Bug 28308 - Strange interactions with dprintf and break/commands
Summary: Strange interactions with dprintf and break/commands
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: gdb
Classification: Unclassified
Component: breakpoints (show other bugs)
Version: HEAD
: P2 normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Kevin Buettner
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2021-09-03 23:25 UTC by Kevin Buettner
Modified: 2021-11-10 03:36 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Host:
Target:
Build:
Last reconfirmed:


Attachments
C source file which helps to demonstrates bug (161 bytes, text/x-csrc)
2021-09-03 23:25 UTC, Kevin Buettner
Details
Command file for use with GDB 'source' command or with -x switch (146 bytes, text/plain)
2021-09-03 23:26 UTC, Kevin Buettner
Details
cmds-rq: Like cmds, but includes 'run' and 'quit' commands in file (152 bytes, text/plain)
2021-09-03 23:27 UTC, Kevin Buettner
Details

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Description Kevin Buettner 2021-09-03 23:25:37 UTC
Created attachment 13652 [details]
C source file which helps to demonstrates bug

I have found some strange interactions when running a program with both dprintf breakpoints and an ordinary breakpoint with associated commands.  GDB works as expected when run interactively, but does not work correctly when sourcing a file with the same commands or when some of the commands are placed on the GDB command line via -ex.  Moreover, the exact behavior differs. Nonetheless, I believe that these behaviors might all be due to the same underlying bug, which is why I'm filing just one bug report.

Start by compiling the test case as follows:

gcc -g -Wall -o m m.c

I will demonstrate the bug with gdb-10.2-3 from Fedora, but I've also reproduced these problems using a recent build from upstream/master.  The GDB versions that I've tested against are:

GNU gdb (GDB) Fedora 10.2-3.fc34
GNU gdb (GDB) 12.0.50.20210902-git

I will use "gdb -q" in this bug report to keep the output shorter.

CASE 1 - correct behavior - enter all commands at gdb prompt:

I this session, below, I show that we can issue all commands contained in cmds-rq interactively and end up with the correct behavior.

$ gdb -q
(gdb) file m
Reading symbols from m...
(gdb) dprintf increment, "dprintf in increment(), vi=%d\n", vi
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
(gdb) set dprintf-style call
(gdb) break inc_vi
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
(gdb) commands
Type commands for breakpoint(s) 2, one per line.
End with a line saying just "end".
>silent
>call (void) printf("A message...\n")
>call (void) printf("breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=%d\n", vi)
>continue
>end
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/kev/ctests/psdug-bug2a/m 
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
dprintf in increment(), vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
dprintf in increment(), vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 501933) exited normally]
(gdb) quit

CASE 2 - correct behavior - source some commands; issue run and quit interatively:

In this case, I'll use the "source" command to load the commands in cmds; these are all of the commands shown in the interactive session above except for "run" and "quit" which will be issued interactively.  This behavior is also correct.

$ gdb -q
(gdb) source cmds
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/kev/ctests/psdug-bug2a/m 
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
dprintf in increment(), vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
dprintf in increment(), vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 502066) exited normally]
(gdb) quit

CASE 3 - correct behavior - load cmds from command line:

This case also shows correct behavior and is almost identical to case 2. In this case, cmds is loaded via the -x switch on the GDB command line.  Both the run and quit commands are issued interactively.

$ gdb -q -x cmds
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/kev/ctests/psdug-bug2a/m 
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
dprintf in increment(), vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
dprintf in increment(), vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 502152) exited normally]
(gdb) quit

CASE 4 - incorrect behavior - Use 'source' command to load cmds-rq:

This is the first case demonstrating incorrect behavior. Note that the dprintf lines for vi=1 and vi=2 are missing.

$ gdb -q
(gdb) source cmds-rq
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 502237) exited normally]

CASE 5 - incorrect behavior - Use -x switch to load cmds-rq:

This case also demonstrates incorrect behavior. It's almost the same as case 4, differing in that instead of using 'source' to load cmds-rq, it's instead using GDB's -x switch to load it at startup without requiring any user interaction. It produces the same incorrect output as case 4, i.e. the dprintf lines for vi=1 and vi=2 are missing.

