gdb/testsuite: fix intermittent failure in gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp

Tom de Vries reported some failures in this test:

    continue
    Continuing.
    [New inferior 2 (process 14967)]

    Thread 1.1 "vfork-follow-pa" hit Breakpoint 2, break_parent () at /home/vries/gdb_versions/devel/src/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c:23
    23	}
    (gdb) FAIL: gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp: resolution_method=schedule-multiple: continue to end of inferior 2
    inferior 1
    [Switching to inferior 1 [process 14961] (/home/vries/gdb_versions/devel/build/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent/vfork-follow-parent)]
    [Switching to thread 1.1 (process 14961)]
    #0  break_parent () at /home/vries/gdb_versions/devel/src/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c:23
    23	}
    (gdb) PASS: gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp: resolution_method=schedule-multiple: inferior 1
    continue
    Continuing.
    [Inferior 2 (process 14967) exited normally]
    (gdb) FAIL: gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp: resolution_method=schedule-multiple: continue to break_parent (the program exited)

Here, we continue both the vfork parent and child, since
schedule-multiple is on.  The child exits, which un-freezes the parent
and makes an exit event available to GDB.  We expect GDB to consume this
exit event and present it to the user.  Here, we see that GDB shows the
parent hitting a breakpoint before showing the child exit.

Because of the vfork, we know that chronologically, the child exiting
must have happend before the parent hitting a breakpoint.  However,
scheduling being what it is, it is possible for the parent to un-freeze
and exit quickly, such that when GDB pulls events out of the kernel,
exit events for both processes are available.  And then, GDB may chose
at random to return the one for the parent first.  This is what I
imagine what causes the failure shown above.

We could change the test to expect both possible outcomes, but I wanted
to avoid complicating the .exp file that way.  Instead, add a variable
that the parent loops on that we set only after we confirmed the exit of
the child.  That should ensure that the order is always the same.

Note that I wasn't able to reproduce the failure, so I can't tell if
this fix really fixes the problem.

Bug: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=29021
Change-Id: Ibc8e527e0e00dac54b22021fe4d9d8ab0f3b28ad

2 files changed, 15 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c
index f4face7..5fdd051 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.c
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+static volatile int unblock_parent = 0;
+
 static void
 break_parent (void)
 {
@@ -25,8 +27,18 @@ break_parent (void)
 int
 main (void)
 {
+  alarm (30);
+
   if (vfork () != 0)
-    break_parent ();
+    {
+      /* We want to guarantee that GDB processes the child exit event before
+	 the parent's breakpoint hit event.  Make the parent wait on this
+	 variable that is eventually set by the test.  */
+      while (!unblock_parent)
+	usleep (1000);
+
+      break_parent ();
+    }
   else
     _exit (0);
 
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp
index ded8754..1ffc54e 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/vfork-follow-parent.exp
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ proc do_test { resolution_method } {
     if { $resolution_method == "detach-on-fork" } {
 	# Make GDB detach the child.
 	gdb_test "set detach-on-fork on"
+	gdb_test "print unblock_parent = 1" " = 1"
     } elseif { $resolution_method == "schedule-multiple" } {
 	# Make GDB resume both inferiors.  The parent is blocked while the
 	# children executes, so the continue will make the child reach the
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ proc do_test { resolution_method } {
 	gdb_test "continue" "$::inferior_exited_re normally.*" \
 	    "continue to end of inferior 2"
 	gdb_test "inferior 1" ".*Switching to inferior 1.*"
+	gdb_test "print unblock_parent = 1" " = 1"
     } else {
 	error "invalid resolution method: $resolution_method"
     }