 984         map random cache
 985         bytes to target
 986         dependent i-face
 987             /|\
 988              |
 989        target dependent
 990         such as [gG] packet
 991         or ptrace buffer
 992
 993 The main objectives being:
 994
 995         o       a clear separation between the low
 996                 level target and the high level GDB
 997
 998         o       a mechanism that solves the general
 999                 problem of register aliases, overlaps
1000                 etc instead of treating them as optional
1001                 extras that can be wedged in as an after
1002                 thought (that is a reasonable description
1003                 of the current code).
1004
1005                 Identify then solve the hard case and the
1006                 rest just falls out.  GDB solved the easy
1007                 case and then tried to ignore the real
1008                 world :-)
1009
1010         o       a removal of the assumption that the
1011                 mapping between the register cache
1012                 and virtual registers is largely static.
1013                 If you flip the USR/SSR stack register
1014                 select bit in the status-register then
1015                 the corresponding stack registers should
1016                 reflect the change.
1017
1018         o       a mechanism that clearly separates the
1019                 gdb internal register cache from any
1020                 target (not architecture) dependent
1021                 specifics such as [gG] packets.
1022
1023 Of course, like anything, it sounds good in theory.  In reality, it
1024 would have to contend with many<->many relationships at both the
1025 virt<->cache and cache<->target level.  For instance:
1026
1027         virt<->cache
1028                 Modifying an mmx register may involve
1029                 scattering values across both FP and
1030                 mmpx specific parts of a buffer
1031
1032         cache<->target
1033                 When writing back a SP it may need to
1034                 both be written to both SP and USP.
1035
1036
1037 Hmm,
1038
1039 Rather than let this like the last time it was discussed, just slip, I'm
1040 first going to add this e-mail (+ references) to TODO.  I'd then like to
1041 sketch out a broad strategy I think could get us there.
1042
1043
1044 First thing I'd suggest is separating out the ``extern registers[]''
1045 code so that we can at least identify what is using it.  At present
1046 things are scattered across many files.  That way we can at least
1047 pretend that there is a cache instead of a global array :-)
1048
1049 I'd then suggest someone putting up a proposal for the pseudo-reg /
1050 high-level side interface so that code can be adopted to it.  For old
1051 code, initially a blanket rename of write_register_bytes() to
1052 deprecated_write_register_bytes() would help.
1053
1054 Following that would, finaly be the corresponding changes to the target.
1055
1056 --
1057
1058 Check that GDB can handle all BFD architectures (Andrew Cagney)
1059
1060 There should be a test that checks that BFD/GDB are in sync with
1061 regard to architecture changes.  Something like a test that first
1062 queries GDB for all supported architectures and then feeds each back
1063 to GDB..  Anyone interested in learning how to write tests?  :-)
1064
1065 --
1066
1067                 Architectural Change: Multi-arch et al.
1068                 =======================================
1069
1070 The long term objective is to remove all assumptions that there is a
1071 single target with a single address space with a single instruction
1072 set architecture and single application binary interface.
1073
1074 This is an ongoing effort.  The first milestone is to enable
1075 ``multi-arch'' where by all architectural decisions are made at
1076 runtime.
1077
1078 It should be noted that ``gdbarch'' is really ``gdbabi'' and
1079 ``gdbisa''.  Once things are multi-arched breaking that down correctly
1080 will become much easier.
1081
1082 --
1083
1084 GDBARCH cleanup (Andrew Cagney)
1085
1086 The non-generated parts of gdbarch.{sh,h,c} should be separated out
1087 into arch-utils.[hc].
1088
1089 Document that gdbarch_init_ftype could easily fail because it didn't
1090 identify an architecture.
1091
1092 --
1093
1094 Fix BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION.  Change it to BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION_P?
1095
1096 At present there is still #ifdef BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION code in the
1097 symtab file.
1098
1099 --
1100
1101 Fix target_signal_from_host() etc.
1102
1103 The name is wrong for starters.  ``target_signal'' should probably be
1104 ``gdb_signal''.  ``from_host'' should be ``from_target_signal''.
1105 After that it needs to be multi-arched and made independent of any
1106 host signal numbering.
1107
1108 --
1109
1110 Update ALPHA so that it uses ``struct frame_extra_info'' instead of
1111 EXTRA_FRAME_INFO.
1112
1113 This is a barrier to replacing mips_extra_func_info with something
1114 that works with multi-arch.
