28 Running and Debugging Ada Programs

This chapter discusses how to debug Ada programs.

An incorrect Ada program may be handled in three ways by the GNAT compiler:

1. The illegality may be a violation of the static semantics of Ada. In that case GNAT diagnoses the constructs in the program that are illegal. It is then a straightforward matter for the user to modify those parts of the program.
2. The illegality may be a violation of the dynamic semantics of Ada. In that case the program compiles and executes, but may generate incorrect results, or may terminate abnormally with some exception.
3. When presented with a program that contains convoluted errors, GNAT itself may terminate abnormally without providing full diagnostics on the incorrect user program.

• The GNAT Debugger GDB
• Running GDB
• Introduction to GDB Commands
• Using Ada Expressions
• Calling User-Defined Subprograms
• Using the Next Command in a Function
• Ada Exceptions
• Ada Tasks
• Debugging Generic Units
• GNAT Abnormal Termination or Failure to Terminate
• Naming Conventions for GNAT Source Files
• Getting Internal Debugging Information
• Stack Traceback