[net.bugs.4bsd] Problems with Ultrix dbx

tony@xios.UUCP (Keeper Of News) (06/03/86)

Has anyone ( else ) out there had problems using dbx under Ultrix 1.2. 
We have had a number of problems including getting into a state where it
is not able to access local variables of a paticular function, and not
being able to handle C casts of a pointer to an array of pointers. 
Other annoyances are that it can't print the results of a function, and
in 'print', expressions cannot include a function call. 

We would be interested in any similar problem reports and/or
fixes/work-arounds.  Also, the documentation which we have has been
wrong on a couple of occaisions, so if anyone knows to any
features/changes/corrections to it, we would appreciate hearing about
it. 

DEC has been most uncooperative in fixing these problems. 

RSVPBM/TIA (RSVP by mail / thanks in advance )
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chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (Chris Torek) (06/08/86)

In article <282@xios.UUCP>, tony@xios.UUCP (Keeper Of News) writes:
>[dbx is] getting into a state where it is not able to access local
>variables of a paticular function, ...

I cannot guess at the rest of the trouble, but this one is usually
caused by trapping a routine after a `return' instruction but before
the return has completed.  In particular, clobbering the stack will
have this effect.  Since the local variables are below the current
stack pointer, dbx thinks they are no longer available.  If you
use adb you can still find them, though this is hardly convenient.
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In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 1516)
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