$ gdb -q -x cmds-rq
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 502334) exited normally]

CASE 6/10.2 - incorrect behavior - load cmds w/ -x; issue 'run' and 'quit' using -ex:

This case, using gdb-10.2 from Fedora, demonstrates incorrect behavior which is different from case 4 and 5. In this case, cmds is loaded via the command line -x switch and the 'run' and 'quit' commands are issued vi -ex switches on the command line. For this case, note that the program output and the dprintf output is printed for vi=0. After that, GDB seems to attempting to run the quit command (from the command line) prior to allowing program execution to finish.

$ gdb -q -x cmds -ex run -ex quit
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
Starting program: /home/kev/ctests/psdug-bug2a/m 
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A debugging session is active.

	Inferior 1 [process 502467] will be killed.

Quit anyway? (y or n) 

CASE 6/master - incorrect behavior - load cmds w/ -x; issue 'run' and 'quit' w/ -ex:

Problem shown in case 6/10.2 appears to be partially fixed in upstream master. Output is still incorrect: output is missing for dprintf messages for vi=1 and vi=2.

$ $GDB --version | grep GDB
GNU gdb (GDB) 12.0.50.20210902-git
$ $GDB -q -x cmds -ex run -ex quit
Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file m.c, line 21.
Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file m.c, line 9.
Starting program: /home/kev/ctests/psdug-bug2a/m 
vi=0
dprintf in increment(), vi=0
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=0
vi=1
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=1
vi=2
A message...
breakpoint command in inc_vi(), vi=2
vi=3
[Inferior 1 (process 502920) exited normally]
Comment 1 Kevin Buettner 2021-09-03 23:26:28 UTC
Created attachment 13653 [details]
Command file for use with GDB 'source' command or with -x switch
Comment 2 Kevin Buettner 2021-09-03 23:27:32 UTC
Created attachment 13654 [details]
cmds-rq: Like cmds, but includes 'run' and 'quit' commands in file
Comment 3 Sourceware Commits 2021-11-10 03:28:33 UTC
The master branch has been updated by Kevin Buettner <kevinb@sourceware.org>:

https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=9c95aea186b18310340915045189a4e39b8393ea

commit 9c95aea186b18310340915045189a4e39b8393ea
Author: Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com>
Date:   Fri Oct 1 17:01:17 2021 -0700

    Fix PR 28308 - dprintf breakpoints not working when run from script
    
    This commit fixes Bug 28308, titled "Strange interactions with
    dprintf and break/commands":
    
    Bug: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=28308
    
    Since creating that bug report, I've found a somewhat simpler way of
    reproducing the problem.  I've encapsulated it into the GDB test case
    which I've created along with this bug fix.  The name of the new test
    is gdb.base/dprintf-execution-x-script.exp, I'll demonstrate the
    problem using this test case, though for brevity, I've placed all
    relevant files in the same directory and have renamed the files to all
    start with 'dp-bug' instead of 'dprintf-execution-x-script'.
    
    The script file, named dp-bug.gdb, consists of the following commands:
    
    dprintf increment, "dprintf in increment(), vi=%d\n", vi
    break inc_vi
    commands
      continue
    end
    run
    
    Note that the final command in this script is 'run'.  When 'run' is
    instead issued interactively, the  bug does not occur.  So, let's look
    at the interactive case first in order to see the correct/expected
    output:
    
    $ gdb -q -x dp-bug.gdb dp-bug
    ... eliding buggy output which I'll discuss later ...
    (gdb) run
    Starting program: /mesquite2/sourceware-git/f34-master/bld/gdb/tmp/dp-bug
    vi=0
    dprintf in increment(), vi=0
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      in dprintf-execution-x-script.c
    vi=1
    dprintf in increment(), vi=1
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      in dprintf-execution-x-script.c
    vi=2
    dprintf in increment(), vi=2
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      in dprintf-execution-x-script.c
    vi=3
    [Inferior 1 (process 1539210) exited normally]
    
    In this run, in which 'run' was issued from the gdb prompt (instead
    of at the end of the script), there are three dprintf messages along
    with three 'Breakpoint 2' messages.  This is the correct output.
    
    Now let's look at the output that I snipped above; this is the output
    when 'run' is issued from the script loaded via GDB's -x switch:
    
    $ gdb -q -x dp-bug.gdb dp-bug
    Reading symbols from dp-bug...
    Dprintf 1 at 0x40116e: file dprintf-execution-x-script.c, line 38.
    Breakpoint 2 at 0x40113a: file dprintf-execution-x-script.c, line 26.
    vi=0
    dprintf in increment(), vi=0
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      dprintf-execution-x-script.c: No such file or directory.
    vi=1
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      in dprintf-execution-x-script.c
    vi=2
    
    Breakpoint 2, inc_vi () at dprintf-execution-x-script.c:26
    26      in dprintf-execution-x-script.c
    vi=3
    [Inferior 1 (process 1539175) exited normally]
    
    In the output shown above, only the first dprintf message is printed.
    The 2nd and 3rd dprintf messages are missing!  However, all three
    'Breakpoint 2...' messages are still printed.
    
    Why does this happen?
    
    bpstat_do_actions_1() in gdb/breakpoint.c contains the following
    comment and code near the start of the function:
    
      /* Avoid endless recursion if a `source' command is contained
         in bs->commands.  */
      if (executing_breakpoint_commands)
        return 0;
    
      scoped_restore save_executing
        = make_scoped_restore (&executing_breakpoint_commands, 1);
    
    Also, as described by this comment prior to the 'async' field
    in 'struct ui' in top.h, the main UI starts off in sync mode
    when processing command line arguments:
    
      /* True if the UI is in async mode, false if in sync mode.  If in
         sync mode, a synchronous execution command (e.g, "next") does not
         return until the command is finished.  If in async mode, then
         running a synchronous command returns right after resuming the
         target.  Waiting for the command's completion is later done on
         the top event loop.  For the main UI, this starts out disabled,
         until all the explicit command line arguments (e.g., `gdb -ex
         "start" -ex "next"') are processed.  */
    
    This combination of things, the state of the static global
    'executing_breakpoint_commands' plus the state of the async
    field in the main UI causes this behavior.
    
    This is a backtrace after hitting the dprintf breakpoint for
    the second time when doing 'run' from the script file, i.e.
    non-interactively:
    
    Thread 1 "gdb" hit Breakpoint 3, bpstat_do_actions_1 (bsp=0x7fffffffc2b8)
        at /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f34-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/breakpoint.c:4431
    4431      if (executing_breakpoint_commands)
    
