3.2.3. Program execution control with GDB

When the GNU Debugger (GDB) has been attached to a program, you can use several commands to control the execution of the program. These commands parse code, set breakpoints, and control program flow during debugging sessions.

To use these GDB commands effectively, you must have debugging information available through these methods:

GDB provides commands for stepping through and controlling program execution:

r (run): Start the execution of the program. If run is executed with any arguments, those arguments are passed on to the executable as if the program has been started normally. Users normally issue this command after setting breakpoints.

start: Start the execution of the program but stop at the beginning of the program’s main function. If start is executed with any arguments, those arguments are passed on to the executable as if the program has been started normally.

c (continue): Continue the execution of the program from the current state. The execution of the program will continue until one of the following becomes true:

n (next): Continue the execution of the program from the current state, until the next line of code in the current source file is reached. The execution of the program will continue until one of the following becomes true:

s (step): The step command also halts execution at each sequential line of code in the current source file. However, if the execution is currently stopped at a source line containing a function call, GDB stops the execution after entering the function call (rather than executing it).

until location: Continue the execution until the code location specified by the location option is reached.

fini (finish): Resume the execution of the program and halt when execution returns from a function. The execution of the program will continue until one of the following becomes true:

q (quit): Terminate the execution and exit GDB.