ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


NAME
     adb - debugger (2BSD)

SYNOPSIS
     adb [-w] [ -k ] [ -Idir ] [ objfil [ corfil ] ]

DESCRIPTION
     Adb is a general purpose debugging program.  It may be used
     to examine files and to provide a controlled environment for
     the execution of UNIX programs.

     Objfil is normally an executable program file, preferably
     containing a symbol table; if not then the symbolic features
     of adb cannot be used although the file can still be exam-
     ined.  The default for objfil is a.out. Corfil is assumed to
     be a core image file produced after executing objfil; the
     default for corfil is core.

     Requests to adb are read from the standard input and
     responses are to the standard output.  If the -w flag is
     present then both objfil and corfil are created if necessary
     and opened for reading and writing so that files can be
     modified using adb.

     The -k option makes adb do UNIX kernel memory mapping; it
     should be used when core is a UNIX crash dump or /dev/mem.

     The -I option specifies a directory where files to be read
     with $< or $<< (see below) will be sought; the default is
     /usr/share/adb.

     Adb ignores QUIT; INTERRUPT causes return to the next adb
     command.

     In general requests to adb are of the form

		[address]  [, count] [command] [;]

     If address is present then dot is set to address.	Initially
     dot is set to 0.  For most commands count specifies how many
     times the command will be executed.  The default count is 1.
     Address and count are expressions.

     The interpretation of an address depends on the context it
     is used in.  If a subprocess is being debugged then
     addresses are interpreted in the usual way in the address
     space of the subprocess.  For further details of address
     mapping see ADDRESSES.

EXPRESSIONS
     .	    The value of dot.


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			1


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


     +	    The value of dot incremented by the current incre-
	    ment.

     ^	    The value of dot decremented by the current incre-
	    ment.

     "	    The last address typed.

     integer
	    An octal number if integer begins with a 0; a hexade-
	    cimal number if preceded by #; otherwise a decimal
	    number.  This default interpretation of integers may
	    be changed via the $o and $d commands.

     integer.fraction
	    A 32 bit floating point number.

     'cccc' The ASCII value of up to 4 characters.  \ may be used
	    to escape a '.

     < name The value of name, which is either a variable name or
	    a register name.  Adb maintains a number of variables
	    (see VARIABLES) named by single letters or digits.
	    If name is a register name then the value of the
	    register is obtained from the system header in cor-
	    fil.  The register names are those printed by the $r
	    command.

     symbol A symbol is a sequence of upper or lower case
	    letters, underscores or digits, not starting with a
	    digit.  The backslash character \ may be used to
	    escape other characters.  The value of the symbol is
	    taken from the symbol table in objfil.  An initial _
	    or ~ will be prepended to symbol if needed.  If the
	    symbol is a text symbol and objfil is an overlay
	    type, the default is ~symbol, which is the subroutine
	    itself, not the entry interface in the base segment.

     _ symbol
	    In C, the `true name' of an external symbol begins
	    with _.  It may be necessary to utter this name to
	    distinguish it from internal or hidden variables of a
	    program.  For a subroutine in an overlay, ~symbol is
	    the actual subroutine, and _symbol is the entry point
	    in the base segment (the "thunk").	Note that to
	    explicitly specify the local name, the ~ must be pre-
	    ceeded by a backslash, since ~ is the bitwise comple-
	    ment operator: \~symbol must be typed.

     routine.name
	    The address of the variable name in the specified C
	    routine.  Both routine and name are symbols.  If name


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			2


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	    is omitted the value is the address of the most
	    recently activated C stack frame corresponding to
	    routine.

     (exp)  The value of the expression exp.

     Monadic operators

     *exp   The contents of the location addressed by exp in cor-
	    fil.

     @exp   The contents of the location addressed by exp in
	    objfil.

     -exp   Integer negation.

     ~exp   Bitwise complement.

     Dyadic operators are left associative and are less binding
     than monadic operators.

     e1+e2  Integer addition.

     e1-e2  Integer subtraction.

     e1*e2  Integer multiplication.

     e1%e2  Integer division.

     e1&e2  Bitwise conjunction.

     e1|e2  Bitwise disjunction.

     e1#e2  E1 rounded up to the next multiple of e2.

COMMANDS
     Most commands consist of a verb followed by a modifier or
     list of modifiers.  The following verbs are available.  (The
     commands `?' and `/' may be followed by `*'; see ADDRESSES
     for further details.)

     ?f   Locations starting at address in objfil are printed
	  according to the format f.  dot is incremented by the
	  sum of the increments for each format letter (q.v.).

     /f   Locations starting at address in corfil are printed
	  according to the format f and dot is incremented as for
	  `?'.

     =f   The value of address itself is printed in the styles
	  indicated by the format f.  (For i format `?' is
	  printed for the parts of the instruction that reference


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			3


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	  subsequent words.)

     A format consists of one or more characters that specify a
     style of printing.  Each format character may be preceded by
     a decimal integer that is a repeat count for the format
     character.  While stepping through a format dot is incre-
     mented temporarily by the amount given for each format
     letter.  If no format is given then the last format is used.
     The format letters available are as follows.

	  o 2  Print 2 bytes in octal.	All octal numbers output
	       by adb are preceded by 0.
	  O 4  Print 4 bytes in octal.
	  q 2  Print in signed octal.
	  Q 4  Print long signed octal.
	  d 2  Print in decimal.
	  D 4  Print long decimal.
	  x 2  Print 2 bytes in hexadecimal.
	  X 4  Print 4 bytes in hexadecimal.
	  u 2  Print as an unsigned decimal number.
	  U 4  Print long unsigned decimal.
	  f 4  Print the 32 bit value as a floating point number.
	  F 8  Print double floating point.
	  b 1  Print the addressed byte in octal.
	  c 1  Print the addressed character.
	  C 1  Print the addressed character using the following
	       escape convention.  the standard escape convention
	       where control characters are printed as ^X and the
	       delete character is printed as ^?.
	  s n  Print the addressed characters until a zero char-
	       acter is reached.
	  S n  Print a string using the ^X escape convention (see
	       C above).  n is the length of the string including
	       its zero terminator.
	  Y 4  Print 4 bytes in date format (see ctime(3)).
	  i n  Print as machine instructions.  n is the number of
	       bytes occupied by the instruction.  This style of
	       printing causes variables 1 and 2 to be set to the
	       offset parts of the source and destination respec-
	       tively.
	  a 0  Print the value of dot in symbolic form.  Symbols
	       are checked to ensure that they have an appropri-
	       ate type as indicated below.

	    /  local or global data symbol
	    ?  local or global text symbol
	    =  local or global absolute symbol

	  p 2  Print the addressed value in symbolic form using
	       the same rules for symbol lookup as a.
	  t 0  When preceded by an integer tabs to the next
	       appropriate tab stop.  For example, 8t moves to


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			4


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	       the next 8-space tab stop.
	  r 0  Print a space.
	  n 0  Print a newline.
	  "..." 0
	       Print the enclosed string.
	  ^    Dot is decremented by the current increment.
	       Nothing is printed.
	  +    Dot is incremented by 1.  Nothing is printed.
	  -    Dot is decremented by 1.  Nothing is printed.

     newline
	  If the previous command temporarily incremented dot,
	  make the increment permanent.  Repeat the previous com-
	  mand with a count of 1.

     [?/]l value mask
	  Words starting at dot are masked with mask and compared
	  with value until a match is found.  If L is used then
	  the match is for 4 bytes at a time instead of 2.  If no
	  match is found then dot is unchanged; otherwise dot is
	  set to the matched location.	If mask is omitted then
	  -1 is used.

     [?/]w value ...
	  Write the 2-byte value into the addressed location.  If
	  the command is W, write 4 bytes.  Odd addresses are not
	  allowed when writing to the subprocess address space.

     [?/]m b1 e1 f1[?/]
	  New values for (b1, e1, f1) are recorded.  If less than
	  three expressions are given then the remaining map
	  parameters are left unchanged.  If the `?' or `/' is
	  followed by `*' then the last segment (b2,e2,f2) of the
	  mapping is changed.  If the list is terminated by `?'
	  or `/' then the file (objfil or corfil respectively) is
	  used for subsequent requests.  (So that, for example,
	  `/m?' will cause `/' to refer to objfil.)

     >name
	  Dot is assigned to the variable or register named.

     !	  A shell (/bin/sh) is called to read the rest of the
	  line following `!'.

     $modifier
	  Miscellaneous commands.  The available modifiers are:

	  <f   Read commands from the file f.  If this command is
	       executed in a file, further commands in the file
	       are not seen.  If f is omitted, the current input
	       stream is terminated.  If a count is given, and is
	       zero, the command will be ignored.  The value of


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			5


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	       the count will be placed in variable 9 before the
	       first command in f is executed.
	  <<f  Similar to < except it can be used in a file of
	       commands without causing the file to be closed.
	       Variable 9 is saved during the execution of this
	       command, and restored when it completes.  There is
	       a (small) finite limit to the number of << files
	       that can be open at once.
	  >f   Append output to the file f, which is created if
	       it does not exist.  If f is omitted, output is
	       returned to the terminal.
	  ?    Print process id, the signal which caused stoppage
	       or termination, as well as the registers as $r.
	       This is the default if modifier is omitted.
	  r    Print the general registers and the instruction
	       addressed by pc.  Dot is set to pc.
	  f    Print the floating registers in single or double
	       length.	If the floating point status of ps is set
	       to double (0200 bit) then double length is used
	       anyway.
	  b    Print all breakpoints and their associated counts
	       and commands.
	  a    ALGOL 68 stack backtrace.  If address is given
	       then it is taken to be the address of the current
	       frame (instead of r4).  If count is given then
	       only the first count frames are printed.
	  c    C stack backtrace.  If address is given then it is
	       taken as the address of the current frame instead
	       of the contents of the frame-pointer register.  If
	       C is used then the names and (16 bit) values of
	       all automatic and static variables are printed for
	       each active function.  If count is given then only
	       the first count frames are printed.
	  e    The names and values of external variables are
	       printed.
	  w    Set the page width for output to address (default
	       80).
	  s    Set the limit for symbol matches to address
	       (default 255).
	  o    All integers input are regarded as octal.
	  d    Reset integer input as described in EXPRESSIONS.
	  q    Exit from adb.
	  v    Print all non zero variables in octal.
	  m    Print the address map.

     :modifier
	  Manage a subprocess.	Available modifiers are:

	  bc   Set breakpoint at address.  If objfil is overlaid
	       and address is in the overlay region, the break-
	       point is set in the overlay of the symbol men-
	       tioned if address was given symbolically,


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			6


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	       otherwise it is set in the current overlay (that
	       in variable c).	The breakpoint is executed
	       count-1 times before causing a stop.  Each time
	       the breakpoint is encountered the command c is
	       executed.  If this command is omitted or sets dot
	       to zero then the breakpoint causes a stop.

	  d    Delete breakpoint at address.

	  r    Run objfil as a subprocess.  If address is given
	       explicitly then the program is entered at this
	       point; otherwise the program is entered at its
	       standard entry point.  count specifies how many
	       breakpoints are to be ignored before stopping.
	       Arguments to the subprocess may be supplied on the
	       same line as the command.  An argument starting
	       with < or > causes the standard input or output to
	       be established for the command.

	  cs   The subprocess is continued with signal s, see
	       sigvec(2).  If address is given then the subpro-
	       cess is continued at this address.  If no signal
	       is specified then the signal that caused the sub-
	       process to stop is sent.  Breakpoint skipping is
	       the same as for r.

	  ss   As for c except that the subprocess is single
	       stepped count times.  If there is no current sub-
	       process then objfil is run as a subprocess as for
	       r.  In this case no signal can be sent; the
	       remainder of the line is treated as arguments to
	       the subprocess.

	  k    The current subprocess, if any, is terminated.

VARIABLES
     Adb provides a number of variables.  Named variables are set
     initially by adb but are not used subsequently (except for
     c).  Numbered variables are reserved for communication as
     follows.

     0	  The last value printed.
     1	  The last offset part of an instruction source.
     2	  The previous value of variable 1.
     9	  The count on the last $< or $<< command.

     On entry the following are set from the system header in the
     corfil.  If corfil does not appear to be a core file then
     these values are set from objfil.

     b	  The base address of the data segment.
     c	  The current overlay.	This is set from corfil, and in


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			7


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


	  turn sets the overlay map.  This variable and the map
	  may be changed by referring to other overlays symboli-
	  cally (e.g. by examining text in subroutines in other
	  overlays), using the $r command (which resets c from
	  the core file), or explicitly (with the command >c).
     d	  The data segment size.
     e	  The entry point.
     m	  The `magic' number (0405, 0407, 0410, 0411, 0430 or
	  0431).  The object is overlaid if m is 0430 or 0431.
     o	  The sum of the overlay segment sizes (if overlaid).
     s	  The stack segment size.
     t	  The text segment size.

ADDRESSES
     The address in a file associated with a written address is
     determined by a mapping associated with that file.  Each
     mapping is represented by two or three triples (b1, e1, f1),
     (bo, eo, fo) for overlaid object files, and (b2, e2, f2) and
     the file address corresponding to a written address is cal-
     culated as follows.

	b1<address<e1 => file address=address+f1-b1, otherwise,

     if overlaid,
	bo<address<eo => file address=address+fo-bo, otherwise,

	b2<address<e2 => file address=address+f2-b2,

     otherwise, the requested address is not legal.  In some
     cases (e.g. for programs with separated I and D space) the
     two segments for a file may overlap.  If a ? or / is fol-
     lowed by an * then only the last triple is used.

     The initial setting of both mappings is suitable for normal
     a.out and core files.  If the object file is not of the kind
     expected then, for both files, b1 is set to 0, e1 is set to
     the maximum file size and f1 is set to 0; in this way the
     whole file can be examined with no address translation.

     So that adb may be used on large files all appropriate
     values are kept as signed 32 bit integers.

FILES
     a.out
     core

SEE ALSO
     cc(1), ptrace(2), a.out(5), core(5)
     ADB - A Tutorial, S. R. Bourne

DIAGNOSTICS
     `Adb' when there is no current command or format.	Comments


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			8


ADB(1)		    UNIX Programmer's Manual		   ADB(1)


     about inaccessible files, syntax errors, abnormal termina-
     tion of commands, etc.  Exit status is 0, unless last com-
     mand failed or returned nonzero status.

BUGS
     When single stepping, system calls do not count as an exe-
     cuted instruction.
     Local variables whose names are the same as an external
     variable may foul up the accessing of the external.
     Local variables cannot be accessed in routines that are in
     overlays.
     Since no shell is invoked to interpret the arguments of the
     :r command, the customary wild-card and variable expansions
     cannot occur.


Printed 11/26/99	October 21, 1996			9


 
Generated: 2016-12-26
Generated by man2html V0.25
page hit count: 1898
Valid CSS Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict