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280 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
280 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
_dnl__ -*- Texinfo -*-
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_dnl__ Copyright (c) 1988 1989 1990 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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_dnl__ This file is part of the source for the GDB manual.
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_dnl__ $Id$
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@node Stack, Source, Stopping, Top
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@chapter Examining the Stack
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When your program has stopped, the first thing you need to know is where it
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stopped and how it got there.
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@cindex call stack
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Each time your program performs a function call, the information about
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where in the program the call was made from is saved in a block of data
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called a @dfn{stack frame}. The frame also contains the arguments of the
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call and the local variables of the function that was called. All the
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stack frames are allocated in a region of memory called the @dfn{call
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stack}.
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When your program stops, the _GDBN__ commands for examining the stack allow you
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to see all of this information.
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@cindex selected frame
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One of the stack frames is @dfn{selected} by _GDBN__ and many _GDBN__ commands
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refer implicitly to the selected frame. In particular, whenever you ask
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_GDBN__ for the value of a variable in the program, the value is found in the
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selected frame. There are special _GDBN__ commands to select whichever frame
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you are interested in.
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When the program stops, _GDBN__ automatically selects the currently executing
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frame and describes it briefly as the @code{frame} command does
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(@pxref{Frame Info, Info}).
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@menu
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* Frames:: Stack Frames
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* Backtrace:: Backtraces
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* Selection:: Selecting a Frame
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* Frame Info:: Information on a Frame
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@end menu
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@node Frames, Backtrace, Stack, Stack
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@section Stack Frames
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@cindex frame
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@cindex stack frame
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The call stack is divided up into contiguous pieces called @dfn{stack
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frames}, or @dfn{frames} for short; each frame is the data associated
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with one call to one function. The frame contains the arguments given
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to the function, the function's local variables, and the address at
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which the function is executing.
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@cindex initial frame
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@cindex outermost frame
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@cindex innermost frame
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When your program is started, the stack has only one frame, that of the
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function @code{main}. This is called the @dfn{initial} frame or the
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@dfn{outermost} frame. Each time a function is called, a new frame is
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made. Each time a function returns, the frame for that function invocation
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is eliminated. If a function is recursive, there can be many frames for
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the same function. The frame for the function in which execution is
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actually occurring is called the @dfn{innermost} frame. This is the most
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recently created of all the stack frames that still exist.
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@cindex frame pointer
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Inside your program, stack frames are identified by their addresses. A
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stack frame consists of many bytes, each of which has its own address; each
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kind of computer has a convention for choosing one of those bytes whose
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address serves as the address of the frame. Usually this address is kept
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in a register called the @dfn{frame pointer register} while execution is
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going on in that frame.
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@cindex frame number
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_GDBN__ assigns numbers to all existing stack frames, starting with
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zero for the innermost frame, one for the frame that called it,
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and so on upward. These numbers do not really exist in your program;
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they are assigned by _GDBN__ to give you a way of designating stack
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frames in _GDBN__ commands.
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@cindex frameless execution
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Some compilers allow functions to be compiled so that they operate
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without stack frames. (For example, the @code{_GCC__} option
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@samp{-fomit-frame-pointer} will generate functions without a frame.)
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This is occasionally done with heavily used library functions to save
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the frame setup time. _GDBN__ has limited facilities for dealing with
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these function invocations. If the innermost function invocation has no
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stack frame, _GDBN__ will nevertheless regard it as though it had a
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separate frame, which is numbered zero as usual, allowing correct
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tracing of the function call chain. However, _GDBN__ has no provision
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for frameless functions elsewhere in the stack.
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@node Backtrace, Selection, Frames, Stack
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@section Backtraces
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A backtrace is a summary of how the program got where it is. It shows one
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line per frame, for many frames, starting with the currently executing
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frame (frame zero), followed by its caller (frame one), and on up the
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stack.
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@table @code
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@item backtrace
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@itemx bt
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@kindex backtrace
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@kindex bt
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Print a backtrace of the entire stack: one line per frame for all
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frames in the stack.
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You can stop the backtrace at any time by typing the system interrupt
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character, normally @kbd{Control-C}.
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@item backtrace @var{n}
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@itemx bt @var{n}
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Similar, but print only the innermost @var{n} frames.
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@item backtrace -@var{n}
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@itemx bt -@var{n}
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Similar, but print only the outermost @var{n} frames.
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@end table
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@kindex where
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@kindex info stack
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@kindex info s
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The names @code{where} and @code{info stack} (abbreviated @code{info s})
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are additional aliases for @code{backtrace}.
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Each line in the backtrace shows the frame number and the function name.
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The program counter value is also shown---unless you use @code{set
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print address off}. The backtrace also shows the source file name and
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line number, as well as the arguments to the function. The program
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counter value is omitted if it is at the beginning of the code for that
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line number.
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Here is an example of a backtrace. It was made with the command
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@samp{bt 3}, so it shows the innermost three frames.
