gdb/python: Allow gdb.UnwindInfo to be created with non gdb.Value args

Currently when creating a gdb.UnwindInfo object a user must call
gdb.PendingFrame.create_unwind_info and pass a frame-id object.

The frame-id object should have at least a 'sp' attribute, and
probably a 'pc' attribute too (it can also, in some cases have a
'special' attribute).

Currently all of these frame-id attributes need to be gdb.Value
objects, but the only reason for that requirement is that we have some
code in py-unwind.c that only handles gdb.Value objects.

If instead we switch to using get_addr_from_python in py-utils.c then
we will support both gdb.Value objects and also raw numbers, which
might make things simpler in some cases.

So, I started rewriting pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer (in
py-unwind.c) to use get_addr_from_python.  However, while looking at
the code I noticed a problem.

The pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer function returns a boolean flag,
if everything goes OK we return true, but we return false in two
cases, (1) when the attribute is not present, which might be
acceptable, or might be an error, and (2) when we get an error trying
to extract the attribute value, in which case a Python error will have
been set.

Now in pending_framepy_create_unwind_info we have this code:

  if (!pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer (pyo_frame_id, "sp", &sp))
    {
      PyErr_SetString (PyExc_ValueError,
		       _("frame_id should have 'sp' attribute."));
      return NULL;
    }

Notice how we always set an error.  This will override any error that
is already set.

So, if you create a frame-id object that has an 'sp' attribute, but
the attribute is not a gdb.Value, then currently we fail to extract
the attribute value (it's not a gdb.Value) and set this error in
pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer:

  rc = pyuw_value_obj_to_pointer (pyo_value.get (), addr);
  if (!rc)
    PyErr_Format (
        PyExc_ValueError,
        _("The value of the '%s' attribute is not a pointer."),
        attr_name);

Then we return to pending_framepy_create_unwind_info and immediately
override this error with the error about 'sp' being missing.

This all feels very confused.

Here's my proposed solution: pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer will now
return a tri-state enum, with states OK, MISSING, or ERROR.  The
meanings of these states are:

  OK - Attribute exists and was extracted fine,

  MISSING - Attribute doesn't exist, no Python error was set.

  ERROR - Attribute does exist, but there was an error while
     extracting it, a Python error was set.

We need to update pending_framepy_create_unwind_info, the only user of
pyuw_object_attribute_to_pointer, but now I think things are much
clearer.  Errors from lower levels are not blindly overridden with the
generic meaningless error message, but we still get the "missing 'sp'
attribute" error when appropriate.

This change also includes the switch to get_addr_from_python which was
what started this whole journey.

For well behaving user code there should be no visible changes after
this commit.

For user code that hits an error, hopefully the new errors should be
more helpful in figuring out what's gone wrong.

Additionally, users can now use integers for the 'sp' and 'pc'
attributes in their frame-id objects if that is useful.

Reviewed-By: Tom Tromey <tom@tromey.com>

1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/gdb/doc/python.texi b/gdb/doc/python.texi
index 80697f9..b41432a 100644
--- a/gdb/doc/python.texi
+++ b/gdb/doc/python.texi
@@ -2815,7 +2815,8 @@ Inside gdb, this is called a ``wild frame''.  You will never need
 this.
 @end table
 
-Each attribute value should be an instance of @code{gdb.Value}.
+Each attribute value should either be an instance of @code{gdb.Value}
+or an integer.
 
 @end defun