- README for gdb-5.0 release
- Updated 11 May 2000 by Andrew Cagney
+ README for GDB release
This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger.
-A summary of new features is in the file `NEWS'.
-See the GDB home page at http://sourceware.cygnus.com/gdb/ for up to
+A summary of new features is in the file `gdb/NEWS'.
+
+Check the GDB home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/ for up to
date release information, mailing list links and archives, etc.
+GDB's bug tracking data base can be found at
+http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/
Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview
==========================
- In this release, the GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include
+ The release is provided as a gzipped tar file called
+'gdb-VERSION.tar.gz', where VERSION is the version of GDB.
+
+ The GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include
files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline
library, and other libraries all have directories of their own
-underneath the gdb-5.0 directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU
+underneath the gdb-VERSION directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU
tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation
-over time--for example don't try to build gdb with a copy of bfd from
-a release other than the gdb release (such as a binutils or gas
-release), especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart.
+over time--for example don't try to build GDB with a copy of bfd from
+a release other than the GDB release (such as a binutils release),
+especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart.
Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this
directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right
order.
- When you unpack the gdb-5.0.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory
-called `gdb-5.0', which contains:
-
- COPYING config.if install-sh mmalloc readline
- COPYING.LIB config.sub intl move-if-change sim
- Makefile.in configure libiberty mpw-README symlink-tree
- README configure.in ltconfig mpw-build.in texinfo
- bfd djunpack.bat ltmain.sh mpw-config.in utils
- config etc md5.sum mpw-configure ylwrap
- config-ml.in gdb missing mpw-install
- config.guess include mkinstalldirs opcodes
+ When you unpack the gdb-VERSION.tar.gz file, it will create a
+source directory called `gdb-VERSION'.
You can build GDB right in the source directory:
- cd gdb-5.0
- ./configure
- make
- cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
+ cd gdb-VERSION
+ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local (or wherever you want)
+ make all install
However, we recommend that an empty directory be used instead.
This way you do not clutter your source tree with binary files
You can build GDB in any empty build directory:
-
- mkdir build
- cd build
- <full path to your sources>/gdb-5.0/configure
- make
+ mkdir build
+ cd build
+ <full path to your sources>/gdb-VERSION/configure [etc...]
+ make all install
(Building GDB with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS/MS-Windows is slightly
-different; see the file gdb-5.0/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.)
+different; see the file gdb-VERSION/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.)
This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If
`configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its
argument, e.g., `./configure sun4' or `./configure decstation'.
- If you get compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting
+ Make sure that your 'configure' line ends in 'gdb-VERSION/configure':
+
+ /berman/migchain/source/gdb-VERSION/configure # RIGHT
+ /berman/migchain/source/gdb-VERSION/gdb/configure # WRONG
+
+ The GDB package contains several subdirectories, such as 'gdb',
+'bfd', and 'readline'. If your 'configure' line ends in
+'gdb-VERSION/gdb/configure', then you are configuring only the gdb
+subdirectory, not the whole GDB package. This leads to build errors
+such as:
+
+ make: *** No rule to make target `../bfd/bfd.h', needed by `gdb.o'. Stop.
+
+ If you get other compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting
Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems.
- GDB requires an ISO-C (ANSI C) compiler. If you do not have an
-ISO-C compiler for your system, you may be able to download and
-install the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from
-the directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'.
+ GDB's `configure' script has many options to enable or disable
+different features or dependencies. These options are not generally
+known to the top-level `configure', so if you want to see a complete
+list of options, invoke the subdirectory `configure', like:
+
+ /berman/migchain/source/gdb-VERSION/gdb/configure --help
+
+ (Take note of how this differs from the invocation used to actually
+configure the build tree.)
+
+ GDB requires a C++11 compiler. If you do not have a
+C++11 compiler for your system, you may be able to download and install
+the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from the
+directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'. GDB also requires an ISO
+C standard library. The GDB remote server, GDBserver, builds with some
+non-ISO standard libraries - e.g. for Windows CE.
+
+ GDB can optionally be built against various external libraries.
