adb(1)adb(1)NAMEadb - absolute debugger
SYNOPSIS
path] kernelfile memfile
path] kernelfile crashdir
path] crashdir
path] [objfile] [corefile]
path] pid [execfile]
DESCRIPTION
The command executes a general-purpose debugging program that is sensi‐
tive to the underlying architecture of the processor and operating sys‐
tem on which it is run It can be used to examine files and provide a
controlled environment for executing HP-UX programs.
inspects exactly one object file, referred to as the and one memory
file, referred to as the Either of these files can be the NULL file,
specified by the argument, which is a file with no contents. The
object file and the memory file are specified using the following argu‐
ments:
kernelfile An HP-UX kernel, usually
memfile or memfile is assumed to be on an HP-UX system running ker‐
nelfile if kernelfile is specified. is supported only on
PA-RISC platforms.
crashdir A directory containing an HP-UX system crash dump, which is
assumed to be produced from kernelfile if kernelfile is
specified.
objfile Normally an executable program file. It can also be a
relocatable object file, shared library file or a DLKM mod‐
ule. The default for objfile is
corefile A core image file produced after executing objfile. The
default for corefile is
execfile The executable file corresponding to pid, the process ID of
the process to be adopted for debugging by
The current object file may be any one of kernelfile, the file in
crashdir, objfile, or execfile. The current object file preferably
should contain a symbol table; if it does not, the symbolic features of
cannot be used, although the file can still be examined. The current
memory file may be any one of memfile, the system memory dump in
crashdir, corefile, or the memory of process pid.
Requests to are read from standard input and responds on standard out‐
put. If the flag is present, objfile is created (if necessary) and
opened for reading and writing, to be modified using ignores QUIT;
INTERRUPT causes return to the next command.
There are two modes of operation for backward compatibility mode and
normal mode. Backward compatibility mode is the default on PA-RISC
systems. Normal mode is the default on Itanium systems.
On startup executes commands from the file
To debug a MxN process or the core, requires the MxN debug library,
Depending on the application type, it loads (for 32 bit PA-RISC sys‐
tems) or (for 64 bit PA-RISC systems) or (for Itanium(R)-based sys‐
tems). If the relevant library is not found in the specified path, you
should set the shell variable to the path where the correct library can
be found.
Options
recognizes the following command-line options, which can appear in any
order but must appear before any file arguments:
Print a usage summary and exit.
If this option is used, all other options and arguments are
ignored.
Ignores
path specifies a list of directories where files read with or (see
below) are sought. This list has the same syntax as, and
similar semantics to, the shell variable; the default is
Specify the normal mode. This is the default on Itanium systems.
This option is mutually exclusive with the option. The last
one specified takes effect.
Specify backward compatibility mode. This is the default on PA-RISC
systems.
This option is mutually exclusive with the option. The last
one specified takes effect.
Adopt process with process ID
pid as a ``traced'' process; see ttrace(2). This option is
helpful for debugging processes that were not originally run
under the control of
This option must be specified to enable the file write commands of
Objfile is opened for reading and writing. It also enables
writes to memfile if it is a kernel memory file.
The following command-line options to are obsolete and are no longer
required. (If used they generate a warning.)
Previously
required this option to recognize HP-UX crash dumps or
Previously
required this option to recognize multiple file HP-UX crash
dumps.
Requests to follow either the traditional form:
[address] [ ] [command-char] [command-arguments]
or the new form:
keyword [command-arguments]
Only the traditional form is available in backward compatibility mode.
If address is present, is set to address. is the state variable which
keeps track of the current address. is another state variable which
keeps track of increments to as steps through a format string; see
below. Initially and are set to For most commands, count specifies the
number of times the command is to be executed. The default count is
address and count are expressions.
The interpretation of an address depends on the context in which it is
used. If a subprocess is being debugged, addresses are interpreted in
the address space of the subprocess. (For further details see below.)
The command-char and command-arguments specify the command to run. See
below.
Expressions
All expression primaries are treated as 64-bit unsigned integers and
the expression also evaluates to a 64-bit unsigned integer. The fol‐
lowing primaries are supported:
integer A number. The prefixes (zero), and force interpre‐
tation in octal radix; the prefixes and force inter‐
pretation in decimal radix; the prefixes and force
interpretation in hexadecimal radix; the prefixes
and force interpretation in binary radix. Thus = =
= = sixteen. If no prefix appears, the default
radix is used; see the command. The radix is ini‐
tialized to hexadecimal. Note that a hexadecimal
number whose most significant digit would otherwise
be an alphabetic character must have a (or prefix.
The ASCII value of up to 8 characters.
If more than 8 characters are specified, the value
is undefined. A backslash can be used to escape a
single quote
Register. The value of the register is obtained
from the register set corresponding to the current
memory file. Register names are implementation
dependent; see the command.
symbol A symbol is a sequence of uppercase or lowercase
letters, underscores, or digits, not starting with a
digit. A backslash can be used to escape other
characters. The value of the symbol is taken from
the symbol table in the current object file.
variable A variable name consists of alphabets and numerals
and always starts with $. Names of registers in the
target processor are reserved as variable names and
can be used to access registers in expressions.
In backward compatibility mode, a variable is a sin‐
gle numeral or alphabet except for registers and the
prefix letter is
Here is a list of variables supported in both modes.
The count on the last
command.
The base address of the data segment.
The data segment size.
The text segment size.
The entry point.
The stack segment size.
The ``magic'' number as defined in
On entry, b, d, and t are set from the headers in
the current memory file. If the current memory file
does not appear to be valid these values are set
from the current object file. e is set from the
current object file.
Note: These are set only from core files and object
files.
The following primaries are supported only in the normal mode:
The value of
The value of
increased by the value of
The value of
decreased by the value of
The last
address typed.
The following primaries are supported only in backward compatibility
mode:
The value of
The value of
increased by the value of
The value of
decreased by the value of
" The last address typed.
The following C arithmetic, relational and logical operators are sup‐
ported and have the same precedence as in C:
The C unary sign operators and and the operator are also supported.
In addition to the above operators the following specific unary opera‐
tors are supported and have the same precedence as the other unary
operators:
The contents of the location addressed by
exp in the current memory file.
@exp The contents of the location addressed by exp in the
current object file.
The following adb specific binary operator has the same precedence as
the operator:
exp1 rounded up to the next multiple of exp2.
In backward compatibility mode, the operator has the same semantics as
the operator. The unary operator is not available in this mode.
Sub-expressions containing any of the following operators should be
protected by if used in address or count expressions:
In addition to the above, in backward compatibility mode the operator
also should be protected.
Commands
As mentioned above, commands may be specified in the or the In backward
compatibility mode, only the traditional form is supported.
Traditional Form Commands
The following categories of commands are specified in the traditional
command form:
· File commands
· Keyword commands
· Process commands
· Thread commands
· Shell commands
In backward compatibility mode:
· Variable commands
These commands operate on the current object file or the current memory
file and are used to read, write, etc.
file_selector[ modifier] [ | index] [arglist]
The file_selector can be one of these:
The selected file is the current object file.
The selected file is the current memory file.
This special symbol is only used for printing the value of
The modifier specifies the operation on the file; modifier can be:
(no modifier)
It takes a single optional argument list which is a
format string. prints data from the selected file
according to the format string. If a format string
is not present and the file selector is or then uses
the format string used by either of these earlier.
If the file selector is and a format string is not
present, then uses the format string used by the
previous command.
/ [ , size ] value [ mask ]
Search the selected file. Words of size, size
starting at are masked with mask and compared with
value until a match is found. If found, is set to
that address of masked object. If mask is omitted,
no mask is used. is set to 0. Valid values of size
are 1, 2, 4, 8. If no size is specified then is
assumed. value and mask are unsigned integers of
size size bytes.
For example: Search for 4 byte value, 4 ( 6 & 5 ) in
the current object file, starting at expr.
= [ , size ] value1 value2 ...
Write a size sized value at the addressed location.
is incremented by size after each write. is set to
0. Values of size and values are same as for / mod‐
ifier. For this operation, the file should be
opened with option.
For example: Write 6 & 5 in the current object file
at addresses expr and expr+4 respectively, starting
at expr.
> [ , index ] b e f
Set the indexth mapping triple parameters of the
selected file to the corresponding argument values
in order. Refer to If fewer than three arguments
are given, remaining maps remain unchanged. The
arguments are expressions. If not specified, index
is assumed to be 0. For example: Set b, e, f (index
0) of the current object file to 1, 2, 3 respec‐
tively.
In backward compatibility mode the following modifiers are also
present.
It has same behavior as that when no modifier
is present. However, it uses the second mapping
triple to locate the file address of data to be
printed.
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit size of 2. It sets to 2.
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit size of 4. It sets to 4.
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit size of 2. It sets to 2. It
increments by the total size of all the values writ‐
ten minus
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit size of 4. It sets to 4. is set
as for
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit index of 0.
It has same behavior as modifier
with an implicit index of 1.
For these modifiers, no explicit size or index can be mentioned. These
modifiers are deprecated. Run the Keyword Command Form using the tra‐
ditional command form by prefixing the command with Please refer to for
the complete list of keyword commands. These commands deal with manag‐
ing subprocesses. can run an object file as a subprocess. Also, it
can adopt a subprocess given its pid. can debug multi-threaded and/or
forked subprocesses. It can also debug multiple subprocesses at the
same time. However, at any time it focuses on a one subprocess and one
of its threads called the and respectively.
The command consists of followed by the modifier and an optional list
of arguments. They are:
r [ objfile ]
Run objfile as a subprocess. If address is given
explicitly, the program is entered at this point;
otherwise the program is entered at its standard
entry point. The value count specifies how many
breakpoints are ignored before stopping. arguments
to the subprocess may be supplied on the same line
as the command. Semicolon is not used as a command
separator. An argument starting with < or > causes
the standard input or output to be established for
the command. All signals are turned on when enter‐
ing the subprocess. Such a subprocess is referred
to as a
If there are other created subprocesses running, all
are killed. It does not kill any attached subpro‐
cesses. This becomes the current subprocess.
e [ objfile ]
Set up a subprocess as in no instructions are exe‐
cuted.
a [ objfile ]
Causes to adopt process with pid as a traced subpro‐
cess. If the objfile is specified, uses it to
lookup symbol information. Count has same meaning
as in Such a subprocess is referred to as an This
subprocess becomes the current subprocess.
k [ pid | * ]
Kills a created subprocess. If no argument is spec‐
ified it kills the current subprocess. If a pid is
given, it kills the subprocess with that pid. If is
given, it kills all created subprocesses.
The current subprocess is chosen from the remaining
subprocesses.
de [ pid | * ]
The arguments can be a pid or a Same as however it
applies to attached subprocesses. detaches from
them.
c [ signal ]
Continues the current subprocess with signal signal.
It continues all the threads of the subprocess. If
no signal is specified, the signal that caused it to
stop is sent. If address is specified, the current
thread continues at this address. Breakpoint skip‐
ping is the same as for
s [ signal | arg1 arg2 ... ]
Step the current thread count times. If address is
given, then the thread continues at that address,
else from the address where it had stopped. If no
signal is specified, the signal that caused it to
stop is sent. If there is no current subprocess,
object file is run as a subprocess as for In this
case no signal can be sent; the remainder of the
line is treated as arguments to the subprocess.
b [ command ]
Sets breakpoint at address in the current subprocess
The breakpoint is executed count-1 times before
causing a stop. Each time the breakpoint is encoun‐
tered, the command is executed. This breakpoint is
a subprocess breakpoint. If any of the thread exe‐
cutes the instruction at this address, it will stop.
Multiple breakpoints can be set at the same address.
d [ num | * ]
Deletes all breakpoints at address in the current
subprocess, if it is specified. If is specified, it
deletes all the current subprocess breakpoints. If
num is specified, breakpoint with number num is
deleted.
en [ num | * ]
Enables all breakpoints at address in the current
subprocess, if it is specified. If is specified, it
enables all the current subprocess breakpoints. If
num is specified, breakpoint with number num is
enabled.
di [ num | * ]
Disables all breakpoints at address in the current
subprocess, if it is specified. If is specified, it
disables all the current subprocess breakpoints. If
num is specified, breakpoint with number num is dis‐
abled.
z signum [ +s | -s | +r | -r | +d | -d ]
Changes signal handling for a specified signum for
all the threads of the current subprocess. Disposi‐
tion can be specified as:
Stop subprocess when signum is received.
