[R-SIG-Mac] Debugging package code in Xcode?

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 08/07/2009 10:20 AM, Neil Tiffin wrote:
> Duncan,
> 
> I am not sure that even if you answer these questions that I can help,  
> but I'll try.
> 
> How did you start gdb?  What commands?  Exactly what process did you  
> attach to?  What is in xcode and what is not?

I started R in an xterm, and ran system("ps") to find its process ID.  I 
also ran library(rgl) to get it loaded.

I started Xcode on a project that imports a bunch of files from R and rgl.

I started gdb by menu in Xcode:  Run | Attach to process | Process ID...

This immediately breaks showing a bunch of assembler, because Xcode 
doesn't know the connection between the R source and the binary.  (I 
have had more success doing this on a build of R I made myself, but in 
this case I'm using Simon's, and I get lots of warnings in the gdb 
console that it can't find the source in directories on his system named 
things like /Builds/Rdev-web/QA/Simon/... .  I don't want to debug R 
this time, so I have ignored those.  I want to debug rgl.

All of the rgl source code has been added to the Xcode project, using 
Project | Add to project.

> 
> How exactly are you trying to set the break point?  And what does gdb  
> respond with when you set it from the command line?

I try to set the breakpoint by clicking in the left margin of one of the 
source files.  I haven't tried doing it from the command line until now, 
but it doesn't like the syntax I was trying.  (How do you specify a 
source file line number?  Alternatively, how do you specify a C++ 
method?  I can set breakpoints at C functions by name, and then Xcode 
does find the right source line, but rgl is mostly C++.

> 
> Was anything compiled from xcode?

No.
> 
> Was rgl.so compiled with debug symbols turned on?

I don't know:  it was compiled by R CMD INSTALL rgl.  I was told a 
couple of years ago that symbols were included by default, but I don't 
know if that's still true.  I think so (based on my success with C 
functions).
> 
> Was X11gui compiled with debug symbols turned on?

It's just part of rgl, so the same answer.

> Xcode integration with gdb is a complicated situation.  Just because  
> xcode can see something does not really mean that gdb can see it,  
> although it usually works with Apple magic.  Are you indicating that  
> gdb can see the source file or that xcode can see the source file?

I'm not sure who can see what.  Here's the summary:

  - In the gdb console, I can set a breakpoint at a C function, and 
Xcode will jump to the right source line for rgl.

  - I can't seem to set a breakpoint from the source display.

Duncan Murdoch

> 
> Running x11, R, and rgl all in debug mode would seem a real  
> challenge.  Not being an x11 expert, I would also raise the question  
> with people familiar with X11 debugging in Mac OS X.  I would start  
> with breakpoints only in rgl.so (which is probably what you are trying  
> to do) and not x11gui.cpp:300.
> 
> You might want to run gdb without xcode and see what's going on.   
> You'll have to wade through a bunch of command line stuff, but you do  
> get direct feedback without it being absorbed by xcode.
> 
> Neil
> 
> On Jul 8, 2009, at 8:53 AM, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> 
>> Neil Tiffin wrote:
>>> You might research gdb fb command (future-break.)  It allows you  
>>> to  set a breakpoint in code that is not loaded when the debugger  
>>> is  started.  I believe you would have to use the debugger console  
>>> not the  GUI with a syntax like "fb rgl.so:function_name".
>>>
>> But it is loaded when I want to set the breakpoint.  I can see the  
>> source file, set a breakpoint in it, but it doesn't work.  I opened  
>> the gdb console (thanks for the suggestion),  and I see warnings like
>>
>> Warning - No location found for "x11gui.cpp:300"
>>
>> when I try to set a breakpoint in rgl.  How do I tell it where to  
>> find the location corresponding to that file?
>>
>> Duncan Murdoch
>>> On Jul 8, 2009, at 5:57 AM, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'd like to use Xcode to debug the rgl package, which is crashing   
>>>> sometimes in X11 on OSX.   In the past, I've done this for  
>>>> debugging  R itself, and have a project set up for that.  I can  
>>>> attach to the  process ID, and then I see rgl.so is loaded, but I  
>>>> can't see how to  set a breakpoint in the rgl.so code.
>>>>
>>>> Has anyone else done this before?  Can you point me to step-by- 
>>>> step  instructions?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Duncan Murdoch
>>>>
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