[Bug symtab/31210] New: [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[Bug symtab/31210] New: [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[vries at gcc dot gnu.org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

            Bug ID: 31210
           Summary: [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs
           Product: gdb
           Version: HEAD
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: symtab
          Assignee: unassigned at sourceware dot org
          Reporter: vries at gcc dot gnu.org
  Target Milestone: ---

It has been discussed here and there that stabs support could be deprecated, so
I thought it would be good to have a PR to document and track why this is or
isn't a good idea.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[vries at gcc dot gnu.org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

--- Comment #1 from Tom de Vries <vries at gcc dot gnu.org> ---
FWIW, one related idea I had: if there was a tool to translate stabs to dwarf,
either external or in the form of a library, then there would be no need for
gdb, or indeed any other tool supporting dwarf to continue supporting stabs
natively.  

My guess is that such a tool could be feasible given that dwarf is generally
considered the more expressive format.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[ssbssa at sourceware dot org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

Hannes Domani <ssbssa at sourceware dot org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |ssbssa at sourceware dot org

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[vries at gcc dot gnu.org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

--- Comment #2 from Tom de Vries <vries at gcc dot gnu.org> ---
See for instance: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=23220#c6

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[tromey at sourceware dot org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

Tom Tromey <tromey at sourceware dot org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|                            |tromey at sourceware dot org

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[vries at gcc dot gnu.org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

--- Comment #3 from Tom de Vries <vries at gcc dot gnu.org> ---
GCC 12 deprecated stabs generation, GCC 13 removed it:
- https://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-12/changes.html
- https://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-13/changes.html

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[tromey at sourceware dot org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

--- Comment #4 from Tom Tromey <tromey at sourceware dot org> ---
See this thread though:

https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb-patches/20230119174156.654402-1-tom@tromey.com/

At least Eli was opposed IIRC.

I found out today that with GCC 12 I can't even run
gdb tests with stabs:

murgatroyd. runtest --target_board=stabs gdb.base/whatis-ptype-typedefs.exp
[...]
gdb compile failed, gcc: warning: switch '-gstabs+' is no longer supported
gdb compile failed, g++: warning: switch '-gstabs+' is no longer supported

                === gdb Summary ===

# of untested testcases         2


We'd need some kind of gcc wrapper.
And in the future we will have to build an old compiler or
something to test.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.

[Bug symtab/31210] [gdb, symtab] Deprecate stabs

[tromey at sourceware dot org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31210

--- Comment #5 from Tom Tromey <tromey at sourceware dot org> ---
(In reply to Tom de Vries from comment #1)
> FWIW, one related idea I had: if there was a tool to translate stabs to
> dwarf, either external or in the form of a library, then there would be no
> need for gdb, or indeed any other tool supporting dwarf to continue
> supporting stabs natively.  
> 
> My guess is that such a tool could be feasible given that dwarf is generally
> considered the more expressive format.

Definitely feasible.  I think the main problem is that probably no-one
knows or cares enough to write it.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are on the CC list for the bug.