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64<a name="Automatic-Overlay-Debugging"></a>
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66<p>
67Next: <a href="Overlay-Sample-Program.html#Overlay-Sample-Program" accesskey="n" rel="next">Overlay Sample Program</a>, Previous: <a href="Overlay-Commands.html#Overlay-Commands" accesskey="p" rel="previous">Overlay Commands</a>, Up: <a href="Overlays.html#Overlays" accesskey="u" rel="up">Overlays</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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70<a name="Automatic-Overlay-Debugging-1"></a>
71<h3 class="section">14.3 Automatic Overlay Debugging</h3>
72<a name="index-automatic-overlay-debugging"></a>
73
74<p><small>GDB</small> can automatically track which overlays are mapped and which
75are not, given some simple co-operation from the overlay manager in the
76inferior.  If you enable automatic overlay debugging with the
77<code>overlay auto</code> command (see <a href="Overlay-Commands.html#Overlay-Commands">Overlay Commands</a>), <small>GDB</small>
78looks in the inferior&rsquo;s memory for certain variables describing the
79current state of the overlays.
80</p>
81<p>Here are the variables your overlay manager must define to support
82<small>GDB</small>&rsquo;s automatic overlay debugging:
83</p>
84<dl compact="compact">
85<dt><code>_ovly_table</code>:</dt>
86<dd><p>This variable must be an array of the following structures:
87</p>
88<div class="smallexample">
89<pre class="smallexample">struct
90{
91  /* The overlay's mapped address.  */
92  unsigned long vma;
93
94  /* The size of the overlay, in bytes.  */
95  unsigned long size;
96
97  /* The overlay's load address.  */
98  unsigned long lma;
99
100  /* Non-zero if the overlay is currently mapped;
101     zero otherwise.  */
102  unsigned long mapped;
103}
104</pre></div>
105
106</dd>
107<dt><code>_novlys</code>:</dt>
108<dd><p>This variable must be a four-byte signed integer, holding the total
109number of elements in <code>_ovly_table</code>.
110</p>
111</dd>
112</dl>
113
114<p>To decide whether a particular overlay is mapped or not, <small>GDB</small>
115looks for an entry in <code><span class="nolinebreak">_ovly_table</span></code><!-- /@w --> whose <code>vma</code> and
116<code>lma</code> members equal the VMA and LMA of the overlay&rsquo;s section in the
117executable file.  When <small>GDB</small> finds a matching entry, it consults
118the entry&rsquo;s <code>mapped</code> member to determine whether the overlay is
119currently mapped.
120</p>
121<p>In addition, your overlay manager may define a function called
122<code>_ovly_debug_event</code>.  If this function is defined, <small>GDB</small>
123will silently set a breakpoint there.  If the overlay manager then
124calls this function whenever it has changed the overlay table, this
125will enable <small>GDB</small> to accurately keep track of which overlays
126are in program memory, and update any breakpoints that may be set
127in overlays.  This will allow breakpoints to work even if the
128overlays are kept in ROM or other non-writable memory while they
129are not being executed.
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