+These dependencies are described below in the "`configure options"
+section of this README.
GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one
type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type.
GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version
of this manual in the `gdb/doc' subdirectory. The main Info file is
-`gdb-5.0/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files
+`gdb-VERSION/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files
matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can
print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are
easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the
`makeinfo'.
If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB
-source directory (`gdb-5.0', in the case of version 5.0), you can make
-the Info file by typing:
+source directory (`gdb-VERSION'), you can make the Info file by
+typing:
- cd gdb/doc
- make info
+ cd gdb/doc
+ make info
If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need
TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the
Texinfo definitions file. This file is included in the GDB
-distribution, in the directory `gdb-5.0/texinfo'.
+distribution, in the directory `gdb-VERSION/texinfo'.
TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document,
This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo
format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file.
`texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the
-`gdb-5.0/texinfo' directory.
+`gdb-VERSION/texinfo' directory.
If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset
-and print this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of
-the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-5.0/gdb') and then type:
+and print this manual. First switch to the `gdb' subdirectory of
+the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-VERSION/gdb') and then type:
+
+ make doc/gdb.dvi
+
+ If you prefer to have the manual in PDF format, type this from the
+`gdb/doc' subdirectory of the main source directory:
- make gdb.dvi
+ make gdb.pdf
+
+For this to work, you will need the PDFTeX package to be installed.
Installing GDB
`gdb' program.
The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in
-a single directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the
-version number to `gdb'.
-
- For example, the GDB version 5.0 distribution is in the `gdb-5.0'
-directory. That directory contains:
+a single directory. That directory contains:
-`gdb-5.0/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}'
+`gdb-VERSION/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}'
Standard GNU license files. Please read them.
-`gdb-5.0/bfd'
+`gdb-VERSION/bfd'
source for the Binary File Descriptor library
-`gdb-5.0/config*'
+`gdb-VERSION/config*'
script for configuring GDB, along with other support files
-`gdb-5.0/gdb'
+`gdb-VERSION/gdb'
the source specific to GDB itself
-`gdb-5.0/include'
+`gdb-VERSION/include'
GNU include files
-`gdb-5.0/libiberty'
+`gdb-VERSION/libiberty'
source for the `-liberty' free software library
-`gdb-5.0/mmalloc'
- source for the GNU memory-mapped malloc package
-
-`gdb-5.0/opcodes'
+`gdb-VERSION/opcodes'
source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
-`gdb-5.0/readline'
+`gdb-VERSION/readline'
source for the GNU command-line interface
NOTE: The readline library is compiled for use by GDB, but will
not be installed on your system when "make install" is issued.
-`gdb-5.0/sim'
+`gdb-VERSION/sim'
source for some simulators (ARM, D10V, SPARC, M32R, MIPS, PPC, V850, etc)
-`gdb-5.0/intl'
- source for the GNU gettext library, for internationalization.
- This is slightly modified from the standalone gettext
- distribution you can get from GNU.
-
-`gdb-5.0/texinfo'
+`gdb-VERSION/texinfo'
The `texinfo.tex' file, which you need in order to make a printed
manual using TeX.
-`gdb-5.0/etc'
+`gdb-VERSION/etc'
Coding standards, useful files for editing GDB, and other
miscellanea.
-`gdb-5.0/utils'
- A grab bag of random utilities.
-
Note: the following instructions are for building GDB on Unix or
Unix-like systems. Instructions for building with DJGPP for
MS-DOS/MS-Windows are in the file gdb/config/djgpp/README.
The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure'
-from the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory, which in this example
-is the `gdb-5.0' directory.
+from the `gdb-VERSION' directory.
- First switch to the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory if you are
+ First switch to the `gdb-VERSION' source directory if you are
not already in it; then run `configure'.
For example:
- cd gdb-5.0
- ./configure
- make
+ cd gdb-VERSION
+ ./configure
+ make
Running `configure' followed by `make' builds the `bfd',
`readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself.
does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell,
you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly:
- sh configure
+ sh configure
If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source
-directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-5.0'
-source directory for version 5.0, `configure' creates configuration
-files for every directory level underneath (unless you tell it not to,
-with the `--norecursion' option).
-
- You can run the `configure' script from any of the subordinate
-directories in the GDB distribution, if you only want to configure that
-subdirectory; but be sure to specify a path to it.
-
- For example, with version 5.0, type the following to configure only
-the `bfd' subdirectory:
-
- cd gdb-5.0/bfd
- ../configure
+directories for multiple libraries or programs, `configure' creates
+configuration files for every directory level underneath (unless
+you tell it not to, with the `--norecursion' option).
You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However,
you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL'
argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it
will be assumed.)
- For example, with version 5.0, you can build GDB in a separate
+ For example, you can build GDB in a separate
directory for a Sun 4 like this:
- cd gdb-5.0
+ cd gdb-VERSION
mkdir ../gdb-sun4
cd ../gdb-sun4
- ../gdb-5.0/configure
+ ../gdb-VERSION/configure
make
When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source
The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory
also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such
-as `gdb-5.0' (or in a separate configured directory configured with
-`--srcdir=PATH/gdb-5.0'), you will build all the required libraries,
+as `gdb-VERSION' (or in a separate configured directory configured with
+`--srcdir=PATH/gdb-VERSION'), you will build all the required libraries,
and then build GDB.
When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
% sh config.sub i786v
Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized
-`config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory
-(`gdb-5.0', for version 5.0).
+`config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory.
`configure' options
Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are
most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other
-options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does,
-for a full explanation of `configure'.
+options not listed here. There are many options to gdb's `configure'
+script, some of which are only useful in special situation.
+*note : (autoconf.info)Running configure scripts, for a full
+explanation of `configure'.
configure [--help]
[--prefix=DIR]
[--srcdir=PATH]
- [--norecursion] [--rm]
- [--enable-build-warnings]
[--target=TARGET]
[--host=HOST]
[HOST]
You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you
-prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'.
+prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'. Some
+more obscure GDB `configure' options are not listed here.
`--help'
Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'.
directories under the working directory in parallel to the source
directories below PATH.
-`--norecursion'
- Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed;
- do not propagate configuration to subdirectories.
-
-`--rm'
- Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify.
-
-`--enable-build-warnings'
- When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any
- code which looks even vaguely suspicious. You should only using
- this feature if you're compiling with GNU CC. It passes the
- following flags:
- -Wimplicit
- -Wreturn-type
- -Wcomment
- -Wtrigraphs
- -Wformat
- -Wparentheses
- -Wpointer-arith
-
-`--target=TARGET'
- Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
- TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
- that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself.
-
- There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
- targets.
-
`--host=HOST'
Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST.
Same as `--host=HOST'. If you omit this, GDB will guess; it's
quite accurate.
-`configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring
-other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect
-GDB or its supporting libraries.
-
-
-Languages other than C
-=======================
+`--target=TARGET'
+ Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
+ TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
+ that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself.
-See the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo) for information on this.
+ There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
+ targets.
+`--enable-targets=TARGET,TARGET,...'
+`--enable-targets=all`
+ Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the
+ specified list of targets. The special value `all' configures
+ GDB for debugging programs running on any target it supports.
+
+`--with-gdb-datadir=PATH'
+ Set the GDB-specific data directory. GDB will look here for
+ certain supporting files or scripts. This defaults to the `gdb'
+ subdirectory of `datadir' (which can be set using `--datadir').
+
+`--with-relocated-sources=DIR'
+ Sets up the default source path substitution rule so that
+ directory names recorded in debug information will be
+ automatically adjusted for any directory under DIR. DIR should
+ be a subdirectory of GDB's configured prefix, the one mentioned
+ in the `--prefix' or `--exec-prefix' options to configure. This
+ option is useful if GDB is supposed to be moved to a different
+ place after it is built.
+
+`--enable-64-bit-bfd'
+ Enable 64-bit support in BFD on 32-bit hosts.
+
+`--disable-gdbmi'
+ Build GDB without the GDB/MI machine interface.
+
+`--enable-tui'
+ Build GDB with the text-mode full-screen user interface (TUI).
+ Requires a curses library (ncurses and cursesX are also
+ supported).
+
+`--with-curses'
+ Use the curses library instead of the termcap library, for
+ text-mode terminal operations.
+
+`--with-debuginfod'
+ Build GDB with libdebuginfod, the debuginfod client library. Used
+ to automatically fetch source files and separate debug files from
+ debuginfod servers using the associated executable's build ID.
+ Enabled by default if libdebuginfod is installed and found at
+ configure time. debuginfod is packaged with elfutils, starting
+ with version 0.178. You can get the latest version from
+ 'https://sourceware.org/elfutils/'.
+
+`--with-libunwind-ia64'
+ Use the libunwind library for unwinding function call stack on ia64
+ target platforms.
+ See http://www.nongnu.org/libunwind/index.html for details.
+
+`--with-system-readline'
+ Use the readline library installed on the host, rather than the
+ library supplied as part of GDB. Readline 7 or newer is required;
+ this is enforced by the build system.
+
+`--with-system-zlib
+ Use the zlib library installed on the host, rather than the
+ library supplied as part of GDB.
+
+`--with-expat'
+ Build GDB with Expat, a library for XML parsing. (Done by
+ default if libexpat is installed and found at configure time.)
+ This library is used to read XML files supplied with GDB. If it
+ is unavailable, some features, such as remote protocol memory
+ maps, target descriptions, and shared library lists, that are
+ based on XML files, will not be available in GDB. If your host
+ does not have libexpat installed, you can get the latest version
+ from `http://expat.sourceforge.net'.
+
+`--with-libiconv-prefix[=DIR]'
+ Build GDB with GNU libiconv, a character set encoding conversion
+ library. This is not done by default, as on GNU systems the
+ `iconv' that is built in to the C library is sufficient. If your
+ host does not have a working `iconv', you can get the latest
+ version of GNU iconv from `https://www.gnu.org/software/libiconv/'.
+
+ GDB's build system also supports building GNU libiconv as part of
+ the overall build. See the GDB manual instructions on how to do
+ this.
+
+`--with-lzma'
+ Build GDB with LZMA, a compression library. (Done by default if
+ liblzma is installed and found at configure time.) LZMA is used
+ by GDB's "mini debuginfo" feature, which is only useful on
+ platforms using the ELF object file format. If your host does
+ not have liblzma installed, you can get the latest version from
+ `https://tukaani.org/xz/'.
+
+`--with-libgmp-prefix=DIR'
+ Build GDB using the GMP library installed at the directory DIR.
+ If your host does not have GMP installed, you can get the latest
+ version at `https://gmplib.org/'.
+
+`--with-mpfr'
+ Build GDB with GNU MPFR, a library for multiple-precision
+ floating-point computation with correct rounding. (Done by
+ default if GNU MPFR is installed and found at configure time.)
+ This library is used to emulate target floating-point arithmetic
+ during expression evaluation when the target uses different
+ floating-point formats than the host. If GNU MPFR is not
+ available, GDB will fall back to using host floating-point
+ arithmetic. If your host does not have GNU MPFR installed, you
+ can get the latest version from `https://www.mpfr.org/'.
+
+`--with-python[=PYTHON]'
+ Build GDB with Python scripting support. (Done by default if
+ libpython is present and found at configure time.) Python makes
+ GDB scripting much more powerful than the restricted CLI
+ scripting language. If your host does not have Python installed,
+ you can find it on `http://www.python.org/download/'. The oldest
+ version of Python supported by GDB is 2.6. The optional argument
+ PYTHON is used to find the Python headers and libraries. It can
+ be either the name of a Python executable, or the name of the
+ directory in which Python is installed.
+
+`--with-guile[=GUILE]'
+ Build GDB with GNU Guile scripting support. (Done by default if
+ libguile is present and found at configure time.) If your host
+ does not have Guile installed, you can find it at
+ `https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/'. The optional argument
+ GUILE can be a version number, which will cause `configure' to
+ try to use that version of Guile; or the file name of a
+ `pkg-config' executable, which will be queried to find the
+ information needed to compile and link against Guile.
