1 If you find inaccuracies in this list, please send mail to
2 gdb-patches@sourceware.cygnus.com. If you would like to work on any
3 of these, you should consider sending mail to the same address, to
4 find out whether anyone else is working on it.
7 Known problems in GDB 5.0
8 =========================
10 Below is a list of problems identified during the GDB 5.0 release
11 cycle. People hope to have these problems fixed in a follow-on
16 The BFD directory requires bug-fixed AUTOMAKE et.al.
18 AUTOMAKE 1.4 incorrectly set the TEXINPUTS environment variable. It
19 contained the full path to texinfo.tex when it should have only
20 contained the directory. The bug has been fixed in the current
21 AUTOMAKE sources. Automake snapshots can be found in:
22 ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/gdb/snapshots
23 and ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/binutils
27 RFD: infrun.c: No bpstat_stop_status call after proceed over break?
28 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00665.html
30 GDB misses watchpoint triggers after proceeding over a breakpoint on
35 x86 linux GDB and SIGALRM (???)
36 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00803.html
38 I know there are problems with single stepping through signal
39 handlers. These problems were present in 4.18. They were just masked
40 because 4.18 failed to recognize signal handlers. Fixing it is not
41 easy, and will require changes to handle_inferior_event(), that I
42 prefer not to make before the 5.0 release.
48 Revised UDP support (was: Re: [Fwd: [patch] UDP transport support])
49 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00000.html
51 (Broken) support for GDB's remote protocol across UDP is to be
52 included in the follow-on release.
56 Can't build IRIX -> arm GDB.
57 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00356.html
60 > Now I'm building for an embedded arm target. If there is a way of turning
61 > remote-rdi off, I couldn't find it. It looks like it gets built by default
62 > in gdb/configure.tgt(line 58) Anyway, the build dies in
63 > gdb/rdi-share/unixcomm.c. SERPORT1 et. al. never get defined because we
64 > aren't one of the architectures supported.
68 Problem with weak functions
69 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-05/msg00060.html
71 Dan Nicolaescu writes:
72 > It seems that gdb-4.95.1 does not display correctly the function when
73 > stoping in weak functions.
75 > It stops in a function that is defined as weak, not in the function
76 > that is actualy run...
80 GDB 5.0 doesn't work on Linux/SPARC
84 Code Cleanups: Next Release
85 ===========================
87 The following are small cleanups that will hopefully be completed by
92 Delete macro TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE.
94 Patches in the database.
100 Eliminate all uses of PARAMS in GDB's source code.
104 Elimination of make_cleanup_func. (Andrew Cagney)
106 make_cleanup_func elimination
107 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00791.html
108 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00814.html
112 Fix copyright notices.
114 Turns out that ``1998-2000'' isn't considered valid :-(
116 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00467.html
120 Code Cleanups: General
121 ======================
123 The following are more general cleanups and fixes. They are not tied
124 to any specific release.
128 Eliminate more compiler warnings.
130 Of course there also needs to be the usual debate over which warnings
131 are valid and how to best go about this.
133 One method: choose a single option; get agreement that it is
134 reasonable; try it out to see if there isn't anything silly about it
135 (-Wunused-parameters is an example of that) then incrementally hack
138 The other method is to enable all warnings and eliminate them from one
143 Elimination of ``(catch_errors_ftype *) func''.
145 Like make_cleanup_func it isn't portable.
153 [PATCH/5] src/intl/Makefile.in:distclean additions
154 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00363.html
156 Do not forget to merge the patch back into the trunk.
160 Rationalize the host-endian code (grep for HOST_BYTE_ORDER).
162 At present defs.h includes <endian.h> (which is linux specific) yet
163 almost nothing depends on it. Suggest "gdb_endian.h" which can also
164 handle <machine/endian.h> and only include that where it is really
169 Replace asprintf() calls with xasprintf() calls.
171 As with things like strdup() most calls to asprintf() don't check the
176 Replace strsave() + mstrsave() with libiberty:xstrdup().
180 Replace savestring() with something from libiberty.
182 An xstrldup()? but that would have different semantics.
186 Rationalize use of floatformat_unknown in GDB sources.
188 Instead of defaulting to floatformat_unknown, should hosts/targets
189 specify the value explicitly?
191 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
195 Add a ``name'' member to include/floatformat.h:struct floatformat.
196 Print that name in gdbarch.c.
200 Sort out the harris mess in include/floatformat.h (it hardwires two
201 different floating point formats).
205 See of the GDB local floatformat_do_doublest() and libiberty's
206 floatformat_to_double (which was once GDB's ...) can be merged some
211 Eliminate mmalloc() from GDB.
213 Also eliminate it from defs.h.
217 Eliminate PTR. ISO-C allows ``void *''.
223 GDB should never abort. GDB should either throw ``error ()'' or
224 ``internal_error ()''. Better still GDB should naturally unwind with
229 GDB probably doesn't build on FreeBSD pre 2.2.x
230 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00378.html
232 Fixes to get FreeBSD working on 2.2.x, 3.x and 4.x caused the code to
239 Readline 4.? is out. A merge wouldn't hurt. Patches are in:
241 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00436.html
245 Deprecate "fg". Apparently ``fg'' is actually continue.
247 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00417.html
251 Deprecate current use of ``floatformat_unknown''.
253 Require all targets to explicitly provide their float format instead
254 of defaulting to floatformat unknown. Doing the latter leads to nasty
257 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00447.html
261 Rationalize floatformat_to_double() vs floatformat_to_doublest().
263 Looks like GDB migrated floatformat_to_double() to libiberty but then
264 turned around and created a ..._to_doublest() the latter containing
267 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00472.html
271 Move floatformat_ia64_ext to libiberty/include floatformat.[ch].
273 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-05/msg00466.html
277 Always build ser-tcp.c.
279 The patch as submitted was just going to add ser-tcp.c to the Alpha's
280 makefile. A better patch is to instead add ser-tcp.c to SER_HARDWARE
281 and make it a standard part of all debuggers.
283 If problems occure then configure.in can sort them out.
285 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00544.html
289 Follow through `make check' with --enable-shared.
291 When the srcware tree is configured with --enable-shared, the `expect'
292 program won't run properly. Jim Wilson found out gdb has a local hack
293 to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH, but, AFAIK, no other project has been hacked
296 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00845.html
300 Change the parameter ``char *list[]'' (etc) to ``const char (*)[]'' so
301 that dynamic lists from things like gdbarch_printable_names() can be
306 The ``maintenance deprecate set endian big'' command doesn't notice
307 that it is deprecating ``set endian'' and not ``set endian big'' (big
308 is implemented using an enum). Is anyone going to notice this?
312 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
313 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
318 New Features and Fixes
319 ======================
321 These are harder than cleanups but easier than work involving
322 fundamental architectural change.
326 Add built-by, build-date, tm, xm, nm and anything else into gdb binary
327 so that you can see how the GDB was created.
329 Some of these (*m.h) would be added to the generated config.h. That
330 in turn would fix a long standing bug where by the build process many
331 not notice a changed tm.h file. Since everything depends on config.h,
332 a change to *m.h forces a change to config.h and, consequently forces
337 Add an "info bfd" command that displays supported object formats,
338 similarly to objdump -i.
340 Is there a command already?
344 Fix ``I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that.'' from symfile.c.
346 This requires internationalization.
350 Convert GDB build process to AUTOMAKE.
352 See also sub-directory configure below.
354 The current convention is (kind of) to use $(<header>_h) in all
355 dependency lists. It isn't done in a consistent way.
359 Cleanup configury support for optional sub-directories.
361 Check how GCC handles multiple front ends for an example of how things
362 could work. A tentative first step is to rationalize things so that
363 all sub directories are handled in a fashion similar to gdb/mi.
365 See also automake above.
369 Restructure gdb directory tree so that it avoids any 8.3 and 14
374 Add a transcript mechanism to GDB.
376 Such a mechanism might log all gdb input and output to a file in a
377 form that would allow it to be replayed. It could involve ``gdb
378 --transcript=FILE'' or it could involve ``(gdb) transcript file''.
382 Can the xdep files be replaced by autoconf?
386 Document trace machinery
390 Document ui-out and ui-file.
392 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00121.html
396 Update texinfo.tex to latest?
402 Incorporate agentexpr.texi into gdb.texinfo
404 agentexpr.texi mostly describes the details of the byte code used for
405 tracepoints, not the internals of the support for this in GDB. So it
406 looks like gdb.texinfo is a better place for this information.
408 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-04/msg00566.html
412 Document overlay machinery.
416 ``(gdb) catch signal SIGNAL''
418 Overlaps with ``handle SIGNAL'' but the implied behavour is different.
419 You can attach commands to a catch but not a handle. A handle has a
420 limited number of hardwired actions.
424 Get the TUI working on all platforms.
428 Add support for ``gdb --- PROGRAM ARGS ...''.
429 Add support for ``gdb -cmd=...''
431 Along with many variations. Check:
433 ????? for a full discussion.
439 Implement ``(gdb) !ls''.
441 Which is very different from ``(gdb) ! ls''. Implementing the latter
444 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00034.html
448 Change the (char *list[]) to (const char (*)[]) so that dynamic lists can
453 When tab expanding something like ``set arch<tab>'' ignore the
454 deprecated ``set archdebug'' and expand to ``set architecture''.
458 Replace the code that uses the host FPU with an emulator of the target
468 Generic: lin-thread cannot handle thread exit (Mark Kettenis, Michael
469 Snyder) http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00525.html
471 The thread_db assisted debugging code doesn't handle exiting threads
472 properly, at least in combination with glibc 2.1.3 (the framework is
473 there, just not the actual code). There are at least two problems
474 that prevent this from working.
476 As an additional reference point, the pre thread_db code did not work
481 GNU/Linux/x86 and random thread signals (and Solaris/SPARC but not
483 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00336.html
485 Christopher Blizzard writes:
487 So, I've done some more digging into this and it looks like Jim
488 Kingdon has reported this problem in the past:
490 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/bug-gdb/1999-10/msg00058.html
492 I can reproduce this problem both with and without Tom's patch. Has
493 anyone seen this before? Maybe have a solution for it hanging around?
496 There's a test case for this documented at:
498 when debugging threaded applications you get extra SIGTRAPs
499 http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=9565
501 [There should be a GDB testcase - cagney]
505 GDB5 TOT on unixware 7
506 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00119.html
509 > I just spun the top of tree of the GDB5 branch on UnixWare 7. As a
510 > practical matter, the current thread support is somewhat more annoying
511 > than when GDB was thread-unaware.
515 Migrate qfThreadInfo packet -> qThreadInfo. (Andrew Cagney)
517 Add support for packet enable/disable commands with these thread
518 packets. General cleanup.
520 [PATCH] Document the ThreadInfo remote protocol queries
521 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00832.html
523 [PATCH] "info threads" queries for remote.c
524 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00831.html
531 New languages come onto the scene all the time.
535 Pascal (Pierre Muller, David Taylor)
537 Pierre Muller has contributed patches for adding Pascal Language
540 2 pascal language patches inserted in database
541 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00521.html
544 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00496.html
548 Java (Anthony Green, David Taylor)
550 Anthony Green has a number of Java patches that did not make it into
554 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00512.html
557 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00515.html
559 Patch: handle N_MAIN stab
560 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb-patches/2000-q1/msg00527.html
566 Modify gdb to work correctly with Pascal.
570 Re: Various C++ things
572 value_headof/value_from_vtable_info are worthless, and should be
573 removed. The one place in printcmd.c that uses it should use the RTTI
576 RTTI for g++ should be using the typeinfo functions rather than the
577 vtables. The typeinfo functions are always at offset 4 from the
578 beginning of the vtable, and are always right. The vtables will have
579 weird names like E::VB sometimes. The typeinfo function will always
580 be "E type_info function", or somesuch.
582 value_virtual_fn_field needs to be fixed so there are no failures for
583 virtual functions for C++ using g++.
585 Testsuite cases are the major priority right now for C++ support,
586 since i have to make a lot of changes that could potentially break
591 Add support for Modula3
593 Get DEC/Compaq to contribute their Modula-3 support.
597 Remote Protocol Support
598 =======================
602 set/show remote X-packet ...
604 ``(gdb) help set remote X-packet'' doesn't list the applicable
605 responses. The help message needs to be expanded.
609 Remote protocol doco feedback.
611 Too much feedback to mention needs to be merged in (901660). Search
612 for the word ``remote''.
615 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00023.html
616 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00056.html
617 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00382.html
621 GDB doesn't recover gracefully from remote protocol errors.
623 GDB wasn't checking for NAKs from the remote target. Instead a NAK is
624 ignored and a timeout is required before GDB retries. A pre-cursor to
625 fixing this this is making GDB's remote protocol packet more robust.
627 While downloading to a remote protocol target, gdb ignores packet
628 errors in so far as it will continue to edownload with chunk N+1 even
629 if chunk N was not correctly sent. This causes gdb.base/remote.exp to
630 take a painfully long time to run. As a PS that test needs to be
631 fixed so that it builds on 16 bit machines.
635 Add the cycle step command.
637 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-q1/msg00237.html
641 Resolve how to scale things to support very large packets.
645 Resolve how to handle a target that changes things like its endianess
646 on the fly - should it be returned in the ``T'' packet?
648 Underlying problem is that the register file is target endian. If the
649 target endianess changes gdb doesn't know.
656 If / when GDB starts to support the debugging of multi-processor
657 (rather than multi-thread) applications the symtab code will need to
658 be updated a little so that several independant symbol tables are
659 active at a given time.
661 The other interesting change is a clarification of the exact meaning
662 of CORE_ADDR and that has had consequences for a few targets (that
663 were abusing that data type).
667 Investiagate ways of reducing memory.
671 Investigate ways of improving load time.
675 Get the d10v to use POINTER_TO_ADDRESS and ADDRESS_TO_POINTER.
677 Consequence of recent symtab clarification. No marks for figuring out
678 who maintains the d10v.
682 Get the MIPS to correctly sign extend all address <-> pointer
685 Consequence of recent symtab clarification. No marks for figuring out
686 who maintains the MIPS.
693 There are never to many testcases.
697 Better thread testsuite.
701 Better C++ testsuite.
705 Look at adding a GDB specific testsuite directory so that white box
706 tests of key internals can be added (eg ui_file).
710 Separate out tests that involve the floating point (FP).
712 (Something for people brining up new targets). FP and non-fp tests
713 are combined. I think there should be set of basic tests that
714 exercise pure integer support and then a more expanded set that
715 exercise FP and FP/integer interactions.
717 As an example, the MIPS, for n32 as problems with passing FP's and
718 structs. Since most inferior call tests include FP it is difficult to
719 determine of the integer tests are ok.
723 Architectural Changes: General
724 ==============================
726 These are harder than simple cleanups / fixes and, consequently
727 involve more work. Typically an Architectural Change will be broken
728 down into a more digestible set of cleanups and fixes.
732 Cleanup software single step.
734 At present many targets implement software single step by directly
735 blatting memory (see rs6000-tdep.c). Those targets should register
736 the applicable breakpoints using the breakpoint framework. Perhaphs a
737 new internal breakpoint class ``step'' is needed.
741 Replace READ_FP() with FRAME_HANDLE().
743 READ_FP() is a hangover from the days of the vax when the ABI really
744 did have a frame pointer register. Modern architectures typically
745 construct a virtual frame-handle from the stack pointer and various
746 other bits of string.
748 Unfortunatly GDB still treats this synthetic FP register as though it
749 is real. That in turn really confuses users (arm and ``print $fp'' VS
750 ``info registers fp''). The synthetic FP should be separated out of
751 the true register set presented to the user.
755 Register Cache Cleanup (below from Andrew Cagney)
757 I would depict the current register architecture as something like:
764 register + REGISTER_BYTE(reg_nr)
767 -------------------------
768 | extern register[] |
769 -------------------------
771 where neither the high (valops.c et.al.) or low gdb (*-tdep.c) are
772 really clear on what mechanisms they should be using to manipulate that
773 buffer. Further, much code assumes, dangerously, that registers are
774 contigious. Having got mips-tdep.c to support multiple ABIs, believe
775 me, that is a bad assumption. Finally, that register cache layout is
776 determined by the current remote/local target and _not_ the less
777 specific target ISA. In fact, in many cases it is determined by the
778 somewhat arbitrary layout of the [gG] packets!
781 How I would like the register file to work is more like:
809 The main objectives being:
811 o a clear separation between the low
812 level target and the high level GDB
814 o a mechanism that solves the general
815 problem of register aliases, overlaps
816 etc instead of treating them as optional
817 extras that can be wedged in as an after
818 thought (that is a reasonable description
819 of the current code).
821 Identify then solve the hard case and the
822 rest just falls out. GDB solved the easy
823 case and then tried to ignore the real
826 o a removal of the assumption that the
827 mapping between the register cache
828 and virtual registers is largely static.
829 If you flip the USR/SSR stack register
830 select bit in the status-register then
831 the corresponding stack registers should
834 o a mechanism that clearly separates the
835 gdb internal register cache from any
836 target (not architecture) dependant
837 specifics such as [gG] packets.
839 Of course, like anything, it sounds good in theory. In reality, it
840 would have to contend with many<->many relationships at both the
841 virt<->cache and cache<->target level. For instance:
844 Modifying an mmx register may involve
845 scattering values across both FP and
846 mmpx specific parts of a buffer
849 When writing back a SP it may need to
850 both be written to both SP and USP.
855 Rather than let this like the last time it was discussed, just slip, I'm
856 first going to add this e-mail (+ references) to TODO. I'd then like to
857 sketch out a broad strategy I think could get us there.
860 First thing I'd suggest is separating out the ``extern registers[]''
861 code so that we can at least identify what is using it. At present
862 things are scattered across many files. That way we can at least
863 pretend that there is a cache instead of a global array :-)
865 I'd then suggest someone putting up a proposal for the pseudo-reg /
866 high-level side interface so that code can be adopted to it. For old
867 code, initially a blanket rename of write_register_bytes() to
868 deprecated_write_register_bytes() would help.
