26.4. gdb/mi Command Syntax

26.4.1. gdb/mi Input Syntax

Notes:

• The CLI commands are still handled by the mi interpreter; their output is described below.

• The token, when present, is passed back when the command finishes.

• Some mi commands accept optional arguments as part of the parameter list. Each option is identified by a leading - (dash) and may be followed by an optional argument parameter. Options occur first in the parameter list and can be delimited from normal parameters using - (this is useful when some parameters begin with a dash).

Pragmatics:

• We want easy access to the existing CLI syntax (for debugging).

• We want it to be easy to spot a mi operation.

26.4.2. gdb/mi Output Syntax

The output from gdb/mi consists of zero or more out-of-band records followed, optionally, by a single result record. This result record is for the most recent command. The sequence of output records is terminated by (gdb).

If an input command was prefixed with a token then the corresponding output for that command will also be prefixed by that same token.

Notes:

• All output sequences end in a single line containing a period.

• The token is from the corresponding request. If an execution command is interrupted by the -exec-interrupt command, the token associated with the *stopped message is the one of the original execution command, not the one of the interrupt command.

• status-async-output contains on-going status information about the progress of a slow operation. It can be discarded. All status output is prefixed by +.

• exec-async-output contains asynchronous state change on the target (stopped, started, disappeared). All async output is prefixed by *.

• notify-async-output contains supplementary information that the client should handle (e.g., a new breakpoint information). All notify output is prefixed by =.

• console-stream-output is output that should be displayed as is in the console. It is the textual response to a CLI command. All the console output is prefixed by ~.

• target-stream-output is the output produced by the target program. All the target output is prefixed by @.

• log-stream-output is output text coming from gdb's internals, for instance messages that should be displayed as part of an error log. All the log output is prefixed by &.

• New gdb/mi commands should only output lists containing values.

Refer to Section 26.6.2 gdb/mi Stream Records, for more details about the various output records.

26.4.3. Simple Examples of gdb/mi Interaction

This subsection presents several simple examples of interaction using the gdb/mi interface. In these examples, -> means that the following line is passed to gdb/mi as input, while <- means the output received from gdb/mi.