From: John Gilmore Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1992 10:38:16 +0000 (+0000) Subject: More news... X-Git-Url: https://git.libre-soc.org/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=c00d8242d41732e975055e336765d897acbd74b2;p=binutils-gdb.git More news... --- diff --git a/gdb/NEWS b/gdb/NEWS index 1678a9a49d2..377ebee0e7d 100644 --- a/gdb/NEWS +++ b/gdb/NEWS @@ -3,123 +3,152 @@ *** Changes in GDB-4.7: - * New native hosts + * Host/native/target split + +GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for +hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote +target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging +local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will +ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible. + +The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in +GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB +is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific +code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on +any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be +built when the host and target are the same system. Child process +handling and core file support are two common `native' examples. + +GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner. +It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector, +plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc. -some 386 support + * New hosts supported + +HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd +386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd +386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco + + * New targets supported - * New cross target hosts +Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite +68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-* -HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) + * New native hosts supported - * New cross targets +386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd + (386bsd is not well tested yet) +386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco -Fujitsu SparcLite - This is a Sparc without floating-point intended for -imbedded applications. + * New file formats supported - * G++/C++ support +BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It +supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out +format extended with minimal information about multiple sections. -As always, G++ support keeps on impoving. We now deal with Cfront style -name mangling, and can even extract type info from mangled symbols. + * New commands -Calling of virtual functions and inferior methods has been improved as well. +`show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'. +`show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'. +These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work. -GDB can now automatically figure out which symbol mangling style your C++ -compiler uses. +`info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'. + +You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command +scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed +prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be +executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo. + + * C++ improvements + +We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type +info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which +symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses. + +Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well. * Major bug fixes -The crash that was occuring when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries has -been fixed. This was due mishandling of the extra SO stabs that the -compiler was outputting. - -We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 up and running in house, and were able to -really fix core file support! - -It was discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so slow on all -of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was that we were trying -to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal purposes on every instruction -that was being stepped through. Changing the name of that symbol so that it -couldn't be mistaken for a C++ mangled symbol sped things up a great deal. - -We also sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter about -when symbol mangling was necessary. - - * 29k support - -A bunch of work has been done to improve the general 29k support. In -particular, a new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can be -used to specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB needs to -call a function in the target. This was necessary because the usual method -of putting the scratch area on the stack was not feasible for systems that -have seperate instruction and data spaces. - -We also did a bunch of work on the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger Interface) -code, but at the last minute we discovered that we didn't have all of the -appropriate copyright paperwork, and had to yank it all out. We are working -with AMD to resolve this, and hope to have it available soon. - - * Remote stuff - -We have made some improvements in the remote serial line protocol which should -speed up things a great deal (especially for targets with lots of registers). -The remote code now supports a new `expedited status' ('T') message which -replaces the old 'S' status message. This message has a much more flexible -format which allows the remote stub to send an arbitrary set of registers -whenever the stub takes control. This greatly speeds up stepping, as the -stub can supply only the registers GDB requires during this process. It -eliminates the need to fetch the entire register set for each instruction being -stepped through. - -GDB was also made a bit smarter about reading registers from the target. It -now makes much more use of the cache. In effect, it now implements a -write-through cache, and only reads the registers when if the target has run. - -There is also a new remote stub for Sparc processors. You can find it in -gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the SparcLite product, -but actually contains no SparcLite specific code. It should run on any -stand-alone Sparc processor with a serial port that can be dedicated to GDB -for remote debugging. +The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is +fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output +by the compiler. - * Host/native/target split +We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file +support, with help from a dozen people on the net. + +John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so +slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was +that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal +purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing +the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++ +mangled symbol sped things up a great deal. + +Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter +about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol +completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as +we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6. -GDB has had some major internal surgery recently in order to untangle some -of the mess related to supporting hosts and remote targets. Now, when you -configure GDB for a remote target, it may no longer load in all of the host -support for debugging local programs. This means that if you make a GDB to -debug a remote vxWorks target from a Sun4 host, you will no longer get -ptrace() or Sun4 core file support. This surgery was necessary to ensure -that arbitrary host/target combinations were possible. In particular, it -makes it much more practical to build new configurations for remote targets -that in the past were only hosts. - -The primary concept behind the detanglement was to seperate the code into -one of three categories. The host category is for code that is host -specific, and can only be compiled for a particular host configuration. -The target category is for code which is target specific, but can be -compiled on any host. The native category is for the situation where the -host and target are the same system (this usually means that you are going -to debug an inferior process). - - * General - -There is a new opcodes library which will contain all of the disassembly -routines, and opcode tables at some point in the future. At present, it -only contains Sparc and Z8000 routines. This was done in order to get the -assembler and the debugger to share these routines. - -The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete reference -to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far as we know) -the only published document on this fascinating topic. - -There are now pre-command hooks that are used to attach arbitrary commands -to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed prior to the -users command. You can creat a hook which will be executed whenever the -program stops. - -BFD now supports the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. + * AMD 29k support + +A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can +specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB +calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the +usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work +in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces. + +We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger +Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all +of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to +resolve this, and hope to have it available soon. + + * Remote interfaces + +We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets +with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T') +message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message. +This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB +needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional +breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for +each instruction being stepped through. + +The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for +registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run. + +There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can +find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the +Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC +processor with a serial port. + + * Configuration + +Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new +`table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are +supported, and what files each one uses. + + * Library changes + +There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the +disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains +Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and +disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines. + +The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General +Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++ +can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License +grants all the rights from the General Public License. + + * Documentation + +The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete +reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far +as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We +encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your +system, and send improvements on the document in general (to +bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu). And, of course, many bugs have been fixed. + *** Changes in GDB-4.6: * Better support for C++ function names