XDBX(1) X Version 11 (July 25 1990) XDBX(1)
NAME
xdbx - X window system interface to the dbx debugger.
SYNOPSIS
xdbx [ -toolkitoption ... ] [-xdbxoption ... ] [-dbxoption
... ] [objfile [ corefile ]]
DESCRIPTION
Xdbx is a graphical user interface to the dbx 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,
and to browse source files and functions.
Xdbx allows initial dbx commands stored in the file .dbxinit
to be executed immediately after the symbolic information is
read. If .dbxinit does not exist in the current directory,
the user's home directory is searched (~/.dbxinit).
Objfile is an object file produced by a compiler with the
appropriate option (-g) specified to produce symbol table
information for dbx. For Sun dbx, if no objfile is
specified, the debug 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, xdbx can be used to examine the state
of the program when the core dump occurred.
The name of the debugger invoked by xdbx is, by default,
dbx, but it can be overridden with the environment variable
DEBUGGER.
OPTIONS
Xdbx accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line
options (see X(1)), and all the dbx options (see dbx(1)),
plus the following xdbx specific options:
-bigicon
Uses a 64x64 icon instead of the default 48x48 icon.
SUBWINDOWS
Xdbx consists of the following subwindows:
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.
Message Window Display the execution status and error
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messages of xdbx .
Command Window Provide a list of the common dbx
commands which are invoked by simply
clicking the LEFT mouse button.
Dialogue Window Provide a typing interface to dbx.
Display Window Provide a window for displaying
variables each time execution stops.
(Sun dbx only)
The relative sizes of the source window, command 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.
SELECTION
Text selection in the source window is modified to make it
easier to select C expressions. LEFT mouse button down
selects a C expression by highlighting it in reverse-video.
LEFT mouse button down also 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. (The default word selection behavior in the
Athena text widget selects a word delimited by white
spaces.) Text selection adjustment is possible by holding
the LEFT mouse button down and dragging.
A LEFT mouse button click with the SHIFT button down prints
the value of the expression selected.
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
Execution Commands
run Begin program execution.
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cont Continue execution from where it stopped.
step Execute one source line, stepping into a
function if the source line contains a function
call.
next Execute one source line, without stepping into
any function call.
return (Berkeley dbx only) Continue execution until the
selected procedure returns; the current
procedure is used if none is selected.
Breakpoint Commands
stop at Stop program execution at the line selected. To
set a breakpoint in the program, place the caret
on the source line and click the stop at button.
A stop sign will appear next to the source line.
stop in Stop program execution in the function selected.
To set a breakpoint in a function, select the
function name and click the stop in button. A
stop sign will be placed near the first executable
line of the function.
delete Remove the breakpoint on the source line selected
or the breakpoint number selected.
status Show the current breakpoints and traces.
Stack Commands
where Show a stack trace of the functions called.
up Move up one level on the call stack.
down Move down one level on the call stack.
Data Display Commands
print Print the value of a selected expression.
print * Print the value of the object the selected
expression is pointing to.
display Display the value of a selected expression in the
display window, updating its value every time
execution stops. (Sun dbx only)
undisplay Stop displaying the value of the selected
expression in the display window. If the selected
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expression is a constant, it refers to the display
number associated with an expression in the
display window. (Sun dbx only)
dump Print the names and values of local variables and
parameters in the current or selected function.
Miscellaneous Commands
func Display a selected function on the source window, and
change the scope for variable name resolution to the
selected function. The file scope is changed to the
file containing the function.
file Pop up a directory browser that allows the user to move
up and down in the directory tree, to select a text
file to be displayed, or (in Sun dbx) to select an
executable file to debug. Directory entries are marked
with a trailing slash (`/') and executables with a
trailing asterisk (`*'). Filenames beginning with a
dot (`.') or ending with a tilde (`~') are not listed
in the menu.
search
Pop up a search panel which allows both forward (>>)
and reverse (<<) search of text strings in the source
file. Hitting carriage return after entering the
search string will begin a forward search and pop down
the search panel.
quit Exit xdbx.
Displaying C Data Structures (Sun dbx only)
Xdbx provides some primitive support for graphically
displaying C structures and the ability of following
pointers. Pressing the RIGHT mouse button on the print (or
print *) command button displays the value of the selected
expression (or the value the selected expression is pointing
to) in a popup. If the value is a pointer or a structure
containing pointers, the user can examine the value of the
object that pointer is pointing to by clicking the pointer
value. This will create another popup that displays the
object the pointer points to. Clicking the label of the
popup pops down itself and all of its descendants.
X DEFAULTS
To change the default values of widget resources used in
xdbx, you need to reference the widgets by name or by class.
The widget hierarchies for the main window, the file menu,
the search dialog box, and the popup data display used in
xdbx are shown as follows, with the name of the widget
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followed by the name of its class in parentheses:
Main window:
toplevel (ToplevelShell)
vpane (Paned)
fileWindow (Form)
fileLabel (Label)
lineLabel (Label)
sourceForm (Form)
sourceWindow (AsciiText)
messageWindow (Label)
commandWindow (Box)
run (Command)
cont (Command)
next (Command)
return (Command)
step (Command)
stop at (Command)
stop in (Command)
delete (Command)
where (Command)
up (Command)
down (Command)
print (Command)
print * (Command)
func (Command)
file (Command)
status (Command)
display (Command)
undisplay (Command)
dump (Command)
search (Command)
quit (Command)
dialogWindow (AsciiText)
displayWindow (AsciiText)
File menu:
File Directory (TransientShell)
popup (Paned)
fileMenuLabel (Label)
fileMenu (List)
cancelButton (Command)
Search dialog box:
Search (TransientShell)
searchPopup (Dialog)
<< (Command)
>> (Command)
DONE (Command)
Data display popup:
Data Popup (TransientShell)
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popup (Form)
label (Label)
dataDpyWindow (AsciiText)
In addition to the standard X resources, xdbx 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 xdbx. ("(xdbx) ")
stop_color
Color of the stop sign. (Red)
arrow_color
Color of the arrow sign. (Blue)
updown_color
Color of the updown sign. (Blue)
bomb_color
Color of the bomb sign. (Red)
dataDpyMaxHeight
Maximum height of the data display window. (300)
dataDpyMaxWidth
Maximum width of the data display window. (600)
FILES
a.out default object file
core default core file
.dbxinit local initial commands file
~/.dbxinit user's initial commands file
SEE ALSO
X(1), dbx(1)
LIMITATIONS
Xdbx does not handle all the dbx commands properly. Only a
subset of the commands is supported:
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run stop at where print list display return
cont stop in up dump / undisplay
next delete down func ?
step status use file quit
BUGS
Sparc dbx does not always return correct source line
position after an up or down command. Also, the file
variable in sparc dbx sometimes has an extra slash, as in
/file.c, which could break what normally works. One way of
getting around the latter is to specify the current
directory before the program name, as in 'xdbx ./a.out' or
'debug ./a.out'.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1989 The University of Texas at Austin Copyright
1990 Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation
AUTHOR
Po Cheung
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