870 Following that would, finaly be the corresponding changes to the target.
874 Check that GDB can handle all BFD architectures (Andrew Cagney)
876 There should be a test that checks that BFD/GDB are in sync with
877 regard to architecture changes. Something like a test that first
878 queries GDB for all supported architectures and then feeds each back
879 to GDB.. Anyone interested in learning how to write tests? :-)
883 Architectural Change: Multi-arch et al.
884 =======================================
886 The long term objective is to remove all assumptions that there is a
887 single target with a single address space with a single instruction
888 set architecture and single application binary interface.
890 This is an ongoing effort. The first milestone is to enable
891 ``multi-arch'' where by all architectural decisions are made at
894 It should be noted that ``gdbarch'' is really ``gdbabi'' and
895 ``gdbisa''. Once things are multi-arched breaking that down correctly
896 will become much easier.
900 GDBARCH cleanup (Andrew Cagney)
902 The non-generated parts of gdbarch.{sh,h,c} should be separated out
903 into arch-utils.[hc].
905 Document that gdbarch_init_ftype could easily fail because it didn't
906 identify an architecture.
910 Fix BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION. Change it to BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION_P?
912 At present there is still #ifdef BELIEVE_PPC_PROMOTION code in the
917 Fix target_signal_from_host() etc.
919 The name is wrong for starters. ``target_signal'' should probably be
920 ``gdb_signal''. ``from_host'' should be ``from_target_signal''.
921 After that it needs to be multi-arched and made independant of any
922 host signal numbering.
926 Update ALPHA so that it uses ``struct frame_extra_info'' instead of
929 This is a barrier to replacing mips_extra_func_info with something
930 that works with multi-arch.
934 Multi-arch mips_extra_func_info.
936 This first needs the alpha to be updated so that it uses ``struct
941 Rationalize TARGET_SINGLE_FORMAT and TARGET_SINGLE_BIT et al.
943 Surely one of them is redundant.
947 Convert ALL architectures to MULTI-ARCH.
951 Select the initial multi-arch ISA / ABI based on --target or similar.
953 At present the default is based on what ever is first in the BFD
954 archures table. It should be determined based on the ``--target=...''
961 Enable the code to recognize --enable-targets=.... like BINUTILS does.
963 Can the tm.h and nm.h files be eliminated by multi-arch.
967 Architectural Change: MI, LIBGDB and scripting languages
968 ========================================================
970 See also architectural changes related to the event loop. LIBGDB
971 can't be finished until there is a generic event loop being used by
974 The long term objective is it to be possible to integrate GDB into
979 Implement generic ``(gdb) commmand > file''
981 Once everything is going through ui_file it should be come fairly
984 http://sourceware.cygnus.com/ml/gdb/2000-04/msg00104.html
988 Replace gdb_stdtarg with gdb_targout (and possibly gdb_targerr).
990 gdb_stdtarg is easily confused with gdb_stdarg.
994 Extra ui_file methods - dump.
996 Very useful for whitebox testing.
1000 Eliminate error_begin().
1002 With ui_file, there is no need for the statefull error_begin ()
1007 Send normal output to gdb_stdout.
1008 Send error messages to gdb_stderror.
1009 Send debug and log output log gdb_stdlog.
1011 GDB still contains many cases where (f)printf or printf_filtered () is
1012 used when it should be sending the messages to gdb_stderror or
1013 gdb_stdlog. The thought of #defining printf to something has crossed
1018 Re-do GDB's output pager.
1020 GDB's output pager still relies on people correctly using *_filtered
1021 for gdb_stdout and *_unfiltered for gdb_stdlog / gdb_stderr.
1022 Hopefully, with all normal output going to gdb_stdout, the pager can
1023 just look at the ui_file that the output is on and then use that to
1024 decide what to do about paging. Sounds good in theory.
1028 Check/cleanup MI documentation.
1030 The list of commands specified in the documentation needs to be
1031 checked against the mi-cmds.c table in a mechanical way (so that they
1032 two can be kept up-to-date).
1036 Convert MI into libgdb
1038 MI provides a text interface into what should be many of the libgdb
1039 functions. The implementation of those functions should be separated
1040 into the MI interface and the functions proper. Those functions being
1041 moved to gdb/lib say.
