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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."

   (1) Some D10V instructions are actually pairs of 16-bit
sub-instructions.  However, since you can't jump into the middle of
such a pair, code addresses can only refer to full 32 bit instructions,
which is what matters in this explanation.

   (2) The above is from the original example and uses K&R C.  GDB has
since converted to ISO C but lets ignore that.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Target Vector Definition,  Next: Native Debugging,  Prev: Target Architecture Definition,  Up: Top

Target Vector Definition
************************

   The target vector defines the interface between GDB's abstract
handling of target systems, and the nitty-gritty code that actually
exercises control over a process or a serial port.  GDB includes some
30-40 different target vectors; however, each configuration of GDB
includes only a few of them.

File Targets
============

   Both executables and core files have target vectors.

Standard Protocol and Remote Stubs
==================================

   GDB's file `remote.c' talks a serial protocol to code that runs in
the target system.  GDB provides several sample "stubs" that can be
integrated into target programs or operating systems for this purpose;
they are named `*-stub.c'.

   The GDB user's manual describes how to put such a stub into your
target code.  What follows is a discussion of integrating the SPARC
stub into a complicated operating system (rather than a simple
program), by Stu Grossman, the author of this stub.

   The trap handling code in the stub assumes the following upon entry
to `trap_low':

  1. %l1 and %l2 contain pc and npc respectively at the time of the
     trap;

  2. traps are disabled;

  3. you are in the correct trap window.

   As long as your trap handler can guarantee those conditions, then
there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to "share" traps with the
stub.  The stub has no requirement that it be jumped to directly from
the hardware trap vector.  That is why it calls `exceptionHandler()',
which is provided by the external environment.  For instance, this could
set up the hardware traps to actually execute code which calls the stub
first, and then transfers to its own trap handler.

   For the most point, there probably won't be much of an issue with
"sharing" traps, as the traps we use are usually not used by the kernel,
and often indicate unrecoverable error conditions.  Anyway, this is all
controlled by a table, and is trivial to modify.  The most important
trap for us is for `ta 1'.  Without that, we can't single step or do
breakpoints.  Everything else is unnecessary for the proper operation
of the debugger/stub.

   From reading the stub, it's probably not obvious how breakpoints
work.  They are simply done by deposit/examine operations from GDB.

ROM Monitor Interface
=====================

Custom Protocols
================

Transport Layer
===============

Builtin Simulator
=================


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Native Debugging,  Next: Support Libraries,  Prev: Target Vector Definition,  Up: Top

Native Debugging
****************

   Several files control GDB's configuration for native support:

`gdb/config/ARCH/XYZ.mh'
     Specifies Makefile fragments needed by a _native_ configuration on
     machine XYZ.  In particular, this lists the required
     native-dependent object files, by defining `NATDEPFILES=...'.
     Also specifies the header file which describes native support on
     XYZ, by defining `NAT_FILE= nm-XYZ.h'.  You can also define
     `NAT_CFLAGS', `NAT_ADD_FILES', `NAT_CLIBS', `NAT_CDEPS', etc.; see
     `Makefile.in'.

     _Maintainer's note: The `.mh' suffix is because this file
     originally contained `Makefile' fragments for hosting GDB on
     machine XYZ.  While the file is no longer used for this purpose,
     the `.mh' suffix remains.  Perhaps someone will eventually rename
     these fragments so that they have a `.mn' suffix._

`gdb/config/ARCH/nm-XYZ.h'
     (`nm.h' is a link to this file, created by `configure').  Contains
     C macro definitions describing the native system environment, such
     as child process control and core file support.

`gdb/XYZ-nat.c'
     Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this native support
     of this machine.  On some machines it doesn't exist at all.

   There are some "generic" versions of routines that can be used by
various systems.  These can be customized in various ways by macros
defined in your `nm-XYZ.h' file.  If these routines work for the XYZ
host, you can just include the generic file's name (with `.o', not
`.c') in `NATDEPFILES'.

   Otherwise, if your machine needs custom support routines, you will
need to write routines that perform the same functions as the generic
file.  Put them into `XYZ-nat.c', and put `XYZ-nat.o' into
`NATDEPFILES'.

`inftarg.c'
     This contains the _target_ops vector_ that supports Unix child
     processes on systems which use ptrace and wait to control the
     child.

`procfs.c'
     This contains the _target_ops vector_ that supports Unix child
     processes on systems which use /proc to control the child.

`fork-child.c'
     This does the low-level grunge that uses Unix system calls to do a
     "fork and exec" to start up a child process.

`infptrace.c'
     This is the low level interface to inferior processes for systems
     using the Unix `ptrace' call in a vanilla way.

Native core file Support
========================

`core-aout.c::fetch_core_registers()'
     Support for reading registers out of a core file.  This routine
     calls `register_addr()', see below.  Now that BFD is used to read
     core files, virtually all machines should use `core-aout.c', and
     should just provide `fetch_core_registers' in `XYZ-nat.c' (or
     `REGISTER_U_ADDR' in `nm-XYZ.h').

