> From: Tom Tromey <tom@tromey.com>
> Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2023 22:32:18 -0700
>
> For testing, it's sometimes convenient to be able to request that
> DWARF reading be done synchronously. This patch adds a new "maint"
> setting for this purpose.
> ---
> gdb/NEWS | 4 ++++
> gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
> gdb/dwarf2/read.c | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 3 files changed, 49 insertions(+)
OK for the documentation parts, thanks.
Reviewed-By: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
* GDB index now contains information about the main function. This speeds up
startup when it is being used for some large binaries.
+* On hosts where threading is available, DWARF reading is now done in
+ the background, resulting in faster startup. This can be controlled
+ using "maint set dwarf synchronous".
+
* Changed commands
disassemble
@@ -41710,6 +41710,24 @@ compilation units will be stored in memory longer, and more total
memory will be used. Setting it to zero disables caching, which will
slow down @value{GDBN} startup, but reduce memory consumption.
+@kindex maint set dwarf synchronous
+@kindex maint show dwarf synchronous
+@item maint set dwarf synchronous
+@itemx maint show dwarf synchronous
+Control whether DWARF is read asynchronously.
+
+On hosts where threading is available, the DWARF reader is mostly
+asynchronous with respect to the rest of @value{GDBN}. That is, the
+bulk of the reading is done in the background, and @value{GDBN} will
+only pause for completion of this task when absolutely necessary.
+
+When this setting is enabled, @value{GDBN} will instead wait for DWARF
+processing to complete before continuing.
+
+On hosts without threading, or where worker threads have been disabled
+at runtime, this setting has no effect, as DWARF reading is always
+done on the main thread, and is therefore always synchronous.
+
@kindex maint set dwarf unwinders
@kindex maint show dwarf unwinders
@item maint set dwarf unwinders
@@ -736,6 +736,18 @@ show_dwarf_max_cache_age (struct ui_file *file, int from_tty,
"DWARF compilation units is %s.\n"),
value);
}
+
+/* When true, wait for DWARF reading to be complete. */
+static bool dwarf_synchronous = false;
+
+/* "Show" callback for "maint set dwarf synchronous". */
+static void
+show_dwarf_synchronous (struct ui_file *file, int from_tty,
+ struct cmd_list_element *c, const char *value)
+{
+ gdb_printf (file, _("Whether DWARF reading is synchronous is %s.\n"),
+ value);
+}
/* local function prototypes */
@@ -21885,6 +21897,21 @@ caching, which can slow down startup."),
&set_dwarf_cmdlist,
&show_dwarf_cmdlist);
+ add_setshow_boolean_cmd ("synchronous", class_obscure,
+ &dwarf_synchronous, _("\
+Set whether DWARF is read synchronously."), _("\
+Show whether DWARF is read synchronously."), _("\
+By default, DWARF information is read in worker threads,\n\
+and gdb will not generally wait for the reading to complete\n\
+before continuing with other work, for example presenting a\n\
+prompt to the user.\n\
+Enabling this setting will cause the DWARF reader to always wait\n\
+for debug info processing to be finished before gdb can proceed."),
+ nullptr,
+ show_dwarf_synchronous,
+ &set_dwarf_cmdlist,
+ &show_dwarf_cmdlist);
+
add_setshow_zuinteger_cmd ("dwarf-read", no_class, &dwarf_read_debug, _("\
Set debugging of the DWARF reader."), _("\
Show debugging of the DWARF reader."), _("\