Previous: Customizing the Debugger, Up: Debugging
This section is intended for users already familiar with GVD, in order to help them transitioning to GPS. If you have not used GVD, you may want to skip this section.
This section outlines the differences between GVD and GPS, and also lists some of the advantages of GPS compared to GVD.
The following command line switches related to debugging are available in GPS:
--debug
--pargs
and executable-file
arguments in GVD.
--debugger
--dargs
option.
--target
For example, the equivalent of the following command line using a sh-like shell would be:
$ gvd --debugger=gdb-5 executable --pargs 1 2 3
would be
$ gps --debug="executable 1 2 3" --debugger=gdb-5
--traceon=GVD.OUT
All the debugger-related menus in GVD can be found under the 'Debug' menu in GPS, with the following mapping:
File->xxx
Debug->Debug->xxx
Program->xxx
Debug->xxx
Data->xxx
Debug->Data->xxx
The menu File->New Debugger...
is replaced by the combination of
the menu Debug->Initialize
and the project properties, available
under Project->Edit Project Properties
where you can similarly
specify your Debugger Host (called Tools Host), your
Program Host, the Protocol used by the underlying debugger
to communicate with the target, and the name of the debugger.
To conveniently switch between multiple debugger configurations, we
recommend to use a scenario variable and set different properties based
on the value of this variable. See
Scenarios and Configuration Variables and
Working in a Cross Environment for more details.
GPS provides by default fewer debugger buttons than GVD, because some buttons are actually not used very often, and others have been merged. In addition, it will be possible in the future to completely configure the GPS tool bar.
Run
Debug->Run...
(<F2>)
Start
Step
Stepi
Debug->Step Instruction
(<Shift-F5>)
Next
Nexti
Debug->Next Instruction
(<Shift-F6>)
Finish
Cont
Up
Down
Interrupt
Debug->Interrupt
(<Control-Backslash>)
The same key shortcuts have been kept by default between GVD and GPS except for the Interrupt menu, which is now <Control-Backslash> instead of <Esc>.
All the debugger-related contextual menus can now be found under the
Debug
sub-menu.
The only difference is the contextual menu Show
used to display
the assembly dump of the current code. It is replaced by the menu
Debug->Data->Assembly
, see The Assembly Window for more
details.
The file explorer provided in GVD is replaced by the Project View
and the File View
in GPS.
When using the --debug
command line switch and no explicit project
file, GPS will automatically create a project file in a way very
similar to what GVD does to display its file explorer, and available under
the Project View
.
In addition, the File View
gives access to any file in your file
system, even if it is not available as part of the debug information.
The advantages when using GPS instead of GVD can be classified in two main categories: when not using project files, and when using them.
When not using project files, you get access to the following advantages in GPS:
When using project files, you will get, in addition to the advantages listed above: