GDB and Symbian OS

The GNU debugger (GDB) enables remote debugging of programs on a target Symbian phone. GDB runs on a host computer which is connected to the phone by a communication link. A small "stub" program on the target machine, gdbstub.exe, provides the debugging services to GDB.

The following features are provided by this implementation of GDB:

• The debuggee can be an application or an executable

• Core source level debugging facilities, i.e. breakpoints, single-stepping, and variable display, etc.

• Debugging of ARMI, ARM4 and THUMB programs

• Debugging support for Unicode descriptors

• GDB and the GDB stub can communicate either over a serial line or via infrared. The Communication server is used to access communication link, so other Comms server based connections, e.g. Bluetooth, should be possible (untested).

• Debugging supported on Brutus or Cogent boards

• User-friendly way to load into GDB DLL debugging information

• The ability to download files from host PC to target phone

• The ability to interrupt the debuggee from either GDB or the GDB stub

• The GDB stub can be configured from a file or using command-line options

• GDB stub output can be redirected to a file or a text console

The following features are not supported:

• Attaching GDB to a running process

• Debugging multithreaded programs

• Just-in-time and core-based post-mortem debugging

• Kernel-level debugging

• The GDB User Manual "Debugging With GDB" is available in various online and offline formats at: www.gnu.org/manual/gdb-4.17.

• A printable GDB reference card can be found at www.refcards.com/about/gdb.html.