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Diffstat (limited to 'gdb/WHATS.NEW')
| -rwxr-xr-x | gdb/WHATS.NEW | 596 |
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diff --git a/gdb/WHATS.NEW b/gdb/WHATS.NEW deleted file mode 100755 index c189965..0000000 --- a/gdb/WHATS.NEW +++ /dev/null @@ -1,596 +0,0 @@ - What has changed since GDB-3.5? - (Organized release by release) - -*** Changes in GDB-4.6: - - * Better support for C++ function names - -GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function -names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names -(using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of -single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'. -Make use of command completion, it is your friend. - -GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are -the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style. -You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu, -lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo' -for the list of formats. - - * G++ symbol mangling problem - -Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for -C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this -directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you -can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The -usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains -about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has -this problem.) - - * New 'maintenance' command - -All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of -the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This -can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made: - - dump-me -> maintenance dump-me - info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints - printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms - printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles - printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols - printsyms -> maintenance print symbols - -The following commands are new: - - maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to - demangle a C++ link name and prints the result. - maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol - - * Change to .gdbinit file processing - -We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments -(e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to -be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still -read after argv processing. - - * New hosts supported - -Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2 - -Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux - -We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This -is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it -for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or -masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the -fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option. -It costs extra. - - * New targets supported - -Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms - - * More smarts about finding #include files - -GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for -all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This -greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files, -especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from -the one that contains your sources. - -We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting -breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to -try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.) - - * Interesting infernals change - -GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each -section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the -target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded -stabs used by Solaris-2.0. - - * Bug fixes (of course!) - -There have been loads of fixes for the following things: - mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k, - i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc... - -See the ChangeLog for details. - -*** Changes in GDB-4.5: - - * New machines supported (host and target) - -IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000 - -SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4 - - * New malloc package - -GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc. -Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also -capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later. -This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a -pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For -more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi. - - * info proc - -The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See -'help info proc' for details. - - * MIPS ecoff symbol table format - -The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts. -Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this -possible. - - * File name changes for MS-DOS - -Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to -support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name -conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32 -environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note -that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations -in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging. - - * Cross byte order fixes - -Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS -targets from hosts whose byte order differs. - - * New -mapped and -readnow options - -If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap' -system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or -`symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your -program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is -called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'. -Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file, -and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading -the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped' -option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as -starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option. - -You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using -the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table -information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command -slower, but makes future operations faster. - -The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to -build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information. -A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future -use is: - - gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname - -The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run. -It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be -shared across multiple host platforms. - - * longjmp() handling - -GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and -siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to -all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based -platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4. - - * Solaris 2.0 - -Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At -this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of -reading symbols. - - * Bug fixes - -As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread. -People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious -crashes and trashed symbol tables. - -*** Changes in GDB-4.4: - - * New machines supported (host and target) - -SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco - (except core files) -BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd -Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix - - * New machines supported (target) - -AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none - - * C++ support - -GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better. -The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as -per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide. - -GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS -`ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily -extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a -good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option -will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is -released. - - * New features for SVR4 - -GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS -shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present -only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs. - -The `info proc' command will print out information about any process -on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment, -it prints the address mappings of the process. - -If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to -bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any). - - * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS - -Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols -now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic -skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which -make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the -same code linked statically. - - * New Getopt - -GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This -version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will -continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well. -Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity -added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the -future by other options that begin with the same letter. - - * Bugs fixed - -The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. -Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. -See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. - - -*** Changes in GDB-4.3: - - * New machines supported (host and target) - -Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix -NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000 -Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88 - - * Almost SCO Unix support - -We had hoped to support: -SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco -(except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release -that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry -about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes. - - * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support - -GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle -debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support -is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please -send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were -reqired (if any). - - * New Readline - -GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change -is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously -required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?). - - * Bugs fixed - -The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed. -Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled. -See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details. - - * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered): - -GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers -supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These -symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses. - -Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called -mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level -debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship -mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc -version 2. - -Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not -really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get -line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local -variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the -situation somewhat. - -When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck. -However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and -methods. - -We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on -DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff -encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet. - - -*** Changes in GDB-4.2: - - * Improved configuration - -Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying. -Porting BFD is simpler. - - * Stepping improved - -The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction -of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur -in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a -function that has debugging information is called within the line. - - * Bug fixing - -Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain. - - * New host supported (not target) - -Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach - - -*** Changes in GDB-4.1: - - * Multiple source language support - -GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages. -It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension, -and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the -language of the function in the currently selected stack frame. -You can also specifically set the language to be used, with -`set language c' or `set language modula-2'. - - * GDB and Modula-2 - -GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler, -currently under development at the State University of New York at -Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will -continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992. - -Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to -debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the -symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though! - -There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking, -in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work. - - * set write on/off - -GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch -a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify -the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g. -by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take -effect immediately. - - * Automatic SunOS shared library reading - -When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its -shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols. -The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when -examining core files. - - * set listsize - -You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows. -The default is 10. - - * New machines supported (host and target) - -SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris -Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news -Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3 - - * New hosts supported (not targets) - -IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc - - * New targets supported (not hosts) - -AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff -AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout -Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern - - * New remote interfaces - -AMD 29000 Adapt -AMD 29000 Minimon - - -*** Changes in GDB-4.0: - - * New Facilities - -Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable. - -Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a -target machine of another type. Communication with the target system -is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the -remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the -remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb -also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks, -using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger -stub on the target system. - -New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960. - -GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file'' -library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple -object file types such as a.out and coff. - -There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets -refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it). - - - * Control-Variable user interface simplified - -All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set -by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command. - -For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>. -``Show prompt'' produces the response: -Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>. - -What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will -print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO'' -will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show -all of the variable descriptions and their current settings. - -confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are - hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while - it is already running. Default is ON. - -editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing - of input. Previous lines can be recalled with - control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B, - you can search for commands with control-R, etc. - Default is ON. - -history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history - will be stored. The default is .gdb_history, - or the value of the environment variable - GDBHISTFILE. - -history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The - default is 256, or the value of the environment variable - HISTSIZE. - -history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will - be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the - file will not be saved. The default is OFF. - -history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like - history expansion will be performed on - command line input. The default is OFF. - -radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set - to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted - in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op. - -height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default - is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#'' - setting from the termcap entry matching the environment - variable TERM. - -width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line. - Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#'' - setting from the termcap entry matching the environment - variable TERM. - -Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and -``set width'' instead. - -print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays, - such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks - more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more - ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON. - -print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default - is OFF. - -print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on, - "raw" form if off. - -print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts - like instructions. - -print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF. - - - * Support for Epoch Environment. - -The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One -new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you -are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own -window. - - - * Support for Shared Libraries - -GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries. -Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced -before the shared library has been linked with the program (this -happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered). -At any time after this linking (including when examining core files -from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each -shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command. -It can be abbreviated ``share''. - -sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files - matching a unix regular expression. No argument - indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries. - -info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries. - - - * Watchpoints - -A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an -expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution -tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is -quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse -problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this -more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware. - -watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression. - -info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints. - -delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). -disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). -enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints). - - - * C++ multiple inheritance - -When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance -for C++ programs. - - * C++ exception handling - -Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing -ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on -the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the -handler's context). - -catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope, - set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there. - Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught. - -info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the - current stack frame. - - - * Minor command changes - -The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print -command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result -is void. This is similar to dbx usage. - -The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up -at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change -frames without printing. - - * New directory command - -'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path. -The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information -about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even -with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't -find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .". - - * Configuring GDB for compilation - -For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo -for more details. - -GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between -two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''. -Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine -where the program that you are debugging will run. |