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INFO-DIR-SECTION Programming & development tools.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

* Gdb-Internals: (gdbint).      The GNU debugger's internals.

END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This file documents the internals of the GNU debugger GDB.

Copyright 1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1996,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002

Free Software Foundation, Inc.  Contributed by Cygnus Solutions.

Written by John Gilmore.  Second Edition by Stan Shebs.

   Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document

under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or

any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no

Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual,"

and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.

   (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have freedom to copy and

modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software.  Copies published by the Free

Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."

File: gdbint.info,  Node: Releasing GDB,  Next: Testsuite,  Prev: Porting GDB,  Up: Top

Releasing GDB

*************

Versions and Branches

=====================

Version Identifiers

-------------------

   GDB's version is determined by the file `gdb/version.in'.

   GDB's mainline uses ISO dates to differentiate between versions.

The CVS repository uses YYYY-MM-DD-cvs while the corresponding snapshot

uses YYYYMMDD.

   GDB's release branch uses a slightly more complicated scheme.  When

the branch is first cut, the mainline version identifier is prefixed

with the MAJOR.MINOR from of the previous release series but with .90

appended.  As draft releases are drawn from the branch, the minor minor

number (.90) is incremented.  Once the first release (M.N) has been

made, the version prefix is updated to M.N.0.90 (dot zero, dot ninety).

Follow on releases have an incremented minor minor version number (.0).

   Using 5.1 (previous) and 5.2 (current), the example below

illustrates a typical sequence of version identifiers:

5.1.1

     final release from previous branch

2002-03-03-cvs

     main-line the day the branch is cut

5.1.90-2002-03-03-cvs

     corresponding branch version

5.1.91

     first draft release candidate

5.1.91-2002-03-17-cvs

     updated branch version

5.1.92

     second draft release candidate

5.1.92-2002-03-31-cvs

     updated branch version

5.1.93

     final release candidate (see below)

5.2

     official release

5.2.0.90-2002-04-07-cvs

     updated CVS branch version

5.2.1

     second official release

   Notes:

   * Minor minor minor draft release candidates such as 5.2.0.91 have

     been omitted from the example.  Such release candidates are,

     typically, never made.

   * For 5.1.93 the bziped tar ball `gdb-5.1.93.tar.bz2' is just the

     official `gdb-5.2.tar' renamed and compressed.

   To avoid version conflicts, vendors are expected to modify the file

`gdb/version.in' to include a vendor unique alphabetic identifier (an

official GDB release never uses alphabetic characters in its version

identifer).

   Since GDB does not make minor minor minor releases (e.g., 5.1.0.1)

the conflict between that and a minor minor draft release identifier

(e.g., 5.1.0.90) is avoided.

Branches

--------

   GDB draws a release series (5.2, 5.2.1, ...) from a single release

branch (gdb_5_2-branch).  Since minor minor minor releases (5.1.0.1)

are not made, the need to branch the release branch is avoided (it also

turns out that the effort required for such a a branch and release is

significantly greater than the effort needed to create a new release

from the head of the release branch).

   Releases 5.0 and 5.1 used branch and release tags of the form:

     gdb_N_M-YYYY-MM-DD-branchpoint

     gdb_N_M-YYYY-MM-DD-branch

     gdb_M_N-YYYY-MM-DD-release

   Release 5.2 is trialing the branch and release tags:

     gdb_N_M-YYYY-MM-DD-branchpoint

     gdb_N_M-branch

     gdb_M_N-YYYY-MM-DD-release

   _Pragmatics: The branchpoint and release tags need to identify when

a branch and release are made.  The branch tag, denoting the head of the

branch, does not have this criteria._

Branch Commit Policy

====================

   The branch commit policy is pretty slack.  GDB releases 5.0, 5.1 and

5.2 all used the below:

   * The `gdb/MAINTAINERS' file still holds.

   * Don't fix something on the branch unless/until it is also fixed in

     the trunk.  If this isn't possible, mentioning it in the

     `gdb/PROBLEMS' file is better than committing a hack.

   * When considering a patch for the branch, suggested criteria

     include: Does it fix a build?  Does it fix the sequence `break

     main; run' when debugging a static binary?

   * The further a change is from the core of GDB, the less likely the

     change will worry anyone (e.g., target specific code).

   * Only post a proposal to change the core of GDB after you've sent

     individual bribes to all the people listed in the `MAINTAINERS'

     file ;-)

   _Pragmatics: Provided updates are restricted to non-core

functionality there is little chance that a broken change will be fatal.

This means that changes such as adding a new architectures or (within

reason) support for a new host are considered acceptable._

Obsoleting code

===============

   Before anything else, poke the other developers (and around the

source code) to see if there is anything that can be removed from GDB

(an old target, an unused file).

   Obsolete code is identified by adding an `OBSOLETE' prefix to every

line.  Doing this means that it is easy to identify something that has

been obsoleted when greping through the sources.

   The process is done in stages -- this is mainly to ensure that the

wider GDB community has a reasonable opportunity to respond.  Remember,

everything on the Internet takes a week.

  1. Post the proposal on the GDB mailing list 

     Creating a bug report to track the task's state, is also highly

     recommended.

  2. Wait a week or so.

  3. Post the proposal on the GDB Announcement mailing list

     .

  4. Wait a week or so.

  5. Go through and edit all relevant files and lines so that they are

     prefixed with the word `OBSOLETE'.

  6. Wait until the next GDB version, containing this obsolete code,

     has been released.

  7. Remove the obsolete code.

_Maintainer note: While removing old code is regrettable it is

hopefully better for GDB's long term development.  Firstly it helps the

developers by removing code that is either no longer relevant or simply

wrong.  Secondly since it removes any history associated with the file

(effectively clearing the slate) the developer has a much freer hand

when it comes to fixing broken files._

Before the Branch

=================

   The most important objective at this stage is to find and fix simple

changes that become a pain to track once the branch is created.  For

instance, configuration problems that stop GDB from even building.  If

you can't get the problem fixed, document it in the `gdb/PROBLEMS' file.

Prompt for `gdb/NEWS'

---------------------

   People always forget.  Send a post reminding them but also if you

know something interesting happened add it yourself.  The `schedule'

script will mention this in its e-mail.

Review `gdb/README'

-------------------

   Grab one of the nightly snapshots and then walk through the

`gdb/README' looking for anything that can be improved.  The `schedule'

script will mention this in its e-mail.

Refresh any imported files.

---------------------------

   A number of files are taken from external repositories.  They

include:

   * `texinfo/texinfo.tex'

   * `config.guess' et. al. (see the top-level `MAINTAINERS' file)

   * `etc/standards.texi', `etc/make-stds.texi'

Check the ARI

-------------

   A.R.I. is an `awk' script (Awk Regression Index ;-) that checks for

a number of errors and coding conventions.  The checks include things

like using `malloc' instead of `xmalloc' and file naming problems.

There shouldn't be any regressions.

Review the bug data base

------------------------

   Close anything obviously fixed.

Check all cross targets build

-----------------------------

   The targets are listed in `gdb/MAINTAINERS'.

Cut the Branch

==============

Create the branch

-----------------

     $  u=5.1

     $  v=5.2

     $  V=`echo $v | sed 's/\./_/g'`

     $  D=`date -u +%Y-%m-%d`

     $  echo $u $V $D

     5.1 5_2 2002-03-03

     $  echo cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src rtag \

     -D $D-gmt gdb_$V-$D-branchpoint insight+dejagnu

     cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src rtag

     -D 2002-03-03-gmt gdb_5_2-2002-03-03-branchpoint insight+dejagnu

     $  ^echo ^^

     ...

