Re: GDB Console

[Venkatram Tummala <venkatram867 gmail com>]

On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Dodji Seketeli <dodji seketeli org> wrote:
> Venkatram Tummala <venkatram867 gmail com> a écrit:
>
>>>   Another disadvantage is that the set of commands exposed by Nemiver
>>>   would be different from those of GDB. Personally I don't see this as
>>>   a really problem because to me, Nemiver is more about providing a
>>>   nice and consistent debugging experience in GNOME rather that being
>>>   about exposing every little GDB feature one can think about. If a GDB
>>>   command makes sense to be exposed in Nemiver verbatim, the no
>>>   problem. If it doesn't make much sense in a GNOME environment then we
>>>   ought to provide replace commands for it.
>>
>> I personally feel that users would like to have a CLI command
>> interface that is already familiar to them rather than introducing
>> them to new command interface. Personally, i won't have concerns
>> adapting to a new command interface but if we are concerned about
>> increasing the usage of nemiver, this disadvantage will definitely
>> will be a blocker in my opinion.
>
> I certainly hear you. I didn't mean that we'd gratuitously change the
> syntax of the commands introduced by Nemiver under this scheme. When I
> set the "set of commands by Nemiver would be different", I meant more
> that they wouldn't be necessary equal. E,g, some GDB commands might not
> be present. Or their output might be slightly different to bring more
> clarity in the the context of a graphical debugger. This kind of things.
>
> In other words, we'd try very hard to make the commands look the same,
> but no harder :-)
>
> Would that be better in your opinion? Still not enough?
No. That would be good enough. I misunderstood your point.
>
>>>
>>> 2/ Modify GDB so that CLI commands trigger MI protocol replies.  If this
>>>   was done today, Nemiver could just let the user type free form GDB
>>>   commands, send those to the GDB and we would still get MI protocol
>>>   notifications about state changes.
>>>
>>>   The main advantage of this is that it requires much less work on
>>>   Nemiver side. The disadvantages are related to the fact that we
>>>   wouldn't have many of the pros we get with 1/
>>
>> This will work for me. As a user, i would definitely like this option.
>
> OK.
>
>>>
>>>> Atleast for me, Lack of GDB console is the only reason why i can't use
>>>> nemiver as my full-time debugger.
>>>
>>> This is interesting. Whenever I stumble upon a particular feature
>>> missing in Nemiver but present in GDB CLI, I try to implement it in
>>> Nemiver. So I'd be _really_ interested in hearing about what exactly the
>>> GDB CLI provides you that we are lacking in Nemiver today. Can you give
>>> us a couple of concrete examples?
>>
>> Hmmm...Lack of a GDB CLI feature in nemiver is not something i am
>> worried about. Being a command line junkie, i still prefer doing some
>> things on the CLI rather than the GUI. For ex. Everytime i need to set
>> a breakpoint in a file that is not yet opened in the nemiver
>> workspace, i would prefer using the CLI to set it rather than using
>> the Set Breakpoint GUI window.
>
> FWIW, to break on a function, I personally do ctrl-b and then I type the
> name of the function and I hit entier. Is that really longer than typing
> "b function_name"?
Its not really about being faster as i already mentioned but its just
personal preference. I hate extra windows popping up :)
>
> If I want to set a breakpoint to the "current position", then I just do
> shift-control-b. The "set breakpoint dialog" comes up pre-filled with
> the current location. Hit enter and I am done.
>
> I am not a great fan of the mouse either ;-)
>
>> Besides, some minor issues like using
>> CLI as a hex calculator etc. aren't available.
>
> For that, hit F12 and in the (variable) expression expression evaluator,
> just type the expression you want and hit enter. It should be evaluated.

> Similarly, to evaluate a function call (call foo(var) in gdb), type
> ctrl-e and then type the function call expression you want to see
> evaluated. The output comes out in the embedded terminal.

Ok. Didn't realize this. Point noted.
>
>> Its not to say that I hate GUIs in general. O'wise i shouldn't be
>> using nemiver in the first place. I would definitely love to have the
>> best of both worlds in a single convenient package.
>>
>> So, its not about the *lack of a feature*, rather its just about
>> personal preference I would say. Thanks a lot for the info.
>
> Thanks for the clarification. Be assured that this command line feature
> ought to get in in a way or in another, IMO. Hopefully sooner than later :-)
That would be great. Thanks a lot.
>
> --
>        Dodji
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