`core-aout.c::register_addr()'
     If your `nm-XYZ.h' file defines the macro `REGISTER_U_ADDR(addr,
     blockend, regno)', it should be defined to set `addr' to the
     offset within the `user' struct of GDB register number `regno'.
     `blockend' is the offset within the "upage" of `u.u_ar0'.  If
     `REGISTER_U_ADDR' is defined, `core-aout.c' will define the
     `register_addr()' function and use the macro in it.  If you do not
     define `REGISTER_U_ADDR', but you are using the standard
     `fetch_core_registers()', you will need to define your own version
     of `register_addr()', put it into your `XYZ-nat.c' file, and be
     sure `XYZ-nat.o' is in the `NATDEPFILES' list.  If you have your
     own `fetch_core_registers()', you may not need a separate
     `register_addr()'.  Many custom `fetch_core_registers()'
     implementations simply locate the registers themselves.

   When making GDB run native on a new operating system, to make it
possible to debug core files, you will need to either write specific
code for parsing your OS's core files, or customize `bfd/trad-core.c'.
First, use whatever `#include' files your machine uses to define the
struct of registers that is accessible (possibly in the u-area) in a
core file (rather than `machine/reg.h'), and an include file that
defines whatever header exists on a core file (e.g. the u-area or a
`struct core').  Then modify `trad_unix_core_file_p' to use these
values to set up the section information for the data segment, stack
segment, any other segments in the core file (perhaps shared library
contents or control information), "registers" segment, and if there are
two discontiguous sets of registers (e.g.  integer and float), the
"reg2" segment.  This section information basically delimits areas in
the core file in a standard way, which the section-reading routines in
BFD know how to seek around in.

   Then back in GDB, you need a matching routine called
`fetch_core_registers'.  If you can use the generic one, it's in
`core-aout.c'; if not, it's in your `XYZ-nat.c' file.  It will be
passed a char pointer to the entire "registers" segment, its length,
and a zero; or a char pointer to the entire "regs2" segment, its
length, and a 2.  The routine should suck out the supplied register
values and install them into GDB's "registers" array.

   If your system uses `/proc' to control processes, and uses ELF
format core files, then you may be able to use the same routines for
reading the registers out of processes and out of core files.

ptrace
======

/proc
=====

win32
=====

shared libraries
================

Native Conditionals
===================

   When GDB is configured and compiled, various macros are defined or
left undefined, to control compilation when the host and target systems
are the same.  These macros should be defined (or left undefined) in
`nm-SYSTEM.h'.

`ATTACH_DETACH'
     If defined, then GDB will include support for the `attach' and
     `detach' commands.

`CHILD_PREPARE_TO_STORE'
     If the machine stores all registers at once in the child process,
     then define this to ensure that all values are correct.  This
     usually entails a read from the child.

     [Note that this is incorrectly defined in `xm-SYSTEM.h' files
     currently.]

`FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS'
     Define this if the native-dependent code will provide its own
     routines `fetch_inferior_registers' and `store_inferior_registers'
     in `HOST-nat.c'.  If this symbol is _not_ defined, and
     `infptrace.c' is included in this configuration, the default
     routines in `infptrace.c' are used for these functions.

`FILES_INFO_HOOK'
     (Only defined for Convex.)

`FP0_REGNUM'
     This macro is normally defined to be the number of the first
     floating point register, if the machine has such registers.  As
     such, it would appear only in target-specific code.  However,
     `/proc' support uses this to decide whether floats are in use on
     this target.

`GET_LONGJMP_TARGET'
     For most machines, this is a target-dependent parameter.  On the
     DECstation and the Iris, this is a native-dependent parameter,
     since `setjmp.h' is needed to define it.

     This macro determines the target PC address that `longjmp' will
     jump to, assuming that we have just stopped at a longjmp
     breakpoint.  It takes a `CORE_ADDR *' as argument, and stores the
     target PC value through this pointer.  It examines the current
     state of the machine as needed.

`I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS'
     An x86-based machine can define this to use the generic x86
     watchpoint support; see *Note I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS:
     Algorithms.

`KERNEL_U_ADDR'
     Define this to the address of the `u' structure (the "user
     struct", also known as the "u-page") in kernel virtual memory.
     GDB needs to know this so that it can subtract this address from
     absolute addresses in the upage, that are obtained via ptrace or
     from core files.  On systems that don't need this value, set it to
     zero.

`KERNEL_U_ADDR_BSD'
     Define this to cause GDB to determine the address of `u' at
     runtime, by using Berkeley-style `nlist' on the kernel's image in
     the root directory.

`KERNEL_U_ADDR_HPUX'
     Define this to cause GDB to determine the address of `u' at
     runtime, by using HP-style `nlist' on the kernel's image in the
     root directory.