     $  echo cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src rtag \

     -b -r gdb_$V-$D-branchpoint gdb_$V-branch insight+dejagnu

     cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src rtag \

     -b -r gdb_5_2-2002-03-03-branchpoint gdb_5_2-branch insight+dejagnu

     $  ^echo ^^

     ...

     $

   * by using `-D YYYY-MM-DD-gmt' the branch is forced to an exact

     date/time.

   * the trunk is first taged so that the branch point can easily be

     found

   * Insight (which includes GDB) and dejagnu are all tagged at the

     same time

   * `version.in' gets bumped to avoid version number conflicts

   * the reading of `.cvsrc' is disabled using `-f'

Update `version.in'

-------------------

     $  u=5.1

     $  v=5.2

     $  V=`echo $v | sed 's/\./_/g'`

     $  echo $u $v$V

     5.1 5_2

     $  cd /tmp

     $  echo cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src co \

     -r gdb_$V-branch src/gdb/version.in

     cvs -f -d :ext:sources.redhat.com:/cvs/src co

      -r gdb_5_2-branch src/gdb/version.in

     $  ^echo ^^

     U src/gdb/version.in

     $  cd src/gdb

     $  echo $u.90-0000-00-00-cvs > version.in

     $  cat version.in

     5.1.90-0000-00-00-cvs

     $  cvs -f commit version.in

   * `0000-00-00' is used as a date to pump prime the version.in update

     mechanism

   * `.90' and the previous branch version are used as fairly arbitrary

     initial branch version number

Update the web and news pages

-----------------------------

   Something?

Tweak cron to track the new branch

----------------------------------

   The file `gdbadmin/cron/crontab' contains gdbadmin's cron table.

This file needs to be updated so that:

   * a daily timestamp is added to the file `version.in'

   * the new branch is included in the snapshot process

See the file `gdbadmin/cron/README' for how to install the updated cron

table.

   The file `gdbadmin/ss/README' should also be reviewed to reflect any

changes.  That file is copied to both the branch/ and current/ snapshot

directories.

Update the NEWS and README files

--------------------------------

   The `NEWS' file needs to be updated so that on the branch it refers

to _changes in the current release_ while on the trunk it also refers

to _changes since the current release_.

   The `README' file needs to be updated so that it refers to the

current release.

Post the branch info

--------------------

   Send an announcement to the mailing lists:

   * GDB Announcement mailing list 

   * GDB Discsussion mailing list  and GDB

     Discsussion mailing list 

   _Pragmatics: The branch creation is sent to the announce list to

ensure that people people not subscribed to the higher volume discussion

list are alerted._

   The announcement should include:

   * the branch tag

   * how to check out the branch using CVS

   * the date/number of weeks until the release

   * the branch commit policy still holds.

Stabilize the branch

====================

   Something goes here.

Create a Release

================

   The process of creating and then making available a release is broken

down into a number of stages.  The first part addresses the technical

process of creating a releasable tar ball.  The later stages address the

process of releasing that tar ball.

   When making a release candidate just the first section is needed.

Create a release candidate

--------------------------

   The objective at this stage is to create a set of tar balls that can

be made available as a formal release (or as a less formal release

candidate).

Freeze the branch

.................

   Send out an e-mail notifying everyone that the branch is frozen to

.

Establish a few defaults.

.........................

     $  b=gdb_5_2-branch

     $  v=5.2

     $  t=/sourceware/snapshot-tmp/gdbadmin-tmp

     $  echo $t/$b/$v

     /sourceware/snapshot-tmp/gdbadmin-tmp/gdb_5_2-branch/5.2

     $  mkdir -p $t/$b/$v

     $  cd $t/$b/$v

     $  pwd

     /sourceware/snapshot-tmp/gdbadmin-tmp/gdb_5_2-branch/5.2

     $  which autoconf

     /home/gdbadmin/bin/autoconf

     $

Notes:

   * Check the `autoconf' version carefully.  You want to be using the

     version taken from the `binutils' snapshot directory, which can be

     found at `ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/binutils/'. It is very

     unlikely that a system installed version of `autoconf' (e.g.,

     `/usr/bin/autoconf') is correct.

Check out the relevant modules:

...............................

     $  for m in gdb insight dejagnu

     do

     ( mkdir -p $m && cd $m && cvs -q -f -d /cvs/src co -P -r $b $m )

     done

     $

Note:

   * The reading of `.cvsrc' is disabled (`-f') so that there isn't any

     confusion between what is written here and what your local `cvs'

     really does.

Update relevant files.

......................

`gdb/NEWS'

     Major releases get their comments added as part of the mainline.

     Minor releases should probably mention any significant bugs that

     were fixed.

     Don't forget to include the `ChangeLog' entry.

          $  emacs gdb/src/gdb/NEWS

          ...

          c-x 4 a

          ...

          c-x c-s c-x c-c

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/NEWS insight/src/gdb/NEWS

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/ChangeLog insight/src/gdb/ChangeLog

`gdb/README'

     You'll need to update:

        * the version

        * the update date

        * who did it

          $  emacs gdb/src/gdb/README

          ...

          c-x 4 a

          ...

          c-x c-s c-x c-c

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/README insight/src/gdb/README

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/ChangeLog insight/src/gdb/ChangeLog

     _Maintainer note: Hopefully the `README' file was reviewed before

     the initial branch was cut so just a simple substitute is needed

     to get it updated._

     _Maintainer note: Other projects generate `README' and `INSTALL'

     from the core documentation.  This might be worth pursuing._

`gdb/version.in'

          $  echo $v > gdb/src/gdb/version.in

          $  cat gdb/src/gdb/version.in

          5.2

          $  emacs gdb/src/gdb/version.in

          ...

          c-x 4 a

          ... Bump to version ...

          c-x c-s c-x c-c

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/version.in insight/src/gdb/version.in

          $  cp gdb/src/gdb/ChangeLog insight/src/gdb/ChangeLog

`dejagnu/src/dejagnu/configure.in'

     Dejagnu is more complicated.  The version number is a parameter to

     `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE'.  Tweak it to read something like gdb-5.1.91.

     Don't forget to re-generate `configure'.

     Don't forget to include a `ChangeLog' entry.

          $  emacs dejagnu/src/dejagnu/configure.in

          ...

          c-x 4 a

          ...

          c-x c-s c-x c-c

          $  ( cd  dejagnu/src/dejagnu && autoconf )

Do the dirty work

.................

   This is identical to the process used to create the daily snapshot.

     $  for m in gdb insight

     do

     ( cd $m/src && gmake -f Makefile.in $m.tar )

     done

     $  ( m=dejagnu; cd $m/src && gmake -f Makefile.in $m.tar.bz2 )

Check the source files

......................

   You're looking for files that have mysteriously disappeared.

`distclean' has the habit of deleting files it shouldn't.  Watch out

for the `version.in' update `cronjob'.

     $  ( cd gdb/src && cvs -f -q -n update )

     M djunpack.bat

     ? gdb-5.1.91.tar

     ? proto-toplev

     ... lots of generated files ...

     M gdb/ChangeLog

     M gdb/NEWS

     M gdb/README

     M gdb/version.in

     ... lots of generated files ...

     $

_Don't worry about the `gdb.info-??' or `gdb/p-exp.tab.c'.  They were

generated (and yes `gdb.info-1' was also generated only something

strange with CVS means that they didn't get supressed).  Fixing it

would be nice though._

Create compressed versions of the release

.........................................

     $  cp */src/*.tar .

     $  cp */src/*.bz2 .

     $  ls -F

     dejagnu/ dejagnu-gdb-5.2.tar.bz2 gdb/ gdb-5.2.tar insight/ insight-5.2.tar

     $  for m in gdb insight

     do

     bzip2 -v -9 -c $m-$v.tar > $m-$v.tar.bz2

     gzip -v -9 -c $m-$v.tar > $m-$v.tar.gz

     done

     $

Note:

   * A pipe such as `bunzip2 < xxx.bz2 | gzip -9 > xxx.gz' is not since,

     in that mode, `gzip' does not know the name of the file and, hence,

     can not include it in the compressed file.  This is also why the

     release process runs `tar' and `bzip2' as separate passes.

