Pretty Printers
From Code::Blocks
Revision as of 22:36, 26 October 2012 by GravityWe11 (talk | contribs)
GDB Pretty Printers for STL display nicely formatted variables in the hover pop-up and watch window, for all STL containers (vectors, maps, etc).
Test with GDB
- Ensure GDB is python-enabled. For Linux (tested with recent Ubuntu), it is installed by default with GDB. For Windows, MinGW's default GDB is not python enabled. One option is to install MinGW-Builds over MinGW (consider backing up MinGW first). This updates GCC to 4.7.2 and includes a Python enabled GDB.
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To test, launch GDB from console:
(gdb) python print sys.version
If python is enabled, the version will be printed (probably 2.7.1), otherwise, a message will indicate python scripting is not supported.
- Download the python printer (if necessary)
- Windows users with MinGW should already have this file in /MinGW/share/gcc-4.7.2/python/libstdcxx/v6.
- Linux users can download printers.py here. Store in /home/username/gdb_printers.
- Create a GDB Command File to enable the printer. Store in c:\mingw\bin\pp.gdb (windows) or /home/username/gdb_printers (linux). Below is a sample command file. Replace the path c:/MinGW/share... with your path to printers.py.
python import sys sys.path.insert(0, 'c:/MinGW/share/gcc-4.7.2/python/libstdcxx/v6') from printers import register_libstdcxx_printers register_libstdcxx_printers (None) end
- Test
- Set a breakpoint in a program and debug
- Run the command file from GDB (can use Codeblocks->debugger tab->command, or in GDB from the console) (substitute your path if necessary)
(gdb) source c:\MinGW\bin\pp.gdb
- Test the printer - example:
(gdb) print words2 $1 = std::vector of length 3, capacity 4 = {"one", "two", "three"}
Add to Codeblocks
Once the command file is correctly loading the python printer into GDB, there are two steps to activate in Codeblocks:
- Set debugger initialization command (substitute your path as necessary):
Codeblocks->Settings->Debugger->Default->Debugger initialization commands
source c:\MinGW\bin\pp.gdb
- Disable Codeblocks handling of watch values:
- Codeblocks->Settings->Debugger->Default->Enable Watch Scripts = Unchecked
Other Info
Links:
To Do
The third column in the Codeblocks popup and watch window displays a long unformatted string. Codeblocks is calling the GDB whatis command. Can this command be Pretty-Printed?