`ONE_PROCESS_WRITETEXT'
     Define this to be able to, when a breakpoint insertion fails, warn
     the user that another process may be running with the same
     executable.

`PREPARE_TO_PROCEED (SELECT_IT)'
     This (ugly) macro allows a native configuration to customize the
     way the `proceed' function in `infrun.c' deals with switching
     between threads.

     In a multi-threaded task we may select another thread and then
     continue or step.  But if the old thread was stopped at a
     breakpoint, it will immediately cause another breakpoint stop
     without any execution (i.e. it will report a breakpoint hit
     incorrectly).  So GDB must step over it first.

     If defined, `PREPARE_TO_PROCEED' should check the current thread
     against the thread that reported the most recent event.  If a
     step-over is required, it returns TRUE.  If SELECT_IT is non-zero,
     it should reselect the old thread.

`PROC_NAME_FMT'
     Defines the format for the name of a `/proc' device.  Should be
     defined in `nm.h' _only_ in order to override the default
     definition in `procfs.c'.

`PTRACE_FP_BUG'
     See `mach386-xdep.c'.

`PTRACE_ARG3_TYPE'
     The type of the third argument to the `ptrace' system call, if it
     exists and is different from `int'.

`REGISTER_U_ADDR'
     Defines the offset of the registers in the "u area".

`SHELL_COMMAND_CONCAT'
     If defined, is a string to prefix on the shell command used to
     start the inferior.

`SHELL_FILE'
     If defined, this is the name of the shell to use to run the
     inferior.  Defaults to `"/bin/sh"'.

`SOLIB_ADD (FILENAME, FROM_TTY, TARG, READSYMS)'
     Define this to expand into an expression that will cause the
     symbols in FILENAME to be added to GDB's symbol table. If READSYMS
     is zero symbols are not read but any necessary low level
     processing for FILENAME is still done.

`SOLIB_CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK'
     Define this to expand into any shared-library-relocation code that
     you want to be run just after the child process has been forked.

`START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED'
     When starting an inferior, GDB normally expects to trap twice;
     once when the shell execs, and once when the program itself execs.
     If the actual number of traps is something other than 2, then
     define this macro to expand into the number expected.

`SVR4_SHARED_LIBS'
     Define this to indicate that SVR4-style shared libraries are in
     use.

`USE_PROC_FS'
     This determines whether small routines in `*-tdep.c', which
     translate register values between GDB's internal representation
     and the `/proc' representation, are compiled.

`U_REGS_OFFSET'
     This is the offset of the registers in the upage.  It need only be
     defined if the generic ptrace register access routines in
     `infptrace.c' are being used (that is, `infptrace.c' is configured
     in, and `FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS' is not defined).  If the
     default value from `infptrace.c' is good enough, leave it
     undefined.

     The default value means that u.u_ar0 _points to_ the location of
     the registers.  I'm guessing that `#define U_REGS_OFFSET 0' means
     that `u.u_ar0' _is_ the location of the registers.

`CLEAR_SOLIB'
     See `objfiles.c'.

`DEBUG_PTRACE'
     Define this to debug `ptrace' calls.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Support Libraries,  Next: Coding,  Prev: Native Debugging,  Up: Top

Support Libraries
*****************

BFD
===

   BFD provides support for GDB in several ways:

_identifying executable and core files_
     BFD will identify a variety of file types, including a.out, coff,
     and several variants thereof, as well as several kinds of core
     files.

_access to sections of files_
     BFD parses the file headers to determine the names, virtual
     addresses, sizes, and file locations of all the various named
     sections in files (such as the text section or the data section).
     GDB simply calls BFD to read or write section X at byte offset Y
     for length Z.

_specialized core file support_
     BFD provides routines to determine the failing command name stored
     in a core file, the signal with which the program failed, and
     whether a core file matches (i.e. could be a core dump of) a
     particular executable file.

_locating the symbol information_
     GDB uses an internal interface of BFD to determine where to find
     the symbol information in an executable file or symbol-file.  GDB
     itself handles the reading of symbols, since BFD does not
     "understand" debug symbols, but GDB uses BFD's cached information
     to find the symbols, string table, etc.

opcodes
=======

   The opcodes library provides GDB's disassembler.  (It's a separate
library because it's also used in binutils, for `objdump').

readline
========

mmalloc
=======

libiberty
=========

gnu-regex
=========

   Regex conditionals.

`C_ALLOCA'

`NFAILURES'

`RE_NREGS'

`SIGN_EXTEND_CHAR'

`SWITCH_ENUM_BUG'

`SYNTAX_TABLE'

`Sword'

`sparc'
include
=======


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Coding,  Next: Porting GDB,  Prev: Support Libraries,  Up: Top

Coding
******

   This chapter covers topics that are lower-level than the major
algorithms of GDB.

Cleanups
========

   Cleanups are a structured way to deal with things that need to be
done later.

   When your code does something (e.g., `xmalloc' some memory, or
`open' a file) that needs to be undone later (e.g., `xfree' the memory
or `close' the file), it can make a cleanup.  The cleanup will be done
at some future point: when the command is finished and control returns
to the top level; when an error occurs and the stack is unwound; or
when your code decides it's time to explicitly perform cleanups.
Alternatively you can elect to discard the cleanups you created.

   Syntax:

`struct cleanup *OLD_CHAIN;'
     Declare a variable which will hold a cleanup chain handle.

`OLD_CHAIN = make_cleanup (FUNCTION, ARG);'
     Make a cleanup which will cause FUNCTION to be called with ARG (a
     `char *') later.  The result, OLD_CHAIN, is a handle that can
     later be passed to `do_cleanups' or `discard_cleanups'.  Unless
     you are going to call `do_cleanups' or `discard_cleanups', you can
     ignore the result from `make_cleanup'.

`do_cleanups (OLD_CHAIN);'
     Do all cleanups added to the chain since the corresponding
     `make_cleanup' call was made.

`discard_cleanups (OLD_CHAIN);'
     Same as `do_cleanups' except that it just removes the cleanups from
     the chain and does not call the specified functions.

   Cleanups are implemented as a chain.  The handle returned by
`make_cleanups' includes the cleanup passed to the call and any later
cleanups appended to the chain (but not yet discarded or performed).
E.g.:

     make_cleanup (a, 0);
     {
       struct cleanup *old = make_cleanup (b, 0);
       make_cleanup (c, 0)
       ...
       do_cleanups (old);
     }

will call `c()' and `b()' but will not call `a()'.  The cleanup that
calls `a()' will remain in the cleanup chain, and will be done later
unless otherwise discarded.

   Your function should explicitly do or discard the cleanups it
creates.  Failing to do this leads to non-deterministic behavior since
the caller will arbitrarily do or discard your functions cleanups.
This need leads to two common cleanup styles.

   The first style is try/finally.  Before it exits, your code-block
calls `do_cleanups' with the old cleanup chain and thus ensures that
your code-block's cleanups are always performed.  For instance, the
following code-segment avoids a memory leak problem (even when `error'
is called and a forced stack unwind occurs) by ensuring that the
`xfree' will always be called:

     struct cleanup *old = make_cleanup (null_cleanup, 0);
     data = xmalloc (sizeof blah);
     make_cleanup (xfree, data);
     ... blah blah ...
     do_cleanups (old);

   The second style is try/except.  Before it exits, your code-block
calls `discard_cleanups' with the old cleanup chain and thus ensures
that any created cleanups are not performed.  For instance, the
following code segment, ensures that the file will be closed but only
if there is an error:

     FILE *file = fopen ("afile", "r");
     struct cleanup *old = make_cleanup (close_file, file);
     ... blah blah ...
     discard_cleanups (old);
     return file;

   Some functions, e.g. `fputs_filtered()' or `error()', specify that
they "should not be called when cleanups are not in place".  This means
that any actions you need to reverse in the case of an error or
interruption must be on the cleanup chain before you call these
functions, since they might never return to your code (they `longjmp'
instead).

Per-architecture module data
============================

   The multi-arch framework includes a mechanism for adding module
specific per-architecture data-pointers to the `struct gdbarch'
architecture object.

   A module registers one or more per-architecture data-pointers using
the function `register_gdbarch_data':

 - Function: struct gdbarch_data *register_gdbarch_data
          (gdbarch_data_init_ftype *INIT, gdbarch_data_free_ftype *FREE)
     The INIT function is used to obtain an initial value for a
     per-architecture data-pointer.  The function is called, after the
     architecture has been created, when the data-pointer is still
     uninitialized (`NULL') and its value has been requested via a call
     to `gdbarch_data'.  A data-pointer can also be initialize
     explicitly using `set_gdbarch_data'.

     The FREE function is called when a data-pointer needs to be
     destroyed.  This occurs when either the corresponding `struct
     gdbarch' object is being destroyed or when `set_gdbarch_data' is
     overriding a non-`NULL' data-pointer value.

     The function `register_gdbarch_data' returns a `struct
     gdbarch_data' that is used to identify the data-pointer that was
     added to the module.


   A typical module has `init' and `free' functions of the form:

     static struct gdbarch_data *nozel_handle;
     static void *
     nozel_init (struct gdbarch *gdbarch)
     {
       struct nozel *data = XMALLOC (struct nozel);
       ...
       return data;
     }
     ...
     static void
     nozel_free (struct gdbarch *gdbarch, void *data)
     {
       xfree (data);
     }

   Since uninitialized (`NULL') data-pointers are initialized
on-demand, an `init' function is free to call other modules that use
data-pointers.  Those modules data-pointers will be initialized as
needed.  Care should be taken to ensure that the `init' call graph does
not contain cycles.

   The data-pointer is registered with the call:

     void
     _initialize_nozel (void)
     {
       nozel_handle = register_gdbarch_data (nozel_init, nozel_free);
     ...

   The per-architecture data-pointer is accessed using the function:

 - Function: void *gdbarch_data (struct gdbarch *GDBARCH, struct
          gdbarch_data *DATA_HANDLE)
     Given the architecture ARCH and module data handle DATA_HANDLE
     (returned by `register_gdbarch_data', this function returns the
     current value of the per-architecture data-pointer.

   The non-`NULL' data-pointer returned by `gdbarch_data' should be
saved in a local variable and then used directly:

     int
     nozel_total (struct gdbarch *gdbarch)
     {
       int total;
       struct nozel *data = gdbarch_data (gdbarch, nozel_handle);
       ...
       return total;
     }

   It is also possible to directly initialize the data-pointer using:

 - Function: void set_gdbarch_data (struct gdbarch *GDBARCH, struct
          gdbarch_data *handle, void *POINTER)
     Update the data-pointer corresponding to HANDLE with the value of
     POINTER.  If the previous data-pointer value is non-NULL, then it
     is freed using data-pointers FREE function.

   This function is used by modules that require a mechanism for
explicitly setting the per-architecture data-pointer during
architecture creation:

     /* Called during architecture creation.  */
     extern void
     set_gdbarch_nozel (struct gdbarch *gdbarch,
                        int total)
     {
       struct nozel *data = XMALLOC (struct nozel);
       ...
       set_gdbarch_data (gdbarch, nozel_handle, nozel);
     }

     /* Default, called when nozel not set by set_gdbarch_nozel().  */
     static void *
     nozel_init (struct gdbarch *gdbarch)
     {
       struct nozel *default_nozel = XMALLOC (struc nozel);
       ...
       return default_nozel;
     }

     void
     _initialize_nozel (void)
     {
       nozel_handle = register_gdbarch_data (nozel_init, NULL);
       ...

Note that an `init' function still needs to be registered.  It is used
to initialize the data-pointer when the architecture creation phase
fail to set an initial value.

Wrapping Output Lines
=====================

   Output that goes through `printf_filtered' or `fputs_filtered' or
`fputs_demangled' needs only to have calls to `wrap_here' added in
places that would be good breaking points.  The utility routines will
take care of actually wrapping if the line width is exceeded.

   The argument to `wrap_here' is an indentation string which is
printed _only_ if the line breaks there.  This argument is saved away
and used later.  It must remain valid until the next call to
`wrap_here' or until a newline has been printed through the
`*_filtered' functions.  Don't pass in a local variable and then return!

   It is usually best to call `wrap_here' after printing a comma or
space.  If you call it before printing a space, make sure that your
indentation properly accounts for the leading space that will print if
the line wraps there.

   Any function or set of functions that produce filtered output must
finish by printing a newline, to flush the wrap buffer, before switching
to unfiltered (`printf') output.  Symbol reading routines that print
warnings are a good example.

GDB Coding Standards
====================

   GDB follows the GNU coding standards, as described in
`etc/standards.texi'.  This file is also available for anonymous FTP
from GNU archive sites.  GDB takes a strict interpretation of the
standard; in general, when the GNU standard recommends a practice but
does not require it, GDB requires it.

   GDB follows an additional set of coding standards specific to GDB,
as described in the following sections.

ISO C
-----

   GDB assumes an ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (a.k.a. ISO C90) compliant compiler.

   GDB does not assume an ISO C or POSIX compliant C library.

Memory Management
-----------------

   GDB does not use the functions `malloc', `realloc', `calloc', `free'
and `asprintf'.

   GDB uses the functions `xmalloc', `xrealloc' and `xcalloc' when
allocating memory.  Unlike `malloc' et.al.  these functions do not
return when the memory pool is empty.  Instead, they unwind the stack
using cleanups.  These functions return `NULL' when requested to
allocate a chunk of memory of size zero.

   _Pragmatics: By using these functions, the need to check every
memory allocation is removed.  These functions provide portable
behavior._

   GDB does not use the function `free'.

   GDB uses the function `xfree' to return memory to the memory pool.
Consistent with ISO-C, this function ignores a request to free a `NULL'
pointer.

   _Pragmatics: On some systems `free' fails when passed a `NULL'
pointer._

   GDB can use the non-portable function `alloca' for the allocation of
small temporary values (such as strings).

   _Pragmatics: This function is very non-portable.  Some systems
restrict the memory being allocated to no more than a few kilobytes._

   GDB uses the string function `xstrdup' and the print function
`xasprintf'.

   _Pragmatics: `asprintf' and `strdup' can fail.  Print functions such
as `sprintf' are very prone to buffer overflow errors._

Compiler Warnings
-----------------

   With few exceptions, developers should include the configuration
option `--enable-gdb-build-warnings=,-Werror' when building GDB.  The
exceptions are listed in the file `gdb/MAINTAINERS'.

