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This commit allows a user to create custom MI commands using Python
similarly to what is possible for Python CLI commands.
A new subclass of mi_command is defined for Python MI commands,
mi_command_py. A new file, gdb/python/py-micmd.c contains the logic
for Python MI commands.
This commit is based on work linked too from this mailing list thread:
https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb/2021-November/049774.html
Which has also been previously posted to the mailing list here:
https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb-patches/2019-May/158010.html
And was recently reposted here:
https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb-patches/2022-January/185190.html
The version in this patch takes some core code from the previously
posted patches, but also has some significant differences, especially
after the feedback given here:
https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb-patches/2022-February/185767.html
A new MI command can be implemented in Python like this:
class echo_args(gdb.MICommand):
def invoke(self, args):
return { 'args': args }
echo_args("-echo-args")
The 'args' parameter (to the invoke method) is a list
containing (almost) all command line arguments passed to the MI
command (--thread and --frame are handled before the Python code is
called, and removed from the args list). This list can be empty if
the MI command was passed no arguments.
When used within gdb the above command produced output like this:
(gdb)
-echo-args a b c
^done,args=["a","b","c"]
(gdb)
The 'invoke' method of the new command must return a dictionary. The
keys of this dictionary are then used as the field names in the mi
command output (e.g. 'args' in the above).
The values of the result returned by invoke can be dictionaries,
lists, iterators, or an object that can be converted to a string.
These are processed recursively to create the mi output. And so, this
is valid:
class new_command(gdb.MICommand):
def invoke(self,args):
return { 'result_one': { 'abc': 123, 'def': 'Hello' },
'result_two': [ { 'a': 1, 'b': 2 },
{ 'c': 3, 'd': 4 } ] }
Which produces output like:
(gdb)
-new-command
^done,result_one={abc="123",def="Hello"},result_two=[{a="1",b="2"},{c="3",d="4"}]
(gdb)
I have required that the fields names used in mi result output must
match the regexp: "^[a-zA-Z][-_a-zA-Z0-9]*$" (without the quotes).
This restriction was never written down anywhere before, but seems
sensible to me, and we can always loosen this rule later if it proves
to be a problem. Much harder to try and add a restriction later, once
people are already using the API.
What follows are some details about how this implementation differs
from the original patch that was posted to the mailing list.
In this patch, I have changed how the lifetime of the Python
gdb.MICommand objects is managed. In the original patch, these object
were kept alive by an owned reference within the mi_command_py object.
As such, the Python object would not be deleted until the
mi_command_py object itself was deleted.
This caused a problem, the mi_command_py were held in the global mi
command table (in mi/mi-cmds.c), which, as a global, was not cleared
until program shutdown. By this point the Python interpreter has
already been shutdown. Attempting to delete the mi_command_py object
at this point was causing GDB to try and invoke Python code after
finalising the Python interpreter, and we would crash.
To work around this problem, the original patch added code in
python/python.c that would search the mi command table, and delete the
mi_command_py objects before the Python environment was finalised.
In contrast, in this patch, I have added a new global dictionary to
the gdb module, gdb._mi_commands. We already have several such global
data stores related to pretty printers, and frame unwinders.
The MICommand objects are placed into the new gdb.mi_commands
dictionary, and it is this reference that keeps the objects alive.
When GDB's Python interpreter is shut down gdb._mi_commands is deleted,
and any MICommand objects within it are deleted at this point.
This change avoids having to make the mi_cmd_table global, and walk
over it from within GDB's python related code.
This patch handles command redefinition entirely within GDB's python
code, though this does impose one small restriction which is not
present in the original code (detailed below), I don't think this is a
big issue. However, the original patch relied on being able to
finish executing the mi_command::do_invoke member function after the
mi_command object had been deleted. Though continuing to execute a
member function after an object is deleted is well defined, it is
also (IMHO) risky, its too easy for someone to later add a use of the
object without realising that the object might sometimes, have been
deleted. The new patch avoids this issue.
The one restriction that is added to avoid this, is that an MICommand
object can't be reinitialised with a different command name, so:
(gdb) python cmd = MyMICommand("-abc")
(gdb) python cmd.__init__("-def")
can't reinitialize object with a different command name
This feels like a pretty weird edge case, and I'm happy to live with
this restriction.
I have also changed how the memory is managed for the command name.
In the most recently posted patch series, the command name is moved
into a subclass of mi_command, the python mi_command_py, which
inherits from mi_command is then free to use a smart pointer to manage
the memory for the name.
In this patch, I leave the mi_command class unchanged, and instead
hold the memory for the name within the Python object, as the lifetime
of the Python object always exceeds the c++ object stored in the
mi_cmd_table. This adds a little more complexity in py-micmd.c, but
leaves the mi_command class nice and simple.
Next, this patch adds some extra functionality, there's a
MICommand.name read-only attribute containing the name of the command,
and a read-write MICommand.installed attribute that can be used to
install (make the command available for use) and uninstall (remove the
command from the mi_cmd_table so it can't be used) the command. This
attribute will be automatically updated if a second command replaces
an earlier command.
This patch adds additional error handling, and makes more use the
gdbpy_handle_exception function.
Co-Authored-By: Jan Vrany <jan.vrany@labware.com>
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