MXGDB(1) X Version 11/OSF Motif (Jan 10 1992) MXGDB(1)
NAME
mxgdb - Motif based X window system interface to the gdb
debugger.
SYNOPSIS
mxgdb [ -toolkitoption ... ] [-mxgdboption ... ] [-gdboption
... ] [objfile [ corefile ]]
DESCRIPTION
Mxgdb is a Motif based graphical user interface to the gdb
debugger under the X Window System. It provides visual
feedback and mouse input for the user to control program
execution through breakpoints, to examine and traverse the
function call stack, to display values of variables and data
structures, to browse source files and functions and to
obtain help on gdb commands and options.
Mxgdb allows initial gdb commands stored in the file
.gdbinit to be executed immediately after the symbolic
information is read. If .gdbinit does not exist in the
current directory, the user's home directory is searched
(~/.gdbinit).
Objfile is an object file produced by a compiler with the
appropriate option (-g) specified to produce symbol table
information for gdb. If no objfile is specified, the file
command can be used later to specify the program to be
debugged.
If a file named core exists in the current directory or a
corefile is specified, mxgdb can be used to examine the
state of the program when the core dump occurred.
The name of the debugger invoked by mxgdb is, by default,
gdb, but it can be overridden with the environment variable
MXGDB_DEBUGGER. Likewise the prompt used by gdb can be
overriden by the environment variable GDB_PROMPT.
OPTIONS
Mxgdb accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line
options (see X(1)), and all the gdb options (see gdb(1)),
plus the following mxgdb specific options:
-bigicon
Uses a 64x64 icon instead of the default 48x48 icon.
-cmdd
Uses a separate detached window to hold command buttons
instead of the default button layout in the Source
Window.
WINDOW PANES
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The mxgdb interface consists of the following window panes:
Menu Pane Provide access to the File, Commands and
Help pulldown menus.
File Window Display the full pathname of the file
displayed in the source window, and the
line number of the caret.
Source Window Display the contents of a source file
and provides a set of buttons of the
common gdb commands which are invoked by
pressing the LEFT mouse button down.
Browsing text in the window is possible
via the cursor keys, pg up/down, and the
vertical scroll bar (see SCROLLBAR).
viewing lines greater than the window's
width is possible through the left page
and right page command buttons.
Message Window Display the execution status and error
messages of mxgdb.
Dialogue Window Provide a typing interface to gdb which
is identical to the gdb command line
interface with the exception that mxgdb
reserves the right to intercept output
for its own interpretation and use.
The relative sizes of the Source Window and the Dialogue
Window can be adjusted by dragging the grip (a small square
near the right edge of a horizontal border) with the LEFT
mouse button down. Ordering of the command buttons in the
Source Window will not change when the window is resized but
the height of the buttons will change to completely fill the
height of the window.
DIALOG WINDOWS
Mxgdb can optionally display the following dialog windows:
Display Window Provide a window with a scrolling work
area for displaying variables each time
execution stops.
Help Window Provide a window for access to gdb's
built in help functions. The basic
components of this window are a
scrolling work area and a command line.
The work area contains gdb's help text
menu where the commands and categories
are placed in buttons. Selecting these
buttons accesses help more specific to
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the respective command or category. The
command line always contains a Quit
button, which will remove the Help
Window if chosen, and optionally an Up
Arrow button which only appears if you
have chosen an additional help selection
from the work area. In this case
choosing the Up Arrow button will return
you to the previous help text menu.
File Selection Window
Provide a window for selection of
directories, executables and source
files. The File Selection Window
consists of five basic components: a
Filter, which can be edited and which
affects what appears in the Directories
list and the Files list, a Selection
which can either be edited or altered by
selecting elements of the Directories or
Files lists, and a set of Buttons which
control the use of the Selection
contents. The File Window initially
starts by displaying the current
directory and its contents. You can use
the Filer button to change the displayed
directory or to restrict the set of
files which are displayed in the Files
list. Selecting the OK button will
provide a listing of the file if it is
one fo the current source files, will
use it as the exec-file and symbol-file
if it is executable or will add it to
the source path if it is a directory.
Selecting the Cancel button will remove
the File Selection Window without
executing any commands.
Search Window Provide a window for searching through
the contents of the Source Window. This
window has five components: a Selection
which is edited for the string to search
for, a Down button which scans the
Source Window for occurrences of the
Selection down from the current line, an
Up button which scans the Source Window
for occurrences of the Selection up from
the current line, a Cancel button which
ends the search and returns the text to
the original line, and a Stop button
which ends the search but stays at the
current line.
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Commands Window Provide a window to contain the command
buttons (appears only if mxgdb was
invoked with -cmdd or if the
useCommandDialog resource is set to
True).
Xtty Window Provide a pseudo-tty device through an
xterm for use by the debug process for
character I/O. This pdeudo-device uses
the xterm terminal type and is
configured with the following terminal
settings: intr = DEL; quit = ^|; erase =
^h; kill = ^u; eof = ^d; eol = ^` swtch
= ^z; susp = ^z -parenb -parodd cs8
-cstopb hupcl cread -clocal -loblk
-ignbrk brkint ignpar -parmrk -inpck
-istrip -inlcr -igncr icrnl -iuclc -ixon
-ixany -ixoff isig icanon -xcase echo
echoe echok echonl -noflsh -tostop
-iexten opost -olcuc onlcr -ocrnl -onocr
-onlret -ofill -ofdel
Exit Window Asks the user if he really wishes to
exit mxgdb. Selecting OK will exit mxgdb
immediately. Selecting Cancel will
remove the window and return to mxgdb.
Info Window Provides a window containing the
authors' names, the current versions and
date and any additional information on
this version.
PULL DOWN MENUS
The following pull menus are provided with mxgdb:
File
File... Invoke the File Selection Window dialog.
Search... Invoke the Search Window dialog.
Commands... Redisplay the Commands Window dialog
(this is only sensitive if the Commands
Window is being used).
Xtty... Invoke the Xtty Window and direct gdb to
use it (via gdb's stty function).
Selecting Xtty a second time will remove
the Xtty Window and reset gdb to use the
normal I/O terminal.
Exit... Presents the Exit Window and asks if you
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wish to exit mxgdb.
Commands The entries in the Commands menu
contains the following groups of gdb
commands:
Running run continue next step finish
Data print display undisplay
Breakpoints break clear tbreak
Stack up down
Info locals args stack
Help
Gdb Help... Invokes the Help Window dialog.
Info... Invokes the Info Window dialog.
KEY BINDINGS AND ACCELLERATORS
Mxgdb uses the following key bindings in the respective
windows:
Source Window (add later)
Dialog Window (add later)
Mxgdb defines the following accellerator keys:
Cntrl-f Invokes the File Selection Window.
Cntrl-x Invokes the Exit Window.
Cntrl-w Invokes the Search Window.
Cntrl-r Executes the run command.
Cntrl-n Executes the next command.
Cntrl-s Executes the step command.
Cntrl-p Executes the print command.
Cntrl-b Executes the break command.
Cntrl-g Executes the up command.
Cntrl-j Executes the down command.
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Cntrl-h Invokes the Help Window.
SELECTION
Text selection in the source window is modified to make it
easier to select C expressions. Using the LEFT mouse button
in combination with the SHIFT key selects a C expression by
highlighting it in reverse-video. LEFT mouse button down
alone positions the caret and updates the line label
accordingly.
C expression selection is based on the resource delimiters
which determines the set of characters that delimits a C
expression. Text selection adjustment is possible by holding
the LEFT mouse button down and dragging.
To paste a selection in the Dialog Window press the MIDDLE
mouse button down. The selection will be put on the mxgdb
command line only and cannot be inserted anywhere but the
command line. A selection may be inserted from any text
selection available on the given display.
Selection of displayed varables in the Display Window is
also made easier. Using the LEFT mouse button down on the
line containing the variable name the displayed variable is
automatically selected by its number (see the description of
the undisplay command button).
