https://sourceware.org/ml/gdb-patches/2014-05/msg00737.html
Currently a MEMORY_ERROR raised during unwinding a frame will cause the
unwind to stop with an error message, for example:
(gdb) bt
#0 breakpt () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:27
#1 0x00000000004008f0 in func5 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:32
#2 0x0000000000400900 in func4 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:38
#3 0x0000000000400910 in func3 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:44
#4 0x0000000000400928 in func2 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:50
Cannot access memory at address 0x2aaaaaab0000
However, frame #4 is marked as being the end of the stack unwind, so a
subsequent request for the backtrace looses the error message, such as:
(gdb) bt
#0 breakpt () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:27
#1 0x00000000004008f0 in func5 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:32
#2 0x0000000000400900 in func4 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:38
#3 0x0000000000400910 in func3 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:44
#4 0x0000000000400928 in func2 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:50
When fetching the backtrace, or requesting the stack depth using the MI
interface the situation is even worse, the first time a request is made
we encounter the memory error and so the MI returns an error instead of
the correct result, for example:
(gdb) -stack-info-depth
^error,msg="Cannot access memory at address 0x2aaaaaab0000"
Or,
(gdb) -stack-list-frames
^error,msg="Cannot access memory at address 0x2aaaaaab0000"
However, once one of these commands has been used gdb has, internally,
walked the stack and figured that out that frame #4 is the bottom of the
stack, so the second time an MI command is tried you'll get the "expected"
result:
(gdb) -stack-info-depth
^done,depth="5"
Or,
(gdb) -stack-list-frames
^done,stack=[frame={level="0", .. snip lots .. }]
After this patch the MEMORY_ERROR encountered during the frame unwind is
attached to frame #4 as the stop reason, and is displayed in the CLI each
time the backtrace is requested. In the MI, catching the error means that
the "expected" result is returned the first time the MI command is issued.
So, from the CLI the results of the backtrace will be:
(gdb) bt
#0 breakpt () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:27
#1 0x00000000004008f0 in func5 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:32
#2 0x0000000000400900 in func4 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:38
#3 0x0000000000400910 in func3 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:44
#4 0x0000000000400928 in func2 () at amd64-invalid-stack-middle.c:50
Backtrace stopped: Cannot access memory at address 0x2aaaaaab0000
Each and every time that the backtrace is requested, while the MI output
will similarly be consistently:
(gdb) -stack-info-depth
^done,depth="5"
Or,
(gdb) -stack-list-frames
^done,stack=[frame={level="0", .. snip lots .. }]
gdb/ChangeLog:
* frame.c (struct frame_info): Add stop_string field.
(get_prev_frame_always_1): Renamed from get_prev_frame_always.
(get_prev_frame_always): Old content moved into
get_prev_frame_always_1. Call get_prev_frame_always_1 inside
TRY_CATCH, handle MEMORY_ERROR exceptions.
(frame_stop_reason_string): New function definition.
* frame.h (unwind_stop_reason_to_string): Extend comment to
mention frame_stop_reason_string.
(frame_stop_reason_string): New function declaration.
* stack.c (frame_info): Switch to frame_stop_reason_string.
(backtrace_command_1): Switch to frame_stop_reason_string.
* unwind_stop_reason.def: Add UNWIND_MEMORY_ERROR.
(LAST_ENTRY): Changed to UNWIND_MEMORY_ERROR.
* guile/lib/gdb.scm: Add FRAME_UNWIND_MEMORY_ERROR to export list.
gdb/doc/ChangeLog:
* guile.texi (Frames In Guile): Mention FRAME_UNWIND_MEMORY_ERROR.
* python.texi (Frames In Python): Mention
gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_MEMORY_ERROR.
gdb/testsuite/ChangeLog:
* gdb.arch/amd64-invalid-stack-middle.exp: Update expected results.
* gdb.arch/amd64-invalid-stack-top.exp: Likewise.
Unfortunately, UNWIND_NULL_ID is exported to Python as
gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NULL_ID so we can't really eliminate it.
(I'd assume scripts just check the result of Frame.unwind_stop_reason,
and compare it to gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NO_REASON. That at most, they'll
pass the result of Frame.unwind_stop_reason to
gdb.frame_stop_reason_string. I'd prefer to just get rid of it, but
because we make an API promise, we get to keep this around for
compatibility, in case a script does refer to gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NULL_ID
directly.)
gdb/
2013-11-29 Pedro Alves <palves@redhat.com>
* unwind_stop_reasons.def (UNWIND_NULL_ID): Update comment.
gdb/doc/
2013-11-29 Pedro Alves <palves@redhat.com>
* gdb.texinfo (Frames In Python) <gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NULL_ID>:
Update comment.
Two modifications:
1. The addition of 2013 to the copyright year range for every file;
2. The use of a single year range, instead of potentially multiple
year ranges, as approved by the FSF.
gdb/
* frame.c (frame_stop_reason_string): Rewrite using
unwind_stop_reasons.def.
* frame.h (enum unwind_stop_reason): Likewise.
* python/py-frame.c (gdbpy_initialize_frames): Likewise.
(gdbpy_frame_stop_reason_string): Use new enum unwind_stop_reason
constants for bound-checking.
* unwind_stop_reasons.def: New file.
* stack.c (backtrace_command_1): Handle UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR as an alias
instead of a distinct value.
doc/
* gdb.texinfo ((Frames In Python): Document
gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR contant.