LWN.net Logo

DWARF 3 Public Review

From:  Michael Eager <eager-AT-eagercon.com>
To:  dwarf-discuss-AT-base3.freestandards.org, DWARF Workgroup <DWARF-WORKGROUP-AT-base3.freestandards.org>, GCC <gcc-AT-gcc.gnu.org>, gdb-AT-sources.redhat.com
Subject:  DWARF 3 Public Review
Date:  Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:30:37 -0700
Archive-link:  Article, Thread

The DWARF Workgroup of The Free Standards Group is pleased
to announce the availability of the DWARF Version 3 Standard
for Public Review.  The DWARF Workgroup is a broad-based
committee representing both microprocessor vendors and
tool developers.

DWARF is used by many compilers and debuggers to support
debugging of C, C++, Java, Pascal, Fortran, Cobol, Ada,
and other programming languages.  A variety of processors
are supported, including x86, PowerPC, ARM, MIPS, and many
others, ranging from 8-bit to 64-bit processors.

Version 3 of the DWARF standard builds on the previous
version and includes support for C++ namespaces.  It extends
previous support for C, Java, Ada, Fortran and Cobol.  There
is improved support for optimized code, which has often
been difficult to debug.  Improvements have also been made
to make it easier to eliminate duplicate debugging information.
There is support for using DWARF data files in shared
libraries or having DWARF data files greater than 4Gb,
allowing for future growth in program size.

The DWARF Version 3 Standard is available from The Free
Standards Group without charge at http://dwarf.freestandards.org.
The Public Review period will run until December 1, 2005.
Comments about the DWARF Version 3 Standard are solicited
and may be submitted using a form on the web site.  All
comments will be reviewed by the DWARF Workgroup for
incorporation in Version 3 or possible consideration in a
future version.  Final publication of the DWARF 3 Standard
is planned for early 2006.  Information about the DWARF
mailing list is also available on the website.

-- 
Michael Eager, DWARF Workgroup Chair
Eager Consulting
1960 Park Blvd., Palo Alto, CA 94306
650-325-8077
eager@eagercon.com




(Log in to post comments)

DWARF 3 Public Review

Posted Oct 20, 2005 2:27 UTC (Thu) by arcticwolf (guest, #8341) [Link]

You have a slight mistake in the article summary here, which states "Version 3 of Dwarf, a debugger, is up for public review". DWARF (all upper-case) is not a debugger - rather, it's a format for debugging information (DWARF stands for "Debug With Arbitrary Record Format") that can be embedded in executable files. DWARF debugging info (currently following the DWARF-2 standard) is emitted by GCC and read by gdb, for example, but other compilers and debuggers also use it.

Copyright © 2005, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds