7.3 Specifying source directories
Executable programs sometimes do not record the directories of the source files from which they were compiled. Even when they do, the directories can be moved between the compilation and your debugging session. GDB has a list of directories to search for source files; this is called the source path. Each time GDB looks for a source file, it tries all the directories in the list, in the order they are present in the list, until it finds a file with the desired name. Note that the executable search path is not used for this purpose. Neither is the current working directory, unless it happens to be in the source path.
If GDB cannot find a source file in the source path, and the object program records a directory, GDB tries that directory too. If the source path is empty, and there is no record of the compilation directory, GDB looks in the current directory as a last resort.
Whenever you reset or rearrange the source path, GDB clears out any information it has cached about where the source files are located and where each line is in the respective file.
When you start GDB, its source path includes only 'cdir' and 'cwd', in that order.
To add other directories, you can use the directory command.
directory dirname ..., | Add directory dirname to the front of the source |
dir dirname ... | path. Several directory names may be given to this |
| command, separated by ':' (';' on |
| |
| absolute file names) or a whitespace. You can specify |
| a directory that is already in the source path; this |
| moves it forward, so GDB searches it sooner. |
| You can use the string '$cdir' to refer to the |
| compilation directory (if one is recorded), and '$cwd' |
| to refer to the current working directory. '$cwd' is |
| not the same as '.'. The former tracks the current |
| working directory as it changes during your GDB |
| session, while the latter is immediately expanded to |
| the current directory at the time you add an entry to |
| the source path. |
directory | Reset the source path to empty again. This requires |
| confirmation from the user. |
7.3 Specifying source directories | 79 |