Sanity check the tar ball

-------------------------

   Pick a popular machine (Solaris/PPC?) and try the build on that.

     $  bunzip2 < gdb-5.2.tar.bz2 | tar xpf -

     $  cd gdb-5.2

     $  ./configure

     $  make

     ...

     $  ./gdb/gdb ./gdb/gdb

     GNU gdb 5.2

     ...

     (gdb)  b main

     Breakpoint 1 at 0x80732bc: file main.c, line 734.

     (gdb)  run

     Starting program: /tmp/gdb-5.2/gdb/gdb

     Breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0xbffff8b4) at main.c:734

     734       catch_errors (captured_main, &args, "", RETURN_MASK_ALL);

     (gdb)  print args

     $1 = {argc = 136426532, argv = 0x821b7f0}

     (gdb)

Make a release candidate available

----------------------------------

   If this is a release candidate then the only remaining steps are:

  1. Commit `version.in' and `ChangeLog'

  2. Tweak `version.in' (and `ChangeLog' to read L.M.N-0000-00-00-cvs

     so that the version update process can restart.

  3. Make the release candidate available in

     `ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/gdb/snapshots/branch'

  4. Notify the relevant mailing lists (  and

      that the candidate is available.

Make a formal release available

-------------------------------

   (And you thought all that was required was to post an e-mail.)

Install on sware

................

   Copy the new files to both the release and the old release directory:

     $  cp *.bz2 *.gz ~ftp/pub/gdb/old-releases/

     $  cp *.bz2 *.gz ~ftp/pub/gdb/releases

Clean up the releases directory so that only the most recent releases

are available (e.g. keep 5.2 and 5.2.1 but remove 5.1):

     $  cd ~ftp/pub/gdb/releases

     $  rm ...

Update the file `README' and `.message' in the releases directory:

     $  vi README

     ...

     $  rm -f .message

     $  ln README .message

Update the web pages.

.....................

`htdocs/download/ANNOUNCEMENT'

     This file, which is posted as the official announcement, includes:

        * General announcement

        * News.  If making an M.N.1 release, retain the news from

          earlier M.N release.

        * Errata

`htdocs/index.html'

`htdocs/news/index.html'

`htdocs/download/index.html'

     These files include:

        * announcement of the most recent release

        * news entry (remember to update both the top level and the

          news directory).

     These pages also need to be regenerate using `index.sh'.

`download/onlinedocs/'

     You need to find the magic command that is used to generate the

     online docs from the `.tar.bz2'.  The best way is to look in the

     output from one of the nightly `cron' jobs and then just edit

     accordingly.  Something like:

          $  ~/ss/update-web-docs \

           ~ftp/pub/gdb/releases/gdb-5.2.tar.bz2 \

           $PWD/www \

           /www/sourceware/htdocs/gdb/download/onlinedocs \

           gdb

`download/ari/'

     Just like the online documentation.  Something like:

          $  /bin/sh ~/ss/update-web-ari \

           ~ftp/pub/gdb/releases/gdb-5.2.tar.bz2 \

           $PWD/www \

           /www/sourceware/htdocs/gdb/download/ari \

           gdb

Shadow the pages onto gnu

.........................

   Something goes here.

Install the GDB tar ball on GNU

...............................

   At the time of writing, the GNU machine was `gnudist.gnu.org' in

`~ftp/gnu/gdb'.

Make the `ANNOUNCEMENT'

.......................

   Post the `ANNOUNCEMENT' file you created above to:

   * GDB Announcement mailing list 

   * General GNU Announcement list  (but delay it a

     day or so to let things get out)

   * GDB Bug Report mailing list 

Cleanup

-------

   The release is out but you're still not finished.

