Subject: Re: libsa/loadfile.c
To: None <nigel@ind.tansu.com.au>
From: Bharani Chadalavada <bharani.chadalavada@nexsi.com>
List: tech-kern
Date: 07/16/2001 18:13:52
Wiser guys please correct me if I am wrong.
I think basically, for a.out files, you would use dbsym (man 8 dbsym) to
copy the debug symbols to the ddb symtab space.
But for Elf, since you have the luxury of having multiple sections etc,
you can do more run-time stuff like reading the elf header etc.

Am I right??

Also, in the elf case, would DDB expect the whole elf-file to be loaded??
(If I have to take a guess, as long as it can get the offset of the debug
section, it should be happy, from what I get from ddb/db_elf.c)


Bharani.

nigel@ind.tansu.com.au wrote:

> >  >    Hmmm. Hadn't thought about this. DDB compatibility matters.
> >  >
> >  > 1) Does DDB _require_ the Elf header to be loaded in the kernel?
> >
> > Yes.  That's how the DDB symbol stuff I pointed out to you previously
> > works.
>
>         Sure - no header, no symbols. What I really mean is, if there
> is no header, will DDB crash and burn? Or will it just be a little
> "dumber" than usual ( Dumb DeBugger :-)
>
> >  > 2) Does DDB _require_ the exec header from an a.out kernel?
> >
> > No.  DDB for a.out symbols works completely differently
>
>         OK. So if the Booter's LOAD_KERNEL has LOAD_HDR,
> then both a.out and ELF kernels will have full DDB support,
> otherwise just a.out ones will work ?
>
> --
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