Do not stop
subprocess when signum is received.
Report when
signum is received.
Do not report when
signum is received.
Deliver
signum to the target subprocess.
Do not deliver
signal to the target subprocess.
w [ pid ] Switches from the current subprocess to the subpro‐
cess with process ID pid. This process becomes the
current subprocess. This subprocess must be an
already attached or created subprocess. Both sub‐
processes are in stopped state after this command.
wc [ pid ] Same as however the previous current subprocess is
not stopped.
These commands manage the threads in the current subprocess. The com‐
mand consists of a followed by a modifier and an optional argument
list.
s [ signum ] Same as However it is strictly for the current thread
only.
c [ signum ] Same as However it continues only the current thread.
And count refers to the breakpoint to skip for the cur‐
rent thread.
b [ command ] Same as However it applies to the current thread only.
d [ num | * ] Same as However it applies to current thread only.
en [ num | * ] Same as However it applies to the current thread only.
di [ num | * ] Same as However it applies to the current thread only.
z signum [ +s | -s | +r | -r | +d | -d ]
Same as However it is meant for the current thread only.
If a signum occurs in the context of this thread this
disposition value is used instead of that of the subpro‐
cess.
es [ signum ] Sets the flag for this signum for the current thread.
It means that if this signal signum occurs in the con‐
text of this thread's signal disposition value is used
instead of that of the subprocess.
w [ pid ] Switch from the current thread to some other thread.
Both the threads are in stopped state after this, and
the thread with threadid becomes the current thread.
This command is also applicable to core file debugging.
It switches from present thread to given thread and
makes the given thread as the current thread.
This action consists of a character followed by a string. The string
is passed unchanged to the shell defined by the environment variable or
to This is supported in backward compatibility mode only. It consists
of a followed by a variable, var and an optional value. This action
assigns value to the variable or register named by var.
If not specified, value is assumed to be the value of This behavior is
deprecated.
Keyword Form Commands
All commands in this form consist of a keyword followed by a variable
number of arguments.
In backward compatibility mode, a must precede these keyword form com‐
mands.
< filename Reads commands from filename. If this command is
executed in a file, further commands in the file are
not seen.
In backward compatibility mode, if a count is given,
it is placed in variable 9 before the first command
in the file is executed. This behavior is depre‐
cated.
<< filename Similar to except it can be used in a file of com‐
mands without causing the file to be closed.
In backward compatibility mode, variable 9 is saved
when the command executes and is restored when it
completes. This behavior is deprecated.
> filename It sends output to filename, which is created if it
does not already exist.
In backward compatibility mode, the output is
appended to filename.
>> filename Similar to except that the output is appended to
filename.
Print the process ID and register values.
Print the general registers and the instruction
addressed by the process counter.
Print all the registers.
Print the floating-point registers.
Print the double precision floating-point registers.
Print all breakpoints, their number, associated counts, state
and
commands of the current subprocess.
Print information about all the subprocesses
being traced by that is, their process IDs, their
types (created or attached), counts, and threadids.
Print information about the
current debuggee. If the current debuggee is a sub‐
process, then it prints subprocess information
(process ID, type, count) and prints information
about each thread (thread ID, count, signal) of the
subprocess. If the current debuggee is a core then
it prints information about each thread present in
the core (thread no, utid, lwpid, PC value and PC
Symbol).
Print information about the current thread
(thread ID, count, signal). If the current debuggee
is a core then it prints information about the cur‐
rent thread of the core. (utid, lwpid and register
information).
The arguments can be
address and count. Print C stack backtrace. If
address is given, it is taken as the address of the
current frame (instead of the normal stack frame
pointer). If count is given, only the first count
frames are printed.
In backward compatibility mode, this command has a
non-standard deprecated behavior. If arguments are
not mentioned, it uses address and count.
w [ width ] Set the page width for output to width. (The
default is 80.)
In backward compatibility mode, this command has a
non-standard deprecated behavior. If width is not
mentioned, address is taken as width.
s [ offset ]
Set to offset.
In backward compatibility mode, this command has a
non-standard deprecated behavior. If offset is not
mentioned, address is taken as offset.
The default radix for all integers input is set to octal.
d [ radix ] Set the default radix to radix.
In backward compatibility mode, this command has a
non-standard deprecated behavior. If radix is not
mentioned, address is taken as radix.
The default radix for all integers input is set to hexadecimal.
Quit
Print the value of all
variables.
Print the address map.
This includes both the initial and default maps for
a valid corefile with an indication of which is cur‐
rently active.
Print a list of
signals and how they are handled for the current
subprocess.
Print a list of
signals, their associated flags, and how they are
handled for the current thread.
Print all DLKM modules or shared libraries.
n [ nodenumber ]
Without arguments print node information on a CCNUMA
machine. With a nodenumber argument, change to that
node.
p traditional_cmd
This keyword command takes a traditional command as
argument and interprets it.
a var value Assign value to variable var.
pa Virtual_Offset
Prints the physical address for a given Virtual Off‐
set in HEX format. Space ID is taken from the adb
variable space. You can set the adb variable space
using the keyword command a explained earlier.
The following commands can run only in backward compatibility mode.
newline Print the process ID and register values.
Toggle the address mapping of memfile between the initial map
set up
or a valid memory file and the default mapping pair
which the user can modify with the file action modi‐
fier If the memory file was invalid, only the
default mapping is available.
N [ nodenumber ]
Print the number of nodes on V-class multinode
machines and the current node number. To switch to
another node, enter
Print double precision floating point registers.
Print all registers.
Print unwind tables.
Format String
A is used to specify the formatting to be done before data is printed
by There are two types of format strings supported by and A traditional
style format string is a sequence of A format string is always preceded
by a comma and enclosed within double quotes (""), and is a sequence of
format specifiers and other characters. Each format specifier should
be preceded by a character. Characters other than format specifiers
are printed as is. If needed, should be escaped by It supports C lan‐
guage style character escape sequences.
While processing a format string, scans the format string from left to
right and applies each encountered to the object addressed by the sum
of and After each conversion specifier is processed, is incremented by
count times size (implicit or explicit) of that conversion specifier.
If the format string is used to print the value of (using action and
remain unchanged. For operator, is updated appropriately.
In backward compatibility mode, only the traditional style format
string is supported. A can be a or a
Each conversion specifier consists of an optional count or pspec fol‐
lowed by an optional size specifier character, followed by a conversion
specifier character.
count This is available only for the traditional style format string.
The count specifies the number of times this conversion specifier
is to be repeated. If not specified, count is assumed to be 1.
pspec This is available only for the format string. It is a sequence
of flags, fieldwidth and precision as in the printf(3S) library
function.
size specifier character
This specifies the size of object to which this is applied. Size
can be specified in two ways. One is using absolute size speci‐
fier and other is relative size specifier. Absolute size speci‐
fiers are as follows.
The size of the object is 1 byte.
The size of the object is 2 bytes.
The size of the object is 4 bytes.
The size of the object is 8 bytes.
The size of the object is 16 bytes.
Relative size specifiers are as follows
The size of the object is the size of a machine word of the tar‐
get processor.
The size of the object is half the size of a machine word of the
target processor.
The size of the object is double the size of a machine word of
the target
processor.
The size of the object is the size of a pointer on the target
processor. This will
be different for wide files and narrow files.
The size of the object is the size of an instruction of the tar‐
get processor. This
will be supported only on processors where this is constant.
Conversion Specifier Character
The following characters are supported
The value of dot is printed in symbolic form.
The object is printed as a character.
The object is printed as an unsigned octal number.
The object is printed as a signed decimal number.
The object is printed as an unsigned decimal number.
The object is disassembled as an instruction and printed.
The object is printed in a floating point format according to its
size.
The object is printed in symbolic form.
The object is assumed to be a null terminated string and printed.
This cannot
be used to print
The object is cast to type
and printed in the ctime(3C) format.
Here the format strings support only and If the size specifier
character is not specified, it is assumed to be for conversion
character for conversion characters and for for and for every‐
thing else.
For example.
A dot operator consists of an optional count, optional size specifier
character, and a dot operator character.
count count specifies the number of times this dot operator is
to be repeated. If not specified, count is assumed to be
1. The count is always 1 for format strings.
Size Specifier Character
Same as size specifier character of conversion specifier.
Dot operator character
This can be one of these
Increment
by count times size.
Decrement
by count times size.
For example:
In backward compatibility mode, the can be a conversion specifier, dot
operator, spacing specifier, or a literal string.
A conversion specifier consists of an optional count followed by a con‐
version specifier character.
count Specify the number of times this conversion specifier is
to be repeated. If not specified, count is assumed to be
1.
Conversion Specifier Character
These have an implicit size. No explicit size is recog‐
nized. The following format characters are available:
(Their implicit sizes are mentioned next to them.)
The object is printed as an unsigned octal number.
The object is printed as an unsigned octal number.
The object is printed as a signed octal number.
The object is printed as a signed octal number.
The object is printed as a signed decimal number.
The object is printed as a signed decimal number.
The object is printed as a unsigned hexadecimal number.
The object is printed as a unsigned hexadecimal number.
The object is printed as a unsigned hexadecimal number.
The object is printed as a unsigned decimal number.
The object is printed as a unsigned decimal number.
The object is printed as a floating point number.
The object is printed as a double precision floating point
number.
The object is printed as a hexadecimal number.
The object is printed as an octal number.
The object is printed as a character (the sign bit is
ignored).
The object is printed as a character using the following
escape convention.
First, the sign bit is discarded, then character
values 000 to 040 are printed as followed by the
corresponding character in the range 0100 to 0140.
The character is represented as
The object is assumed to be a sequence of bytes terminated
with a
n as an instruction and printed. The value of n
is the number of bytes occupied by the instruc‐
tion. This cannot be used to print
The object is assumed to be a sequence of bytes terminated
with a null byte.
These bytes of the object are printed as a
sequence of characters using the escape conven‐
tion. The value of n is the number of bytes in
the object including the null byte. This cannot
be used to print
The object is printed in the date format (see
ctime(3C)).
The object is disassembled as an instruction and printed.
The value of
n is the number of bytes occupied by the instruc‐
tion.
The value of dot is printed in symbolic form.
The object is printed in symbolic form. The value of
n s machine-dependent.
For example:
A dot operator consists of an optional count followed by a dot operator
character.
count Same as that of count of conversion specifier.
Dot operator character
A dot operator character is one of these:
is decreased by count times size corresponding to the pre‐
vious
conversion specifier character.
is increased by count.
is decreased by count.
For example:
A spacing specifier consists of an optional count or an optional tab‐
stop followed by a
count Same as that of count of conversion specifier.
tabstop
Same as that of count of conversion specifier. However,
it is used only with the t spacing specifier. If no value
is mentioned, it is assumed to be 1.
spacing specifier character
A spacing specifier character can be one of these:
Move to the next tab stop appropriate for tabstop. For
example,
moves to the next 8-space tab stop.
Print a space.
Print a newline character.
For example:
A literal string is any number of characters enclosed within double
quotes ("").
For example:
Address Maps
In files like object files and application core files, the virtual mem‐
ory address is the not the same as the file offset. So keeps an array
of for these files to map a given virtual memory address to a file off‐
set. Each address map is a triple: start virtual address (b), end vir‐
tual address (e) and start file offset (f). The triple specifies that
all addresses from b to e - 1 occupy a contiguous region in the file
starting at f. Given a virtual address a such that b≤ a< e, the file
offset of a can be computed as f+ a- b.
State variables
There are several variables which define the state of at any instant in
time. They are:
Current address. Initial value is 0.
Current address increment. Initial value is 0.
Prompt string used by adb. Initial value is ``
The current input radix. Initial value is as in the assembly language
of the
target processor.
The maximum width of the display. Initial value is 80.
If an address is within this limit from a known symbol,
prints the address as symbol_name+offset, else the
address is printed. Initial value is
List of directories to be searched for
macros. Initial value is
Pager command used by adb.
Initial value is
Set to 1 if is in backward compatibility mode. Initial value
depends on the host processor.
Note
is a symbolic link to This symbolic link is maintained for backward
compatibility with some old scripts which may be using
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
RETURN VALUE
comments about inaccessible files, syntax errors, abnormal termination
of commands, etc. Exit status is unless the last command failed or
returned non-zero status.
AUTHOR
was developed by HP.
FILESSEE ALSOttrace(2), crt0(3), ctime(3C), end(3C), a.out(4), core(4), signal(5).
adb(1)
