This is Info file gdbint.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from
the input file ./gdbint.texinfo.

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 1990-1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  Contributed by
Cygnus Solutions.  Written by John Gilmore.  Second Edition by Stan
Shebs.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy or distribute modified versions of this
manual under the terms of the GPL (for which purpose this text may be
regarded as a program in the language TeX).


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Requirements,  Up: (dir)

Scope of this Document
**********************

   This document documents the internals of the GNU debugger, GDB.  It
includes description of GDB's key algorithms and operations, as well as
the mechanisms that adapt GDB to specific hosts and targets.

* Menu:

* Requirements::
* Overall Structure::
* Algorithms::
* User Interface::
* Symbol Handling::
* Language Support::
* Host Definition::
* Target Architecture Definition::
* Target Vector Definition::
* Native Debugging::
* Support Libraries::
* Coding::
* Porting GDB::
* Hints::


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Requirements,  Next: Overall Structure,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

Requirements
************

   Before diving into the internals, you should understand the formal
requirements and other expectations for GDB.  Although some of these may
seem obvious, there have been proposals for GDB that have run counter to
these requirements.

   First of all, GDB is a debugger.  It's not designed to be a front
panel for embedded systems.  It's not a text editor.  It's not a shell.
It's not a programming environment.

   GDB is an interactive tool.  Although a batch mode is available,
GDB's primary role is to interact with a human programmer.

   GDB should be responsive to the user.  A programmer hot on the trail
of a nasty bug, and operating under a looming deadline, is going to be
very impatient of everything, including the response time to debugger
commands.

   GDB should be relatively permissive, such as for expressions.  While
the compiler should be picky (or have the option to be made picky),
since source code lives for a long time usually, the programmer doing
debugging shouldn't be spending time figuring out to mollify the
debugger.

   GDB will be called upon to deal with really large programs.
Executable sizes of 50 to 100 megabytes occur regularly, and we've
heard reports of programs approaching 1 gigabyte in size.

   GDB should be able to run everywhere.  No other debugger is available
for even half as many configurations as GDB supports.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Overall Structure,  Next: Algorithms,  Prev: Requirements,  Up: Top

Overall Structure
*****************

   GDB consists of three major subsystems: user interface, symbol
handling (the "symbol side"), and target system handling (the "target
side").

   Ther user interface consists of several actual interfaces, plus
supporting code.

   The symbol side consists of object file readers, debugging info
interpreters, symbol table management, source language expression
parsing, type and value printing.

   The target side consists of execution control, stack frame analysis,
and physical target manipulation.

   The target side/symbol side division is not formal, and there are a
number of exceptions.  For instance, core file support involves symbolic
elements (the basic core file reader is in BFD) and target elements (it
supplies the contents of memory and the values of registers).  Instead,
this division is useful for understanding how the minor subsystems
should fit together.

The Symbol Side
===============

   The symbolic side of GDB can be thought of as "everything you can do
in GDB without having a live program running".  For instance, you can
look at the types of variables, and evaluate many kinds of expressions.

The Target Side
===============

   The target side of GDB is the "bits and bytes manipulator".  Although
it may make reference to symbolic info here and there, most of the
target side will run with only a stripped executable available - or
even no executable at all, in remote debugging cases.

   Operations such as disassembly, stack frame crawls, and register
display, are able to work with no symbolic info at all.  In some cases,
such as disassembly, GDB will use symbolic info to present addresses
relative to symbols rather than as raw numbers, but it will work either
way.

Configurations
==============

   "Host" refers to attributes of the system where GDB runs.  "Target"
refers to the system where the program being debugged executes.  In
most cases they are the same machine, in which case a third type of
"Native" attributes come into play.

   Defines and include files needed to build on the host are host
support.  Examples are tty support, system defined types, host byte
order, host float format.

   Defines and information needed to handle the target format are target
dependent.  Examples are the stack frame format, instruction set,
breakpoint instruction, registers, and how to set up and tear down the
stack to call a function.

   Information that is only needed when the host and target are the
same, is native dependent.  One example is Unix child process support;
if the host and target are not the same, doing a fork to start the
target process is a bad idea.  The various macros needed for finding the
registers in the `upage', running `ptrace', and such are all in the
native-dependent files.

   Another example of native-dependent code is support for features that
are really part of the target environment, but which require `#include'
files that are only available on the host system.  Core file handling
and `setjmp' handling are two common cases.

   When you want to make GDB work "native" on a particular machine, you
have to include all three kinds of information.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Algorithms,  Next: User Interface,  Prev: Overall Structure,  Up: Top

Algorithms
**********

   GDB uses a number of debugging-specific algorithms.  They are often
not very complicated, but get lost in the thicket of special cases and
real-world issues.  This chapter describes the basic algorithms and
mentions some of the specific target definitions that they use.

Frames
======

   A frame is a construct that GDB uses to keep track of calling and
called functions.

   `FRAME_FP' in the machine description has no meaning to the
machine-independent part of GDB, except that it is used when setting up
a new frame from scratch, as follows:

           create_new_frame (read_register (FP_REGNUM), read_pc ()));

   Other than that, all the meaning imparted to `FP_REGNUM' is imparted
by the machine-dependent code.  So, `FP_REGNUM' can have any value that
is convenient for the code that creates new frames.
(`create_new_frame' calls `INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO' if it is defined;
that is where you should use the `FP_REGNUM' value, if your frames are
nonstandard.)

   Given a GDB frame, define `FRAME_CHAIN' to determine the address of
the calling function's frame.  This will be used to create a new GDB
frame struct, and then `INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO' and `INIT_FRAME_PC' will
be called for the new frame.

Breakpoint Handling
===================

   In general, a breakpoint is a user-designated location in the program
where the user wants to regain control if program execution ever reaches
that location.

   There are two main ways to implement breakpoints; either as
"hardware" breakpoints or as "software" breakpoints.

   Hardware breakpoints are sometimes available as a builtin debugging
features with some chips.  Typically these work by having dedicated
register into which the breakpoint address may be stored.  If the PC
ever matches a value in a breakpoint registers, the CPU raises an
exception and reports it to GDB.  Another possibility is when an
emulator is in use; many emulators include circuitry that watches the
address lines coming out from the processor, and force it to stop if the
address matches a breakpoint's address.  A third possibility is that the
target already has the ability to do breakpoints somehow; for instance,
a ROM monitor may do its own software breakpoints.  So although these
are not literally "hardware breakpoints", from GDB's point of view they
work the same; GDB need not do nothing more than set the breakpoint and
wait for something to happen.

   Since they depend on hardware resources, hardware breakpoints may be
limited in number; when the user asks for more, GDB will start trying to
set software breakpoints.

   Software breakpoints require GDB to do somewhat more work.  The basic
theory is that GDB will replace a program instruction a trap, illegal
divide, or some other instruction that will cause an exception, and then
when it's encountered, GDB will take the exception and stop the program.
When the user says to continue, GDB will restore the original
instruction, single-step, re-insert the trap, and continue on.

   Since it literally overwrites the program being tested, the program
area must be writeable, so this technique won't work on programs in
ROM.  It can also distort the behavior of programs that examine
themselves, although the situation would be highly unusual.

   Also, the software breakpoint instruction should be the smallest
size of instruction, so it doesn't overwrite an instruction that might
be a jump target, and cause disaster when the program jumps into the
middle of the breakpoint instruction.  (Strictly speaking, the
breakpoint must be no larger than the smallest interval between
instructions that may be jump targets; perhaps there is an architecture
where only even-numbered instructions may jumped to.)  Note that it's
possible for an instruction set not to have any instructions usable for
a software breakpoint, although in practice only the ARC has failed to
define such an instruction.

   The basic definition of the software breakpoint is the macro
`BREAKPOINT'.

   Basic breakpoint object handling is in `breakpoint.c'.  However,
much of the interesting breakpoint action is in `infrun.c'.

Single Stepping
===============

Signal Handling
===============

Thread Handling
===============

Inferior Function Calls
=======================

Longjmp Support
===============

   GDB has support for figuring out that the target is doing a
`longjmp' and for stopping at the target of the jump, if we are
stepping.  This is done with a few specialized internal breakpoints,
which are visible in the `maint info breakpoint' command.

   To make this work, you need to define a macro called
`GET_LONGJMP_TARGET', which will examine the `jmp_buf' structure and
extract the longjmp target address.  Since `jmp_buf' is target
specific, you will need to define it in the appropriate `tm-XYZ.h'
file.  Look in `tm-sun4os4.h' and `sparc-tdep.c' for examples of how to
do this.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: User Interface,  Next: Symbol Handling,  Prev: Algorithms,  Up: Top

User Interface
**************

   GDB has several user interfaces.  Although the command-line interface
is the most common and most familiar, there are others.

Command Interpreter
===================

   The command interpreter in GDB is fairly simple.  It is designed to
allow for the set of commands to be augmented dynamically, and also has
a recursive subcommand capability, where the first argument to a
command may itself direct a lookup on a different command list.

   For instance, the `set' command just starts a lookup on the
`setlist' command list, while `set thread' recurses to the
`set_thread_cmd_list'.

   To add commands in general, use `add_cmd'.  `add_com' adds to the
main command list, and should be used for those commands.  The usual
place to add commands is in the `_initialize_XYZ' routines at the ends
of most source files.

Console Printing
================

TUI
===

libgdb
======

   `libgdb' was an abortive project of years ago.  The theory was to
provide an API to GDB's functionality.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Symbol Handling,  Next: Language Support,  Prev: User Interface,  Up: Top

Symbol Handling
***************

   Symbols are a key part of GDB's operation.  Symbols include
variables, functions, and types.

Symbol Reading
==============

   GDB reads symbols from "symbol files".  The usual symbol file is the
file containing the program which GDB is debugging.  GDB can be directed
to use a different file for symbols (with the `symbol-file' command),
and it can also read more symbols via the "add-file" and "load"
commands, or while reading symbols from shared libraries.

   Symbol files are initially opened by code in `symfile.c' using the
BFD library.  BFD identifies the type of the file by examining its
header.  `symfile_init' then uses this identification to locate a set
of symbol-reading functions.

   Symbol reading modules identify themselves to GDB by calling
`add_symtab_fns' during their module initialization.  The argument to
`add_symtab_fns' is a `struct sym_fns' which contains the name (or name
prefix) of the symbol format, the length of the prefix, and pointers to
four functions.  These functions are called at various times to process
symbol-files whose identification matches the specified prefix.

   The functions supplied by each module are:

`XYZ_symfile_init(struct sym_fns *sf)'
     Called from `symbol_file_add' when we are about to read a new
     symbol file.  This function should clean up any internal state
     (possibly resulting from half-read previous files, for example)
     and prepare to read a new symbol file. Note that the symbol file
     which we are reading might be a new "main" symbol file, or might
     be a secondary symbol file whose symbols are being added to the
     existing symbol table.

     The argument to `XYZ_symfile_init' is a newly allocated `struct
     sym_fns' whose `bfd' field contains the BFD for the new symbol
     file being read.  Its `private' field has been zeroed, and can be
     modified as desired.  Typically, a struct of private information
     will be `malloc''d, and a pointer to it will be placed in the
     `private' field.

     There is no result from `XYZ_symfile_init', but it can call
     `error' if it detects an unavoidable problem.

`XYZ_new_init()'
     Called from `symbol_file_add' when discarding existing symbols.
     This function need only handle the symbol-reading module's internal
     state; the symbol table data structures visible to the rest of GDB
     will be discarded by `symbol_file_add'.  It has no arguments and no
     result.  It may be called after `XYZ_symfile_init', if a new
     symbol table is being read, or may be called alone if all symbols
     are simply being discarded.

`XYZ_symfile_read(struct sym_fns *sf, CORE_ADDR addr, int mainline)'
     Called from `symbol_file_add' to actually read the symbols from a
     symbol-file into a set of psymtabs or symtabs.

     `sf' points to the struct sym_fns originally passed to
     `XYZ_sym_init' for possible initialization.  `addr' is the offset
     between the file's specified start address and its true address in
     memory.  `mainline' is 1 if this is the main symbol table being
     read, and 0 if a secondary symbol file (e.g. shared library or
     dynamically loaded file) is being read.

   In addition, if a symbol-reading module creates psymtabs when
XYZ_symfile_read is called, these psymtabs will contain a pointer to a
function `XYZ_psymtab_to_symtab', which can be called from any point in
the GDB symbol-handling code.

`XYZ_psymtab_to_symtab (struct partial_symtab *pst)'
     Called from `psymtab_to_symtab' (or the PSYMTAB_TO_SYMTAB macro) if
     the psymtab has not already been read in and had its `pst->symtab'
     pointer set.  The argument is the psymtab to be fleshed-out into a
     symtab.  Upon return, pst->readin should have been set to 1, and
     pst->symtab should contain a pointer to the new corresponding
     symtab, or zero if there were no symbols in that part of the
     symbol file.

Partial Symbol Tables
=====================

   GDB has three types of symbol tables.

   * full symbol tables (symtabs).  These contain the main information
     about symbols and addresses.

   * partial symbol tables (psymtabs).  These contain enough
     information to know when to read the corresponding part of the full
     symbol table.

   * minimal symbol tables (msymtabs).  These contain information
     gleaned from non-debugging symbols.

   This section describes partial symbol tables.

   A psymtab is constructed by doing a very quick pass over an
executable file's debugging information.  Small amounts of information
are extracted - enough to identify which parts of the symbol table will
need to be re-read and fully digested later, when the user needs the
information.  The speed of this pass causes GDB to start up very
quickly.  Later, as the detailed rereading occurs, it occurs in small
pieces, at various times, and the delay therefrom is mostly invisible to
the user.

   The symbols that show up in a file's psymtab should be, roughly,
those visible to the debugger's user when the program is not running
code from that file.  These include external symbols and types, static
symbols and types, and enum values declared at file scope.

   The psymtab also contains the range of instruction addresses that the
full symbol table would represent.

   The idea is that there are only two ways for the user (or much of the
code in the debugger) to reference a symbol:

   * by its address (e.g. execution stops at some address which is
     inside a function in this file).  The address will be noticed to
     be in the range of this psymtab, and the full symtab will be read
     in.  `find_pc_function', `find_pc_line', and other `find_pc_...'
     functions handle this.

   * by its name (e.g. the user asks to print a variable, or set a
     breakpoint on a function).  Global names and file-scope names will
     be found in the psymtab, which will cause the symtab to be pulled
     in.  Local names will have to be qualified by a global name, or a
     file-scope name, in which case we will have already read in the
     symtab as we evaluated the qualifier.  Or, a local symbol can be
     referenced when we are "in" a local scope, in which case the first
     case applies.  `lookup_symbol' does most of the work here.

   The only reason that psymtabs exist is to cause a symtab to be read
in at the right moment.  Any symbol that can be elided from a psymtab,
while still causing that to happen, should not appear in it.  Since
psymtabs don't have the idea of scope, you can't put local symbols in
them anyway.  Psymtabs don't have the idea of the type of a symbol,
either, so types need not appear, unless they will be referenced by
name.

   It is a bug for GDB to behave one way when only a psymtab has been
read, and another way if the corresponding symtab has been read in.
Such bugs are typically caused by a psymtab that does not contain all
the visible symbols, or which has the wrong instruction address ranges.

   The psymtab for a particular section of a symbol-file (objfile)
could be thrown away after the symtab has been read in.  The symtab
should always be searched before the psymtab, so the psymtab will never
be used (in a bug-free environment).  Currently, psymtabs are allocated
on an obstack, and all the psymbols themselves are allocated in a pair
of large arrays on an obstack, so there is little to be gained by
trying to free them unless you want to do a lot more work.

Types
=====

   Fundamental Types (e.g., FT_VOID, FT_BOOLEAN).

   These are the fundamental types that GDB uses internally.
Fundamental types from the various debugging formats (stabs, ELF, etc)
are mapped into one of these.  They are basically a union of all
fundamental types that gdb knows about for all the languages that GDB
knows about.

   Type Codes (e.g., TYPE_CODE_PTR, TYPE_CODE_ARRAY).

   Each time GDB builds an internal type, it marks it with one of these
types.  The type may be a fundamental type, such as TYPE_CODE_INT, or a
derived type, such as TYPE_CODE_PTR which is a pointer to another type.
Typically, several FT_* types map to one TYPE_CODE_* type, and are
distinguished by other members of the type struct, such as whether the
type is signed or unsigned, and how many bits it uses.

   Builtin Types (e.g., builtin_type_void, builtin_type_char).

   These are instances of type structs that roughly correspond to
fundamental types and are created as global types for GDB to use for
various ugly historical reasons.  We eventually want to eliminate these.
Note for example that builtin_type_int initialized in gdbtypes.c is
basically the same as a TYPE_CODE_INT type that is initialized in
c-lang.c for an FT_INTEGER fundamental type.  The difference is that the
builtin_type is not associated with any particular objfile, and only one
instance exists, while c-lang.c builds as many TYPE_CODE_INT types as
needed, with each one associated with some particular objfile.