1047 The first part can already be found in defs.h.
1051 MI's input does not use buffering.
1053 At present the MI interface reads raw characters of from an unbuffered
1054 FD. This is to avoid several nasty buffer/race conditions. That code
1055 should be changed so that it registers its self with the event loop
1056 (on the input FD) and then push commands up to MI as they arrive.
1058 The serial code already does this.
1062 Make MI interface accessable from existing CLI.
1066 Add a breakpoint-edit command to MI.
1068 It would be similar to MI's breakpoint create but would apply to an
1069 existing breakpoint. It saves the need to delete/create breakpoints
1070 when ever they are changed.
1074 Add directory path to MI breakpoint.
1076 That way the GUI's task of finding the file within which the
1077 breakpoint was set is simplified.
1081 Add a mechanism to reject certain expression classes to MI
1083 There are situtations where you don't want GDB's expression
1084 parser/evaluator to perform inferior function calls or variable
1085 assignments. A way of restricting the expression parser so that such
1086 operations are not accepted would be very helpful.
1090 Remove sideffects from libgdb breakpoint create function.
1092 The user can use the CLI to create a breakpoint with partial
1093 information - no file (gdb would use the file from the last
1096 The libgdb interface currently affects that environment which can lead
1097 to confusion when a user is setting breakpoints via both the MI and
1100 This is also a good example of how getting the CLI ``right'' will be
1105 Move gdb_lasterr to ui_out?
1107 The way GDB throws errors and records them needs a re-think. ui_out
1108 handles the correct output well. It doesn't resolve what to do with
1109 output / error-messages when things go wrong.
1113 Architectural Change: Async
1114 ===========================
1116 While GDB uses an event loop when prompting the user for input. That
1117 event loop is not exploited by targets when they allow the target
1118 program to continue. Typically targets still block in (target_wait())
1119 until the program again halts.
1121 The closest a target comes to supporting full asynchronous mode are
1122 the remote targets ``async'' and ``extended-async''.
1126 Asynchronous expression evaluator
1128 Inferior function calls hang GDB.
1132 Fix implementation of ``target xxx''.
1134 At present when the user specifies ``target xxxx'', the CLI maps that
1135 directly onto a target open method. It is then assumed that the
1136 target open method should do all sorts of complicated things as this
1137 is the only chance it has. Check how the various remote targets
1138 duplicate the target operations. Check also how the various targets
1139 behave differently for purely arbitrary reasons.
1141 What should happen is that ``target xxxx'' should call a generic
1142 ``target'' function and that should then co-ordinate the opening of
1143 ``xxxx''. This becomes especially important when you're trying to
1144 open an asynchronous target that may need to perform background tasks
1145 as part of the ``attach'' phase.
1147 Unfortunatly, due to limitations in the old/creaking command.h
1148 interface, that isn't possible. The function being called isn't told
1149 of the ``xxx'' or any other context information.
1151 Consequently a precursor to fixing ``target xxxx'' is to clean up the
1152 CLI code so that it passes to the callback function (attatched to a
1153 command) useful information such as the actual command and a context
1154 for that command. Other changes such as making ``struct command''
1155 opaque may also help.
1159 Make "target xxx" command interruptible.
1161 As things become async this becomes possible. A target would start
1162 the connect and then return control to the event loop. A cntrl-c
1163 would notify the target that the operation is to be abandoned and the
1164 target code could respond.
1168 Add a "suspend" subcommand of the "continue" command to suspend gdb
1169 while continuing execution of the subprocess. Useful when you are
1170 debugging servers and you want to dodge out and initiate a connection
1171 to a server running under gdb.
1180 Frequently requested but not approved requests.
1184 Eliminate unused argument warnings using ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED.
1186 The benefits on this one are thought to be marginal - GDBs design
1187 means that unused parameters are very common. GCC 3.0 will also
1188 include the option -Wno-unused-parameter which means that ``-Wall
1189 -Wno-unused-parameters -Werror'' can be specified.
1198 This list is not up to date, and opinions vary about the importance or
1199 even desirability of some of the items. If you do fix something, it
1200 always pays to check the below.
1204 @c This does not work (yet if ever). FIXME.
1205 @c @item --parse=@var{lang} @dots{}
1206 @c Configure the @value{GDBN} expression parser to parse the listed languages.
1207 @c @samp{all} configures @value{GDBN} for all supported languages. To get a
1208 @c list of all supported languages, omit the argument. Without this
1209 @c option, @value{GDBN} is configured to parse all supported languages.
1213 START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED need never be defined to 2, since that
1214 is its default value. Clean this up.
1218 It should be possible to use symbols from shared libraries before we know
1219 exactly where the libraries will be loaded. E.g. "b perror" before running
1220 the program. This could maybe be done as an extension of the "breakpoint
1221 re-evaluation" after new symbols are loaded.