   This option causes GDB (when built using GCC) to be compiled with a
carefully selected list of compiler warning flags.  Any warnings from
those flags being treated as errors.

   The current list of warning flags includes:

`-Wimplicit'
     Since GDB coding standard requires all functions to be declared
     using a prototype, the flag has the side effect of ensuring that
     prototyped functions are always visible with out resorting to
     `-Wstrict-prototypes'.

`-Wreturn-type'
     Such code often appears to work except on instruction set
     architectures that use register windows.

`-Wcomment'

`-Wtrigraphs'

`-Wformat'
     Since GDB uses the `format printf' attribute on all `printf' like
     functions this checks not just `printf' calls but also calls to
     functions such as `fprintf_unfiltered'.

`-Wparentheses'
     This warning includes uses of the assignment operator within an
     `if' statement.

`-Wpointer-arith'

`-Wuninitialized'
   _Pragmatics: Due to the way that GDB is implemented most functions
have unused parameters.  Consequently the warning `-Wunused-parameter'
is precluded from the list.  The macro `ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED' is not used
as it leads to false negatives -- it is not an error to have
`ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED' on a parameter that is being used.  The options
`-Wall' and `-Wunused' are also precluded because they both include
`-Wunused-parameter'._

   _Pragmatics: GDB has not simply accepted the warnings enabled by
`-Wall -Werror -W...'.  Instead it is selecting warnings when and where
their benefits can be demonstrated._

Formatting
----------

   The standard GNU recommendations for formatting must be followed
strictly.

   A function declaration should not have its name in column zero.  A
function definition should have its name in column zero.

     /* Declaration */
     static void foo (void);
     /* Definition */
     void
     foo (void)
     {
     }

   _Pragmatics: This simplifies scripting.  Function definitions can be
found using `^function-name'._

   There must be a space between a function or macro name and the
opening parenthesis of its argument list (except for macro definitions,
as required by C).  There must not be a space after an open
paren/bracket or before a close paren/bracket.

   While additional whitespace is generally helpful for reading, do not
use more than one blank line to separate blocks, and avoid adding
whitespace after the end of a program line (as of 1/99, some 600 lines
had whitespace after the semicolon).  Excess whitespace causes
difficulties for `diff' and `patch' utilities.

   Pointers are declared using the traditional K&R C style:

     void *foo;

and not:

     void * foo;
     void* foo;

Comments
--------

   The standard GNU requirements on comments must be followed strictly.

   Block comments must appear in the following form, with no `/*'- or
`*/'-only lines, and no leading `*':

     /* Wait for control to return from inferior to debugger.  If inferior
        gets a signal, we may decide to start it up again instead of
        returning.  That is why there is a loop in this function.  When
        this function actually returns it means the inferior should be left
        stopped and GDB should read more commands.  */

   (Note that this format is encouraged by Emacs; tabbing for a
multi-line comment works correctly, and `M-q' fills the block
consistently.)

   Put a blank line between the block comments preceding function or
variable definitions, and the definition itself.

   In general, put function-body comments on lines by themselves, rather
than trying to fit them into the 20 characters left at the end of a
line, since either the comment or the code will inevitably get longer
than will fit, and then somebody will have to move it anyhow.

C Usage
-------

   Code must not depend on the sizes of C data types, the format of the
host's floating point numbers, the alignment of anything, or the order
of evaluation of expressions.

   Use functions freely.  There are only a handful of compute-bound
areas in GDB that might be affected by the overhead of a function call,
mainly in symbol reading.  Most of GDB's performance is limited by the
target interface (whether serial line or system call).

   However, use functions with moderation.  A thousand one-line
functions are just as hard to understand as a single thousand-line
function.

   _Macros are bad, M'kay._ (But if you have to use a macro, make sure
that the macro arguments are protected with parentheses.)

   Declarations like `struct foo *' should be used in preference to
declarations like `typedef struct foo { ... } *foo_ptr'.

Function Prototypes
-------------------

   Prototypes must be used when both _declaring_ and _defining_ a
function.  Prototypes for GDB functions must include both the argument
type and name, with the name matching that used in the actual function
definition.

   All external functions should have a declaration in a header file
that callers include, except for `_initialize_*' functions, which must
be external so that `init.c' construction works, but shouldn't be
visible to random source files.

   Where a source file needs a forward declaration of a static function,
that declaration must appear in a block near the top of the source file.

Internal Error Recovery
-----------------------

   During its execution, GDB can encounter two types of errors.  User
errors and internal errors.  User errors include not only a user
entering an incorrect command but also problems arising from corrupt
object files and system errors when interacting with the target.
Internal errors include situations where GDB has detected, at run time,
a corrupt or erroneous situation.

   When reporting an internal error, GDB uses `internal_error' and
`gdb_assert'.

   GDB must not call `abort' or `assert'.

