+# These tests used to try completing the shorter "p b-a".
+# Unfortunately, on some systems, there are .o files in system
+# libraries which declare static variables named `b'. Of course,
+# those variables aren't really in scope, as far as the compiler is
+# concerned. But GDB deliberately tries to be more liberal: if you
+# enter an identifier that doesn't have any binding in scope, GDB will
+# search all the program's compilation units for a static variable of
+# the given name.
+#
+# This behavior can help avoid a lot of pedantry, so it's usually a
+# good thing. But in this test case, it causes GDB to print the value
+# of some random variable, instead of giving us the "No symbol..."
+# error we were expecting.
+#
+# For example, on S/390 linux, the file s_atan.c in libm.a declares a
+# `b', which is a structure containing an int and a float, so GDB says
+# ``Argument to arithmetic operation not a number or boolean'' instead
+# of ``No symbol ...''.
+#
+# So, I'm hoping that there is no system with a static library variable named
+# `no_var_by_this_name'.
+send_gdb "p no_var_named_this-a\t"