update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Joel Brobecker]

Hello everyone,

The targeted branch time (2009-05-08) is fast approaching, and there are
still lots of items on the list.  I think the following elements should
be relatively quick&easy to fix:

 (1) Assert in frame.c:get_frame_arch.
     IIRC, this assert was added to control accesses to this function,
     but is not otherwise essential for correct behavior; So worse
     case scenario, we could simply remove the assert on the branch
     while we investigate a proper fix on the HEAD.

 (2) Python pretty-printing: 1 issue left: Printing strings with
     NUL characters in them.
     Is that blocking? Or can we fix quickly?

 (3) PR/9723: gdb breakpoints silently fail on PIE binaries 
     We don't need to fix this issue, but we need to add a warning
     that PIE is not supported.

On the other hand, the following might be tricky:

 (4) PR/9711: Quadratic slowdown for "where" command. 
     This was deemed blocking for the release.

Not sure about the following two items:
   
 (5) PR/9786: Typing "info frame" immediately after connecting to a remote
     target causes an assertion error on x86 GNU/Linux (32 bit). 

 (6) Commands attached to breakpoints
     Apparently, an annoying bug.

At this point, it seems too late to think about including inlining
support in 7.0:

 (7) Inlining support:
     Has Mark removed his objection based on Daniel's answers to
     his latest remarks?

One of the issues I should mention is my availability. Unfortunately,
I don't think I'll be able to fulfill my duties until May 18. I'll
also be away 10 days starting May 28, with only sporadic email access.

Given all that, I'm not sure it's wise to try to push for a release
before the summit. What I suggest is that we try to address all the
issues above ASAP, and then branch as soon as we're satisfied.
Or perhaps, we might still want to branch on time, and then address
the issues on both head and branch. I'm OK with that. I'll delay the
pre-release pending resolution of the issues if necessary.

Thoughts?

-- 
Joel

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Tom Tromey]

>>>>> "Joel" == Joel Brobecker <brobecker@adacore.com> writes:

Joel>  (2) Python pretty-printing: 1 issue left: Printing strings with
Joel>      NUL characters in them.
Joel>      Is that blocking? Or can we fix quickly?

The pretty-printing patch series is still waiting for a review from an
MI maintainer.  In particular I wanted to make sure the new MI
commands are ok.

If any changes are needed I cannot do them for some time.  I'm on
paternity leave for at least one more week, maybe more.

Phil is still working on the final part of the embedded \0 fix.  I
don't know how far out this is.  IMO it is not a blocking issue, just
nice to have; the feature is still very useful even with this bug.

Joel>  (7) Inlining support:
Joel>      Has Mark removed his objection based on Daniel's answers to
Joel>      his latest remarks?

I did not see any response.

Joel> Given all that, I'm not sure it's wise to try to push for a release
Joel> before the summit. 

Sounds good.

Tom

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Joel Brobecker]

Hi Tom,

> The pretty-printing patch series is still waiting for a review from an
> MI maintainer.  In particular I wanted to make sure the new MI
> commands are ok.

I'll contact Thiago to see if he can take charge of that part.

> Phil is still working on the final part of the embedded \0 fix.  I
> don't know how far out this is.  IMO it is not a blocking issue, just
> nice to have; the feature is still very useful even with this bug.

OK - I will move this issue to the "optional section".

> Joel> Given all that, I'm not sure it's wise to try to push for a release
> Joel> before the summit. 
> 
> Sounds good.

OK - at this point, we're defering the branch creation. Pedro also
expressed the opinion that we should fix the blocking issues first.

I'd like us to be a little bit proactive at fixing the last few
issues, so as to take avantage of my availability in June. July
and August are going to be crazy for me. So what I'll do is ask
for help from some people who are willing to be a point of contact
for given issues, and responsible for getting the issue fixed asap.
I'll help with review as well as nudging if needed :-).

-- 
Joel

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 13:51:01 -0700
> From: Joel Brobecker <brobecker@adacore.com>
> Cc: gdb@sourceware.org
> 
> > Joel> Given all that, I'm not sure it's wise to try to push for a release
> > Joel> before the summit. 
> > 
> > Sounds good.
> 
> OK -@this point, we're defering the branch creation. Pedro also
> expressed the opinion that we should fix the blocking issues first.
> 
> I'd like us to be a little bit proactive@fixing the last few
> issues, so as to take avantage of my availability in June. July
> and August are going to be crazy for me.

So what's the current consensus about an approximate dates for the
GDB 7.0 branch and release?

I'm not applying any pressure, just would like to know the time frame,
so I could plan my work on the DJGPP port of GDB accordingly.  June
will be quite hectic for me as well.

TIA

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Joel Brobecker]

> So what's the current consensus about an approximate dates for the
> GDB 7.0 branch and release?

I'm not really sure. I definitely have some time in July to create
the release if we're ready, but we might not be. After that, it'll
probably have to be in September. It's hard to be more accurate,
as it's all based on volunteer efforts.

-- 
Joel

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sun, 17 May 2009 14:38:20 -0700
> From: Joel Brobecker <brobecker@adacore.com>
> Cc: gdb@sourceware.org
> 
> > So what's the current consensus about an approximate dates for the
> > GDB 7.0 branch and release?
> 
> I'm not really sure. I definitely have some time in July to create
> the release if we're ready, but we might not be. After that, it'll
> probably have to be in September.

Thanks, this is good enough for me.

Re: update on the gdb-7.0 branch/release

[Stan Shebs]

Joel Brobecker wrote:
>> So what's the current consensus about an approximate dates for the
>> GDB 7.0 branch and release?
>>     
>
> I'm not really sure. I definitely have some time in July to create
> the release if we're ready, but we might not be. After that, it'll
> probably have to be in September. It's hard to be more accurate,
> as it's all based on volunteer efforts.
>   
July allows time to get in most or all of multiprocess, plus a bunch of 
tracepoint work I've been piling up as local patches. We can revisit the 
question on 1 July or so, see where things are at. I don't think we want 
to go later than September in any case, that makes 1.5 years since 6.8, 
which still seems reasonable albeit longish for a major release number.

Although we're volunteers, we also have employers we can push back on - 
"if 7.0 doesn't happen by September, it will be the end of the world and 
everybody will switch to, uh, Visual Studio". :-)

Stan