Re: gcore or generate-core-file command?

["Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@gnu.org>]

I've committed the attached patch to document this command.

2004-10-23  Eli Zaretskii  <eliz@gnu.org>

	* gdb.texinfo (Core File Generation): New section.

Index: gdb.texinfo
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/src/src/gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo,v
retrieving revision 1.221
diff -u -r1.221 gdb.texinfo
--- gdb.texinfo	23 Oct 2004 14:34:53 -0000	1.221
+++ gdb.texinfo	23 Oct 2004 15:00:42 -0000
@@ -4780,6 +4780,7 @@
 * Auxiliary Vector::            Auxiliary data provided by operating system
 * Memory Region Attributes::    Memory region attributes
 * Dump/Restore Files::          Copy between memory and a file
+* Core File Generation::        Cause a program dump its core
 * Character Sets::              Debugging programs that use a different
                                 character set than GDB does
 @end menu
@@ -6176,6 +6177,36 @@
 
 @end table
 
+@node Core File Generation
+@section How to Produce a Core File from Your Program
+@cindex dump core from inferior
+
+A @dfn{core file} or @dfn{core dump} is a file that records the memory
+image of a running process and its process status (register values
+etc.).  Its primary use is post-mortem debugging of a program that
+crashed while it ran outside a debugger.  A program that crashes
+automatically produces a core file, unless this feature is disabled by
+the user.  @xref{Files}, for information on invoking @value{GDBN} in
+the post-mortem debugging mode.
+
+Occasionally, you may wish to produce a core file of the program you
+are debugging in order to preserve a snapshot of its state.
+@value{GDBN} has a special command for that.
+
+@table @code
+@kindex gcore
+@kindex generate-core-file
+@item generate-core-file [@var{file}]
+@itemx gcore [@var{file}]
+Produce a core dump of the inferior process.  The optional argument
+@var{file} specifies the file name where to put the core dump.  If not
+specified, the file name defaults to @file{core.@var{pid}}, where
+@var{pid} is the inferior process ID.
+
+Note that this command is implemented only for some systems (as of
+this writing, @sc{gnu}/Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Unixware, and S390).
+@end table
+
 @node Character Sets
 @section Character Sets
 @cindex character sets