Object File Formats
===================

a.out
-----

   The `a.out' format is the original file format for Unix.  It
consists of three sections: text, data, and bss, which are for program
code, initialized data, and uninitialized data, respectively.

   The `a.out' format is so simple that it doesn't have any reserved
place for debugging information.  (Hey, the original Unix hackers used
`adb', which is a machine-language debugger.)  The only debugging
format for `a.out' is stabs, which is encoded as a set of normal
symbols with distinctive attributes.

   The basic `a.out' reader is in `dbxread.c'.

COFF
----

   The COFF format was introduced with System V Release 3 (SVR3) Unix.
COFF files may have multiple sections, each prefixed by a header.  The
number of sections is limited.

   The COFF specification includes support for debugging.  Although this
was a step forward, the debugging information was woefully limited.  For
instance, it was not possible to represent code that came from an
included file.

   The COFF reader is in `coffread.c'.

ECOFF
-----

   ECOFF is an extended COFF originally introduced for Mips and Alpha
workstations.

   The basic ECOFF reader is in `mipsread.c'.

XCOFF
-----

   The IBM RS/6000 running AIX uses an object file format called XCOFF.
The COFF sections, symbols, and line numbers are used, but debugging
symbols are dbx-style stabs whose strings are located in the `.debug'
section (rather than the string table).  For more information, see
*Note Top: (stabs)Top.

   The shared library scheme has a clean interface for figuring out what
shared libraries are in use, but the catch is that everything which
refers to addresses (symbol tables and breakpoints at least) needs to be
relocated for both shared libraries and the main executable.  At least
using the standard mechanism this can only be done once the program has
been run (or the core file has been read).

PE
--

   Windows 95 and NT use the PE (Portable Executable) format for their
executables.  PE is basically COFF with additional headers.

   While BFD includes special PE support, GDB needs only the basic COFF
reader.

ELF
---

   The ELF format came with System V Release 4 (SVR4) Unix.  ELF is
similar to COFF in being organized into a number of sections, but it
removes many of COFF's limitations.

   The basic ELF reader is in `elfread.c'.

SOM
---

   SOM is HP's object file and debug format (not to be confused with
IBM's SOM, which is a cross-language ABI).

   The SOM reader is in `hpread.c'.

Other File Formats
------------------

   Other file formats that have been supported by GDB include Netware
Loadable Modules (`nlmread.c'.

Debugging File Formats
======================

   This section describes characteristics of debugging information that
are independent of the object file format.

stabs
-----

   `stabs' started out as special symbols within the `a.out' format.
Since then, it has been encapsulated into other file formats, such as
COFF and ELF.

   While `dbxread.c' does some of the basic stab processing, including
for encapsulated versions, `stabsread.c' does the real work.

COFF
----

   The basic COFF definition includes debugging information.  The level
of support is minimal and non-extensible, and is not often used.

Mips debug (Third Eye)
----------------------

   ECOFF includes a definition of a special debug format.

   The file `mdebugread.c' implements reading for this format.

DWARF 1
-------

   DWARF 1 is a debugging format that was originally designed to be
used with ELF in SVR4 systems.

   The DWARF 1 reader is in `dwarfread.c'.

DWARF 2
-------

   DWARF 2 is an improved but incompatible version of DWARF 1.

   The DWARF 2 reader is in `dwarf2read.c'.

SOM
---

   Like COFF, the SOM definition includes debugging information.

Adding a New Symbol Reader to GDB
=================================

   If you are using an existing object file format (a.out, COFF, ELF,
etc), there is probably little to be done.

   If you need to add a new object file format, you must first add it to
BFD.  This is beyond the scope of this document.

   You must then arrange for the BFD code to provide access to the
debugging symbols.  Generally GDB will have to call swapping routines
from BFD and a few other BFD internal routines to locate the debugging
information.  As much as possible, GDB should not depend on the BFD
internal data structures.

   For some targets (e.g., COFF), there is a special transfer vector
used to call swapping routines, since the external data structures on
various platforms have different sizes and layouts.  Specialized
routines that will only ever be implemented by one object file format
may be called directly.  This interface should be described in a file
`bfd/libxyz.h', which is included by GDB.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Language Support,  Next: Host Definition,  Prev: Symbol Handling,  Up: Top

Language Support
****************

   GDB's language support is mainly driven by the symbol reader,
although it is possible for the user to set the source language
manually.

   GDB chooses the source language by looking at the extension of the
file recorded in the debug info; `.c' means C, `.f' means Fortran, etc.
It may also use a special-purpose language identifier if the debug
format supports it, such as DWARF.

Adding a Source Language to GDB
===============================

   To add other languages to GDB's expression parser, follow the
following steps:

*Create the expression parser.*
     This should reside in a file `LANG-exp.y'.  Routines for building
     parsed expressions into a `union exp_element' list are in
     `parse.c'.

     Since we can't depend upon everyone having Bison, and YACC produces
     parsers that define a bunch of global names, the following lines
     *must* be included at the top of the YACC parser, to prevent the
     various parsers from defining the same global names:

          #define yyparse 	LANG_parse
          #define yylex 	LANG_lex
          #define yyerror 	LANG_error
          #define yylval 	LANG_lval
          #define yychar 	LANG_char
          #define yydebug 	LANG_debug
          #define yypact  	LANG_pact
          #define yyr1		LANG_r1
          #define yyr2		LANG_r2
          #define yydef		LANG_def
          #define yychk		LANG_chk
          #define yypgo		LANG_pgo
          #define yyact  	LANG_act
          #define yyexca  	LANG_exca
          #define yyerrflag  	LANG_errflag
          #define yynerrs  	LANG_nerrs

     At the bottom of your parser, define a `struct language_defn' and
     initialize it with the right values for your language.  Define an
     `initialize_LANG' routine and have it call
     `add_language(LANG_language_defn)' to tell the rest of GDB that
     your language exists.  You'll need some other supporting variables
     and functions, which will be used via pointers from your
     `LANG_language_defn'.  See the declaration of `struct
     language_defn' in `language.h', and the other `*-exp.y' files, for
     more information.

*Add any evaluation routines, if necessary*
     If you need new opcodes (that represent the operations of the
     language), add them to the enumerated type in `expression.h'.  Add
     support code for these operations in `eval.c:evaluate_subexp()'.
     Add cases for new opcodes in two functions from `parse.c':
     `prefixify_subexp()' and `length_of_subexp()'.  These compute the
     number of `exp_element's that a given operation takes up.

*Update some existing code*
     Add an enumerated identifier for your language to the enumerated
     type `enum language' in `defs.h'.

     Update the routines in `language.c' so your language is included.
     These routines include type predicates and such, which (in some
     cases) are language dependent.  If your language does not appear
     in the switch statement, an error is reported.

     Also included in `language.c' is the code that updates the variable
     `current_language', and the routines that translate the
     `language_LANG' enumerated identifier into a printable string.

     Update the function `_initialize_language' to include your
     language.  This function picks the default language upon startup,
     so is dependent upon which languages that GDB is built for.

     Update `allocate_symtab' in `symfile.c' and/or symbol-reading code
     so that the language of each symtab (source file) is set properly.
     This is used to determine the language to use at each stack frame
     level.  Currently, the language is set based upon the extension of
     the source file.  If the language can be better inferred from the
     symbol information, please set the language of the symtab in the
     symbol-reading code.

     Add helper code to `expprint.c:print_subexp()' to handle any new
     expression opcodes you have added to `expression.h'.  Also, add the
     printed representations of your operators to `op_print_tab'.

*Add a place of call*
     Add a call to `LANG_parse()' and `LANG_error' in
     `parse.c:parse_exp_1()'.

*Use macros to trim code*
     The user has the option of building GDB for some or all of the
     languages.  If the user decides to build GDB for the language
     LANG, then every file dependent on `language.h' will have the
     macro `_LANG_LANG' defined in it.  Use `#ifdef's to leave out
     large routines that the user won't need if he or she is not using
     your language.

     Note that you do not need to do this in your YACC parser, since if
     GDB is not build for LANG, then `LANG-exp.tab.o' (the compiled
     form of your parser) is not linked into GDB at all.

     See the file `configure.in' for how GDB is configured for different
     languages.

