Re: [patch][python] Add symbol, symbol table and frame block support to GDB API

[Phil Muldoon <pmuldoon at redhat dot com>]

On 02/02/2010 08:14 PM, Eli Zaretskii wrote:

>>>> +All of the name-scope contours of a program are represented as 'block'
>>>
>>> What are "contours"?  Is this a widespread enough terminology to be
>>> understood without defining it first?  If not, I suggest to define it.
>>
>>
>> I really agonized over the whole block description, as there is no (as
>> far as I know) analogue to the GDB CLI for blocks.  It's revealing an
>> API that GDB uses to manipulate blocks in a frame.  I could use some
>> help making this more palatable enough to the consumer of the API,
>> over trying to teach the user compiler/runtime semantics (which is not
>> the purpose of the GDB manual).  What do you think?
> 
> How about if you tell what you want in the most technical way you
> think about these issues, disregarding the fact that it's for GDB
> users, and I will then rephrase it to be palatable to mere mortals?


I've attached an updated patch.  What do you think?


>>>> +@item SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
>>>> +Value address is an offset in arglist.
>>>
>>> I couldn't understand what this means.
>>
>>
>> Yeah, this is a concept expressed in the comments of the code.
> 
> Where?  I don't see it in the patch you submitted.
> 


I was referring to the comments in the GDB code that this Python API
was exposing:


http://sourceware.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/src/gdb/symtab.h?rev=1.146&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup&cvsroot=src&only_with_tag=MAIN

under the LOC_REF_ARG entry in the address_class enum. Though I'm not
sure that under the current Python API the the user can access
arglist, but we still have to add it so the symbol address location
type can be tested (and in this case, discarded).


>>> Do we need a NEWS entry for this?
>>
>> Not sure. From my point of view I am merging code from Archer to FSF
>> GDB. I'll happily write one up if you think we need one? What do you
>> think?
> 
> Something like
> 
>   The GDB Python API now has access to symbols, symbol tables, and
>   frame's code blocks.

Added, thanks


Cheers,

Phil

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