Bug 17603

Summary:	gdb needs a mode to not use minsyms, it hides psymtab/symtab bugs
Product:	gdb	Reporter:	dje
Component:	symtab	Assignee:	Not yet assigned to anyone <unassigned>
Status:	NEW ---
Severity:	normal
Priority:	P2
Version:	7.8
Target Milestone:	---
Host:		Target:
Build:		Last reconfirmed:
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Description dje 2014-11-14 19:33:44 UTC

gdb needs a mode to tell it to not use minsyms, at least for certain kinds of lookup during testing.

PR 17602 is an example where things work, but only because minsyms come to the rescue.

This is not the first time I've seen gdb work but only because one lookup fails (where it shouldn't have) and then another kind of lookup succeeds and from the user's perspective (and the testsuite's!) things are OK.  But they are not!

Comment 1 dje 2014-11-14 21:30:31 UTC

Another possibility is have a mode where we don't demangle minsyms.
Need to collect some perf data regardless: In my monster benchmark, 12 of 13 seconds of gdb startup time is reading ELF symbols.

Comment 2 dje 2015-06-19 16:49:32 UTC

Note: PR 17604 addresses the performance cost of demangling minsyms.