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192 lines
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>Debugging Support</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.75.2" /><meta name="keywords" content=" C++ , debug " /><meta name="keywords" content=" ISO C++ , library " /><link rel="home" href="../spine.html" title="The GNU C++ Library Documentation" /><link rel="up" href="using.html" title="Chapter 3. Using" /><link rel="prev" href="using_exceptions.html" title="Exceptions" /><link rel="next" href="bk01pt02.html" title="Part II. Standard Contents" /></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Debugging Support</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="using_exceptions.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 3. Using</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="bk01pt02.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" title="Debugging Support"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="manual.intro.using.debug"></a>Debugging Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
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There are numerous things that can be done to improve the ease with
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which C++ binaries are debugged when using the GNU tool chain. Here
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are some of them.
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</p><div class="sect2" title="Using g++"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.compiler"></a>Using <span class="command"><strong>g++</strong></span></h3></div></div></div><p>
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Compiler flags determine how debug information is transmitted
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between compilation and debug or analysis tools.
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</p><p>
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The default optimizations and debug flags for a libstdc++ build
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are <code class="code">-g -O2</code>. However, both debug and optimization
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flags can be varied to change debugging characteristics. For
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instance, turning off all optimization via the <code class="code">-g -O0
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-fno-inline</code> flags will disable inlining and optimizations,
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and add debugging information, so that stepping through all functions,
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(including inlined constructors and destructors) is possible. In
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addition, <code class="code">-fno-eliminate-unused-debug-types</code> can be
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used when additional debug information, such as nested class info,
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is desired.
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</p><p>
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Or, the debug format that the compiler and debugger use to
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communicate information about source constructs can be changed via
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<code class="code">-gdwarf-2</code> or <code class="code">-gstabs</code> flags: some debugging
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formats permit more expressive type and scope information to be
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shown in gdb. Expressiveness can be enhanced by flags like
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<code class="code">-g3</code>. The default debug information for a particular
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platform can be identified via the value set by the
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PREFERRED_DEBUGGING_TYPE macro in the gcc sources.
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</p><p>
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Many other options are available: please see <a class="ulink" href="http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Debugging-Options.html#Debugging%20Options" target="_top">"Options
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for Debugging Your Program"</a> in Using the GNU Compiler
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Collection (GCC) for a complete list.
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</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Debug Versions of Library Binary Files"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.req"></a>Debug Versions of Library Binary Files</h3></div></div></div><p>
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If you would like debug symbols in libstdc++, there are two ways to
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build libstdc++ with debug flags. The first is to run make from the
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toplevel in a freshly-configured tree with
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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--enable-libstdcxx-debug
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</pre><p>and perhaps</p><pre class="programlisting">
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--enable-libstdcxx-debug-flags='...'
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</pre><p>
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to create a separate debug build. Both the normal build and the
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debug build will persist, without having to specify
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<code class="code">CXXFLAGS</code>, and the debug library will be installed in a
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separate directory tree, in <code class="code">(prefix)/lib/debug</code>. For
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more information, look at the <a class="link" href="configure.html" title="Configure">configuration</a> section.
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</p><p>
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A second approach is to use the configuration flags
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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make CXXFLAGS='-g3 -fno-inline -O0' all
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</pre><p>
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This quick and dirty approach is often sufficient for quick
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debugging tasks, when you cannot or don't want to recompile your
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application to use the <a class="link" href="debug_mode.html" title="Chapter 17. Debug Mode">debug mode</a>.</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Memory Leak Hunting"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.memory"></a>Memory Leak Hunting</h3></div></div></div><p>
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There are various third party memory tracing and debug utilities
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that can be used to provide detailed memory allocation information
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about C++ code. An exhaustive list of tools is not going to be
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attempted, but includes <code class="code">mtrace</code>, <code class="code">valgrind</code>,
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<code class="code">mudflap</code>, and the non-free commercial product
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<code class="code">purify</code>. In addition, <code class="code">libcwd</code> has a
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replacement for the global new and delete operators that can track
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memory allocation and deallocation and provide useful memory
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statistics.
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</p><p>
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Regardless of the memory debugging tool being used, there is one
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thing of great importance to keep in mind when debugging C++ code
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that uses <code class="code">new</code> and <code class="code">delete</code>: there are
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different kinds of allocation schemes that can be used by <code class="code">
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std::allocator </code>. For implementation details, see the <a class="link" href="ext_allocators.html#manual.ext.allocator.mt" title="mt_allocator">mt allocator</a> documentation and
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look specifically for <code class="code">GLIBCXX_FORCE_NEW</code>.
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</p><p>
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In a nutshell, the default allocator used by <code class="code">
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std::allocator</code> is a high-performance pool allocator, and can
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give the mistaken impression that in a suspect executable, memory is
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being leaked, when in reality the memory "leak" is a pool being used
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by the library's allocator and is reclaimed after program
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termination.
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</p><p>
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For valgrind, there are some specific items to keep in mind. First
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of all, use a version of valgrind that will work with current GNU
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C++ tools: the first that can do this is valgrind 1.0.4, but later
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versions should work at least as well. Second of all, use a
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completely unoptimized build to avoid confusing valgrind. Third, use
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GLIBCXX_FORCE_NEW to keep extraneous pool allocation noise from
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cluttering debug information.