Commit outstanding changes

..........................

   In particular you'll need to commit any changes to:

   * `gdb/ChangeLog'

   * `gdb/version.in'

   * `gdb/NEWS'

   * `gdb/README'

Tag the release

...............

   Something like:

     $  d=`date -u +%Y-%m-%d`

     $  echo $d

     2002-01-24

     $  ( cd insight/src/gdb && cvs -f -q update )

     $  ( cd insight/src && cvs -f -q tag gdb_5_2-$d-release )

   Insight is used since that contains more of the release than GDB

(`dejagnu' doesn't get tagged but I think we can live with that).

Mention the release on the trunk

................................

   Just put something in the `ChangeLog' so that the trunk also

indicates when the release was made.

Restart `gdb/version.in'

........................

   If `gdb/version.in' does not contain an ISO date such as

`2002-01-24' then the daily `cronjob' won't update it.  Having

committed all the release changes it can be set to

`5.2.0_0000-00-00-cvs' which will restart things (yes the `_' is

important - it affects the snapshot process).

   Don't forget the `ChangeLog'.

Merge into trunk

................

   The files committed to the branch may also need changes merged into

the trunk.

Revise the release schedule

...........................

   Post a revised release schedule to GDB Discussion List

 with an updated announcement.  The schedule

can be generated by running:

     $  ~/ss/schedule `date +%s` schedule

The first parameter is approximate date/time in seconds (from the epoch)

of the most recent release.

   Also update the schedule `cronjob'.

Post release

============

   Remove any `OBSOLETE' code.

File: gdbint.info,  Node: Testsuite,  Next: Hints,  Prev: Releasing GDB,  Up: Top

Testsuite

*********

   The testsuite is an important component of the GDB package.  While

it is always worthwhile to encourage user testing, in practice this is

rarely sufficient; users typically use only a small subset of the

available commands, and it has proven all too common for a change to

cause a significant regression that went unnoticed for some time.

   The GDB testsuite uses the DejaGNU testing framework.  DejaGNU is

built using `Tcl' and `expect'.  The tests themselves are calls to

various `Tcl' procs; the framework runs all the procs and summarizes

the passes and fails.

Using the Testsuite

===================

   To run the testsuite, simply go to the GDB object directory (or to

the testsuite's objdir) and type `make check'.  This just sets up some

environment variables and invokes DejaGNU's `runtest' script.  While

the testsuite is running, you'll get mentions of which test file is in

use, and a mention of any unexpected passes or fails.  When the

testsuite is finished, you'll get a summary that looks like this:

                     === gdb Summary ===

     # of expected passes            6016

     # of unexpected failures        58

     # of unexpected successes       5

     # of expected failures          183

     # of unresolved testcases       3

     # of untested testcases         5

   The ideal test run consists of expected passes only; however, reality

conspires to keep us from this ideal.  Unexpected failures indicate

real problems, whether in GDB or in the testsuite.  Expected failures

are still failures, but ones which have been decided are too hard to

deal with at the time; for instance, a test case might work everywhere

except on AIX, and there is no prospect of the AIX case being fixed in

the near future.  Expected failures should not be added lightly, since

you may be masking serious bugs in GDB.  Unexpected successes are

expected fails that are passing for some reason, while unresolved and

untested cases often indicate some minor catastrophe, such as the

compiler being unable to deal with a test program.

   When making any significant change to GDB, you should run the

testsuite before and after the change, to confirm that there are no

regressions.  Note that truly complete testing would require that you

run the testsuite with all supported configurations and a variety of

compilers; however this is more than really necessary.  In many cases

testing with a single configuration is sufficient.  Other useful

options are to test one big-endian (Sparc) and one little-endian (x86)

host, a cross config with a builtin simulator (powerpc-eabi, mips-elf),

or a 64-bit host (Alpha).

   If you add new functionality to GDB, please consider adding tests

for it as well; this way future GDB hackers can detect and fix their

changes that break the functionality you added.  Similarly, if you fix

a bug that was not previously reported as a test failure, please add a

test case for it.  Some cases are extremely difficult to test, such as

code that handles host OS failures or bugs in particular versions of

compilers, and it's OK not to try to write tests for all of those.

Testsuite Organization

======================

   The testsuite is entirely contained in `gdb/testsuite'.  While the

testsuite includes some makefiles and configury, these are very minimal,

and used for little besides cleaning up, since the tests themselves

handle the compilation of the programs that GDB will run.  The file

`testsuite/lib/gdb.exp' contains common utility procs useful for all

GDB tests, while the directory `testsuite/config' contains

configuration-specific files, typically used for special-purpose

definitions of procs like `gdb_load' and `gdb_start'.

   The tests themselves are to be found in `testsuite/gdb.*' and

subdirectories of those.  The names of the test files must always end

with `.exp'.  DejaGNU collects the test files by wildcarding in the

test directories, so both subdirectories and individual files get

chosen and run in alphabetical order.

   The following table lists the main types of subdirectories and what

they are for.  Since DejaGNU finds test files no matter where they are

located, and since each test file sets up its own compilation and

execution environment, this organization is simply for convenience and

intelligibility.

`gdb.base'

     This is the base testsuite.  The tests in it should apply to all

     configurations of GDB (but generic native-only tests may live

     here).  The test programs should be in the subset of C that is

     valid K&R, ANSI/ISO, and C++ (`#ifdef's are allowed if necessary,

     for instance for prototypes).

`gdb.LANG'

     Language-specific tests for any language LANG besides C.  Examples

     are `gdb.c++' and `gdb.java'.

`gdb.PLATFORM'

     Non-portable tests.  The tests are specific to a specific

     configuration (host or target), such as HP-UX or eCos.  Example is

     `gdb.hp', for HP-UX.

`gdb.COMPILER'

     Tests specific to a particular compiler.  As of this writing (June

     1999), there aren't currently any groups of tests in this category

     that couldn't just as sensibly be made platform-specific, but one

     could imagine a `gdb.gcc', for tests of GDB's handling of GCC

     extensions.

`gdb.SUBSYSTEM'

     Tests that exercise a specific GDB subsystem in more depth.  For

     instance, `gdb.disasm' exercises various disassemblers, while

     `gdb.stabs' tests pathways through the stabs symbol reader.

Writing Tests

=============

   In many areas, the GDB tests are already quite comprehensive; you

should be able to copy existing tests to handle new cases.

   You should try to use `gdb_test' whenever possible, since it

includes cases to handle all the unexpected errors that might happen.

However, it doesn't cost anything to add new test procedures; for

instance, `gdb.base/exprs.exp' defines a `test_expr' that calls

`gdb_test' multiple times.

   Only use `send_gdb' and `gdb_expect' when absolutely necessary, such

as when GDB has several valid responses to a command.

   The source language programs do _not_ need to be in a consistent

style.  Since GDB is used to debug programs written in many different

styles, it's worth having a mix of styles in the testsuite; for

instance, some GDB bugs involving the display of source lines would

never manifest themselves if the programs used GNU coding style

uniformly.

File: gdbint.info,  Node: Hints,  Next: GNU Free Documentation License,  Prev: Testsuite,  Up: Top

Hints

*****

   Check the `README' file, it often has useful information that does

not appear anywhere else in the directory.

* Menu:

* Getting Started::             Getting started working on GDB

* Debugging GDB::               Debugging GDB with itself

File: gdbint.info,  Node: Getting Started,  Up: Hints

Getting Started

===============

   GDB is a large and complicated program, and if you first starting to

work on it, it can be hard to know where to start.  Fortunately, if you

know how to go about it, there are ways to figure out what is going on.

   This manual, the GDB Internals manual, has information which applies

generally to many parts of GDB.