121
votes

How can I set a breakpoint in C or C++ code programatically that will work for gdb on Linux?

I.e.:

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    /* set breakpoint here! */
    int a = 3;
    a++;  /*  In gdb> print a;  expect result to be 3 */
    return 0;
}
6
Very much a side note (sorry to nitpick), but if you're worried about portability then you're probably also worried about correctness - hence int main rather than void main. - Stuart Golodetz
@Stuart - Fixed. Should have done that a while ago. - J. Polfer
@J.Polfer: The return 0 is not necessary, though, and is just noise! - Lightness Races in Orbit
@LightnessRacesinOrbit the return 0; is 100% necessary. Besides the warning your compiler should throw at you, this can corrupt the stack on older/embedded systems, and as such should ALWAYS be done out of habit and correctness. Forget a return in other places in your code and you're guaranteed to pay for it on modern desktop systems, too. - Jimmio92

6 Answers

121
votes

One way is to signal an interrupt:

#include <csignal>

// Generate an interrupt
std::raise(SIGINT);

In C:

#include <signal.h>
raise(SIGINT);

UPDATE: MSDN states that Windows doesn't really support SIGINT, so if portability is a concern, you're probably better off using SIGABRT.

30
votes

By looking here, I found the following way:

void main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    asm("int $3");
    int a = 3;
    a++;  //  In gdb> print a;  expect result to be 3
}

This seems a touch hackish to me. And I think this only works on x86 architecture.

29
votes

In a project I work on, we do this:

raise(SIGABRT);  /* To continue from here in GDB: "signal 0". */

(In our case we wanted to crash hard if this happened outside the debugger, generating a crash report if possible. That's one reason we used SIGABRT. Doing this portably across Windows, Mac, and Linux took several attempts. We ended up with a few #ifdefs, helpfully commented here: http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/file/98fa9c0cff7a/js/src/jsutil.cpp#l66 .)

18
votes

Disappointing to see so many answers not using the dedicated signal for software breakpoints, SIGTRAP:

#include <signal.h>

raise(SIGTRAP); // At the location of the BP.

On MSVC/MinGW, you should use DebugBreak, or the __debugbreak intrinsic. A simple #ifdef can handle both cases (POSIX and Win32).

13
votes

__asm__("int $3"); should work:

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    /* set breakpoint here! */
    int a = 3;
    __asm__("int $3");
    a++;  /*  In gdb> print a;  expect result to be 3 */
    return 0;
}
1
votes

On OS X you can just call std::abort() (it might be the same on Linux)