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@smallexample
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@group
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#0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8) at builtin.c:993
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#1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=0x2b600) at macro.c:242
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#2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=177664, td=0xf7fffb08)
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at macro.c:71
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(More stack frames follow...)
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@end group
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@end smallexample
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@noindent
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The display for frame zero doesn't begin with a program counter
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value, indicating that the program has stopped at the beginning of the
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code for line @code{993} of @code{builtin.c}.
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@node Selection, Frame Info, Backtrace, Stack
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@section Selecting a Frame
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Most commands for examining the stack and other data in the program work on
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whichever stack frame is selected at the moment. Here are the commands for
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selecting a stack frame; all of them finish by printing a brief description
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of the stack frame just selected.
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@table @code
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@item frame @var{n}
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@itemx f @var{n}
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@kindex frame
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@kindex f
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Select frame number @var{n}. Recall that frame zero is the innermost
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(currently executing) frame, frame one is the frame that called the
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innermost one, and so on. The highest-numbered frame is @code{main}'s
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frame.
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@item frame @var{addr}
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@itemx f @var{addr}
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Select the frame at address @var{addr}. This is useful mainly if the
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chaining of stack frames has been damaged by a bug, making it
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impossible for _GDBN__ to assign numbers properly to all frames. In
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addition, this can be useful when the program has multiple stacks and
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switches between them.
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_if_(_SPARC__)
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On the SPARC architecture, @code{frame} needs two addresses to
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select an arbitrary frame: a frame pointer and a stack pointer.
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@c note to future updaters: this is conditioned on a flag
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@c FRAME_SPECIFICATION_DYADIC in the tm-*.h files, currently only used
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@c by SPARC, hence the specific attribution. Generalize or list all
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@c possibilities if more supported machines start doing this.
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_fi_(_SPARC__)
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@item up @var{n}
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@kindex up
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Move @var{n} frames up the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
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advances toward the outermost frame, to higher frame numbers, to frames
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that have existed longer. @var{n} defaults to one.
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@item down @var{n}
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@kindex down
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@kindex do
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Move @var{n} frames down the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
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advances toward the innermost frame, to lower frame numbers, to frames
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that were created more recently. @var{n} defaults to one. You may
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abbreviate @code{down} as @code{do}.
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@end table
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All of these commands end by printing two lines of output describing the
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frame. The first line shows the frame number, the function name, the
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arguments, and the source file and line number of execution in that
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frame. The second line shows the text of that source line. For
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example:
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@smallexample
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(_GDBP__) up
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#1 0x22f0 in main (argc=1, argv=0xf7fffbf4, env=0xf7fffbfc) at env.c:10
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10 read_input_file (argv[i]);
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@end smallexample
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After such a printout, the @code{list} command with no arguments will print
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ten lines centered on the point of execution in the frame. @xref{List}.
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@table @code
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@item up-silently @var{n}
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@itemx down-silently @var{n}
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@kindex down-silently
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@kindex up-silently
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These two commands are variants of @code{up} and @code{down},
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respectively; they differ in that they do their work silently, without
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causing display of the new frame. They are intended primarily for use
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in _GDBN__ command scripts, where the output might be unnecessary and
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distracting.
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@end table
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@node Frame Info, , Selection, Stack
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@section Information About a Frame
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There are several other commands to print information about the selected
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stack frame.
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@table @code
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@item frame
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@itemx f
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When used without any argument, this command does not change which frame
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is selected, but prints a brief description of the currently
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selected stack frame. It can be abbreviated @code{f}. With an
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argument, this command is used to select a stack frame (@pxref{Selection}).
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@item info frame
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@kindex info frame
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@itemx info f
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@kindex info f
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This command prints a verbose description of the selected stack frame,
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including the address of the frame, the addresses of the next frame down
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(called by this frame) and the next frame up (caller of this frame),
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the address of the frame's arguments, the program counter saved in it
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(the address of execution in the caller frame), and which registers
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were saved in the frame. The verbose description is useful when
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something has gone wrong that has made the stack format fail to fit
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the usual conventions.
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@item info frame @var{addr}
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@itemx info f @var{addr}
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Print a verbose description of the frame at address @var{addr},
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without selecting that frame. The selected frame remains unchanged by
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this command.
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@item info args
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@kindex info args
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Print the arguments of the selected frame, each on a separate line.
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@item info locals
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@kindex info locals
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Print the local variables of the selected frame, each on a separate
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line. These are all variables declared static or automatic within all
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program blocks that execution in this frame is currently inside of.
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@item info catch
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@kindex info catch
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@cindex catch exceptions
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@cindex exception handlers
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Print a list of all the exception handlers that are active in the
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current stack frame at the current point of execution. To see other
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exception handlers, visit the associated frame (using the @code{up},
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@code{down}, or @code{frame} commands); then type @code{info catch}.
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@xref{Exception Handling}.
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@end table
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