Need to understand GDB internals .

Need to understand GDB internals .

[Diptopal Basu]

Hi ,

I am a newbie to GDB and need to understand GDB internals especially
breakpoints and byte code internals implementation  . How to get
started ?

 Please help .

Regards
Diptopal

Re: Need to understand GDB internals .

[Jeremy Bennett]

On Mon, 2009-08-10 at 15:30 +0530, Diptopal Basu wrote:

> I am a newbie to GDB and need to understand GDB internals especially
> breakpoints and byte code internals implementation  . How to get

Hi Diptopal,

There's an internals manual in the gdb/doc subdirectory of the source
code which should be your starting point. It's also online here:

        http://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdbint_toc.html

There's the GDB Wiki with all sorts of goodies for developers:

        http://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/

(Shameless self-plug :-). I've written a couple of application notes on
porting GDB and how the GDB Remote Serial Protocol works:
        
        http://www.embecosm.com/download/ean3.html
        http://www.embecosm.com/download/ean4.html

There's this mailing list, and also the gdb-patches mailing list, which
is a good way to see how developers go about modifying the system.

Finally there's the GDB IRC chat: #gdb on irc.freenode.net, port 6667.
Always a helpful expert there whenever I get stuck.

HTH,


Jeremy

-- 
Tel:      +44 (1590) 610184
Cell:     +44 (7970) 676050
SkypeID: jeremybennett
Email:   jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com
Web:     www.embecosm.com

Re: Need to understand GDB internals .

[Jeremy Bennett]

On Sun, 2009-08-23 at 03:07 +0530, Diptopal Basu wrote:
> Hi Jeremy ,
> 
>   I have started going through the GDB internals manual ,I cant't say
> I understand much of it , perhaps I need to go through the code also
> simultaneously .

Hi Diptopal,

Definitely. It's an aid to understanding the code, not a standalone
tutorial. It is not complete, nor is it all up to date. Once you
understand an area, you may like to contribute patches to improve the
manual for future readers.

>    I will give you an instance of where I am getting stuck , take for
> example the Breakpoints chapter , it gives an overview of the
> breakpoints implementation but does not really describe the exact
> algorithm but refers to the files which contain the code, I think I
> have to get into the code to understand this . I need to understand
> how GDB works conceptually  . Could you suggest me a starting point
> please , the GDB internals manual does not seem have enough
> information .

The Embecosm application notes try to provide some of this. Partly by
putting individual routines in a bigger context, and partly by
explaining "why" as well as "how" things happen. But they only touch the
surface. They should help you understand the internals manual better,
but they don't replace it.

>     Once I get a hang of what GDB is doing I could move forward to the
> other materials you have referred me to in one of your previous
> mails .

You may like to look at the Embecosm Application Note 3 early on, to
help you understand the GDB internals manual.

HTH,


Jeremy

-- 
Tel:      +44 (1590) 610184
Cell:     +44 (7970) 676050
SkypeID: jeremybennett
Email:   jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com
Web:     www.embecosm.com

Re: Need to understand GDB internals .

[Hui Zhu]

gdb/breakpoint.c

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 18:00, Diptopal Basu<diptopal.basu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi ,
>
> I am a newbie to GDB and need to understand GDB internals especially
> breakpoints and byte code internals implementation  . How to get
> started ?
>
>  Please help .
>
> Regards
> Diptopal
>

Re: Fwd: Need to understand GDB internals .

[Jeremy Bennett]

On Sat, 2009-08-29 at 14:07 +0530, Diptopal Basu wrote:

>      I need information on gdbserver internals too , as I am
> interested in remote debugging on an ARM 9 based board  , please let
> me know where I can find that information .
> 
>     Thanks again for the GDB internals information you provided .

Hi Diptopal,

I've never actually used gdbserver (most of my work is with small bare
metal targets too small to support it). There is some documentation
within the main GDB manual. My application note on Remote Serial
Protocol should help you with the side that interfaces to the GDB
client.

        http://www.embecosm.com/download/ean4.html

Other than that, it's study the code (in the gdb/gdbserver directory) -
lots of example targets there. Plus there's many people on this mailing
list and the GDB IRC channel who understand the program and can help you
with detailed specifics.

Once you understand all about it, you could update the GDB Internals
manual with some more documentation...

ATB,


Jeremy

-- 
Tel:      +44 (1590) 610184
Cell:     +44 (7970) 676050
SkypeID: jeremybennett
Email:   jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com
Web:     www.embecosm.com

Re: Fwd: Need to understand GDB internals .

[Diptopal Basu]

 Hi ,

     Anybody with documentation on how to create GDB stubs for remote
targets on ARM architecture or otherwise  ?

 Regards
 Diptopal

On 9/3/09, Diptopal Basu <diptopal.basu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi ,
>
>      Anybody with documentation on how to create GDB stubs for remote
> targets on ARM architecture or otherwise  ?
>
> Regards
> Diptopal
>
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Jeremy Bennett
> <jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com
>> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 2009-08-29 at 14:07 +0530, Diptopal Basu wrote:
>>
>> >      I need information on gdbserver internals too , as I am
>> > interested in remote debugging on an ARM 9 based board  , please let
>> > me know where I can find that information .
>> >
>> >     Thanks again for the GDB internals information you provided .
>>
>> Hi Diptopal,
>>
>> I've never actually used gdbserver (most of my work is with small bare
>> metal targets too small to support it). There is some documentation
>> within the main GDB manual. My application note on Remote Serial
>> Protocol should help you with the side that interfaces to the GDB
>> client.
>>
>>        http://www.embecosm.com/download/ean4.html
>>
>> Other than that, it's study the code (in the gdb/gdbserver directory) -
>> lots of example targets there. Plus there's many people on this mailing
>> list and the GDB IRC channel who understand the program and can help you
>> with detailed specifics.
>>
>> Once you understand all about it, you could update the GDB Internals
>> manual with some more documentation...
>>
>> ATB,
>>
>>
>> Jeremy
>>
>> --
>> Tel:      +44 (1590) 610184
>> Cell:     +44 (7970) 676050
>> SkypeID: jeremybennett
>> Email:   jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com
>> Web:     www.embecosm.com
>>
>>
>