     #0  bpstat_do_actions_1 (bsp=0x7fffffffc2b8)
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:4431
     #1  0x00000000004d8bc6 in dprintf_after_condition_true (bs=0x1538090)
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:13048
     #2  0x00000000004c5caa in bpstat_stop_status (aspace=0x116dbc0, bp_addr=0x40116e, thread=0x137f450, ws=0x7fffffffc718,
         stop_chain=0x1538090) at gdb/breakpoint.c:5498
     #3  0x0000000000768d98 in handle_signal_stop (ecs=0x7fffffffc6f0)
         at gdb/infrun.c:6172
     #4  0x00000000007678d3 in handle_inferior_event (ecs=0x7fffffffc6f0)
         at gdb/infrun.c:5662
     #5  0x0000000000763cd5 in fetch_inferior_event ()
         at gdb/infrun.c:4060
     #6  0x0000000000746d7d in inferior_event_handler (event_type=INF_REG_EVENT)
         at gdb/inf-loop.c:41
     #7  0x00000000007a702f in handle_target_event (error=0, client_data=0x0)
         at gdb/linux-nat.c:4207
     #8  0x0000000000b8cd6e in gdb_wait_for_event (block=block@entry=0)
         at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:701
     #9  0x0000000000b8d032 in gdb_wait_for_event (block=0)
         at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:597
     #10 gdb_do_one_event () at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:212
     #11 0x00000000009d19b6 in wait_sync_command_done ()
         at gdb/top.c:528
     #12 0x00000000009d1a3f in maybe_wait_sync_command_done (was_sync=0)
         at gdb/top.c:545
     #13 0x00000000009d2033 in execute_command (p=0x7fffffffcb18 "", from_tty=0)
         at gdb/top.c:676
     #14 0x0000000000560d5b in execute_control_command_1 (cmd=0x13b9bb0, from_tty=0)
         at gdb/cli/cli-script.c:547
     #15 0x000000000056134a in execute_control_command (cmd=0x13b9bb0, from_tty=0)
         at gdb/cli/cli-script.c:717
     #16 0x00000000004c3bbe in bpstat_do_actions_1 (bsp=0x137f530)
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:4469
     #17 0x00000000004c3d40 in bpstat_do_actions ()
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:4533
     #18 0x00000000006a473a in command_handler (command=0x1399ad0 "run")
         at gdb/event-top.c:624
     #19 0x00000000009d182e in read_command_file (stream=0x113e540)
         at gdb/top.c:443
     #20 0x0000000000563697 in script_from_file (stream=0x113e540, file=0x13bb0b0 "dp-bug.gdb")
         at gdb/cli/cli-script.c:1642
     #21 0x00000000006abd63 in source_gdb_script (extlang=0xc44e80 <extension_language_gdb>, stream=0x113e540,
         file=0x13bb0b0 "dp-bug.gdb") at gdb/extension.c:188
     #22 0x0000000000544400 in source_script_from_stream (stream=0x113e540, file=0x7fffffffd91a "dp-bug.gdb",
         file_to_open=0x13bb0b0 "dp-bug.gdb")
         at gdb/cli/cli-cmds.c:692
     #23 0x0000000000544557 in source_script_with_search (file=0x7fffffffd91a "dp-bug.gdb", from_tty=1, search_path=0)
         at gdb/cli/cli-cmds.c:750
     #24 0x00000000005445cf in source_script (file=0x7fffffffd91a "dp-bug.gdb", from_tty=1)
         at gdb/cli/cli-cmds.c:759
     #25 0x00000000007cf6d9 in catch_command_errors (command=0x5445aa <source_script(char const*, int)>,
         arg=0x7fffffffd91a "dp-bug.gdb", from_tty=1, do_bp_actions=false)
         at gdb/main.c:523
     #26 0x00000000007cf85d in execute_cmdargs (cmdarg_vec=0x7fffffffd1b0, file_type=CMDARG_FILE, cmd_type=CMDARG_COMMAND,
         ret=0x7fffffffd18c) at gdb/main.c:615
     #27 0x00000000007d0c8e in captured_main_1 (context=0x7fffffffd3f0)
         at gdb/main.c:1322
     #28 0x00000000007d0eba in captured_main (data=0x7fffffffd3f0)
         at gdb/main.c:1343
     #29 0x00000000007d0f25 in gdb_main (args=0x7fffffffd3f0)
         at gdb/main.c:1368
     #30 0x00000000004186dd in main (argc=5, argv=0x7fffffffd508)
         at gdb/gdb.c:32
    
    There are two frames for bpstat_do_actions_1(), one at frame #16 and
    the other at frame #0.  The one at frame #16 is processing the actions
    for Breakpoint 2, which is a 'continue'.  The one at frame #0 is attempting
    to process the dprintf breakpoint action.  However, at this point,
    the value of 'executing_breakpoint_commands' is 1, forcing an early
    return, i.e. prior to executing the command(s) associated with the dprintf
    breakpoint.
    
    For the sake of comparison, this is what the stack looks like when hitting
    the dprintf breakpoint for the second time when issuing the 'run'
    command from the GDB prompt.
    
    Thread 1 "gdb" hit Breakpoint 3, bpstat_do_actions_1 (bsp=0x7fffffffccd8)
        at /ironwood1/sourceware-git/f34-master/bld/../../worktree-master/gdb/breakpoint.c:4431
    4431      if (executing_breakpoint_commands)
    
     #0  bpstat_do_actions_1 (bsp=0x7fffffffccd8)
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:4431
     #1  0x00000000004d8bc6 in dprintf_after_condition_true (bs=0x16b0290)
         at gdb/breakpoint.c:13048
     #2  0x00000000004c5caa in bpstat_stop_status (aspace=0x116dbc0, bp_addr=0x40116e, thread=0x13f0e60, ws=0x7fffffffd138,
         stop_chain=0x16b0290) at gdb/breakpoint.c:5498
     #3  0x0000000000768d98 in handle_signal_stop (ecs=0x7fffffffd110)
         at gdb/infrun.c:6172
     #4  0x00000000007678d3 in handle_inferior_event (ecs=0x7fffffffd110)
         at gdb/infrun.c:5662
     #5  0x0000000000763cd5 in fetch_inferior_event ()
         at gdb/infrun.c:4060
     #6  0x0000000000746d7d in inferior_event_handler (event_type=INF_REG_EVENT)
         at gdb/inf-loop.c:41
     #7  0x00000000007a702f in handle_target_event (error=0, client_data=0x0)
         at gdb/linux-nat.c:4207
     #8  0x0000000000b8cd6e in gdb_wait_for_event (block=block@entry=0)
         at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:701
     #9  0x0000000000b8d032 in gdb_wait_for_event (block=0)
         at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:597
     #10 gdb_do_one_event () at gdbsupport/event-loop.cc:212
     #11 0x00000000007cf512 in start_event_loop ()
         at gdb/main.c:421
     #12 0x00000000007cf631 in captured_command_loop ()
         at gdb/main.c:481
     #13 0x00000000007d0ebf in captured_main (data=0x7fffffffd3f0)
         at gdb/main.c:1353
     #14 0x00000000007d0f25 in gdb_main (args=0x7fffffffd3f0)
         at gdb/main.c:1368
     #15 0x00000000004186dd in main (argc=5, argv=0x7fffffffd508)
         at gdb/gdb.c:32
    
    This relatively short backtrace is due to the current UI's async field
    being set to 1.
    
    Yet another thing to be aware of regarding this problem is the
    difference in the way that commands associated to dprintf breakpoints
    versus regular breakpoints are handled.  While they both use a command
    list associated with the breakpoint, regular breakpoints will place
    the commands to be run on the bpstat chain constructed in
    bp_stop_status().  These commands are run later on.  For dprintf
    breakpoints, commands are run via the 'after_condition_true' function
    pointer directly from bpstat_stop_status().  (The 'commands' field in
    the bpstat is cleared in dprintf_after_condition_true().  This
    prevents the dprintf commands from being run again later on when other
    commands on the bpstat chain are processed.)
    
    Another thing that I noticed is that dprintf breakpoints are the only
    type of breakpoint which use 'after_condition_true'.  This suggests
    that one possible way of fixing this problem, that of making dprintf
    breakpoints work more like regular breakpoints, probably won't work.
    (I must admit, however, that my understanding of this code isn't
    complete enough to say why.  I'll trust that whoever implemented it
    had a good reason for doing it this way.)
    
    The comment referenced earlier regarding 'executing_breakpoint_commands'
    states that the reason for checking this variable is to avoid
    potential endless recursion when a 'source' command appears in
    bs->commands.  We know that a dprintf command is constrained to either
    1) execution of a GDB printf command, 2) an inferior function call of
    a printf-like function, or 3) execution of an agent-printf command.
    Therefore, infinite recursion due to a 'source' command cannot happen
    when executing commands upon hitting a dprintf breakpoint.
    
    I chose to fix this problem by having dprintf_after_condition_true()
    directly call execute_control_commands().  This means that it no
    longer attempts to go through bpstat_do_actions_1() avoiding the
    infinite recursion check for potential 'source' commands on the
    command chain.  I think it simplifies this code a little bit too, a
    definite bonus.
    
    Summary:
    
            * breakpoint.c (dprintf_after_condition_true): Don't call
            bpstat_do_actions_1().  Call execute_control_commands()
            instead.
Comment 4 Sourceware Commits 2021-11-10 03:28:39 UTC
The master branch has been updated by Kevin Buettner <kevinb@sourceware.org>:

https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=f493b71179ab70d5e278234cb763eede55d44e61

commit f493b71179ab70d5e278234cb763eede55d44e61
Author: Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com>
Date:   Fri Oct 1 17:14:00 2021 -0700

    Test case for Bug 28308
    
    The purpose of this test is described in the comments in
    dprintf-execution-x-script.exp.
    
    Bug: https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=28308
    
    The name of this new test was based on that of an existing test,
    bp-cmds-execution-x-script.exp.  I started off by copying that test,
    adding to it, and then rewriting almost all of it.  It's different
    enough that I decided that listing the copyright year as 2021
    was sufficient.
Comment 5 Kevin Buettner 2021-11-10 03:36:37 UTC
This bug should be fixed now.