RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

[Joel Brobecker]

I noticed that windows-nat's _init function makes use of a deprecated
feature:

  deprecated_init_ui_hook = set_windows_aliases;

... where set_windows_aliases just creates an "info dll" alias to
"info sharedlibraries". I think we can rid of the
deprecated_init_ui_hook by simply call add_info_alias in the _init
function, but I'm actually wondering why we wouldn't be able to
just deprecate and then delete the command altogether. We've already
trained the users to use the "sharedlibrary" command, so "info
sharedlibrary" should be easy, and it'll be more consistent with
other targets.

Thoughts? Unnecessary, if we can just call add_info_alias in
the _initialize function, maybe?

-- 
Joel

Re: RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

[Stan Shebs]

On 12/29/14 11:54 PM, Joel Brobecker wrote:
> I noticed that windows-nat's _init function makes use of a deprecated
> feature:
> 
>   deprecated_init_ui_hook = set_windows_aliases;
> 
> ... where set_windows_aliases just creates an "info dll" alias to
> "info sharedlibraries". I think we can rid of the
> deprecated_init_ui_hook by simply call add_info_alias in the _init
> function, but I'm actually wondering why we wouldn't be able to
> just deprecate and then delete the command altogether. We've already
> trained the users to use the "sharedlibrary" command, so "info
> sharedlibrary" should be easy, and it'll be more consistent with
> other targets.

What's the basis for believing that "we've already trained the users"?

With a little poking around the net, I did notice a couple examples
where people were reporting "info dll" results.  But in practice I
suspect that most GDB-using Windows developers are working on multiple
platforms, and they're likely to prefer commands that work everywhere.

On the other hand, "info dll" has been documented for a long time,
and is only one line of extra code - seems like more work to remove
than to leave it alone.

I do think we can dump the hook and just use add_info_alias.  I don't
remember exactly why the hook seemed necessary in the first place, but
the timing suggests I added it for gdbtk or MPW (or both. :-) ).

Stan
stan@codesourcery.com

Re: RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

[Joel Brobecker]

> What's the basis for believing that "we've already trained the users"?

We've made the "dll-*" commands deprecated, and now just removed them.

> With a little poking around the net, I did notice a couple examples
> where people were reporting "info dll" results.  But in practice I
> suspect that most GDB-using Windows developers are working on multiple
> platforms, and they're likely to prefer commands that work everywhere.

I only found a couple of instances myself, from 2005 and 2008.

> On the other hand, "info dll" has been documented for a long time,
> and is only one line of extra code - seems like more work to remove
> than to leave it alone.
> 
> I do think we can dump the hook and just use add_info_alias.  I don't
> remember exactly why the hook seemed necessary in the first place, but
> the timing suggests I added it for gdbtk or MPW (or both. :-) ).

But I agree it's been documented for a long time. Let's see if I
can just keep the alias without the hook (on my next rainy day :-)).

-- 
Joel

Re: RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

[Pedro Alves]

On 12/31/2014 07:31 AM, Joel Brobecker wrote:
>> What's the basis for believing that "we've already trained the users"?
> 
> We've made the "dll-*" commands deprecated, and now just removed them.
> 
>> With a little poking around the net, I did notice a couple examples
>> where people were reporting "info dll" results.  But in practice I
>> suspect that most GDB-using Windows developers are working on multiple
>> platforms, and they're likely to prefer commands that work everywhere.
> 
> I only found a couple of instances myself, from 2005 and 2008.
> 
>> On the other hand, "info dll" has been documented for a long time,
>> and is only one line of extra code - seems like more work to remove
>> than to leave it alone.
>>
>> I do think we can dump the hook and just use add_info_alias.  I don't
>> remember exactly why the hook seemed necessary in the first place, but
>> the timing suggests I added it for gdbtk or MPW (or both. :-) ).
> 
> But I agree it's been documented for a long time. Let's see if I
> can just keep the alias without the hook (on my next rainy day :-)).

If it stays, it's best to move it to windows-tdep.c so that it's
available when cross debugging Windows from a non-Windows host too.
Or to solib.c, even.

Thanks,
Pedro Alves

Re: RFC: remove "info dll" alias to "info sharedlibraries"?

[Joel Brobecker]

> If it stays, it's best to move it to windows-tdep.c so that it's
> available when cross debugging Windows from a non-Windows host too.
> Or to solib.c, even.

I like the idea of moving it to solib.c!

That way, it's the same for all platforms, and people coming from
the Windows world can continue using "info dll" if that's what
they've been using so far.

Let's go with that.

-- 
Joel