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</p><p>
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Fourth, it may be necessary to force deallocation in other libraries
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as well, namely the "C" library. On linux, this can be accomplished
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with the appropriate use of the <code class="code">__cxa_atexit</code> or
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<code class="code">atexit</code> functions.
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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#include <cstdlib>
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extern "C" void __libc_freeres(void);
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void do_something() { }
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int main()
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{
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atexit(__libc_freeres);
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do_something();
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return 0;
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}
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</pre><p>or, using <code class="code">__cxa_atexit</code>:</p><pre class="programlisting">
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extern "C" void __libc_freeres(void);
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extern "C" int __cxa_atexit(void (*func) (void *), void *arg, void *d);
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void do_something() { }
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int main()
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{
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extern void* __dso_handle __attribute__ ((__weak__));
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__cxa_atexit((void (*) (void *)) __libc_freeres, NULL,
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&__dso_handle ? __dso_handle : NULL);
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do_test();
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return 0;
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}
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</pre><p>
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Suggested valgrind flags, given the suggestions above about setting
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up the runtime environment, library, and test file, might be:
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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valgrind -v --num-callers=20 --leak-check=yes --leak-resolution=high --show-reachable=yes a.out
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</pre></div><div class="sect2" title="Using gdb"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.gdb"></a>Using <span class="command"><strong>gdb</strong></span></h3></div></div></div><p>
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</p><p>
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Many options are available for gdb itself: please see <a class="ulink" href="http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb_13.html#SEC125" target="_top">
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"GDB features for C++" </a> in the gdb documentation. Also
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recommended: the other parts of this manual.
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</p><p>
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These settings can either be switched on in at the gdb command line,
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or put into a .gdbint file to establish default debugging
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characteristics, like so:
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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set print pretty on
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set print object on
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set print static-members on
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set print vtbl on
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set print demangle on
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set demangle-style gnu-v3
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</pre><p>
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Starting with version 7.0, GDB includes support for writing
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pretty-printers in Python. Pretty printers for STL classes are
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distributed with GCC from version 4.5.0. The most recent version of
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these printers are always found in libstdc++ svn repository.
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To enable these printers, check-out the latest printers to a local
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directory:
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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svn co svn://gcc.gnu.org/svn/gcc/trunk/libstdc++-v3/python
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</pre><p>
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Next, add the following section to your ~/.gdbinit The path must
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match the location where the Python module above was checked-out.
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So if checked out to: /home/maude/gdb_printers/, the path would be as
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written in the example below.
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</p><pre class="programlisting">
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python
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import sys
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sys.path.insert(0, '/home/maude/gdb_printers/python')
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from libstdcxx.v6.printers import register_libstdcxx_printers
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register_libstdcxx_printers (None)
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end
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</pre><p>
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The path should be the only element that needs to be adjusted in the
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example. Once loaded, STL classes that the printers support
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should print in a more human-readable format. To print the classes
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in the old style, use the /r (raw) switch in the print command
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(i.e., print /r foo). This will print the classes as if the Python
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pretty-printers were not loaded.
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</p><p>
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For additional information on STL support and GDB please visit:
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<a class="ulink" href="http://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/STLSupport" target="_top"> "GDB Support
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for STL" </a> in the GDB wiki. Additionally, in-depth
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documentation and discussion of the pretty printing feature can be
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found in "Pretty Printing" node in the GDB manual. You can find
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on-line versions of the GDB user manual in GDB's homepage, at
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<a class="ulink" href="http://sourceware.org/gdb/" target="_top"> "GDB: The GNU Project
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Debugger" </a>.
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</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Tracking uncaught exceptions"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.exceptions"></a>Tracking uncaught exceptions</h3></div></div></div><p>
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The <a class="link" href="termination.html#support.termination.verbose" title="Verbose Terminate Handler">verbose
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termination handler</a> gives information about uncaught
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exceptions which are killing the program. It is described in the
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linked-to page.
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</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Debug Mode"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.debug_mode"></a>Debug Mode</h3></div></div></div><p> The <a class="link" href="debug_mode.html" title="Chapter 17. Debug Mode">Debug Mode</a>
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has compile and run-time checks for many containers.
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</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Compile Time Checking"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.compile_time_checks"></a>Compile Time Checking</h3></div></div></div><p> The <a class="link" href="ext_compile_checks.html" title="Chapter 16. Compile Time Checks">Compile-Time
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Checks</a> Extension has compile-time checks for many algorithms.
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</p></div><div class="sect2" title="Profile-based Performance Analysis"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="debug.profile_mode"></a>Profile-based Performance Analysis</h3></div></div></div><p> The <a class="link" href="profile_mode.html" title="Chapter 19. Profile Mode">Profile-based
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Performance Analysis</a> Extension has performance checks for many
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algorithms.
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</p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="using_exceptions.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="using.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="bk01pt02.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Exceptions </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../spine.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Part II.
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Standard Contents
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</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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