*Edit `Makefile.in'*
     Add dependencies in `Makefile.in'.  Make sure you update the macro
     variables such as `HFILES' and `OBJS', otherwise your code may not
     get linked in, or, worse yet, it may not get `tar'red into the
     distribution!


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Host Definition,  Next: Target Architecture Definition,  Prev: Language Support,  Up: Top

Host Definition
***************

   With the advent of autoconf, it's rarely necessary to have host
definition machinery anymore.

Adding a New Host
=================

   Most of GDB's host configuration support happens via autoconf.  It
should be rare to need new host-specific definitions.  GDB still uses
the host-specific definitions and files listed below, but these mostly
exist for historical reasons, and should eventually disappear.

   Several files control GDB's configuration for host systems:

`gdb/config/ARCH/XYZ.mh'
     Specifies Makefile fragments needed when hosting on machine XYZ.
     In particular, this lists the required machine-dependent object
     files, by defining `XDEPFILES=...'.  Also specifies the header file
     which describes host XYZ, by defining `XM_FILE= xm-XYZ.h'.  You
     can also define `CC', `SYSV_DEFINE', `XM_CFLAGS', `XM_ADD_FILES',
     `XM_CLIBS', `XM_CDEPS', etc.; see `Makefile.in'.

`gdb/config/ARCH/xm-XYZ.h'
     (`xm.h' is a link to this file, created by configure).  Contains C
     macro definitions describing the host system environment, such as
     byte order, host C compiler and library.

`gdb/XYZ-xdep.c'
     Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this machine as a
     host.  On most machines it doesn't exist at all.  If it does
     exist, put `XYZ-xdep.o' into the `XDEPFILES' line in
     `gdb/config/ARCH/XYZ.mh'.

Generic Host Support Files
--------------------------

   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 `xm-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 `XDEPFILES'.

   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-xdep.c', and put `XYZ-xdep.o' into
`XDEPFILES'.

`ser-unix.c'
     This contains serial line support for Unix systems.  This is always
     included, via the makefile variable `SER_HARDWIRE'; override this
     variable in the `.mh' file to avoid it.

`ser-go32.c'
     This contains serial line support for 32-bit programs running
     under DOS, using the GO32 execution environment.

`ser-tcp.c'
     This contains generic TCP support using sockets.

Host Conditionals
=================

   When GDB is configured and compiled, various macros are defined or
left undefined, to control compilation based on the attributes of the
host system.  These macros and their meanings (or if the meaning is not
documented here, then one of the source files where they are used is
indicated) are:

`GDBINIT_FILENAME'
     The default name of GDB's initialization file (normally
     `.gdbinit').

`MEM_FNS_DECLARED'
     Your host config file defines this if it includes declarations of
     `memcpy' and `memset'.  Define this to avoid conflicts between the
     native include files and the declarations in `defs.h'.

`NO_SYS_FILE'
     Define this if your system does not have a `<sys/file.h>'.

`SIGWINCH_HANDLER'
     If your host defines `SIGWINCH', you can define this to be the name
     of a function to be called if `SIGWINCH' is received.

`SIGWINCH_HANDLER_BODY'
     Define this to expand into code that will define the function
     named by the expansion of `SIGWINCH_HANDLER'.

`ALIGN_STACK_ON_STARTUP'
     Define this if your system is of a sort that will crash in
     `tgetent' if the stack happens not to be longword-aligned when
     `main' is called.  This is a rare situation, but is known to occur
     on several different types of systems.

`CRLF_SOURCE_FILES'
     Define this if host files use `\r\n' rather than `\n' as a line
     terminator.  This will cause source file listings to omit `\r'
     characters when printing and it will allow \r\n line endings of
     files which are "sourced" by gdb.  It must be possible to open
     files in binary mode using `O_BINARY' or, for fopen, `"rb"'.

`DEFAULT_PROMPT'
     The default value of the prompt string (normally `"(gdb) "').

`DEV_TTY'
     The name of the generic TTY device, defaults to `"/dev/tty"'.

`FCLOSE_PROVIDED'
     Define this if the system declares `fclose' in the headers included
     in `defs.h'.  This isn't needed unless your compiler is unusually
     anal.

`FOPEN_RB'
     Define this if binary files are opened the same way as text files.

`GETENV_PROVIDED'
     Define this if the system declares `getenv' in its headers included
     in `defs.h'. This isn't needed unless your compiler is unusually
     anal.

`HAVE_MMAP'
     In some cases, use the system call `mmap' for reading symbol
     tables.  For some machines this allows for sharing and quick
     updates.

`HAVE_SIGSETMASK'
     Define this if the host system has job control, but does not define
     `sigsetmask()'.  Currently, this is only true of the RS/6000.

`HAVE_TERMIO'
     Define this if the host system has `termio.h'.

`HOST_BYTE_ORDER'
     The ordering of bytes in the host.  This must be defined to be
     either `BIG_ENDIAN' or `LITTLE_ENDIAN'.

`INT_MAX'

`INT_MIN'

`LONG_MAX'

`UINT_MAX'

`ULONG_MAX'
     Values for host-side constants.

`ISATTY'
     Substitute for isatty, if not available.

`LONGEST'
     This is the longest integer type available on the host.  If not
     defined, it will default to `long long' or `long', depending on
     `CC_HAS_LONG_LONG'.

`CC_HAS_LONG_LONG'
     Define this if the host C compiler supports "long long".  This is
     set by the configure script.

`PRINTF_HAS_LONG_LONG'
     Define this if the host can handle printing of long long integers
     via the printf format directive "ll". This is set by the configure
     script.

`HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE'
     Define this if the host C compiler supports "long double".  This is
     set by the configure script.

`PRINTF_HAS_LONG_DOUBLE'
     Define this if the host can handle printing of long double
     float-point numbers via the printf format directive "Lg". This is
     set by the configure script.

`SCANF_HAS_LONG_DOUBLE'
     Define this if the host can handle the parsing of long double
     float-point numbers via the scanf format directive directive "Lg".
     This is set by the configure script.

`LSEEK_NOT_LINEAR'
     Define this if `lseek (n)' does not necessarily move to byte number
     `n' in the file.  This is only used when reading source files.  It
     is normally faster to define `CRLF_SOURCE_FILES' when possible.

`L_SET'
     This macro is used as the argument to lseek (or, most commonly,
     bfd_seek).  FIXME, should be replaced by SEEK_SET instead, which
     is the POSIX equivalent.

`MAINTENANCE_CMDS'
     If the value of this is 1, then a number of optional maintenance
     commands are compiled in.

`MALLOC_INCOMPATIBLE'
     Define this if the system's prototype for `malloc' differs from the
     ANSI definition.

`MMAP_BASE_ADDRESS'
     When using HAVE_MMAP, the first mapping should go at this address.

`MMAP_INCREMENT'
     when using HAVE_MMAP, this is the increment between mappings.

`NEED_POSIX_SETPGID'
     Define this to use the POSIX version of `setpgid' to determine
     whether job control is available.

`NORETURN'
     If defined, this should be one or more tokens, such as `volatile',
     that can be used in both the declaration and definition of
     functions to indicate that they never return.  The default is
     already set correctly if compiling with GCC.  This will almost
     never need to be defined.

`ATTR_NORETURN'
     If defined, this should be one or more tokens, such as
     `__attribute__ ((noreturn))', that can be used in the declarations
     of functions to indicate that they never return.  The default is
     already set correctly if compiling with GCC.  This will almost
     never need to be defined.

`USE_MMALLOC'
     GDB will use the `mmalloc' library for memory allocation for symbol
     reading if this symbol is defined.  Be careful defining it since
     there are systems on which `mmalloc' does not work for some
     reason.  One example is the DECstation, where its RPC library
     can't cope with our redefinition of `malloc' to call `mmalloc'.
     When defining `USE_MMALLOC', you will also have to set `MMALLOC'
     in the Makefile, to point to the mmalloc library.  This define is
     set when you configure with -with-mmalloc.

`NO_MMCHECK'
     Define this if you are using `mmalloc', but don't want the overhead
     of checking the heap with `mmcheck'.  Note that on some systems,
     the C runtime makes calls to malloc prior to calling `main', and if
     `free' is ever called with these pointers after calling `mmcheck'
     to enable checking, a memory corruption abort is certain to occur.
     These systems can still use mmalloc, but must define NO_MMCHECK.

`MMCHECK_FORCE'
     Define this to 1 if the C runtime allocates memory prior to
     `mmcheck' being called, but that memory is never freed so we don't
     have to worry about it triggering a memory corruption abort.  The
     default is 0, which means that `mmcheck' will only install the heap
     checking functions if there has not yet been any memory allocation
     calls, and if it fails to install the functions, gdb will issue a
     warning.  This is currently defined if you configure using
     -with-mmalloc.