1225 Make single_step() insert and remove breakpoints in one operation.
1227 [If this is talking about having single_step() insert the breakpoints,
1228 run the target then pull the breakpoints then it is wrong. The
1229 function has to return as control has to eventually be passed back to
1230 the main event loop.]
1234 Speed up single stepping by avoiding extraneous ptrace calls.
1238 Speed up single stepping by not inserting and removing breakpoints
1239 each time the inferior starts and stops.
1241 Breakpoints should not be inserted and deleted all the time. Only the
1242 one(s) there should be removed when we have to step over one. Support
1243 breakpoints that don't have to be removed to step over them.
1245 [this has resulted in numerous debates. The issue isn't clear cut]
1249 Provide "voodoo" debugging of core files. This creates a zombie
1250 process as a child of the debugger, and loads it up with the data,
1251 stack, and regs of the core file. This allows you to call functions
1252 in the executable, to manipulate the data in the core file.
1258 GDB reopens the source file on every line, as you "next" through it.
1260 [still true? I've a memory of this being fixed]
1264 Perhaps "i source" should take an argument like that of "list".
1268 Remove "at 0xnnnn" from the "b foo" response, if `print address off' and if
1269 it matches the source line indicated.
1273 The prompt at end of screen should accept space as well as CR.
1277 Backtrace should point out what the currently selected frame is, in
1278 its display, perhaps showing "@3 foo (bar, ...)" or ">3 foo (bar,
1279 ...)" rather than "#3 foo (bar, ...)".
1283 "i program" should work for core files, and display more info, like what
1284 actually caused it to die.
1288 "x/10i" should shorten the long name, if any, on subsequent lines.
1292 "next" over a function that longjumps, never stops until next time you happen
1293 to get to that spot by accident. E.g. "n" over execute_command which has
1298 "set zeroprint off", don't bother printing members of structs which
1299 are entirely zero. Useful for those big structs with few useful
1304 GDB does four ioctl's for every command, probably switching terminal modes
1305 to/from inferior or for readline or something.
1309 terminal_ours versus terminal_inferior: cache state. Switch should be a noop
1310 if the state is the same, too.
1314 "i frame" shows wrong "arglist at" location, doesn't show where the args
1315 should be found, only their actual values.
1319 There should be a way for "set" commands to validate the new setting
1320 before it takes effect.
1324 "ena d" is ambiguous, why? "ena delete" seems to think it is a command!
1328 i line VAR produces "Line number not known for symbol ``var''.". I
1329 thought we were stashing that info now!
1333 We should be able to write to random files at hex offsets like adb.
1337 [elena - delete this]
1339 Handle add_file with separate text, data, and bss addresses. Maybe
1340 handle separate addresses for each segment in the object file?
1344 [Jimb/Elena delete this one]
1346 Handle free_named_symtab to cope with multiply-loaded object files
1347 in a dynamic linking environment. Should remember the last copy loaded,
1348 but not get too snowed if it finds references to the older copy.
1352 [elena delete this also]
1354 Remove all references to:
1361 now that we have BFD. All remaining are in machine dependent files.
1365 Re-organize help categories into things that tend to fit on a screen
1370 Add in commands like ADB's for searching for patterns, etc. We should
1371 be able to examine and patch raw unsymboled binaries as well in gdb as
1372 we can in adb. (E.g. increase the timeout in /bin/login without source).
1374 [actually, add ADB interface :-]
1378 When doing "step" or "next", if a few lines of source are skipped between
1379 the previous line and the current one, print those lines, not just the
1380 last line of a multiline statement.
1384 Handling of "&" address-of operator needs some serious overhaul
1385 for ANSI C and consistency on arrays and functions.
1386 For "float point[15];":
1387 ptype &point[4] ==> Attempt to take address of non-lvalue.
1388 For "char *malloc();":
1389 ptype malloc ==> "char *()"; should be same as
1390 ptype &malloc ==> "char *(*)()"
1391 call printf ("%x\n", malloc) ==> weird value, should be same as
1392 call printf ("%x\n", &malloc) ==> correct value
1396 Fix dbxread.c symbol reading in the presence of interrupts. It
1397 currently leaves a cleanup to blow away the entire symbol table when a
1398 QUIT occurs. (What's wrong with that? -kingdon, 28 Oct 1993).
1400 [I suspect that the grype was that, on a slow system, you might want
1401 to cntrl-c and get just half the symbols and then load the rest later
1402 - scary to be honest]
1406 Mipsread.c reads include files depth-first, because the dependencies
1407 in the psymtabs are way too inclusive (it seems to me). Figure out what
1408 really depends on what, to avoid recursing 20 or 30 times while reading
1413 value_add() should be subtracting the lower bound of arrays, if known,
1414 and possibly checking against the upper bound for error reporting.
1418 When listing source lines, check for a preceding \n, to verify that
1419 the file hasn't changed out from under us.
1421 [fixed by some other means I think. That hack wouldn't actually work
1422 reliably - the file might move such that another \n appears. ]
1426 Get all the remote systems (where the protocol allows it) to be able to
1427 stop the remote system when the GDB user types ^C (like remote.c
1428 does). For ebmon, use ^Ak.
1432 Possible feature: A version of the "disassemble" command which shows
1433 both source and assembly code ("set symbol-filename on" is a partial
1436 [has this been done? It was certainly done for MI and GDBtk]
1440 investigate "x/s 0" (right now stops early) (I think maybe GDB is
1441 using a 0 address for bad purposes internally).
1445 Make "info path" and path_command work again (but independent of the
1446 environment either of gdb or that we'll pass to the inferior).
1450 Make GDB understand the GCC feature for putting octal constants in
1451 enums. Make it so overflow on an enum constant does not error_type
1452 the whole type. Allow arbitrarily large enums with type attributes.
1453 Put all this stuff in the testsuite.
1457 Make TYPE_CODE_ERROR with a non-zero TYPE_LENGTH more useful (print
1458 the value in hex; process type attributes). Add this to the
1459 testsuite. This way future compilers can add new types and old
1460 versions of GDB can do something halfway reasonable.
1464 Fix mdebugread.c:parse_type to do fundamental types right (see
1465 rs6000_builtin_type in stabsread.c for what "right" is--the point is
1466 that the debug format fixes the sizes of these things and it shouldn't
1467 depend on stuff like TARGET_PTR_BIT and so on. For mdebug, there seem
1468 to be separate bt* codes for 64 bit and 32 bit things, and GDB should
1469 be aware of that). Also use a switch statement for clarity and speed.
1473 Investigate adding symbols in target_load--some targets do, some
1478 Put dirname in psymtabs and change lookup*symtab to use dirname (so
1479 /foo/bar.c works whether compiled by cc /foo/bar.c, or cd /foo; cc
1484 Merge xcoffread.c and coffread.c. Use breakpoint_re_set instead of
1489 Make a watchpoint which contains a function call an error (it is
1490 broken now, making it work is probably not worth the effort).
1494 New test case based on weird.exp but in which type numbers are not
1495 renumbered (thus multiply defining a type). This currently causes an
1496 infinite loop on "p v_comb".
1500 [Hey! Hint Hint Delete Delete!!!]
1502 Fix 386 floating point so that floating point registers are real
1503 registers (but code can deal at run-time if they are missing, like
1504 mips and 68k). This would clean up "info float" and related stuff.
1508 gcc -g -c enummask.c then gdb enummask.o, then "p v". GDB complains
1509 about not being able to access memory location 0.
1511 -------------------- enummask.c
1532 If try to modify value in file with "set write off" should give
1533 appropriate error not "cannot access memory at address 0x65e0".
1537 Allow core file without exec file on RS/6000.
1541 Make sure "shell" with no arguments works right on DOS.
1545 Make gdb.ini (as well as .gdbinit) be checked on all platforms, so
1546 the same directory can be NFS-mounted on unix or DOS, and work the
1551 [Is this another delete???]
1553 Get SECT_OFF_TEXT stuff out of objfile_relocate (might be needed to
1554 get RS/6000 to work right, might not be immediately relevant).
1558 Work out some kind of way to allow running the inferior to be done as
1559 a sub-execution of, eg. breakpoint command lists. Currently running
1560 the inferior interupts any command list execution. This would require
1561 some rewriting of wait_for_inferior & friends, and hence should
1562 probably be done in concert with the above.
1566 Add function arguments to gdb user defined functions.
1570 Add convenience variables that refer to exec file, symbol file,
1571 selected frame source file, selected frame function, selected frame
1576 Modify the handling of symbols grouped through BINCL/EINCL stabs to
1577 allocate a partial symtab for each BINCL/EINCL grouping. This will
1578 seriously decrease the size of inter-psymtab dependencies and hence
1579 lessen the amount that needs to be read in when a new source file is
1584 Add a command for searching memory, a la adb. It specifies size,
1585 mask, value, start address. ADB searches until it finds it or hits
1586 an error (or is interrupted).
1590 Remove the range and type checking code and documentation, if not