   _Pragmatics: There is no `internal_warning' function.  Either the
code detected a user error, recovered from it and issued a `warning' or
the code failed to correctly recover from the user error and issued an
`internal_error'._

File Names
----------

   Any file used when building the core of GDB must be in lower case.
Any file used when building the core of GDB must be 8.3 unique.  These
requirements apply to both source and generated files.

   _Pragmatics: The core of GDB must be buildable on many platforms
including DJGPP and MacOS/HFS.  Every time an unfriendly file is
introduced to the build process both `Makefile.in' and `configure.in'
need to be modified accordingly.  Compare the convoluted conversion
process needed to transform `COPYING' into `copying.c' with the
conversion needed to transform `version.in' into `version.c'._

   Any file non 8.3 compliant file (that is not used when building the
core of GDB) must be added to `gdb/config/djgpp/fnchange.lst'.

   _Pragmatics: This is clearly a compromise._

   When GDB has a local version of a system header file (ex `string.h')
the file name based on the POSIX header prefixed with `gdb_'
(`gdb_string.h').

   For other files `-' is used as the separator.

Include Files
-------------

   A `.c' file should include `defs.h' first.

   A `.c' file should directly include the `.h' file of every
declaration and/or definition it directly refers to.  It cannot rely on
indirect inclusion.

   A `.h' file should directly include the `.h' file of every
declaration and/or definition it directly refers to.  It cannot rely on
indirect inclusion.  Exception: The file `defs.h' does not need to be
directly included.

   An external declaration should only appear in one include file.

   An external declaration should never appear in a `.c' file.
Exception: a declaration for the `_initialize' function that pacifies
`-Wmissing-declaration'.

   A `typedef' definition should only appear in one include file.

   An opaque `struct' declaration can appear in multiple `.h' files.
Where possible, a `.h' file should use an opaque `struct' declaration
instead of an include.

   All `.h' files should be wrapped in:

     #ifndef INCLUDE_FILE_NAME_H
     #define INCLUDE_FILE_NAME_H
     header body
     #endif

Clean Design and Portable Implementation
----------------------------------------

   In addition to getting the syntax right, there's the little question
of semantics.  Some things are done in certain ways in GDB because long
experience has shown that the more obvious ways caused various kinds of
trouble.

   You can't assume the byte order of anything that comes from a target
(including VALUEs, object files, and instructions).  Such things must
be byte-swapped using `SWAP_TARGET_AND_HOST' in GDB, or one of the swap
routines defined in `bfd.h', such as `bfd_get_32'.

   You can't assume that you know what interface is being used to talk
to the target system.  All references to the target must go through the
current `target_ops' vector.

   You can't assume that the host and target machines are the same
machine (except in the "native" support modules).  In particular, you
can't assume that the target machine's header files will be available
on the host machine.  Target code must bring along its own header files
- written from scratch or explicitly donated by their owner, to avoid
copyright problems.

   Insertion of new `#ifdef''s will be frowned upon.  It's much better
to write the code portably than to conditionalize it for various
systems.

   New `#ifdef''s which test for specific compilers or manufacturers or
operating systems are unacceptable.  All `#ifdef''s should test for
features.  The information about which configurations contain which
features should be segregated into the configuration files.  Experience
has proven far too often that a feature unique to one particular system
often creeps into other systems; and that a conditional based on some
predefined macro for your current system will become worthless over
time, as new versions of your system come out that behave differently
with regard to this feature.

   Adding code that handles specific architectures, operating systems,
target interfaces, or hosts, is not acceptable in generic code.

   One particularly notorious area where system dependencies tend to
creep in is handling of file names.  The mainline GDB code assumes
Posix semantics of file names: absolute file names begin with a forward
slash `/', slashes are used to separate leading directories,
case-sensitive file names.  These assumptions are not necessarily true
on non-Posix systems such as MS-Windows.  To avoid system-dependent
code where you need to take apart or construct a file name, use the
following portable macros:

`HAVE_DOS_BASED_FILE_SYSTEM'
     This preprocessing symbol is defined to a non-zero value on hosts
     whose filesystems belong to the MS-DOS/MS-Windows family.  Use this
     symbol to write conditional code which should only be compiled for
     such hosts.

`IS_DIR_SEPARATOR (C)'
     Evaluates to a non-zero value if C is a directory separator
     character.  On Unix and GNU/Linux systems, only a slash `/' is
     such a character, but on Windows, both `/' and `\' will pass.

`IS_ABSOLUTE_PATH (FILE)'
     Evaluates to a non-zero value if FILE is an absolute file name.
     For Unix and GNU/Linux hosts, a name which begins with a slash `/'
     is absolute.  On DOS and Windows, `d:/foo' and `x:\bar' are also
     absolute file names.

`FILENAME_CMP (F1, F2)'
     Calls a function which compares file names F1 and F2 as
     appropriate for the underlying host filesystem.  For Posix systems,
     this simply calls `strcmp'; on case-insensitive filesystems it
     will call `strcasecmp' instead.

`DIRNAME_SEPARATOR'
     Evaluates to a character which separates directories in
     `PATH'-style lists, typically held in environment variables.  This
     character is `:' on Unix, `;' on DOS and Windows.

`SLASH_STRING'
     This evaluates to a constant string you should use to produce an
     absolute filename from leading directories and the file's basename.
     `SLASH_STRING' is `"/"' on most systems, but might be `"\\"' for
     some Windows-based ports.

   In addition to using these macros, be sure to use portable library
functions whenever possible.  For example, to extract a directory or a
basename part from a file name, use the `dirname' and `basename'
library functions (available in `libiberty' for platforms which don't
provide them), instead of searching for a slash with `strrchr'.

   Another way to generalize GDB along a particular interface is with an
attribute struct.  For example, GDB has been generalized to handle
multiple kinds of remote interfaces--not by `#ifdef's everywhere, but
by defining the `target_ops' structure and having a current target (as
well as a stack of targets below it, for memory references).  Whenever
something needs to be done that depends on which remote interface we are
using, a flag in the current target_ops structure is tested (e.g.,
`target_has_stack'), or a function is called through a pointer in the
current target_ops structure.  In this way, when a new remote interface
is added, only one module needs to be touched--the one that actually
implements the new remote interface.  Other examples of
attribute-structs are BFD access to multiple kinds of object file
formats, or GDB's access to multiple source languages.

   Please avoid duplicating code.  For example, in GDB 3.x all the code
interfacing between `ptrace' and the rest of GDB was duplicated in
`*-dep.c', and so changing something was very painful.  In GDB 4.x,
these have all been consolidated into `infptrace.c'.  `infptrace.c' can
deal with variations between systems the same way any system-independent
file would (hooks, `#if defined', etc.), and machines which are
radically different don't need to use `infptrace.c' at all.

   All debugging code must be controllable using the `set debug MODULE'
command.  Do not use `printf' to print trace messages.  Use
`fprintf_unfiltered(gdb_stdlog, ...'.  Do not use `#ifdef DEBUG'.


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

Porting GDB
***********

   Most of the work in making GDB compile on a new machine is in
specifying the configuration of the machine.  This is done in a
dizzying variety of header files and configuration scripts, which we
hope to make more sensible soon.  Let's say your new host is called an
XYZ (e.g.,  `sun4'), and its full three-part configuration name is
`ARCH-XVEND-XOS' (e.g., `sparc-sun-sunos4').  In particular:

   * In the top level directory, edit `config.sub' and add ARCH, XVEND,
     and XOS to the lists of supported architectures, vendors, and
     operating systems near the bottom of the file.  Also, add XYZ as
     an alias that maps to `ARCH-XVEND-XOS'.  You can test your changes
     by running

          ./config.sub XYZ

     and

          ./config.sub `ARCH-XVEND-XOS'

     which should both respond with `ARCH-XVEND-XOS' and no error
     messages.

     You need to port BFD, if that hasn't been done already.  Porting
     BFD is beyond the scope of this manual.

   * To configure GDB itself, edit `gdb/configure.host' to recognize
     your system and set `gdb_host' to XYZ, and (unless your desired
     target is already available) also edit `gdb/configure.tgt',
     setting `gdb_target' to something appropriate (for instance, XYZ).

     _Maintainer's note: Work in progress.  The file
     `gdb/configure.host' originally needed to be modified when either a
     new native target or a new host machine was being added to GDB.
     Recent changes have removed this requirement.  The file now only
     needs to be modified when adding a new native configuration.  This
     will likely changed again in the future._

   * Finally, you'll need to specify and define GDB's host-, native-,
     and target-dependent `.h' and `.c' files used for your
     configuration.

Configuring GDB for Release
===========================

   From the top level directory (containing `gdb', `bfd', `libiberty',
and so on):

     make -f Makefile.in gdb.tar.gz

This will properly configure, clean, rebuild any files that are
distributed pre-built (e.g. `c-exp.tab.c' or `refcard.ps'), and will
then make a tarfile.  (If the top level directory has already been
configured, you can just do `make gdb.tar.gz' instead.)

   This procedure requires:

   * symbolic links;

   * `makeinfo' (texinfo2 level);

   * TeX;

   * `dvips';

   * `yacc' or `bison'.

... and the usual slew of utilities (`sed', `tar', etc.).

TEMPORARY RELEASE PROCEDURE FOR DOCUMENTATION
---------------------------------------------

   `gdb.texinfo' is currently marked up using the texinfo-2 macros,
which are not yet a default for anything (but we have to start using
them sometime).

   For making paper, the only thing this implies is the right
generation of `texinfo.tex' needs to be included in the distribution.

   For making info files, however, rather than duplicating the texinfo2
distribution, generate `gdb-all.texinfo' locally, and include the files
`gdb.info*' in the distribution.  Note the plural; `makeinfo' will
split the document into one overall file and five or so included files.