`NO_SIGINTERRUPT'
     Define this to indicate that siginterrupt() is not available.

`R_OK'
     Define if this is not in a system .h file.

`SEEK_CUR'

`SEEK_SET'
     Define these to appropriate value for the system lseek(), if not
     already defined.

`STOP_SIGNAL'
     This is the signal for stopping GDB.  Defaults to SIGTSTP.  (Only
     redefined for the Convex.)

`USE_O_NOCTTY'
     Define this if the interior's tty should be opened with the
     O_NOCTTY flag.  (FIXME: This should be a native-only flag, but
     `inflow.c' is always linked in.)

`USG'
     Means that System V (prior to SVR4) include files are in use.
     (FIXME: This symbol is abused in `infrun.c', `regex.c',
     `remote-nindy.c', and `utils.c' for other things, at the moment.)

`lint'
     Define this to help placate lint in some situations.

`volatile'
     Define this to override the defaults of `__volatile__' or `/**/'.


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

Target Architecture Definition
******************************

   GDB's target architecture defines what sort of machine-language
programs GDB can work with, and how it works with them.

   At present, the target architecture definition consists of a number
of C macros.

Registers and Memory
====================

   GDB's model of the target machine is rather simple.  GDB assumes the
machine includes a bank of registers and a block of memory.  Each
register may have a different size.

   GDB does not have a magical way to match up with the compiler's idea
of which registers are which; however, it is critical that they do
match up accurately.  The only way to make this work is to get accurate
information about the order that the compiler uses, and to reflect that
in the `REGISTER_NAME' and related macros.

   GDB can handle big-endian, little-endian, and bi-endian
architectures.

Frame Interpretation
====================

Inferior Call Setup
===================

Compiler Characteristics
========================

Target Conditionals
===================

   This section describes the macros that you can use to define the
target machine.

`ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS'

`ADDITIONAL_OPTION_CASES'

`ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HANDLER'

`ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HELP'
     These are a set of macros that allow the addition of additional
     command line options to GDB.  They are currently used only for the
     unsupported i960 Nindy target, and should not be used in any other
     configuration.

`ADDR_BITS_REMOVE (addr)'
     If a raw machine address includes any bits that are not really
     part of the address, then define this macro to expand into an
     expression that zeros those bits in ADDR.  For example, the two
     low-order bits of a Motorola 88K address may be used by some
     kernels for their own purposes, since addresses must always be
     4-byte aligned, and so are of no use for addressing.  Those bits
     should be filtered out with an expression such as `((addr) & ~3)'.

`BEFORE_MAIN_LOOP_HOOK'
     Define this to expand into any code that you want to execute
     before the main loop starts.  Although this is not, strictly
     speaking, a target conditional, that is how it is currently being
     used.  Note that if a configuration were to define it one way for
     a host and a different way for the target, GDB will probably not
     compile, let alone run correctly.  This is currently used only for
     the unsupported i960 Nindy target, and should not be used in any
     other configuration.

`BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION'
     Define if the compiler promotes a short or char parameter to an
     int, but still reports the parameter as its original type, rather
     than the promoted type.

`BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION_TYPE'
     Define this if GDB should believe the type of a short argument when
     compiled by pcc, but look within a full int space to get its value.
     Only defined for Sun-3 at present.

`BITS_BIG_ENDIAN'
     Define this if the numbering of bits in the targets does *not*
     match the endianness of the target byte order.  A value of 1 means
     that the bits are numbered in a big-endian order, 0 means
     little-endian.

`BREAKPOINT'
     This is the character array initializer for the bit pattern to put
     into memory where a breakpoint is set.  Although it's common to
     use a trap instruction for a breakpoint, it's not required; for
     instance, the bit pattern could be an invalid instruction.  The
     breakpoint must be no longer than the shortest instruction of the
     architecture.

`BIG_BREAKPOINT'

`LITTLE_BREAKPOINT'
     Similar to BREAKPOINT, but used for bi-endian targets.

`REMOTE_BREAKPOINT'

`LITTLE_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT'

`BIG_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT'
     Similar to BREAKPOINT, but used for remote targets.

`BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC (pcptr, lenptr)'
     Use the program counter to determine the contents and size of a
     breakpoint instruction.  It returns a pointer to a string of bytes
     that encode a breakpoint instruction, stores the length of the
     string to *lenptr, and adjusts pc (if necessary) to point to the
     actual memory location where the breakpoint should be inserted.

     Although it is common to use a trap instruction for a breakpoint,
     it's not required; for instance, the bit pattern could be an
     invalid instruction.  The breakpoint must be no longer than the
     shortest instruction of the architecture.

     Replaces all the other BREAKPOINTs.

`CALL_DUMMY'
     valops.c

`CALL_DUMMY_LOCATION'
     inferior.h

`CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST'
     valops.c

`CANNOT_FETCH_REGISTER (regno)'
     A C expression that should be nonzero if REGNO cannot be fetched
     from an inferior process.  This is only relevant if
     `FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS' is not defined.

`CANNOT_STORE_REGISTER (regno)'
     A C expression that should be nonzero if REGNO should not be
     written to the target.  This is often the case for program
     counters, status words, and other special registers.  If this is
     not defined, GDB will assume that all registers may be written.

`DO_DEFERRED_STORES'

`CLEAR_DEFERRED_STORES'
     Define this to execute any deferred stores of registers into the
     inferior, and to cancel any deferred stores.

     Currently only implemented correctly for native Sparc
     configurations?

`CPLUS_MARKER'
     Define this to expand into the character that G++ uses to
     distinguish compiler-generated identifiers from
     programmer-specified identifiers.  By default, this expands into
     `'$''.  Most System V targets should define this to `'.''.

`DBX_PARM_SYMBOL_CLASS'
     Hook for the `SYMBOL_CLASS' of a parameter when decoding DBX symbol
     information.  In the i960, parameters can be stored as locals or as
     args, depending on the type of the debug record.

`DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK'
     Define this to be the amount by which to decrement the PC after the
     program encounters a breakpoint.  This is often the number of
     bytes in BREAKPOINT, though not always.  For most targets this
     value will be 0.

`DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK'
     Similarly, for hardware breakpoints.

`DISABLE_UNSETTABLE_BREAK addr'
     If defined, this should evaluate to 1 if ADDR is in a shared
     library in which breakpoints cannot be set and so should be
     disabled.

`DO_REGISTERS_INFO'
     If defined, use this to print the value of a register or all
     registers.

`END_OF_TEXT_DEFAULT'
     This is an expression that should designate the end of the text
     section (? FIXME ?)

`EXTRACT_RETURN_VALUE(type,regbuf,valbuf)'
     Define this to extract a function's return value of type TYPE from
     the raw register state REGBUF and copy that, in virtual format,
     into VALBUF.

`EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS(regbuf)'
     Define this to extract from an array REGBUF containing the (raw)
     register state, the address in which a function should return its
     structure value, as a CORE_ADDR (or an expression that can be used
     as one).

`FLOAT_INFO'
     If defined, then the `info float' command will print information
     about the processor's floating point unit.

`FP_REGNUM'
     The number of the frame pointer register.

`FRAMELESS_FUNCTION_INVOCATION(fi, frameless)'
     Define this to set the variable FRAMELESS to 1 if the function
     invocation represented by FI does not have a stack frame
     associated with it.  Otherwise set it to 0.

`FRAME_ARGS_ADDRESS_CORRECT'
     stack.c

`FRAME_CHAIN(frame)'
     Given FRAME, return a pointer to the calling frame.

`FRAME_CHAIN_COMBINE(chain,frame)'
     Define this to take the frame chain pointer and the frame's nominal
     address and produce the nominal address of the caller's frame.
     Presently only defined for HP PA.

`FRAME_CHAIN_VALID(chain,thisframe)'
     Define this to be an expression that returns zero if the given
     frame is an outermost frame, with no caller, and nonzero
     otherwise.  Three common definitions are available.
     `default_frame_chain_valid' (the default) is nonzero if the chain
     pointer is nonzero and given frame's PC is not inside the startup
     file (such as `crt0.o').  `alternate_frame_chain_valid' is nonzero
     if the chain pointer is nonzero and the given frame's PC is not in
     `main()' or a known entry point function (such as `_start()').

`FRAME_INIT_SAVED_REGS(frame)'
     See `frame.h'.  Determines the address of all registers in the
     current stack frame storing each in `frame->saved_regs'.  Space for
     `frame->saved_regs' shall be allocated by `FRAME_INIT_SAVED_REGS'
     using either `frame_saved_regs_zalloc' or `frame_obstack_alloc'.

     FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS and EXTRA_FRAME_INFO are deprecated.

`FRAME_NUM_ARGS (val, fi)'
     For the frame described by FI, set VAL to the number of arguments
     that are being passed.

`FRAME_SAVED_PC(frame)'
     Given FRAME, return the pc saved there.  That is, the return
     address.

`FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE'
     For some COFF targets, the `x_sym.x_misc.x_fsize' field of the
     function end symbol is 0.  For such targets, you must define
     `FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE' to expand into the standard size of a
     function's epilogue.

`GCC_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL'

`GCC2_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL'
     If defined, these are the names of the symbols that GDB will look
     for to detect that GCC compiled the file.  The default symbols are
     `gcc_compiled.' and `gcc2_compiled.', respectively. (Currently
     only defined for the Delta 68.)

`GDB_TARGET_IS_HPPA'
     This determines whether horrible kludge code in dbxread.c and
     partial-stab.h is used to mangle multiple-symbol-table files from
     HPPA's.  This should all be ripped out, and a scheme like elfread.c
     used.

`GDB_TARGET_IS_MACH386'

`GDB_TARGET_IS_SUN3'

`GDB_TARGET_IS_SUN386'
     Kludges that should go away.

`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.

`GET_SAVED_REGISTER'
     Define this if you need to supply your own definition for the
     function `get_saved_register'.  Currently this is only done for
     the a29k.

`HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS'
     Define this if the target has register windows.

`REGISTER_IN_WINDOW_P (regnum)'
     Define this to be an expression that is 1 if the given register is
     in the window.

`IBM6000_TARGET'
     Shows that we are configured for an IBM RS/6000 target.  This
     conditional should be eliminated (FIXME) and replaced by
     feature-specific macros.  It was introduced in haste and we are
     repenting at leisure.

`IEEE_FLOAT'
     Define this if the target system uses IEEE-format floating point
     numbers.

`INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO (fromleaf, frame)'
     If additional information about the frame is required this should
     be stored in `frame->extra_info'.  Space for `frame->extra_info'
     is allocated using `frame_obstack_alloc'.

`INIT_FRAME_PC (fromleaf, prev)'
     This is a C statement that sets the pc of the frame pointed to by
     PREV.  [By default...]

`INNER_THAN (lhs,rhs)'
     Returns non-zero if stack address LHS is inner than (nearer to the
     stack top) stack address RHS. Define this as `lhs < rhs' if the
     target's stack grows downward in memory, or `lhs > rsh' if the
     stack grows upward.

`IN_SIGTRAMP (pc, name)'
     Define this to return true if the given PC and/or NAME indicates
     that the current function is a sigtramp.

`SIGTRAMP_START (pc)'

`SIGTRAMP_END (pc)'
     Define these to be the start and end address of the sigtramp for
     the given PC.  On machines where the address is just a compile time
     constant, the macro expansion will typically just ignore the
     supplied PC.

`IN_SOLIB_CALL_TRAMPOLINE pc name'
     Define this to evaluate to nonzero if the program is stopped in the
     trampoline that connects to a shared library.

`IN_SOLIB_RETURN_TRAMPOLINE pc name'
     Define this to evaluate to nonzero if the program is stopped in the
     trampoline that returns from a shared library.

`IS_TRAPPED_INTERNALVAR (name)'
     This is an ugly hook to allow the specification of special actions
     that should occur as a side-effect of setting the value of a
     variable internal to GDB.  Currently only used by the h8500.  Note
     that this could be either a host or target conditional.

`NEED_TEXT_START_END'
     Define this if GDB should determine the start and end addresses of
     the text section.  (Seems dubious.)

`NO_HIF_SUPPORT'
     (Specific to the a29k.)

`SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP_P'
     Define this as 1 if the target does not have a hardware single-step
     mechanism. The macro `SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP' must also be defined.

`SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP(signal,insert_breapoints_p)'
     A function that inserts or removes (dependant on
     INSERT_BREAPOINTS_P) breakpoints at each possible destinations of
     the next instruction. See `sparc-tdep.c' and `rs6000-tdep.c' for
     examples.

`PCC_SOL_BROKEN'
     (Used only in the Convex target.)

`PC_IN_CALL_DUMMY'
     inferior.h

`PC_LOAD_SEGMENT'
     If defined, print information about the load segment for the
     program counter.  (Defined only for the RS/6000.)

`PC_REGNUM'
     If the program counter is kept in a register, then define this
     macro to be the number of that register.  This need be defined
     only if `TARGET_WRITE_PC' is not defined.

`NPC_REGNUM'
     The number of the "next program counter" register, if defined.

`NNPC_REGNUM'
     The number of the "next next program counter" register, if defined.
     Currently, this is only defined for the Motorola 88K.

`PRINT_REGISTER_HOOK (regno)'
     If defined, this must be a function that prints the contents of the
     given register to standard output.

`PRINT_TYPELESS_INTEGER'
     This is an obscure substitute for `print_longest' that seems to
     have been defined for the Convex target.

`PROCESS_LINENUMBER_HOOK'
     A hook defined for XCOFF reading.

`PROLOGUE_FIRSTLINE_OVERLAP'
     (Only used in unsupported Convex configuration.)

`PS_REGNUM'
     If defined, this is the number of the processor status register.
     (This definition is only used in generic code when parsing "$ps".)

`POP_FRAME'
     Used in `call_function_by_hand' to remove an artificial stack
     frame.

`PUSH_ARGUMENTS (nargs, args, sp, struct_return, struct_addr)'
     Define this to push arguments onto the stack for inferior function
     call.

`PUSH_DUMMY_FRAME'
     Used in `call_function_by_hand' to create an artificial stack
     frame.

`REGISTER_BYTES'
     The total amount of space needed to store GDB's copy of the
     machine's register state.

`REGISTER_NAME(i)'
     Return the name of register I as a string.  May return NULL or NUL
     to indicate that register I is not valid.

`REG_STRUCT_HAS_ADDR (gcc_p, type)'
     Define this to return 1 if the given type will be passed by pointer
     rather than directly.

`SDB_REG_TO_REGNUM'
     Define this to convert sdb register numbers into GDB regnums.  If
     not defined, no conversion will be done.

`SHIFT_INST_REGS'
     (Only used for m88k targets.)

`SKIP_PROLOGUE (pc)'
     A C statement that advances the PC across any function entry
     prologue instructions so as to reach "real" code.

`SKIP_PROLOGUE_FRAMELESS_P'
     A C statement that should behave similarly, but that can stop as
     soon as the function is known to have a frame.  If not defined,
     `SKIP_PROLOGUE' will be used instead.

`SKIP_TRAMPOLINE_CODE (pc)'
     If the target machine has trampoline code that sits between
     callers and the functions being called, then define this macro to
     return a new PC that is at the start of the real function.

`SP_REGNUM'
     Define this to be the number of the register that serves as the
     stack pointer.

`STAB_REG_TO_REGNUM'
     Define this to convert stab register numbers (as gotten from `r'
     declarations) into GDB regnums.  If not defined, no conversion
     will be done.

`STACK_ALIGN (addr)'
     Define this to adjust the address to the alignment required for the
     processor's stack.

`STEP_SKIPS_DELAY (addr)'
     Define this to return true if the address is of an instruction
     with a delay slot.  If a breakpoint has been placed in the
     instruction's delay slot, GDB will single-step over that
     instruction before resuming normally.  Currently only defined for
     the Mips.

`STORE_RETURN_VALUE (type, valbuf)'
     A C expression that stores a function return value of type TYPE,
     where VALBUF is the address of the value to be stored.

`SUN_FIXED_LBRAC_BUG'
     (Used only for Sun-3 and Sun-4 targets.)

`SYMBOL_RELOADING_DEFAULT'
     The default value of the `symbol-reloading' variable.  (Never
     defined in current sources.)

`TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_DEFAULT'
     The ordering of bytes in the target.  This must be either
     `BIG_ENDIAN' or `LITTLE_ENDIAN'.  This macro replaces
     TARGET_BYTE_ORDER which is deprecated.

`TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE_P'
     Non-zero if the target has both `BIG_ENDIAN' and `LITTLE_ENDIAN'
     variants.  This macro replaces TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE which
     is deprecated.

`TARGET_CHAR_BIT'
     Number of bits in a char; defaults to 8.

`TARGET_COMPLEX_BIT'
     Number of bits in a complex number; defaults to `2 *
     TARGET_FLOAT_BIT'.

`TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT'
     Number of bits in a double float; defaults to `8 *
     TARGET_CHAR_BIT'.

`TARGET_DOUBLE_COMPLEX_BIT'
     Number of bits in a double complex; defaults to `2 *
     TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT'.

`TARGET_FLOAT_BIT'
     Number of bits in a float; defaults to `4 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT'.

`TARGET_INT_BIT'
     Number of bits in an integer; defaults to `4 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT'.

`TARGET_LONG_BIT'
     Number of bits in a long integer; defaults to `4 *
     TARGET_CHAR_BIT'.

`TARGET_LONG_DOUBLE_BIT'
     Number of bits in a long double float; defaults to `2 *
     TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT'.

`TARGET_LONG_LONG_BIT'
     Number of bits in a long long integer; defaults to `2 *
     TARGET_LONG_BIT'.

`TARGET_PTR_BIT'
     Number of bits in a pointer; defaults to `TARGET_INT_BIT'.

`TARGET_SHORT_BIT'
     Number of bits in a short integer; defaults to `2 *
     TARGET_CHAR_BIT'.

`TARGET_READ_PC'

`TARGET_WRITE_PC (val, pid)'

`TARGET_READ_SP'

`TARGET_WRITE_SP'

`TARGET_READ_FP'

`TARGET_WRITE_FP'
     These change the behavior of `read_pc', `write_pc', `read_sp',
     `write_sp', `read_fp' and `write_fp'.  For most targets, these may
     be left undefined.  GDB will call the read and write register
     functions with the relevant `_REGNUM' argument.

     These macros are useful when a target keeps one of these registers
     in a hard to get at place; for example, part in a segment register
     and part in an ordinary register.

`TARGET_VIRTUAL_FRAME_POINTER(pc,regp,offsetp)'
     Returns a `(register, offset)' pair representing the virtual frame
     pointer in use at the code address `"pc"'.  If virtual frame
     pointers are not used, a default definition simply returns
     `FP_REGNUM', with an offset of zero.

`USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION (gcc_p, type)'
     If defined, this must be an expression that is nonzero if a value
     of the given TYPE being returned from a function must have space
     allocated for it on the stack.  GCC_P is true if the function
     being considered is known to have been compiled by GCC; this is
     helpful for systems where GCC is known to use different calling
     convention than other compilers.

`VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK (desc, gcc_p)'
     For dbx-style debugging information, if the compiler puts variable
     declarations inside LBRAC/RBRAC blocks, this should be defined to
     be nonzero.  DESC is the value of `n_desc' from the `N_RBRAC'
     symbol, and GCC_P is true if GDB has noticed the presence of
     either the `GCC_COMPILED_SYMBOL' or the `GCC2_COMPILED_SYMBOL'.
     By default, this is 0.

`OS9K_VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK (desc, gcc_p)'
     Similarly, for OS/9000.  Defaults to 1.

   Motorola M68K target conditionals.

`BPT_VECTOR'
     Define this to be the 4-bit location of the breakpoint trap
     vector.  If not defined, it will default to `0xf'.

`REMOTE_BPT_VECTOR'
     Defaults to `1'.

Adding a New Target
===================

   The following files define a target to GDB:

`gdb/config/ARCH/TTT.mt'
     Contains a Makefile fragment specific to this target.  Specifies
     what object files are needed for target TTT, by defining
     `TDEPFILES=...'.  Also specifies the header file which describes
     TTT, by defining `TM_FILE= tm-TTT.h'.  You can also define
     `TM_CFLAGS', `TM_CLIBS', `TM_CDEPS', but these are now deprecated
     and may go away in future versions of GDB.

`gdb/config/ARCH/tm-TTT.h'
     (`tm.h' is a link to this file, created by configure).  Contains
     macro definitions about the target machine's registers, stack frame
     format and instructions.

`gdb/TTT-tdep.c'
     Contains any miscellaneous code required for this target machine.
     On some machines it doesn't exist at all.  Sometimes the macros in
     `tm-TTT.h' become very complicated, so they are implemented as
     functions here instead, and the macro is simply defined to call the
     function.  This is vastly preferable, since it is easier to
     understand and debug.

`gdb/config/ARCH/tm-ARCH.h'
     This often exists to describe the basic layout of the target
     machine's processor chip (registers, stack, etc).  If used, it is
     included by `tm-TTT.h'.  It can be shared among many targets that
     use the same processor.

`gdb/ARCH-tdep.c'
     Similarly, there are often common subroutines that are shared by
     all target machines that use this particular architecture.

   If you are adding a new operating system for an existing CPU chip,
add a `config/tm-OS.h' file that describes the operating system
facilities that are unusual (extra symbol table info; the breakpoint
instruction needed; etc).  Then write a `ARCH/tm-OS.h' that just
`#include's `tm-ARCH.h' and `config/tm-OS.h'.


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
setup 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 when hosting *or native* 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'.

`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.

`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.

`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'
     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)'
     Define this to expand into an expression that will cause the
     symbols in FILENAME to be added to GDB's symbol table.

`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'
     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 (like `malloc' some memory,
or open a file) that needs to be undone later (e.g. free 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, when an error occurs,
or when your code decides it's time to do cleanups.

   You can also discard cleanups, that is, throw them away without doing
what they say.  This is only done if you ask that it be done.

   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 be
     passed to `do_cleanups' or `discard_cleanups' later.  Unless you
     are going to call `do_cleanups' or `discard_cleanups' yourself,
     you can ignore the result from `make_cleanup'.

`do_cleanups (OLD_CHAIN);'
     Perform all cleanups done since `make_cleanup' returned OLD_CHAIN.
     E.g.:
          make_cleanup (a, 0);
          old = make_cleanup (b, 0);
          do_cleanups (old);

     will call `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.

`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.

   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).

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.

   You can configure with `--enable-build-warnings' to get GCC to check
on a number of these rules.  GDB sources ought not to engender any
complaints, unless they are caused by bogus host systems.  (The exact
set of enabled warnings is currently `-Wall -Wpointer-arith
-Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-prototypes -Wmissing-declarations'.

Formatting
----------

   The standard GNU recommendations for formatting must be followed
strictly.

   Note that while in a definition, the function's name must be in
column zero; in a function declaration, the name must be on the same
line as the return type.

   In addition, 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.

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.

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

   Prototypes must be used to *declare* functions but never to *define*
them.  Prototypes for GDB functions must include both the argument type
and name, with the name matching that used in the actual function
definition.

   For the sake of compatibility with pre-ANSI compilers, define
prototypes with the `PARAMS' macro:

     extern int memory_remove_breakpoint PARAMS ((CORE_ADDR addr,
                                                  char *contents_cache));

   Note the double parentheses around the parameter types.  This allows
an arbitrary number of parameters to be described, without freaking out
the C preprocessor.  When the function has no parameters, it should be
described like:

     extern void noprocess PARAMS ((void));

   The `PARAMS' macro expands to its argument in ANSI C, or to a simple
`()' in traditional C.

   All external functions should have a `PARAMS' 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.

   All static functions must be declared in a block near the top of the
source file.

Clean Design
------------

   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.  If a
hook is needed at that point, invent a generic hook and define it for
your configuration, with something like:

     #ifdef	WRANGLE_SIGNALS
        WRANGLE_SIGNALS (signo);
     #endif

   In your host, target, or native configuration file, as appropriate,
define `WRANGLE_SIGNALS' to do the machine-dependent thing.  Take a bit
of care in defining the hook, so that it can be used by other ports in
the future, if they need a hook in the same place.

   If the hook is not defined, the code should do whatever "most"
machines want.  Using `#ifdef', as above, is the preferred way to do
this, but sometimes that gets convoluted, in which case use

     #ifndef SPECIAL_FOO_HANDLING
     #define SPECIAL_FOO_HANDLING(pc, sp) (0)
     #endif

   where the macro is used or in an appropriate header file.

   Whether to include a "small" hook, a hook around the exact pieces of
code which are system-dependent, or whether to replace a whole function
with a hook depends on the case.  A good example of this dilemma can be
found in `get_saved_register'.  All machines that GDB 2.8 ran on just
needed the `FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS' hook to find the saved registers.
Then the SPARC and Pyramid came along, and `HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS' and
`REGISTER_IN_WINDOW_P' were introduced.  Then the 29k and 88k required
the `GET_SAVED_REGISTER' hook.  The first three are examples of small
hooks; the latter replaces a whole function.  In this specific case, it
is useful to have both kinds; it would be a bad idea to replace all the
uses of the small hooks with `GET_SAVED_REGISTER', since that would
result in much duplicated code.  Other times, duplicating a few lines
of code here or there is much cleaner than introducing a large number
of small hooks.

   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.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Porting GDB,  Next: Hints,  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).

   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.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Hints,  Prev: Porting GDB,  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.

   Information about particular functions or data structures are
located in comments with those functions or data structures.  If you
run across a function or a global variable which does not have a
comment correctly explaining what is does, this can be thought of as a
bug in GDB; feel free to submit a bug report, with a suggested comment
if you can figure out what the comment should say.  If you find a
comment which is actually wrong, be especially sure to report that.

   Comments explaining the function of macros defined in host, target,
or native dependent files can be in several places.  Sometimes they are
repeated every place the macro is defined.  Sometimes they are where the
macro is used.  Sometimes there is a header file which supplies a
default definition of the macro, and the comment is there.  This manual
also documents all the available macros.

   Start with the header files.  Once you some idea of how GDB's
internal symbol tables are stored (see `symtab.h', `gdbtypes.h'), you
will find it much easier to understand the code which uses and creates
those symbol tables.

   You may wish to process the information you are getting somehow, to
enhance your understanding of it.  Summarize it, translate it to another
language, add some (perhaps trivial or non-useful) feature to GDB, use
the code to predict what a test case would do and write the test case
and verify your prediction, etc.  If you are reading code and your eyes
are starting to glaze over, this is a sign you need to use a more active
approach.

   Once you have a part of GDB to start with, you can find more
specifically the part you are looking for by stepping through each
function with the `next' command.  Do not use `step' or you will
quickly get distracted; when the function you are stepping through
calls another function try only to get a big-picture understanding
(perhaps using the comment at the beginning of the function being
called) of what it does.  This way you can identify which of the
functions being called by the function you are stepping through is the
one which you are interested in.  You may need to examine the data
structures generated at each stage, with reference to the comments in
the header files explaining what the data structures are supposed to
look like.

   Of course, this same technique can be used if you are just reading
the code, rather than actually stepping through it.  The same general
principle applies--when the code you are looking at calls something
else, just try to understand generally what the code being called does,
rather than worrying about all its details.

   A good place to start when tracking down some particular area is
with a command which invokes that feature.  Suppose you want to know how
single-stepping works.  As a GDB user, you know that the `step' command
invokes single-stepping.  The command is invoked via command tables
(see `command.h'); by convention the function which actually performs
the command is formed by taking the name of the command and adding
`_command', or in the case of an `info' subcommand, `_info'.  For
example, the `step' command invokes the `step_command' function and the
`info display' command invokes `display_info'.  When this convention is
not followed, you might have to use `grep' or `M-x tags-search' in
emacs, or run GDB on itself and set a breakpoint in `execute_command'.

   If all of the above fail, it may be appropriate to ask for
information on `bug-gdb'.  But *never* post a generic question like "I
was wondering if anyone could give me some tips about understanding
GDB"--if we had some magic secret we would put it in this manual.
Suggestions for improving the manual are always welcome, of course.


File: gdbint.info,  Node: Debugging GDB,  Up: Hints

Debugging GDB with itself
=========================

   If GDB is limping on your machine, this is the preferred way to get
it fully functional.  Be warned that in some ancient Unix systems, like
Ultrix 4.2, a program can't be running in one process while it is being
debugged in another.  Rather than typing the command `./gdb ./gdb',
which works on Suns and such, you can copy `gdb' to `gdb2' and then
type `./gdb ./gdb2'.

   When you run GDB in the GDB source directory, it will read a
`.gdbinit' file that sets up some simple things to make debugging gdb
easier.  The `info' command, when executed without a subcommand in a
GDB being debugged by gdb, will pop you back up to the top level gdb.
See `.gdbinit' for details.

   If you use emacs, you will probably want to do a `make TAGS' after
you configure your distribution; this will put the machine dependent
routines for your local machine where they will be accessed first by
`M-.'

   Also, make sure that you've either compiled GDB with your local cc,
or have run `fixincludes' if you are compiling with gcc.

Submitting Patches
==================

   Thanks for thinking of offering your changes back to the community of
GDB users.  In general we like to get well designed enhancements.
Thanks also for checking in advance about the best way to transfer the
changes.

   The GDB maintainers will only install "cleanly designed" patches.
You may not always agree on what is clean design.

   If the maintainers don't have time to put the patch in when it
arrives, or if there is any question about a patch, it goes into a
large queue with everyone else's patches and bug reports.

   The legal issue is that to incorporate substantial changes requires a
copyright assignment from you and/or your employer, granting ownership
of the changes to the Free Software Foundation.  You can get the
standard document for doing this by sending mail to
`gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu' and asking for it.  I recommend that people write
in "All programs owned by the Free Software Foundation" as "NAME OF
PROGRAM", so that changes in many programs (not just GDB, but GAS,
Emacs, GCC, etc) can be contributed with only one piece of legalese
pushed through the bureacracy and filed with the FSF.  I can't start
merging changes until this paperwork is received by the FSF (their
rules, which I follow since I maintain it for them).

   Technically, the easiest way to receive changes is to receive each
feature as a small context diff or unidiff, suitable for "patch".  Each
message sent to me should include the changes to C code and header
files for a single feature, plus ChangeLog entries for each directory
where files were modified, and diffs for any changes needed to the
manuals (gdb/doc/gdb.texi or gdb/doc/gdbint.texi).  If there are a lot
of changes for a single feature, they can be split down into multiple
messages.

   In this way, if I read and like the feature, I can add it to the
sources with a single patch command, do some testing, and check it in.
If you leave out the ChangeLog, I have to write one.  If you leave out
the doc, I have to puzzle out what needs documenting.  Etc.

   The reason to send each change in a separate message is that I will
not install some of the changes.  They'll be returned to you with
questions or comments.  If I'm doing my job, my message back to you
will say what you have to fix in order to make the change acceptable.
The reason to have separate messages for separate features is so that
other changes (which I *am* willing to accept) can be installed while
one or more changes are being reworked.  If multiple features are sent
in a single message, I tend to not put in the effort to sort out the
acceptable changes from the unacceptable, so none of the features get
installed until all are acceptable.

   If this sounds painful or authoritarian, well, it is.  But I get a
lot of bug reports and a lot of patches, and most of them don't get
installed because I don't have the time to finish the job that the bug
reporter or the contributor could have done.  Patches that arrive
complete, working, and well designed, tend to get installed on the day
they arrive.  The others go into a queue and get installed if and when
I scan back over the queue - which can literally take months sometimes.
It's in both our interests to make patch installation easy - you get
your changes installed, and I make some forward progress on GDB in a
normal 12-hour day (instead of them having to wait until I have a
14-hour or 16-hour day to spend cleaning up patches before I can
install them).

   Please send patches directly to the GDB maintainers at
`gdb-patches@cygnus.com'.

Obsolete Conditionals
=====================

   Fragments of old code in GDB sometimes reference or set the following
configuration macros.  They should not be used by new code, and old uses
should be removed as those parts of the debugger are otherwise touched.

`STACK_END_ADDR'
     This macro used to define where the end of the stack appeared, for
     use in interpreting core file formats that don't record this
     address in the core file itself.  This information is now
     configured in BFD, and GDB gets the info portably from there.  The
     values in GDB's configuration files should be moved into BFD
     configuration files (if needed there), and deleted from all of
     GDB's config files.

     Any `FOO-xdep.c' file that references STACK_END_ADDR is so old
     that it has never been converted to use BFD.  Now that's old!

`PYRAMID_CONTROL_FRAME_DEBUGGING'
     pyr-xdep.c

`PYRAMID_CORE'
     pyr-xdep.c

`PYRAMID_PTRACE'
     pyr-xdep.c

`REG_STACK_SEGMENT'
     exec.c



Tag Table:
Node: Top765
Node: Requirements1371
Node: Overall Structure2858
Node: Algorithms6131
Node: User Interface11141
Node: Symbol Handling12259
Node: Language Support26156
Node: Host Definition31366
Node: Target Architecture Definition41815
Node: Target Vector Definition64431
Node: Native Debugging66989
Node: Support Libraries77194
Node: Coding78904
Node: Porting GDB91701
Node: Hints94412
Node: Getting Started94711
Node: Debugging GDB98842

End Tag Table
