Re: repo to work on python scripting support

[Paul Koning <Paul_Koning at dell dot com>]

>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Tromey <tromey@redhat.com> writes:

 Tom> The basic problem is that we have a syntax for embedding a
 Tom> python call in an expression that looks like $(stuff).

 Tom> Now, internally to gdb, "stuff" is just a string.  But, most of
 Tom> the time, the implementation of this function, whatever it is,
 Tom> won't want just a string -- it will want an expression, or a
 Tom> file name, or something.

 Tom> So, what Jim and Daniel want, I think, is a declarative way for
 Tom> the Python code (which implements the given function) to tell
 Tom> gdb's core how to parse this string.

Something akin to the way that C extension modules inside Python tell
the Python execution machinery what data type it wants might serve.

The notion of asking for a particular type is a bit foreign to Python;
arguments have no fixed type.

Another possibility is to pass strings but then have standard
conversion routines (things callable by Python and supplied by gdb).
For example parse_and_eval_address.  And the target functions.  And so
on.

def walklist (head):
    addr = parse_and_eval_address (head)
    while addr:
	  print "list item at", addr
	  addr = target_read_memory (addr, 4)

   paul