Options menu: controlling the debugging environment

This menu sets dbXtra options and the environment variables of the program being debugged.

C/C++

Switches between the C++ source code and the C code that is a result of the compilation process. This is useful for programmers interested in the C language equivalent of a C++ construct. The C++ program must be compiled with the -dbxC flag.

Since dbXtra is a C++ and C debugger, the C code that is produced during the compilation of a C++ program can be debugged with dbXtra.

Preferences

This submenu contains a number of dbXtra switches that can be toggled to suit user preferences.

Noclobber

[dbxtra command: set/unset $noclobber]
If set, then redirecting the output of a command into an existing file fails.

Hex chars

[dbxtra command: set/unset $hexchars]
When set, dbXtra prints out characters in hexadecimal.

Hex ints

[dbxtra command: set/unset $hexints]
When set, dbXtra prints out integers in hexadecimal.

Hex offsets

[dbxtra command: set/unset $hexoffsets]
When set, dbXtra prints out offsets from registers in hexadecimal.

Hex strings

[dbxtra command: set/unset $hexstrings]
When set, dbXtra prints out character pointers in hexadecimal.

No debug registers

[dbxtra command: set/unset $nodebugregs]
When set, dbXtra cannot attempt to use the 386 hardware debug registers. The trace access, when access, and stop access commands need this variable to be enabled to function. The hardware debug registers cannot detect access or modification performed by the underlying UNIX operating system (such as those resulting from read and write system calls), and it may be desirable to turn off use of the debug registers when debugging program segments that make many system calls.

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NOTE: If floating-point hardware is not available, the operating system must emulate floating-point operations, with the result that certain operations may not be detected by the debug registers.

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No debug warnings

[dbxtra command: set/unset $nodebugwarn]
When dbXtra attempts to use the 386 debug registers, and there are no free registers, a warning message is printed, and slow emulation is performed. If $nodebugwarn is set, the warning message is suppressed.

PCC disassembly

[dbxtra command: set/unset $pccformat]

Print bases

[dbxtra command: set/unset $printbases]

Unsafe Assigns

[dbxtra command: set/unset $unsafeassign]
When set, strict type checking between the two sides of an assign statement is turned off.

Unsafe Calls

[dbxtra command: unset/set $unsafecall]
When set, strict type checking is turned off for arguments to subroutine or function calls (for example, in the call statement). The $unsafeassign and $unsafecall variables should be used only with great care, because they severely limit dbXtra's usefulness for detecting errors.

Verbose disassembly

[dbxtra command: set/unset $machinecode]
When set, the contents of disassembly output is changed: the ``function:line number'' field in this output is replaced with the hexadecimal bit pattern representing the instructions decoded.

Word wrap

[dbxtra command: function wordwrap]

Environment

Submenu contains buttons to set and unset environment variables accessible by the program being debugged.

Set

[dbxtra command: setenv name value]
Modifies values of environment variables that are accessible by the program being debugged. For example, if the program's output is being redirected to another screen, then the TERM environment variable accessed by the program would contain a different value from that accessed by dbXtra. Set the value of the environment variable name, in the program being debugged, to a specific value.

Clear

[dbxtra command: unsetenv name]
Nullifies the values of environment variables, which are accessible by the program being debugged.