SCROLLBAR
Pressing the LEFT mouse button scrolls the text forward,
whereas pressing the RIGHT mouse button scrolls the text
backward. The amount of scrolling depends on the distance
of the pointer button away from the top of the scrollbar.
If the button is pressed at the top of the scrollbar, only
one line of text is scrolled. If the button is pressed at
the bottom of the scrollbar, one screenful of text is
scrolled.
Pressing the MIDDLE mouse button changes the thumb position
of the scrollbar. Dragging the MIDDLE mouse button down
moves the thumb along and changes the text displayed.
COMMAND BUTTONS
The mxgdb command buttons are positioned either in the left
margin of the Source Window (by default) or in the Command
Window dialog. The buttons are situated vertically in two
columns and correspond (from top to bottom). The following
commands can be chosen by pressing the LEFT mouse button
down within the command button:
run Begin program execution.
stack Show a stack trace of the functions called.
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locals Print the local variables of the selected frame,
each on a separate line. These are all variables
declared static or automatic within all program
blocks that execution in this frame is currently
inside of.
up Move up one level on the call stack.
args Print the arguments of the selected stack frame,
each on a separate line.
down Move down one level on the call stack.
print * Print the value of the object the selected
expression is pointing to.
print Print the value of a selected expression.
cont Continue execution from where it stopped.
step Execute one source line, stepping into a function
if the source line contains a function call.
finish Continue execution until the selected procedure
returns; the current procedure is used if none is
selected.
next Execute one source line, without stepping into any
function call.
clear Remove the breakpoint on the source line selected
or the function name selected.
break Stop program execution at the line selected. To
set a breakpoint in the program, place the caret
on the source line and choose the break button. A
stop-sign will appear next to the source line. To
set a breakpoint in a function, select the
function name and choose the break button. A
stop-sign will be placed near the first executable
line of the function.
undisplay Stop displaying the value of the selected
expression in the Display Window dialog. If the
selected expression is a constant, it refers to
the display number associated with an expression
in the display window.
display Display the value of a selected expression in the
Display Window dialog, updating its value every
time execution stops.
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left page Shift the Source Window contents to the left so
that lines longer that the width of the Source
Window can be made visible.
right page
Shift the Source Window contents to the right.
X DEFAULTS
To change the default values of widget resources used in
mxgdb, you need to reference the widgets by name or by
class. The widget hierarchies for the window panes and the
dialog windows are given in the file /usr/lib/X11/app-
defaults/Mxgdb. These can overriden by making similar
entries in the .Xdefaults file in you home directory. In
addition to the standard X resources, mxgdb uses the
following application-specific resources for user
customization. The value in parentheses is the default
value.
bell If True, the bell is on. (True)
displayWindow
If True, the display window appears on start up.
(False)
delimiters
The set of delimiters for word selection. ("
!%^&*()+=~|;:{},/#<?
prompt
The prompt string used in mxgdb. ("(mxgdb) ")
button_color
Color of all of the buttons not specified below.
(Black)
stop_color
Color of the stop sign, and set/clear breakpoint
buttons. (Red)
arrow_color
Color of the arrow sign, and the right/left scroll
buttons. (Blue)
updown_color
Color of the updown sign, and the up/down stack
buttons. (Blue)
bomb_color
Color of the bomb sign. (Red)
FILES
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a.out default object file
core default core file
.gdbinit local initial commands file
~/.gdbinit user's initial commands file
SEE ALSO
X(1), gdb(1)
LIMITATIONS
BUGS
Output from the debug program can fool the mxgdb parser if
an Xtty Window is not used to manage I/O from the debug
process. A separate asynchronous pseudo-tty should be used
as the default means of I/O with the debug process.
COPYRIGHT
Derived from manpage from xxgdb(1) Derived from manpage from
xdbx(1) Copyright 1989 The University of Texas at Austin
Copyright 1990 Microelectronics and Computer Technology
Corporation Copyright 1991 Bull HN
AUTHOR
Po Cheung (xdbx(1)) Jim Tsillas (mxgdb(1))
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