C/C++ Users Group Library 1996 July

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C-window Demonstration Copyright (C) 1983 by c-systems C-window Demonstration Document File ------------------------------------ Do it NOW! ---------- This file shows how to use the c-window DEMO provided in Diskette B. Print this file and the file "dump.c" (also on Diskette B), as constant reference will be made to them in this document. Overview -------- C-window(tm) is used to debug C programs at the source-code level. C-window provides an interactive debugging environment that simplifies the program development process. C-window commands can: o set breakpoints at a function name and source-code line, o single step and trace at the C source-statement level, o display the value of variables, using the same variable names as used in the C source code (Local and external are supported), o display the source code of the program under test, o display complex expressions, like the third element of an array of characters, which is a member of a structure, which is an element in an array of structures, and o override minor program bugs allowing more of the program to be tested before a recompilation is needed. To use the c-window debugger, the source code must be compiled using the "-w" option of the c-systems C compiler. During the link step the object code library, c-window.lib, is included, which embeds the c-window executive into the executable object file. When the final test module is invoked, the c-window executive is actually given control, not the program being tested. The Programs Dump.C and Dump.Exe -------------------------------- Dump.c is the source code for a dump utility that dumps an ASCII file in both hex. and ASCII format, while showing the address of the data in the file. The executable module, "dump.exe" is also contained on Diskette B. To study the output of this program, type: A>dump dump.c (For the purposes of this DEMO package we assume that all files mentioned are available on drive A.) The program reads the input file dump.c and displays three fields on the monitor. The leftmost field contains the starting address of the data displayed. The middle field contains the hex. representation of the file, and the rightmost field contains the ASCII representation of the hex. data. Periods are displayed in the rightmost field to represent extended-ASCII characters. C-window Demonstration Program ------------------------------ I suggest that you review the "dump.c" source code before proceeding with this DEMO. The DEMO program,"cwdump.exe", is also contained on Diskette B. Assuming it is on drive A, type A>cwdump dump.c to start the DEMO. If you are using an IBM-PC or compatible, the screen is divided into three sections. These sections are treated as independent windows by the c-window executive. The top window is the debugger interface. All commands issued and responses received are displayed within the top window. The middle window is dedicated to the application keyboard input and screen output. The hex. dump that you saw when you ran "dump.exe" will appear only within this window. The last window, at the bottom of the screen, displays the source code of the file being debugged. Whenever a single step, a trace, or a breakpoint occurs the last window is updated to show the results of the instruction. This allows for debugging at the source level without the need to reprint the source code each time a source code change is made. When the program begins execution a message is issued indicating the function name ("main") and the line number where execution begins. The message entry at main line 22 >> should appear in the top window, showing that execution of the program under test started in the function named "main" at line 22. The ">>" is the c-window command-line prompt and indicates that c-window is waiting for a command. C-window's response to your command is not preceded by the ">>' prompt, so you can easily tell them apart. To exit the DEMO, type "ex" after the ">>' prompt displayed in the top window. As our first command to the debugger, let's display the arguments passed into the "main" function (i.e. argc and argv). The command >>d argc 2 displays the number of parameters typed on the command line when the program was invoked. The "2" shown on the next line is c-window's response to this command. To display the parameter entered on the command line, type: >>ds argv[1] dump.c The <ds> command tells c-window to display "argv[1]" using the string format, and indeed C-window's response to the command matches the command-line entry used to invoke "cwdump.exe" We saw earlier that "argc" was equal to 2. On line 22 of "dump.c" an "if" statement checks to see if "argc" is less than 2. Since "argc" is not less than 2, we expect that lines 23, 24, and 25 (the body of the "if" statement) will be skipped and execution resumed at line 26, the first statement after the "if" statement. C-window`s single step command is used below. Let's see what happens. >>s step at main line 26 Sure enough. The body of the "if" statement was skipped and line 26 will be executed next. The "if" statement on line 26 tries to open the file named in argv[1] ("dump.c") and then checks the value returned by "fopen" to see if any errors were detected. Let's single step again and look at the results. >>s step at main line 30 C-window's response shows that no errors were detected since line 27 and 28 were skipped. The pointer "infp" now holds the file pointer that will be used for all subsequent file operations on "dump.c". The "if" statement on line 30 checks if an output file name was entered on the command line of "cwdump" and also checks that the output file is not the same file as the input file. >>s step at main line 37 As no output file was typed on the command line when "cwdump.exe" was executed "argc" is not greater than 2. So lines 31, 32, and 33 were skipped, and line 37 is the next line to be executed. Line 37 assigns the console to the output file pointer so subsequent output done by the program will go to the console screen. Now let's set a non-sticky breakpoint using the <g> command. (go command). This breakpoint will be set at line 40 of function "main". This line follows the code that reads the first 16 bytes of "dump.c". >>g main,40 break at main line 40 Execution begins at the current location and stops when line 40 in "main" is to be executed. C-window's response shows where the breakpoint occurred. The number of elements actually read from the file, in "nread", can be displayed using the command: >>d nread 10 The <d> command indicates to display the variable "nread" in hex. format (Any C expression can be displayed, not just simple variables.) So "nread" = 0x10 or 16 decimal. Notice that you typed "nread", the same name declared in the source code. This is symbolic debugging. The value of "nread" shows that 16 bytes were read from "dump.c" Alternately, to display the contents of "nread" in decimal, use: >>dd nread 16 Let's look at the data that was read from "dump.c". Since we know that this data was placed into a buffer with address "buf", to display the data in a byte-format memory dump, use: >>db buf 66a0 : 2f 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a /*************** 66b0 : 10 00 02 00 70 04 06 48 82 00 00 01 c7 13 02 00 ....p..H........ 66c0 : d4 47 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .G.............. 66d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 66e0 : 00 64 75 6d 70 2e 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .dump.c......... 66f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 6700 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 6710 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ As 16 bytes have been read from "dump.c", only the data between addresses 66a0 and 66af, inclusive, are of interest to us at this time. (The addresses shown in this dump may vary from those shown in your dump.) The output of our test program should look very similar to this data dump. Now, to make c-window display the first 16 bytes of the file we go to line 53 of "main". Lines 47 - 52 print either the value in "buf" or a "." if an extended-ASCII character was found. >>g main,53 0 2f 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a /*************** break at main line 53 The line of data displayed after the <g> command, but before the break message, is the output of the application program. The output looks very much like the memory dump that we saw earlier. If this had not been the case then a bug would have been present. Line 53 increments the file position indicator "position" by the number of bytes read from the file, "nread". Before line 53 is executed it may be of some interest to display the value of the "position" variable before the assignment statement occurs. The command >>d position 0 shows that the current value of "position" is 0. As "nread" is 16 we expect "position" to equal 16 after the execution of line 53. Before executing line 53, I want to demonstrate another powerful feature of c-window called an "automatic command". Since we are interested in the value of "position", it would be helpful if its value were displayed whenever we entered a command that caused a portion of the program to be executed. The automatic command feature is set by using the <cs> command: >>cs 1 d position >> This causes the command "d position" to be executed whenever a single step, a breakpoint, or a trace occurs. Now that the command has been entered, a single step should cause the contents of "position" to change, and the new contents of "position" to be displayed. (Recall that we are currently at line 52 in "dump.c") >>s step at main line 38 <1>d position 10 Notice that when the single step occurred, the message "step at main line 38" is displayed, and the automatic command "d position" is executed. The <1> means that the first automatic command has been executed. If there were other automatic commands they would all have been executed, and the number of the automatic command would appear in place of the "1". A breakpoint set at line 53 should cause the current value of "position" to be displayed. At this point it should match what has just been printed on the screen. The breakpoint can be set with the command: >>cs 2 g This causes the <g> command to be executed as the second automatic command. Currently we have two automatic commands; the first generates a breakpoint and the second restarts execution. Typing the <g> command will cause the program to loop. This loop may be stopped by pressing the "h" key. Type <g>, but be prepared to type "h." >>g 10 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a **************** break at main line 53 <1>d 10 <2>g 20 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a **************** break at main line 53 <1>d position 20 <2>g 30 2a 2f 0d 0a 2f 2a 09 09 09 09 09 09 2a 2f 0d 0a */../*......*/.. break at main line 53 <1>d position 30 <2>g stopped at main line 38 >>h If you have not done so already, press the "h" key on your keyboard. The line at which the program stopped may not match that shown above, depending upon when the "h" key was pressed. For the remainder of this demonstration the point where program execution stopped is unimportant. Notice that c-window echoes the character "h" after taking control. Also notice that the automatic commands were not executed when a keyboard hit signaled to stop program execution. This was done so that if execution is stopped manually it will not be started again, unintentionally, due to an automatic command. (I pressed the "h" key purposely to show the on-line help command. Press the Enter key to display the help menu.) The program-stop feature you have just seen can be useful during the early stages of debugging when a program does not act properly. It may not hit any of the set breakpoints or may even hang in an endless loop. Pressing a key, when console I/O is not expected, returns control to the executive level of the debugger. This effectively eliminates type-ahead when in the debugging mode. Next I want to demonstrate the variable display commands. The <l> and <e> commands are used to display the values of all local and global (external) variables in the current function. >>l Function: main 8[bp]<66be> argc: 2 10[bp]<66c0> argv: 6764, *argv: 66e0 -2[bp]<66b4> infp: 452, *infp: 11cb -4[bp]<66b2> outfp: 3, *outfp: 6420 -6[bp]<66b0> nread: 10 si i: 10 -22[bp]<66a0> buf -24[bp]<669e> position: 30 >>e External data: < 434> stdout: 3, *stdout: 6420 There are some interesting things to note in the displays. First, the <l> command generated variables with both positive and negative offsets from the "bp" register. (The bp register is the base pointer register in the 8086 from which all stack variables are referenced.) Variables passed in parameters have positive offsets and variable allocated on the stack have negative offsets. The number within a bracket "<>" indicates the value of an address within the data segment. This is a handy tool for watching the operation of recursive procedures and is also useful for monitoring the amount of stack space used when the program executes. The variable "i" was declared as a register variable and the local-variable dump shows which register the variable was assigned to as well as its current value. Note that the value of "outfp" in the local-variable dump and "stdout" in the external-variable dump are identical. This is because the value of "stdout" was assigned to "outfp" on line 37 of the dump program. The last feature that I want to demonstrate is the expression-breakpoint. This is one of the most powerful features of the debugger since it essentially allows a user-definable breakpoint based upon the values of variables as well as the relationships between variables. An arbitrarily complex expression can be entered and evaluated, and a breakpoint occurs when the expression evaluates as TRUE. Let's set a breakpoint such that when the value of "position" exceeds 256 (100 hex.) the program returns control to the c-window executive. First, the breakpoints at "main", line 53, must be cleared. This can be done by: >>bc . All breakpoints cleared >>cc . All auto commands cleared Next, the expression-breakpoint can be set using the command: >>bx main,1,position > 0x100 Using the <g> command to begin execution gives: >>g 40 2f 2a 09 64 75 6d 70 2e 63 09 09 09 09 09 2a 2f /*.dump.c.....*/ 50 0d 0a 2f 2a 09 09 09 09 09 09 2a 2f 0d 0a 2f 2a ../*......*/../* 60 09 44 75 6d 70 20 74 68 65 20 63 6f 6e 74 65 64 .Dump the conten 70 74 73 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 73 70 65 63 69 66 ts of the specif 80 69 65 64 09 2a 2f 0d 0a 2f 2a 09 66 69 6c 65 20 ied.*/../*.file 90 74 6f 20 74 68 65 20 73 63 72 65 65 2e 09 2a 2f to the screen or a0 20 6f 75 74 70 75 74 20 66 69 6c 65 2e 09 2a 2f output file..*/ b0 0d 0a 2f 2a 09 09 09 09 09 09 2a 2f 0d 0a 2f 2a ../*......*/../* c0 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a **************** d0 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a **************** e0 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a 2a **************** f0 0d 0a 0d 0a 23 69 6e 63 6c 75 64 65 20 3c 73 74 ....#include <st 100 64 69 6f 2e 68 3e 0d 0a 23 64 65 66 69 6e 65 20 dio.h>..#define expression break at main line 38 position > 0x100 :1 >> The hex. dump of the program continued until the first statement after which the contents of "position" exceeded 100. This was at line 38. Now we let the program execute until it terminates, at which time it will return to DOS as in a normal program termination. The <g> command is used after we have cleared all automatic commands. >>bx . >>g This is only the tip of the iceberg. Experiment with the "cwdump.exe" module; become familiar with its commands. We at c-systems hope that you will find the c-window debugger, used in conjunction with the c-systems compiler, to be as useful in your software development projects as they have been in ours. Command Summary --------------- A brief summary and explanation of the commands supported by c-window are provided below. s Single step t n Trace n statements g Execute bs <fname>,<line>,[count] Set execution break bc [<fname>,line[.] Clear break b Display execution breakpoints bx <fname>,<count>,<expr> Set expression break bx . Clear expression breakpoint bx Display expression breakpoint cs [#] <expr> Enter automatic command cc [#] [.] Clear automatic command cd [#] Display automatic command d[d] [x] [c] [s] [b] [w] Display expression dl[x] <lvar> [w] Display expression l Display local variables e Display external variables p Display execution position pointer c <line> Display source code at <line> fs,<expr>,<string> Place <string> at <expr> ex Exit to dos The <s> command causes the program to single step one C source-level statement and then display a message showing the current function name and line number. The <t> command traces through "n" C source-level statements and displays a message after each statement showing the current function and line number. The <g> or "go" command causes program execution to begin at the current position in the program and continue until a breakpoint is encountered, or until the program terminates. Optionally, a non-sticky breakpoint can be entered with the <g> command to cause program execution to stop when the function name and line number are encountered. The syntax of the non-sticky breakpoint is <g fname, line> where "fname" is the function name and "line" is the line number. The <bs> or breakpoint-set command causes a sticky breakpoint to be set at function name <fname>, line number <line>, with an optional count <count>. The <bs> command causes program execution to stop and control returns to c-window whenever the function name and line number are executed <count> times. If the count is omitted, a count of 1 is assumed. The <bc> command clears a sticky breakpoint. The <fname> and line number are specified in the same format as used by the <bs> command. All breakpoints may be cleared simultaneously by using the <bc .> command. The <b> command displays all sticky breakpoints. If no sticky breakpoints are currently set, a message to that effect is displayed. The <bx> command sets an expression breakpoint <expr> within function <fname> at count <count>. An expression breakpoint differs from a normal breakpoint in the way the break is determined. With a normal breakpoint, the break occurs when program execution reaches a certain line in a specified function. An expression breakpoint, however, operates by evaluating the given expression <expr>, and a breakpoint occurs when <expr> is TRUE <count> times. This is one of the most powerful commands in c-window since boundary conditions can be checked and execution stopped when known error conditions occur, instead of repeatedly setting breakpoints until the error is trapped. All expression breakpoints may be cleared by following the <bx> commands by a period. The <cs> command is another very powerful command in c-window. The <cs> command is used to establish a maximum of 5 automatic commands that are executed each time a single step, a trace, or a breakpoint occurs. Any command which can be entered on the c-window command line can be used as an automatic command. This feature is very helpful when specific variables are being interrogated frequently, since the variables are displayed when any action is taken by the program under test. The <#> specifies the number of the automatic commands. Automatic commands are always executed starting from the lowest number (usually 1) and ending with the highest number found. The <cc> command can be used to clear automatic commands. If a number between 1 and 5 is entered, the corresponding automatic command is cleared. Use <cc .> to clear all automatic commands. The <cd #> command displays the automatic command with number "#" and executes that command. This can be used almost as a macro in the sense that if an expression containing many characters is displayed, the expression can be entered once as an automatic command and then executed by asking for the display of that automatic command. The <d> command displays variables in a number of formats. The default display-format is hexadecimal. This can be overridden by appending another character to the <d> command. The available formats are listed below: dd Display in decimal dx Display in hexadecimal dc Display as an ASCII character ds Display as an ASCII text string db Display as a byte format hexadecimal dump dw Display as a word format hexadecimal dump The <fs> command is used to initialize a character array or the address pointed to by a pointer, to an ASCII text string. It is assumed that that the string is null terminated. The <l> command displays all local variables declared within the currently executing function. The <e> command displays all external (global) variables declared and used in the currently executing function. The <p> command (position) displays the current function name and line number. The <ex> command terminates execution of both the program under test and c-window. Control is returned to DOS.