RFC: internal_error() change + abort()

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 12:03:39 +1000
> From: Andrew Cagney <ac131313@cygnus.com>
> 
> Now that we've moved to ISO-C we might as well make use of __LINE__ and
> __FILE__.  With that in mind, I'd like to change internal_error()'s
> signature to:
> 
> 	internal_error (const char *file, long line,
> 			const char *fmt, ...);
> 
> with all files updated accordingly.

I agree.

> The second, kind of related change, is to just go through and purge all
> but one call to abort() with a call to:
> 
> 	internal_error (__FILE__, __LINE__, "FIXME: Code was calling abort()");
> 
> The abort() calls scattered through out GDB need to eventually be
> converted to error() or internal_error() (case by case).  This, somewhat
> brutal change, at least stops GDB dumping core on the poor user.

Assuming that the one call to abort() which you leave is inside
internal_error, I agree.

If not, I'd argue that a call to abort() may be very useful, precisely
_because_ it produces a core file: you can easily see what sequence of
calls led to the problem.  In contrast, a simple error message doesn't
tell that.

In fact, I sometimes insert calls to abort() in strategic places when
I hunt elusive bugs which disappear under a debugger, or happen too
seldom.