1115
1116 --
1117
1118 Multi-arch  mips_extra_func_info.
1119
1120 This first needs the alpha to be updated so that it uses ``struct
1121 frame_extra_info''.
1122
1123 --
1124
1125 Rationalize TARGET_SINGLE_FORMAT and TARGET_SINGLE_BIT et al.
1126
1127 Surely one of them is redundant.
1128
1129 --
1130
1131 Convert ALL architectures to MULTI-ARCH.
1132
1133 --
1134
1135 Select the initial multi-arch ISA / ABI based on --target or similar.
1136
1137 At present the default is based on what ever is first in the BFD
1138 archures table.  It should be determined based on the ``--target=...''
1139 name.
1140
1141 --
1142
1143 Make MIPS pure multi-arch.
1144
1145 It is only at the multi-arch enabled stage.
1146
1147 --
1148
1149 Truly multi-arch.
1150
1151 Enable the code to recognize --enable-targets=.... like BINUTILS does.
1152
1153 Can the tm.h and nm.h files be eliminated by multi-arch.
1154
1155 --
1156
1157         Architectural Change: MI, LIBGDB and scripting languages
1158         ========================================================
1159
1160 See also architectural changes related to the event loop.  LIBGDB
1161 can't be finished until there is a generic event loop being used by
1162 all targets.
1163
1164 The long term objective is it to be possible to integrate GDB into
1165 scripting languages.
1166
1167 --
1168
1169 Implement generic ``(gdb) commmand > file''
1170
1171 Once everything is going through ui_file it should be come fairly
1172 easy.
1173
1174 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00104.html
1175
1176 --
1177
1178 Replace gdb_stdtarg with gdb_targout (and possibly gdb_targerr).
1179
1180 gdb_stdtarg is easily confused with gdb_stdarg.
1181
1182 --
1183
1184 Extra ui_file methods - dump.
1185
1186 Very useful for whitebox testing.
1187
1188 --
1189
1190 Eliminate error_begin().
1191
1192 With ui_file, there is no need for the statefull error_begin ()
1193 function.
1194
1195 --
1196
1197 Send normal output to gdb_stdout.
1198 Send error messages to gdb_stderror.
1199 Send debug and log output log gdb_stdlog.
1200
1201 GDB still contains many cases where (f)printf or printf_filtered () is
1202 used when it should be sending the messages to gdb_stderror or
1203 gdb_stdlog.  The thought of #defining printf to something has crossed
1204 peoples minds ;-)
1205
1206 --
1207
1208 Re-do GDB's output pager.
1209
1210 GDB's output pager still relies on people correctly using *_filtered
1211 for gdb_stdout and *_unfiltered for gdb_stdlog / gdb_stderr.
1212 Hopefully, with all normal output going to gdb_stdout, the pager can
1213 just look at the ui_file that the output is on and then use that to
1214 decide what to do about paging.  Sounds good in theory.
1215
1216 --
1217
1218 Check/cleanup MI documentation.
1219
1220 The list of commands specified in the documentation needs to be
1221 checked against the mi-cmds.c table in a mechanical way (so that they
1222 two can be kept up-to-date).
1223
1224 --
1225
1226 Convert MI into libgdb
1227
1228 MI provides a text interface into what should be many of the libgdb
1229 functions.  The implementation of those functions should be separated
1230 into the MI interface and the functions proper.  Those functions being
1231 moved to gdb/lib say.
1232
1233 --
1234
1235 Create libgdb.h
1236
1237 The first part can already be found in defs.h.
1238
1239 --
1240
1241 MI's input does not use buffering.
1242
1243 At present the MI interface reads raw characters of from an unbuffered
1244 FD.  This is to avoid several nasty buffer/race conditions.  That code
1245 should be changed so that it registers its self with the event loop
1246 (on the input FD) and then push commands up to MI as they arrive.
1247
1248 The serial code already does this.
1249
1250 --
1251
1252 Make MI interface accessible from existing CLI.
1253
1254 --
1255
1256 Add a breakpoint-edit command to MI.
1257
1258 It would be similar to MI's breakpoint create but would apply to an
1259 existing breakpoint.  It saves the need to delete/create breakpoints
1260 when ever they are changed.
1261
1262 --
1263
1264 Add directory path to MI breakpoint.
1265
1266 That way the GUI's task of finding the file within which the
1267 breakpoint was set is simplified.
1268
1269 --
1270
1271 Add a mechanism to reject certain expression classes to MI
1272
1273 There are situtations where you don't want GDB's expression
1274 parser/evaluator to perform inferior function calls or variable
1275 assignments.  A way of restricting the expression parser so that such
1276 operations are not accepted would be very helpful.
1277
1278 --
1279
1280 Remove sideffects from libgdb breakpoint create function.
1281
1282 The user can use the CLI to create a breakpoint with partial
1283 information - no file (gdb would use the file from the last
1284 breakpoint).
1285
1286 The libgdb interface currently affects that environment which can lead
1287 to confusion when a user is setting breakpoints via both the MI and
1288 the CLI.
1289
1290 This is also a good example of how getting the CLI ``right'' will be
1291 hard.
1292
1293 --
1294
1295 Move gdb_lasterr to ui_out?
1296
1297 The way GDB throws errors and records them needs a re-think.  ui_out
1298 handles the correct output well.  It doesn't resolve what to do with
1299 output / error-messages when things go wrong.
1300
1301 --
1302
1303 do_setshow_command contains a 1024 byte buffer.
1304
1305 The function assumes that there will never be any more than 1024 bytes
1306 of enum.  It should use mem_file.
1307
1308 --
1309
1310 Should struct cmd_list_element . completer take the command as an
1311 argument?
1312
1313 --
1314
1315 Should the bulk of top.c:line_completion_function() be moved to
1316 command.[hc]?  complete_on_cmdlist() and complete_on_enums() could
1317 then be made private.
1318
1319 --
1320
1321 top.c (execute_command): Should a command being valid when the target
1322 is running be made an attribute (predicate) to the command rather than
1323 an explicit set of tests.
1324
1325 --
1326
1327 top.c (execute_command): Should the bulk of this function be moved
1328 into command.[hc] so that top.c doesn't grub around in the command
1329 internals?
1330
1331 --
1332
1333                 Architectural Change: Async
1334                 ===========================
1335
1336 While GDB uses an event loop when prompting the user for input.  That
1337 event loop is not exploited by targets when they allow the target
1338 program to continue.  Typically targets still block in (target_wait())
1339 until the program again halts.
1340
1341 The closest a target comes to supporting full asynchronous mode are
1342 the remote targets ``async'' and ``extended-async''.
1343
1344 --
1345
1346 Asynchronous expression evaluator
1347
1348 Inferior function calls hang GDB.
1349
1350 --
1351
1352 Fix implementation of  ``target xxx''.
1353
1354 At present when the user specifies ``target xxxx'', the CLI maps that
1355 directly onto a target open method.  It is then assumed that the
1356 target open method should do all sorts of complicated things as this
1357 is the only chance it has.  Check how the various remote targets
1358 duplicate the target operations.  Check also how the various targets
1359 behave differently for purely arbitrary reasons.
1360
1361 What should happen is that ``target xxxx'' should call a generic
1362 ``target'' function and that should then co-ordinate the opening of
1363 ``xxxx''.  This becomes especially important when you're trying to
1364 open an asynchronous target that may need to perform background tasks
1365 as part of the ``attach'' phase.
1366
1367 Unfortunately, due to limitations in the old/creaking command.h
1368 interface, that isn't possible.  The function being called isn't told
1369 of the ``xxx'' or any other context information.
1370
1371 Consequently a precursor to fixing ``target xxxx'' is to clean up the
1372 CLI code so that it passes to the callback function (attatched to a
1373 command) useful information such as the actual command and a context
1374 for that command.  Other changes such as making ``struct command''
1375 opaque may also help.
1376
1377 See also:
1378 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-06/msg00062.html
1379
1380 --
1381
1382 Make "target xxx" command interruptible.
1383
1384 As things become async this becomes possible.  A target would start
1385 the connect and then return control to the event loop.  A cntrl-c
1386 would notify the target that the operation is to be abandoned and the
1387 target code could respond.
1388
1389 --
1390
1391 Add a "suspend" subcommand of the "continue" command to suspend gdb
1392 while continuing  execution of the subprocess.  Useful when you are
1393 debugging servers and you want to dodge out and initiate a connection
1394 to a server running under gdb.
1395
1396 [hey async!!]
1397
1398 --
1399
1400                         TODO FAQ
1401                         ========
1402
1403 Frequently requested but not approved requests.
1404
1405 --
1406
1407 Eliminate unused argument warnings using ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED.
1408
1409 The benefits on this one are thought to be marginal - GDBs design
1410 means that unused parameters are very common.  GCC 3.0 will also
1411 include the option -Wno-unused-parameter which means that ``-Wall
1412 -Wno-unused-parameters -Werror'' can be specified.
1413
1414 --
1415
1416
1417
1418                         Legacy Wish List
1419                         ================
1420
1421 This list is not up to date, and opinions vary about the importance or
1422 even desirability of some of the items.  If you do fix something, it
1423 always pays to check the below.
1424
1425 --
1426
1427 @c This does not work (yet if ever).  FIXME.
1428 @c @item --parse=@var{lang} @dots{}
1429 @c Configure the @value{GDBN} expression parser to parse the listed languages.
1430 @c @samp{all} configures @value{GDBN} for all supported languages.  To get a
1431 @c list of all supported languages, omit the argument.  Without this
1432 @c option, @value{GDBN} is configured to parse all supported languages.
1433
1434 --
1435
1436 START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED need never be defined to 2, since that
1437 is its default value.  Clean this up.
1438
1439 --
1440
1441 It should be possible to use symbols from shared libraries before we know
1442 exactly where the libraries will be loaded.  E.g. "b perror" before running
1443 the program.  This could maybe be done as an extension of the "breakpoint
1444 re-evaluation" after new symbols are loaded.
1445
1446 --
1447
1448 Make single_step() insert and remove breakpoints in one operation.
1449
1450 [If this is talking about having single_step() insert the breakpoints,
1451 run the target then pull the breakpoints then it is wrong.  The
1452 function has to return as control has to eventually be passed back to
1453 the main event loop.]
1454
1455 --
1456
1457 Speed up single stepping by avoiding extraneous ptrace calls.
1458
1459 --
1460
1461 Speed up single stepping by not inserting and removing breakpoints
1462 each time the inferior starts and stops.
1463
1464 Breakpoints should not be inserted and deleted all the time.  Only the
1465 one(s) there should be removed when we have to step over one.  Support
1466 breakpoints that don't have to be removed to step over them.
1467
1468 [this has resulted in numerous debates.  The issue isn't clear cut]
1469
1470 --
1471
1472 Provide "voodoo" debugging of core files.  This creates a zombie
1473 process as a child of the debugger, and loads it up with the data,
1474 stack, and regs of the core file.  This allows you to call functions
1475 in the executable, to manipulate the data in the core file.
1476
1477 [you wish]
1478
1479 --
1480
1481 GDB reopens the source file on every line, as you "next" through it.
1482
1483 [still true? I've a memory of this being fixed]
1484
1485 --
1486
1487 Perhaps "i source" should take an argument like that of "list".
1488
1489 --
1490
1491 Remove "at 0xnnnn" from the "b foo" response, if `print address off' and if
1492 it matches the source line indicated.
1493
1494 --
1495
1496 The prompt at end of screen should accept space as well as CR.
1497
1498 --
1499
1500 Backtrace should point out what the currently selected frame is, in
1501 its display, perhaps showing "@3 foo (bar, ...)" or ">3 foo (bar,
1502 ...)" rather than "#3 foo (bar, ...)".
1503
1504 --
1505
1506 "i program" should work for core files, and display more info, like what
1507 actually caused it to die.
1508
1509 --
1510
1511 "x/10i" should shorten the long name, if any, on subsequent lines.
1512
1513 --
1514
1515 "next" over a function that longjumps, never stops until next time you happen
1516 to get to that spot by accident.  E.g. "n" over execute_command which has
1517 an error.
1518
1519 --
1520
1521 "set zeroprint off", don't bother printing members of structs which
1522 are entirely zero.  Useful for those big structs with few useful
1523 members.
1524
1525 --
1526
1527 GDB does four ioctl's for every command, probably switching terminal modes
1528 to/from inferior or for readline or something.
1529
1530 --
1531
1532 terminal_ours versus terminal_inferior: cache state.  Switch should be a noop
1533 if the state is the same, too.
1534
1535 --
1536
1537 "i frame" shows wrong "arglist at" location, doesn't show where the args
1538 should be found, only their actual values.
1539
1540 --
1541
1542 There should be a way for "set" commands to validate the new setting
1543 before it takes effect.
1544
1545 --
1546
1547 "ena d" is ambiguous, why?  "ena delete" seems to think it is a command!
1548
1549 --
1550
1551 i line VAR produces "Line number not known for symbol ``var''.".  I
1552 thought we were stashing that info now!
1553
1554 --
1555
1556 We should be able to write to random files at hex offsets like adb.
1557
1558 --
1559
1560 [elena - delete this]
1561
1562 Handle add_file with separate text, data, and bss addresses.  Maybe
1563 handle separate addresses for each segment in the object file?
1564
1565 --
1566
1567 [Jimb/Elena delete this one]
1568
1569 Handle free_named_symtab to cope with multiply-loaded object files
1570 in a dynamic linking environment.  Should remember the last copy loaded,
1571 but not get too snowed if it finds references to the older copy.
1572
1573 --
1574
1575 [elena delete this also]
1576
1577 Remove all references to:
1578         text_offset
1579         data_offset
1580         text_data_start
1581         text_end
1582         exec_data_offset
1583         ...
1584 now that we have BFD.  All remaining are in machine dependent files.
1585
1586 --
1587
1588 Re-organize help categories into things that tend to fit on a screen
1589 and hang together.
1590
1591 --
1592
1593 Add in commands like ADB's for searching for patterns, etc.  We should
1594 be able to examine and patch raw unsymboled binaries as well in gdb as
1595 we can in adb.  (E.g. increase the timeout in /bin/login without source).
1596
1597 [actually, add ADB interface :-]
1598
1599 --
1600
1601 When doing "step" or "next", if a few lines of source are skipped between
1602 the previous line and the current one, print those lines, not just the
1603 last line of a multiline statement.
1604
1605 --
1606
1607 Handling of "&" address-of operator needs some serious overhaul
1608 for ANSI C and consistency on arrays and functions.
1609   For "float point[15];":
1610 ptype &point[4]   ==> Attempt to take address of non-lvalue.
1611   For "char *malloc();":
1612 ptype malloc      ==> "char *()";  should be same as
1613 ptype &malloc     ==> "char *(*)()"
1614 call printf ("%x\n", malloc)   ==> weird value, should be same as
1615 call printf ("%x\n", &malloc)  ==> correct value
1616
1617 --
1618
1619 Fix dbxread.c symbol reading in the presence of interrupts.  It
1620 currently leaves a cleanup to blow away the entire symbol table when a
1621 QUIT occurs.  (What's wrong with that? -kingdon, 28 Oct 1993).
1622
1623 [I suspect that the grype was that, on a slow system, you might want
1624 to cntrl-c and get just half the symbols and then load the rest later
1625 - scary to be honest]
1626
1627 --
1628
1629 Mipsread.c reads include files depth-first, because the dependencies
1630 in the psymtabs are way too inclusive (it seems to me).  Figure out what
1631 really depends on what, to avoid recursing 20 or 30 times while reading
1632 real symtabs.
1633
1634 --
1635
1636 value_add() should be subtracting the lower bound of arrays, if known,
1637 and possibly checking against the upper bound for error reporting.
1638
1639 --
1640
1641 When listing source lines, check for a preceding \n, to verify that
1642 the file hasn't changed out from under us.
1643
1644 [fixed by some other means I think.  That hack wouldn't actually work
1645 reliably - the file might move such that another \n appears. ]
1646
1647 --
1648
1649 Get all the remote systems (where the protocol allows it) to be able to
1650 stop the remote system when the GDB user types ^C (like remote.c
1651 does).  For ebmon, use ^Ak.
1652
1653 --
1654
1655 Possible feature: A version of the "disassemble" command which shows
1656 both source and assembly code ("set symbol-filename on" is a partial
1657 solution).
1658
1659 [has this been done?  It was certainly done for MI and GDBtk]
1660
1661 --
1662
1663 investigate "x/s 0" (right now stops early) (I think maybe GDB is
1664 using a 0 address for bad purposes internally).
1665
1666 --
1667
1668 Make "info path" and path_command work again (but independent of the
1669 environment either of gdb or that we'll pass to the inferior).
1670
1671 --
1672
1673 Make GDB understand the GCC feature for putting octal constants in
1674 enums.  Make it so overflow on an enum constant does not error_type
1675 the whole type.  Allow arbitrarily large enums with type attributes.
1676 Put all this stuff in the testsuite.
1677
1678 --
1679
1680 Make TYPE_CODE_ERROR with a non-zero TYPE_LENGTH more useful (print
1681 the value in hex; process type attributes).  Add this to the
1682 testsuite.  This way future compilers can add new types and old
1683 versions of GDB can do something halfway reasonable.
1684
1685 --
1686
1687 Fix mdebugread.c:parse_type to do fundamental types right (see
1688 rs6000_builtin_type in stabsread.c for what "right" is--the point is
1689 that the debug format fixes the sizes of these things and it shouldn't
1690 depend on stuff like TARGET_PTR_BIT and so on.  For mdebug, there seem
1691 to be separate bt* codes for 64 bit and 32 bit things, and GDB should
1692 be aware of that).  Also use a switch statement for clarity and speed.
1693
1694 --
1695
1696 Investigate adding symbols in target_load--some targets do, some
1697 don't.
1698
1699 --
1700
1701 Put dirname in psymtabs and change lookup*symtab to use dirname (so
1702 /foo/bar.c works whether compiled by cc /foo/bar.c, or cd /foo; cc
1703 bar.c).
1704
1705 --
1706
1707 Merge xcoffread.c and coffread.c.  Use breakpoint_re_set instead of
1708 fixup_breakpoints.
1709
1710 --
1711
1712 Make a watchpoint which contains a function call an error (it is
1713 broken now, making it work is probably not worth the effort).
1714
1715 --
1716
1717 New test case based on weird.exp but in which type numbers are not
1718 renumbered (thus multiply defining a type).  This currently causes an
1719 infinite loop on "p v_comb".
1720
1721 --
1722
1723 [Hey! Hint Hint Delete Delete!!!]
1724
1725 Fix 386 floating point so that floating point registers are real
1726 registers (but code can deal at run-time if they are missing, like
1727 mips and 68k).  This would clean up "info float" and related stuff.
1728
1729 --
1730
1731 gcc -g -c enummask.c then gdb enummask.o, then "p v".  GDB complains
1732 about not being able to access memory location 0.
1733
1734 -------------------- enummask.c
1735 enum mask
1736 {
1737   ANIMAL = 0,
1738   VEGETABLE = 1,
1739   MINERAL = 2,
1740   BASIC_CATEGORY = 3,
1741
1742   WHITE = 0,
1743   BLUE = 4,
1744   GREEN = 8,
1745   BLACK = 0xc,
1746   COLOR = 0xc,
1747
1748   ALIVE = 0x10,
1749
1750   LARGE = 0x20
1751 } v;
1752
1753 --
1754
1755 If try to modify value in file with "set write off" should give
1756 appropriate error not "cannot access memory at address 0x65e0".
1757
1758 --
1759
1760 Allow core file without exec file on RS/6000.
1761
1762 --
1763
1764 Make sure "shell" with no arguments works right on DOS.
1765
1766 --
1767
1768 Make gdb.ini (as well as .gdbinit) be checked on all platforms, so
1769 the same directory can be NFS-mounted on unix or DOS, and work the
1770 same way.
1771
1772 --
1773
1774 [Is this another delete???]
1775
1776 Get SECT_OFF_TEXT stuff out of objfile_relocate (might be needed to
1777 get RS/6000 to work right, might not be immediately relevant).
1778
1779 --
1780
1781 Work out some kind of way to allow running the inferior to be done as
1782 a sub-execution of, eg. breakpoint command lists.  Currently running
1783 the inferior interupts any command list execution.  This would require
1784 some rewriting of wait_for_inferior & friends, and hence should
1785 probably be done in concert with the above.
1786
1787 --
1788
1789 Add function arguments to gdb user defined functions.
1790
1791 --
1792
1793 Add convenience variables that refer to exec file, symbol file,
1794 selected frame source file, selected frame function, selected frame
1795 line number, etc.
1796
1797 --
1798
1799 Modify the handling of symbols grouped through BINCL/EINCL stabs to
1800 allocate a partial symtab for each BINCL/EINCL grouping.  This will
1801 seriously decrease the size of inter-psymtab dependencies and hence
1802 lessen the amount that needs to be read in when a new source file is
1803 accessed.
1804
1805 --
1806
1807 Add a command for searching memory, a la adb.  It specifies size,
1808 mask, value, start address.  ADB searches until it finds it or hits
1809 an error (or is interrupted).
1810
1811 --
1812
1813 Remove the range and type checking code and documentation, if not
1814 going to implement.
1815
1816 # Local Variables:
1817 # mode: text
1818 # End: