GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 646698
Command line argument to specify a custom debugger
Last modified: 2020-03-10 11:53:57 UTC
This is an enhancement request to add a command line option (I strongly suggest --debugger) to specify a custom debugger instead of defaulting to system gdb. It would be particularly useful for: * cross-debugging on real-hardware, in conjunction with --remote and via third party gdb-proxy (eg. mspdebug, openocd). Live action at http://www.mail-archive.com/mspgcc-users@lists.sourceforge.net/msg09782.html :) * using nemiver as a drop-in replacement for ddd. While ddd has some more CLI options (see manpage), this is the one I'm missing the most.
You can already choose the GDB binary you want Nemiver to use by going into the "Debugger" tab of the preference dialog. Isn't that enough ?
Hmmh, OK. I think having the command line switch is interesting even though it can be set via the preferences GUI. I have some additional questions though. Right now the GDB binary is a gconf (or gsettings) key. It would be much easier (implementation-wise) to have the --debugger=/path/to/gdb just set the the gconf key, and have Nemiver consume the value we just set. A noticeable side of effect of this is, that the setting is going to be persistent. I.e, next time you start Nemiver again, it'll use the last binary you set using the --debugger command line switch. I have no problem with this behaviour, but I am wondering if this is what you have in mind. Last question, why not having --gdb-binary=/path/to/gdb instead of --debugger? I find the later too vague. Also, tomorrow Nemiver could support a second debugging backend (besides GDB); in that case --debugger= would be ambiguous. So I tend to prefer using the --gdb-binary option.
Yes, I know of the gconf/menu setting, that's what I've used in the link I've posted. The idea here is instead a bit different; sometimes you need a one-shot particular debugger (ie. I usually debug native applications, but once in a time I'd also resort to a cross-debugger for some unusual works). This bug report is really similar to https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=530907 in its use-case. Would it make sense to be session-related instead of persistent? Regarding the option name, feel free to choose the one you prefer. I was just suggesting --debugger to keep in line with ddd.
Closing all open Nemiver tasks as this project does not seem to be maintained anymore. Please see https://gitlab.gnome.org/Infrastructure/Infrastructure/issues/235#note_732192 for further information. Thanks!