Re: [RFC] Target Layer Python Interface

[Kieran Bingham <kieran.bingham@linaro.org>]

On 05/02/16 16:38, Jeff Mahoney wrote:
> On 2/5/16 11:36 AM, Kieran Bingham wrote:
>> On 04/02/16 22:16, Ales Novak wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> On 2016-2-1 19:19, Kieran Bingham wrote:
>>>> [...] The API, I would expect to match that of the Target API
>>>> operations. I would expect a one-to-one mapping of (required)
>>>> operation names to perform functions.
>>>>
>>>> For instance, to support thread listings, I would expect
>>>> something along the lines of:
>>>>
>>>> .to_update_thread_list .to_pid_to_str .to_extra_thread_info 
>>>> .to_thread_alive .to_fetch_registers ...
>>>
>>> FTR I've slightly tweaked your gdb.Target to process
>>> "to_xfer_partial", the respective commit is:
>>>
>>> https://github.com/alesax/gdb-kdump/commit/efba160691273ef3c154711255
> 4584088b5dba75
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
> (and the respective branch is "gdb-target")
>>>
>>> Then the target code which is accessing virtual (!) memory of the
>>> kernel dump on the disk (using libkdumpfile library) is as small
>>> as:
>>>
>>> === from gdb import Target from _kdumpfile import kdumpfile
>>>
>>> class MyTarget(Target): def __init__(self, fil): self.kdump =
>>> kdumpfile(fil) self.kdump.symbol_func = \ lambda nam:
>>> long(gdb.lookup_minimal_symbol(nam).value()) 
>>> self.kdump.vtop_init() super(MyTarget, self).__init__() def
>>> to_xfer_partial(self, obj, annex, readbuf, writebuf, offset,
>>> ln): if obj == self.TARGET_OBJECT_MEMORY: r = self.kdump.read
>>> (self.kdump.KDUMP_KVADDR, offset, ln) readbuf[:] = r return ln
>>>
>>> MyTarget(file("/tmp/vmcore")) ===
>>>
>>> which is really nice, I'd say. Now it would be interesting
> 
>> Were you going to say something else here? ... looks like it got
>> chopped!
> 
> 
>> Pulling the const's through is pretty neat, and that does make an 
>> effective way to implement the read overrides to a file!
> 
> 
>> By the way, I'd started to add thread support - but I'm on holiday
>> now.
> 
>> Adding an add_thread(pid,lwp,tid) method to the inferior allows
> 
> Ok, I have code doing that too.  There's a big messy commit at the top
> of my repo last night that I'm going to refactor but I got most of
> this working.

Fantastic, you've probably spent more time on it than me so I'll bet
your version works before I'm back from holiday!

I'll go have a quick look now. :D

I felt a bit like we need a bit better encapsulation on the ptid_t
object. Might need a small object to wrap it up for passing around
instead of just throwing Tuples everywhere.

--
Kieran

> 
> -Jeff
> 
>> def to_update_thread_list(self): 
>> gdb.write("LX.to_update_thread_list\n") inferior =
>> gdb.selected_inferior() threads = inferior.threads() for task in
>> tasks.task_lists(): # Build ptid_t ... class object better here
>> still ptid = (inferior.pid, 0, task['pid'])  # (pid, lwp, tid) if
>> ptid not in threads: gdb.write("- New Task [{} {}]\n" 
>> .format(task['pid'], task['comm'].string())) 
>> inferior.add_thread(ptid)
> 
> 
>> The 'if ptid not in tasks' is not working yet. That was going to be
>> next on my list.
> 
>> I think the comparison function is in the wrong place, it should
>> be implementing __contains__ instead of compare I think.
> 
>> Then it's just a matter of wiring up Jeff's Regcache ...
> 
>> If you're interested: My latest patches are at:
> 
>> http://git.linaro.org/people/kieran.bingham/binutils-gdb.git
>> lkd-python
> 
>> And the Kernel Awareness object is at 
>> http://git.linaro.org/people/kieran.bingham/linux.git lkd-python
> 
>> Feel free to have a go at wiring up while I'm away if it's useful
>> to you.
> 
> 
>>>
>>>
>>>> And having seen Jeff's work today, we could utilise Jeff's
>>>> py-regcache object quite effectively
>>>>
>>>> [...]
>>>>
>>>> Yes, I suspect some of the functionality to implement will be
>>>> very repeatable throughout each of the operation call
>>>> implementations.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> However, the more I look into it - the more I see each function
>>>> is likely to need very specific bindings, as it is not simple
>>>> passing from c function to c function.
>>>
>>> Yes, the mentioned to_xfer_partial being a good example (of not
>>> simple passing).
> 
>> Indeed - but probably not too many hooks to implement to get
>> thread integration through python.
> 
>>>
>>>> Perhaps we can factor out commonality as we go - and try to
>>>> keep as DRY as possible, but I suspect it will be an iterative
>>>> implementation process.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I can't comment without more details though. My initial
>>>>> reaction though is yeah, this sounds useful and exciting.
>>>>
>>>> Perfect :)
>>>
>>> Yes, this definitely is worth pursuing.
>>>
> 
>> I'm glad you like the concept. I think it can work well with the
>> recent code Jeff has written.
> 
>> Although I may be slightly diverted for a bit when I get back from 
>> holiday - so if it can go somewhere for you guys ... do have a go
>> until I return. (And let me know how it goes!)
> 
>> Regards
> 
>> Kieran
> 
> 
> 
>