Re: [RFA/RFC] New command: ``start''

[Joel Brobecker <brobecker@gnat.com>]

> > As briefly discussed on gdb@ and gdb-patches@, here is a first proposal
> > for the addition of a new command: ``start''.
> > 
> > I handled the language-dependent issue by adding a new method to the
> > language vector. I returns a newly allocated string that tells GDB
> > where to insert the breakpoint. I named it "main_program_name" because
> > I would expect it to always return the name of a procedure. However,
> > it can actually return any location expression. So a language could
> > use a different approach and return something like "*0xdeadbeef" or
> > "source.c:10" for instance.
> 
> We already have a function for this: main_name.  Is it adequate for
> Ada?

I forgot about this function. But I don't think it's adequate for the
start command. If I understand everything correctly, this function
relies on some information provided in stabs via N_MAIN symbols.
Otherwise, it defaults to "main". This wouldn't necessarily work
with any debug format.

Also, the purpose of this function is slightly different from what
I am trying to achieve with the language method: Despite the fact that
most users see Ada programs starting at the begining of their main
procedure, a closer approximation is that it starts inside procedure
main() too. 

To give you a better understanding how who it works in Ada (as defined
in the Reference Manual [RM for short]), the execution of an Ada program
has 3 important phases: 1. Elaboration
                        2. Program execution
                        3. Finalization
The RM says that the elaboration should be performed inside a procedure
called "adainit", and that the finalization should be performed by a
procedure called "adafinal". The elaboration and finalization order
is computed by a tool called the "binder" that checks all the
dependencies, and generate a small source file that looks like this:

        void
        adainit (void)
        {
          /* Do the program elaboration here.  */
        }
        
        void
        adafinal (void)
        {
          /* Finalize the program.  */
        }
        
        void
        int
        main (...)
        {
          adainit ();
          the_user_main_program ();
          adafinal ();
        }

The last step when building a program is then to call the gnat linker
that will do 2 things: compile the file generated by the binder,
and then do the link. (this is all automated by our gnatmake tool :).

So, even though most Ada users will usually only care about their
own main procedure, I occasionally need to go up the stack up
to procedure "main" to inspect it.

Adapting main_name() to fit the purpose of the start command would
cause the backtrace (amount other things) to be a bit shorter, and
also depend on the current language.

One thing that might be worthwhile, though, is call it from
xdefault_main_program_name, instead of hard-coding "main" a second time.
But that might introduce an unwanted dependency.

-- 
Joel