=head1 NAME
Enbugger - Enables the debugger at runtime.
=head1 SYNOPSIS
my $ok = eval { ...; 1 };
if ( not $ok ) {
# Oops! there was an error! Enable the debugger now!
require Enbugger;
Enbugger->stop;
}
=head1 DESCRIPTION
Allows the use of the debugger at runtime regardless of whether your
process was started with debugging. This is useful if you would like
to add hooks so the debugger is loaded on some kind of event or UNIX
signal or if for some reason you're having difficulty running your
program with debugging turned on at compile time.
=head1 INSTALLATION
To install this module, run the following commands:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
=head1 USING THE DEBUGGER
=head2 Loading the debugger
Loading the debugger at process start time works just like normal.
perl -d ...
You can also load the debugger at runtime:
use Enbugger;
Enbugger->load_debugger;
You can load a specific debugger:
use Enbugger;
Enbugger->load_debugger( 'perl5db' );
You can specific a default debugger:
$Enbugger::DefaultDebugger = 'perl5db';
Or...
use Enbugger 'perl5db';
=head2 Unloading the debugger
You wish. There is no implemented way to unload the debugger. Here's
how you'd do it if you wanted to implement this feature.
=over
=item #
Set the various C pointers set by Perl_init_debugger to NULL
=item #
Clear the DB:: package. Beware of the C<DB> and C<sub> functions. If
you ever load another debugger again you'll need to ensure you have at
least stub functions left or you could suffer a fatal, deadly death.
=item #
Change all C<dbstate> B::COP nodes back to be C<nextstate> ops.
=back
=head1 GETTING INTO THE DEBUGGER
=head2 Programatically
Call the public class method C<< Enbugger->stop >>. At a minimum, it
will just request that your current debugger stop execution.
If needed, it'll go as far as loading a debugger.
=head3 An example
if ( ... ) {
# an unlikely occurance I'd like to manually inspect if or when
# it happens.
Enbugger->stop;
}
=head2 On %SIG events
If you load the L<Enbugger::OnError> module, you can use unhandled
exceptions or UNIX signals as break points. In addition, loading the
debugger is deferred until your signal or exception is triggered.
I like using this with both die() and SIGUSR1 handled enough that both
are the default for handling.
use Enbugger::OnError;
use Enbugger::OnError qw( __DIE__ USR1 ); # equivalent
A program using the above line will trigger a break point whenever an
unhandled die() occurs or whenever the USR1 signal is received. To use
other signals, just specify them at the use().
use Enbugger::OnError qw( USR1 USR2 INT HUP );
=head3 An example
Here's a quick example of breaking into a long running program to see
what it's doing.
At one terminal:
bash$ perl -MEnbugger::OnError -e 'while(1) {}'
At a separate terminal:
bash$ ps x | grep perl
12850 pts/1 R 0:01 perl -MEnbugger::OnError -le while(1){}
12852 pts/1 R+ 0:00 grep perl
bash$ kill -USR1 12850
Back at the original perl program:
Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl version 1.3
Editor support available.
Enter h or `h h' for help, or `man perldebug' for more help.
Received signal USR1 at -e line 1
eval {...} called at -e line 1
Enbugger::OnError::(/home/jbenjore/src/Enbugger/blib/lib/Enbugger/OnError.pm:90):
90:
DB<1> T
$ = Enbugger::OnError::ExceptionHandler('USR1') called from -e line 1
$ = eval {...} called from -e line 1
DB<1> q
bash$
=head2 From gdb
You can attach to a running process and inject a perl debugger even
when you didn't originally plan for this. This works very much like
perl's unsafe signals so there's a reasonable chance that your process
could go pear shaped after doing this.
Have something to connect to:
bash$ perl -e 'while(1) {}' &
[1] 16061
bash$ ps x | grep perl
16061 s002 R 0:16.91 perl -e while(1) {}
Attach with GDB (L<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/>):
bash$ gdb -p 16061
GNU gdb 6.3.50-20050815 (Apple version gdb-768) (Tue Oct 2 04:07:49 UTC 2007)
Copyright 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are
welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions.
Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "i386-apple-darwin".
/Users/jbenjore/16061: No such file or directory.
Attaching to process 16061.
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Reading symbols for shared libraries ...... done
0x001be987 in Perl_pp_unstack ()
(gdb)
Detect whether you are attaching to a threaded or unthreaded
perl. When this function returns zero, omit it from the Perl_eval_pv()
call:
(gdb) call (void*)Perl_get_context()
$1 = (void *) 0x800000
OR
(gdb) call (void*)Perl_get_context()
$1 = (void *) 0x0
Inject a debugger into a threaded build. Optionally, send a debugger
to someplace like a remote terminal. Read L<perl5db.pl> for more
options.
(gdb) call (void*)Perl_eval_pv((void*)Perl_get_context(),"eval{require Enbugger;warn q(stopping);$ENV{PERLDB_OPTS}='RemotePort=localhost:4000';Enbugger->stop;};print STDERR $@",0)
OR inject a debugger into an unthreaded build:
(gdb) call (void*)Perl_eval_pv("eval{require Enbugger;warn q(stopping);$ENV{PERLDB_OPTS}='RemotePort=localhost:4000';Enbugger->stop;};print STDERR $@",0)
Receive a perl debugger.
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Reading symbols for shared libraries . done
Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl version 1.32
Editor support available.
Enter h or `h h' for help, or `man perldebug' for more help.
$2 = (void *) 0x85c000
(gdb)
main::((eval 16)[-e:1]:1):eval{warn q(stopping);require Enbugger;Enbugger->stop};print STDERR $@
DB<1> p "Hi, I am in perl verson $] now"
Hi, I am in perl verson 5.010000 now
DB<2> T
$ = eval 'eval{warn q(stopping);require Enbugger;Enbugger->stop};print STDERR $@' called from -e line 1
Return control back to gdb:
DB<3> c
(gdb)
Return control back to the program:
(gdb) detach
Detaching from process 16314 thread 0x10b.
(gdb) q
=head1 PUBLIC API
Enbugger has a public API where you as the user can trigger the
debugger from your code or affect which debugger is loaded.
=over
=item CLASS-E<gt>stop
Stops execution and signals your debugger. Loads a debugger with C<<
CLASS->load_debugger >> if one hasn't been loaded yet.
=item CLASS-E<gt>load_debugger( DEBUGGER )
=item CLASS-E<gt>load_debugger
Loads your requested debugger. Defaults to using
C<$Enbugger::DefaultDebugger> if you don't specify a debugger.
If a debugger has already been loaded, either returns silently if the
current debugger is what you requested or throws an exception if you
requested a different debugger.
=item $Enbugger::DefaultDebugger
The default debugger. This is C<perl5db> unless you change it.
=item CLASS-E<gt>write( TEXT )
Writes some thing to the console or wherever is appropriate for your
current debugger.
=item CLASS-E<gt>DEBUGGER_CLASS
Returns the class name for the currently loaded debugger class.
If no debugger has been loaded yet, this contrives to load the default
debugger.
=back
=head1 PLUGGABLE DEBUGGERS
Enbugger supports registering debuggers. Any debugger intended to be
used must be registered first. The default, proper behavior is to
register all possible debuggers.
=head2 Registered debuggers
The following is a list of all default, registered debuggers. So far
only the L<perl5db.pl> debugger has received any testing.
=over
=item perl5db
This is the default perl debugger. See also L<Enbugger::perl5db> and L<perl5db.pl>.
=cut
#=item ebug
#
#This is the L<Devel::ebug> debugger. See also L<Enbugger::ebug>.
#
#=item sdb
#
#This is the L<Devel::sdb> debugger. See also L<Enbugger::sdb>.
#
#=item ptkdb
#
#This is the L<Devel::ptkdb> debugger. See also L<Enbugger::ptkdb>.
=back
=head2 Registering your own debugger
While I've attempted to register some debuggers by by default, you may
need to write your own Enbugger::$foo class to register your own
debugger. Currently there is no way to use an unknown debugger without
first writing an Enbugger subclass.
=over
=item CLASS-E<gt>register_debugger( DEBUGGER )
Register a debugger with L<Enbugger>.
=back
=head3 Required methods
You must implement the following methods.
=over
=item CLASS-E<gt>_stop
Your debugger must implement a C<_stop> method. This method will be
called by the Enbugger-E<gt>stop method. When this method is called,
you should stop the current process and invoke your debugger.
=item CLASS-E<gt>_load_debugger
Your debugger must implement a C<load_debugger> method. It will be
called when your debugger should be loaded. Your method is responsible
for loading the debugger.
=item CLASS-E<gt>_write( TEXT )
Your debugger must implement a C<_write> method. This method should
accept text to log to the console or whatever is appropriate.
=back
=head1 UTILITY FUNCTIONS
=over
=item CLASS-E<gt>load_source
Loads the source code for the program.
=item CLASS-E<gt>load_file( FILE )
Loads the source code for a specific file.
=item CLASS-E<gt>instrument_runtime
Sets all available breakpoints to be either breakable or not. This
avoids making any part of the Enbugger:: or DB:: packages a part of
something that's visible to the debugger.
=item instrument_op( B::*OP )
A function that modifies L<B::COP> objects.
=back
=head1 PRIVATE METHODS
The followings methods exist but I'm not sure whether they'll continue
to exist in their current form so they're private for now.
=over
=item CLASS-E<gt>_compile_with_nextstate
=item CLASS-E<gt>_compile_with_dbstate
=item CLASS-E<gt>_instrumented_ppaddr
=item CLASS-E<gt>_uninstrumented_ppaddr
=back
=head1 DEPENDENCIES
A C compiler.
=head1 SUPPORT AND DOCUMENTATION
After installing, you can find documentation for this module with the
perldoc command.
perldoc Enbugger::Restarts
You can also look for information at:
=over
=item RT, CPAN's request tracker L<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Enbugger-Restarts>
=item AnnoCPAN, Annotated CPAN documentation L<http://annocpan.org/dist/Enbugger-Restarts>
=item CPAN Ratings L<http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Enbugger-Restarts>
=item Search CPAN L<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Enbugger-Restarts>
=back
=head1 AUTHOR
Joshua ben Jore E<gt>jjore@cpan.orgE<lt>
=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
Copyright (C) 2007, 2008, 2009 WhitePages.com, Inc. with primary
development by Joshua ben Jore.
This program is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, including but not
limited to the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose.
The program is free software. You may distribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation (either version 2 or any later version) and
the Perl Artistic License as published by O’Reilly Media, Inc. Please
open the files named gpl-2.0.txt and Artistic for a copy of these
licenses.
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