Penguin

Differences between version 3 and revision by previous author of CoreDump.

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Newer page: version 3 Last edited on Sunday, March 7, 2004 3:54:52 pm by JohnMcPherson Revert
Older page: version 2 Last edited on Sunday, March 7, 2004 3:13:58 pm by AristotlePagaltzis Revert
@@ -1,17 +1,15 @@
-Under [Unix] style [OperatingSystem]s , when a program is terminated abnormaly ([SIGSEGV], [SIGABRT], etc.) and permissions allow (the current working directory is writable, [ ulimit(1)] s permit), the [Kernel] dumps a copy of the program's address space, as well as the state of all the registers and any other state that's required to a file, usually called __ core__ or __ core.''programname''__.  
-  
-Programs such as gdb(1) can then parse these core files and give you some indication about ''why'' the program crashed
+Under [Unix] style operating systems , when a program faults in some way ([SIGSEGV],[SIGABRT],etc.. .) and permissions allow (the [PWD] is writable, ulimit(1)' s permit), then the kernel will write out a copy of the program's address space, as well as the state of all the registers and any other state that's required to a file, usually called " core" or " core.''programname''"
  
+Programs such as gdb(1) can then parse these core files and give you some indication about /why/ the program crashed.  
  strings core | grep ^_= 
-  
 or 
-  
  file core 
-  
 will usually tell you what program caused the core file. You can then use 
+ gdb ''program'' core  
  
- gdb ''program'' core 
+gdb has several commands you can use to inspect the core file, however the most useful of them is  
+ (gdb) bt full  
  
-gdb has several commands you can use to inspect the core file, however the most useful of them is __bt full__, which provides a "full backtrace". That is usually enough information for a programmer to figure out why the program crashed. 
+this will usually display enough information that a programmer can figure out why the program crashed. When emailing a bug report to a programmer about a program that crashed, including a full backtrace (as per the previous command) will greatly improve the chances that the programmer will be able to find and fix the bug you encountered
  
-Doing this when emailing a bug report about a program that crashed will greatly improve the chances that the programmer will be able to find and fix the bug you encountered
+See the DeBugging page for more information and hints about gdb