+
+`--enable-source-highlight'
+ When printing source code, use source highlighting. This requires
+ libsource-highlight to be installed and is enabled by default
+ if the library is found.
+
+`--with-xxhash'
+ Use libxxhash for hashing. This has no user-visible effect but
+ speeds up various GDB operations such as symbol loading. Enabled
+ by default if libxxhash is found.
+
+`--without-included-regex'
+ Don't use the regex library included with GDB (as part of the
+ libiberty library). This is the default on hosts with version 2
+ of the GNU C library.
+
+`--with-sysroot=DIR'
+ Use DIR as the default system root directory for libraries whose
+ file names begin with `/lib' or `/usr/lib'. (The value of DIR
+ can be modified at run time by using the "set sysroot" command.)
+ If DIR is under the GDB configured prefix (set with `--prefix' or
+ `--exec-prefix' options), the default system root will be
+ automatically adjusted if and when GDB is moved to a different
+ location.
+
+`--with-system-gdbinit=FILE'
+ Configure GDB to automatically load a system-wide init file.
+ FILE should be an absolute file name. If FILE is in a directory
+ under the configured prefix, and GDB is moved to another location
+ after being built, the location of the system-wide init file will
+ be adjusted accordingly.
+
+`--with-system-gdbinit-dir=DIR'
+ Configure GDB to automatically load system-wide init files from
+ a directory. Files with extensions `.gdb', `.py' (if Python
+ support is enabled) and `.scm' (if Guile support is enabled) are
+ supported. DIR should be an absolute directory name. If DIR is
+ in a directory under the configured prefix, and GDB is moved to
+ another location after being built, the location of the system-
+ wide init directory will be adjusted accordingly.
-Kernel debugging
-=================
+`--enable-build-warnings'
+ When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any
+ code which looks even vaguely suspicious. It passes many
+ different warning flags, depending on the exact version of the
+ compiler you are using.
+
+`--enable-werror'
+ Treat compiler warnings as werrors. It adds the -Werror flag to
+ the compiler, which will fail the compilation if the compiler
+ outputs any warning messages.
+
+`--enable-ubsan'
+ Enable the GCC undefined behavior sanitizer. By default this is
+ disabled in GDB releases, but enabled when building from git.
+ The undefined behavior sanitizer checks for C++ undefined
+ behavior. It has a performance cost, so if you are looking at
+ GDB's performance, you should disable it.
+
+`--enable-unit-tests[=yes|no]'
+ Enable (i.e., include) support for unit tests when compiling GDB
+ and GDBServer. Note that if this option is not passed, GDB will
+ have selftests if it is a development build, and will *not* have
+ selftests if it is a non-development build.
- Remote debugging over serial lines works fine, but the kernel
-debugging code in here has not been tested in years. Van Jacobson has
-better kernel debugging, but the UC lawyers won't let FSF have it.
+`configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring
+other GNU tools recursively.
Remote debugging
standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly
with the remote.c stub over a serial line.
- The directory gdb/gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that
-allows remote debugging for Unix applications. gdbserver is only
-supported for some native configurations, including Sun 3, Sun 4, and
-Linux.
-
- There are a number of remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM
-monitors and other hardware:
-
- remote-adapt.c AMD 29000 "Adapt"
- remote-array.c Array Tech RAID controller
- remote-bug.c Motorola BUG monitor
- remote-e7000.c Hitachi E7000 ICE
- remote-eb.c AMD 29000 "EBMON"
- remote-es.c Ericsson 1800 monitor
- remote-est.c EST emulator
- remote-hms.c Hitachi Micro Systems H8/300 monitor
- remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol
- remote-mm.c AMD 29000 "minimon"
- remote-nindy.c Intel 960 "Nindy"
- remote-nrom.c NetROM ROM emulator
- remote-os9k.c PC running OS/9000
- remote-rdi.c ARM with Angel monitor
- remote-rdp.c ARM with Demon monitor
- remote-sds.c PowerPC SDS monitor
- remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol
- remote-st.c Tandem ST-2000 monitor
- remote-udi.c AMD 29000 using the AMD "Universal Debug Interface"
- remote-vx.c VxWorks realtime kernel
-
- Remote-vx.c and the vx-share subdirectory contain a remote
-interface for the VxWorks realtime kernel, which communicates over TCP
-using the Sun RPC library. This would be a useful starting point for
-other remote- via-ethernet back ends.
-
- Remote-udi.c and the 29k-share subdirectory contain a remote
-interface for AMD 29000 programs, which uses the AMD "Universal Debug
-Interface". This allows GDB to talk to software simulators,
-emulators, and/or bare hardware boards, via network or serial
-interfaces. Note that GDB only provides an interface that speaks UDI,
-not a complete solution. You will need something on the other end
-that also speaks UDI.
-
-
-Reporting Bugs
-===============
-
- The correct address for reporting bugs found in gdb is
-"bug-gdb@gnu.org". Please email all bugs, and all requests for help
-with GDB, to that address. Please include the GDB version number
-(e.g., gdb-5.0), and how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386
-host, i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many
+ The directory gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that
+allows remote debugging for Unix applications. GDBserver is only
+supported for some native configurations.
+
+ The file gdbserver/README includes further notes on GDBserver; in
+particular, it explains how to build GDBserver for cross-debugging
+(where GDBserver runs on the target machine, which is of a different
+architecture than the host machine running GDB).
+
+
+Reporting Bugs in GDB
+=====================
+
+ There are several ways of reporting bugs in GDB. The prefered
+method is to use the World Wide Web:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/
+
+As an alternative, the bug report can be submitted, via e-mail, to the
+address "bug-gdb@gnu.org".
+
+ When submitting a bug, please include the GDB version number, and
+how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 host,
+i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB supports so many
different configurations, it is important that you be precise about
-this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner that
-GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual configure
-command that you used when configuring GDB.
-
- For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the GDB
-Bugs section of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo) or the
-gdb/CONTRIBUTE file.
-
-Known bugs:
-
- * Under Ultrix 4.2 (DECstation-3100) or Alphas under OSF/1, we have
- seen problems with backtraces after interrupting the inferior out
- of a read(). The problem is caused by ptrace() returning an
- incorrect value for the frame pointer register (register 15 or
- 30). As far as we can tell, this is a kernel problem. Any help
- with this would be greatly appreciated.
-
- * Under Ultrix 4.4 (DECstation-3100), setting the TERMCAP environment
- variable to a string without a trailing ':' can cause GDB to dump
- core upon startup. Although the core file makes it look as though
- GDB code failed, the crash actually occurs within a call to the
- termcap library function tgetent(). The problem can be solved by
- using the GNU Termcap library.
-
- Alphas running OSF/1 (versions 1.0 through 2.1) have the same buggy
- termcap code, but GDB behaves strangely rather than crashing.
-
- * On DECstations there are warnings about shift counts out of range in
- various BFD modules. None of them is a cause for alarm, they are actually
- a result of bugs in the DECstation compiler.
-
- * Notes for the DEC Alpha using OSF/1:
- The debugging output of native cc has two known problems; we view these
- as compiler bugs.
- The linker miscompacts symbol tables, which causes gdb to confuse the
- type of variables or results in `struct <illegal>' type outputs.
- dbx has the same problems with those executables. A workaround is to
- specify -Wl,-b when linking, but that will increase the executable size
- considerably.
- If a structure has incomplete type in one file (e.g., "struct foo *"
- without a definition for "struct foo"), gdb will be unable to find the
- structure definition from another file.
- It has been reported that the Ultrix 4.3A compiler on decstations has the
- same problems.
-
- * Notes for Solaris 2.x, using the SPARCworks cc compiler:
- You have to compile your program with the -xs option of the SPARCworks
- compiler to be able to debug your program with gdb.
- Under Solaris 2.3 you also need patch 101409-03 (Jumbo linker patch).
- Under Solaris 2.2, if you have patch 101052 installed, make sure
- that it is at least at revision 101052-06.
-
- * Under Irix 5 for SGIs, you must have installed the `compiler_dev.hdr'
- subsystem that is on the IDO CD, otherwise you will get complaints
- that certain files such as `/usr/include/syms.h' cannot be found.
-
- * Under Irix 6 you must build with GCC. The vendor compiler reports
- as errors certain assignments that GCC considers to be warnings.
-
- GDB can produce warnings about symbols that it does not understand.
-By default, these warnings are disabled. You can enable them by
-executing `set complaint 10' (which you can put in your ~/.gdbinit if
-you like). I recommend doing this if you are working on a compiler,
-assembler, linker, or GDB, since it will point out problems that you
-may be able to fix. Warnings produced during symbol reading indicate
-some mismatch between the object file and GDB's symbol reading code.
-In many cases, it's a mismatch between the specs for the object file
-format, and what the compiler actually outputs or the debugger
-actually understands.
+this. The simplest way to do this is to include the output from these
+commands:
+
+ % gdb --version
+ % gdb --config
+
+ For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the
+Reporting Bugs chapter of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo).
Graphical interface to GDB -- X Windows, MS Windows
Several graphical interfaces to GDB are available. You should
check:
- http://sourceware.cygnus.com/gdb/#gui
+ https://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/GDB%20Front%20Ends
for an up-to-date list.
Emacs users will very likely enjoy the Grand Unified Debugger mode;
-try typing `M-x gdb RET'. Those interested in experimenting with a
-new kind of gdb-mode should load gdb/gdba.el into GNU Emacs 19.25 or
-later. Comments on this mode are also welcome.
+try typing `M-x gdb RET'.
Writing Code for GDB
=====================
- There is a lot of information about writing code for GDB in the
-internals manual, distributed with GDB in gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo. You
-can read it by hand, print it by using TeX and texinfo, or process it
-into an `info' file for use with Emacs' info mode or the standalone
-`info' program.
+ There is information about writing code for GDB in the file
+`CONTRIBUTE' and at the website:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/
+
+in particular in the wiki.
If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially
-take note of the information about copyrights in the node Submitting
-Patches. It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so
+take note of the information about copyrights and copyright assignment.
+It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so
we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are
planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you
think you will be ready to submit the patches.
Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU,
which is generally available via ftp. The directory
-ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent
-snapshot. Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of
-the following ways:
+ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent snapshot.
+Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of the
+following ways:
- (1) cd gdb-5.0
+ (1) cd gdb-VERSION
make check-gdb
or
- (2) cd gdb-5.0/gdb
+ (2) cd gdb-VERSION/gdb
make check
or
- (3) cd gdb-5.0/gdb/testsuite
+ (3) cd gdb-VERSION/gdb/testsuite
make site.exp (builds the site specific file)
runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate)
+When using a `make'-based method, you can use the Makefile variable
+`RUNTESTFLAGS' to pass flags to `runtest', e.g.:
+
+ make RUNTESTFLAGS=--directory=gdb.cp check
+
+If you use GNU make, you can use its `-j' option to run the testsuite
+in parallel. This can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for
+the testsuite to run. In this case, if you set `RUNTESTFLAGS' then,
+by default, the tests will be run serially even under `-j'. You can
+override this and force a parallel run by setting the `make' variable
+`FORCE_PARALLEL' to any non-empty value. Note that the parallel `make
+check' assumes that you want to run the entire testsuite, so it is not
+compatible with some dejagnu options, like `--directory'.
+
The last method gives you slightly more control in case of problems
with building one or more test executables or if you are using the
testsuite `standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree.
See the DejaGNU documentation for further details.
+
+Copyright and License Notices
+=============================
+
+Most files maintained by the GDB Project contain a copyright notice
+as well as a license notice, usually at the start of the file.
+
+To reduce the length of copyright notices, consecutive years in the
+copyright notice can be combined into a single range. For instance,
+the following list of copyright years...
+
+ 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991-1993, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
+
+... is abbreviated into:
+
+ 1986, 1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1999-2000, 2007-2011
+
+Every year of each range, inclusive, is a copyrightable year that
+could be listed individually.
+
\f
(this is for editing this file with GNU emacs)
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