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gdb provides the following ways to control how arrays, structures, and symbols are printed.
These settings are useful for debugging programs in any language:
set print addressset print address onon. For example, this is what a stack frame display looks like with
set print address on:
(gdb) f
#0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<<", rq=0x34c88 ">>")
at input.c:530
530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
set print address offset print address off:
(gdb) set print addr off
(gdb) f
#0 set_quotes (lq="<<", rq=">>") at input.c:530
530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
You can use ‘set print address off’ to eliminate all machine
dependent displays from the gdb interface. For example, with
print address off, you should get the same text for backtraces on
all machines—whether or not they involve pointer arguments.
show print addressWhen gdb prints a symbolic address, it normally prints the
closest earlier symbol plus an offset. If that symbol does not uniquely
identify the address (for example, it is a name whose scope is a single
source file), you may need to clarify. One way to do this is with
info line, for example ‘info line *0x4537’. Alternately,
you can set gdb to print the source file and line number when
it prints a symbolic address:
set print symbol-filename onset print symbol-filename offshow print symbol-filenameAnother situation where it is helpful to show symbol filenames and line numbers is when disassembling code; gdb shows you the line number and source file that corresponds to each instruction.
Also, you may wish to see the symbolic form only if the address being printed is reasonably close to the closest earlier symbol:
set print max-symbolic-offset max-offsetset print max-symbolic-offset unlimitedunlimited, which tells gdb
to always print the symbolic form of an address if any symbol precedes
it. Zero is equivalent to unlimited.
show print max-symbolic-offsetIf you have a pointer and you are not sure where it points, try
‘set print symbol-filename on’. Then you can determine the name
and source file location of the variable where it points, using
‘p/a pointer’. This interprets the address in symbolic form.
For example, here gdb shows that a variable ptt points
at another variable t, defined in hi2.c:
(gdb) set print symbol-filename on
(gdb) p/a ptt
$4 = 0xe008 <t in hi2.c>
Warning: For pointers that point to a local variable, ‘p/a’
does not show the symbol name and filename of the referent, even with
the appropriate set print options turned on.
You can also enable ‘/a’-like formatting all the time using ‘set print symbol on’:
set print symbol onset print symbol offshow print symbolOther settings control how different kinds of objects are printed:
set print arrayset print array onset print array offshow print arrayset print array-indexesset print array-indexes onset print array-indexes offshow print array-indexesset print elements number-of-elementsset print elements unlimitedset print elements command.
This limit also applies to the display of strings.
When gdb starts, this limit is set to 200.
Setting number-of-elements to unlimited or zero means
that the number of elements to print is unlimited.
show print elementsset print frame-arguments valueallscalars.... This is the default. Here is an example where
only scalar arguments are shown:
#1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=3, s=..., ss=0xbf8d508c, u=..., e=green)
at frame-args.c:23
none.... In this case, the example above now becomes:
#1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=..., s=..., ss=..., u=..., e=...)
at frame-args.c:23
By default, only scalar arguments are printed. This command can be used
to configure the debugger to print the value of all arguments, regardless
of their type. However, it is often advantageous to not print the value
of more complex parameters. For instance, it reduces the amount of
information printed in each frame, making the backtrace more readable.
Also, it improves performance when displaying Ada frames, because
the computation of large arguments can sometimes be CPU-intensive,
especially in large applications. Setting print frame-arguments
to scalars (the default) or none avoids this computation,
thus speeding up the display of each Ada frame.
show print frame-argumentsset print raw frame-arguments onset print raw frame-arguments offshow print raw frame-argumentsset print entry-values valueThe default value is default (see below for its description). Older
gdb behaved as with the setting no. Compilers not supporting
this feature will behave in the default setting the same way as with the
no setting.
This functionality is currently supported only by DWARF 2 debugging format and the compiler has to produce ‘DW_TAG_GNU_call_site’ tags. With gcc, you need to specify -O -g during compilation, to get this information.
The value parameter can be one of the following:
no #0 equal (val=5)
#0 different (val=6)
#0 lost (val=<optimized out>)
#0 born (val=10)
#0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
only #0 equal (val@entry=5)
#0 different (val@entry=5)
#0 lost (val@entry=5)
#0 born (val@entry=<optimized out>)
#0 invalid (val@entry=<optimized out>)
preferred #0 equal (val@entry=5)
#0 different (val@entry=5)
#0 lost (val@entry=5)
#0 born (val=10)
#0 invalid (val@entry=<optimized out>)
if-needed #0 equal (val=5)
#0 different (val=6)
#0 lost (val@entry=5)
#0 born (val=10)
#0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
both #0 equal (val=5, val@entry=5)
#0 different (val=6, val@entry=5)
#0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@entry=5)
#0 born (val=10, val@entry=<optimized out>)
#0 invalid (val=<optimized out>, val@entry=<optimized out>)
compact<optimized out>. If not in MI mode (see GDB/MI) and if both
values are known and identical, print the shortened
param=param@entry=VALUE notation.
#0 equal (val=val@entry=5)
#0 different (val=6, val@entry=5)
#0 lost (val@entry=5)
#0 born (val=10)
#0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
defaultparam=param@entry=VALUE notation.
#0 equal (val=val@entry=5)
#0 different (val=6, val@entry=5)
#0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@entry=5)
#0 born (val=10)
#0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
For analysis messages on possible failures of frame argument values at function
entry resolution see set debug entry-values.
show print entry-valuesset print repeats number-of-repeatsset print repeats unlimited"<repeats n times>", where n is the number of
identical repetitions, instead of displaying the identical elements
themselves. Setting the threshold to unlimited or zero will
cause all elements to be individually printed. The default threshold
is 10.
show print repeatsset print null-stopshow print null-stopset print pretty on $1 = {
next = 0x0,
flags = {
sweet = 1,
sour = 1
},
meat = 0x54 "Pork"
}
set print pretty off $1 = {next = 0x0, flags = {sweet = 1, sour = 1}, \
meat = 0x54 "Pork"}
This is the default format.
show print prettyset print sevenbit-strings on\nnn. This setting is
best if you are working in English (ascii) and you use the
high-order bit of characters as a marker or “meta” bit.
set print sevenbit-strings offshow print sevenbit-stringsset print union onset print union off"{...}"
instead.
show print unionFor example, given the declarations
typedef enum {Tree, Bug} Species;
typedef enum {Big_tree, Acorn, Seedling} Tree_forms;
typedef enum {Caterpillar, Cocoon, Butterfly}
Bug_forms;
struct thing {
Species it;
union {
Tree_forms tree;
Bug_forms bug;
} form;
};
struct thing foo = {Tree, {Acorn}};
with set print union on in effect ‘p foo’ would print
$1 = {it = Tree, form = {tree = Acorn, bug = Cocoon}}
and with set print union off in effect it would print
$1 = {it = Tree, form = {...}}
set print union affects programs written in C-like languages
and in Pascal.
These settings are of interest when debugging C++ programs:
set print demangleset print demangle onshow print demangleset print asm-demangleset print asm-demangle onshow print asm-demangleset demangle-style styleautognug++) encoding algorithm.
hpaCC) encoding algorithm.
lucidlcc) encoding algorithm.
armcfront-generated executables. gdb would
require further enhancement to permit that.
show demangle-styleset print objectset print object onset print object offshow print objectset print static-membersset print static-members onset print static-members offshow print static-membersset print pascal_static-membersset print pascal_static-members onset print pascal_static-members offshow print pascal_static-membersset print vtblset print vtbl onvtbl commands do not work on programs compiled with the HP
ANSI C++ compiler (aCC).)
set print vtbl offshow print vtbl