PERLDEBUG(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLDEBUG(1) #
PERLDEBUG(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLDEBUG(1)
NNAAMMEE #
perldebug - Perl debugging
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN #
First of all, have you tried using "use strict;" and "use warnings;"?
If you're new to the Perl debugger, you may prefer to read perldebtut,
which is a tutorial introduction to the debugger.
If you're looking for the nitty gritty details of how the debugger is
_i_m_p_l_e_m_e_n_t_e_d, you may prefer to read perldebguts.
For in-depth technical usage details, see perl5db.pl, the documentation
of the debugger itself.
TThhee PPeerrll DDeebbuuggggeerr If you invoke Perl with the --dd switch, your script runs under the Perl source debugger. This works like an interactive Perl environment, prompting for debugger commands that let you examine source code, set breakpoints, get stack backtraces, change the values of variables, etc. This is so convenient that you often fire up the debugger all by itself just to test out Perl constructs interactively to see what they do. For example:
$ perl -d -e 42
In Perl, the debugger is not a separate program the way it usually is in
the typical compiled environment. Instead, the --dd flag tells the
compiler to insert source information into the parse trees it's about to
hand off to the interpreter. That means your code must first compile
correctly for the debugger to work on it. Then when the interpreter
starts up, it preloads a special Perl library file containing the
debugger.
The program will halt _r_i_g_h_t _b_e_f_o_r_e the first run-time executable
statement (but see below regarding compile-time statements) and ask you
to enter a debugger command. Contrary to popular expectations, whenever
the debugger halts and shows you a line of code, it always displays the
line it's _a_b_o_u_t to execute, rather than the one it has just executed.
Any command not recognized by the debugger is directly executed
("eval"'d) as Perl code in the current package. (The debugger uses the
DB package for keeping its own state information.)
Note that the said "eval" is bound by an implicit scope. As a result any
newly introduced lexical variable or any modified capture buffer content
is lost after the eval. The debugger is a nice environment to learn Perl,
but if you interactively experiment using material which should be in the
same scope, stuff it in one line.
For any text entered at the debugger prompt, leading and trailing
whitespace is first stripped before further processing. If a debugger
command coincides with some function in your own program, merely precede
the function with something that doesn't look like a debugger command,
such as a leading ";" or perhaps a "+", or by wrapping it with
parentheses or braces.
CCaalllliinngg tthhee DDeebbuuggggeerr There are several ways to call the debugger:
perl -d program_name
On the given program identified by "program_name".
perl -d -e 0
Interactively supply an arbitrary "expression" using "-e".
perl -d:ptkdb program_name
Debug a given program via the "Devel::ptkdb" GUI.
perl -dt threaded_program_name
Debug a given program using threads (experimental).
If Perl is called with the "-d" switch, the variable $^P will hold a true
value. This is useful if you need to know if your code is running under
the debugger:
if ( $^P ) {
# running under the debugger
}
See "$^P" in perlvar for more information on the variable.
DDeebbuuggggeerr CCoommmmaannddss The interactive debugger understands the following commands:
h Prints out a summary help message
h [command] Prints out a help message for the given debugger command.
h h The special argument of "h h" produces the entire help page,
which is quite long.
If the output of the "h h" command (or any command, for that
matter) scrolls past your screen, precede the command with a
leading pipe symbol so that it's run through your pager, as
in
DB> |h h
You may change the pager which is used via "o pager=..."
command.
p expr Same as "print {$DB::OUT} expr" in the current package. In
particular, because this is just Perl's own "print" function,
this means that nested data structures and objects are not
dumped, unlike with the "x" command.
The "DB::OUT" filehandle is opened to _/_d_e_v_/_t_t_y, regardless of
where STDOUT may be redirected to.
x [maxdepth] expr
Evaluates its expression in list context and dumps out the
result in a pretty-printed fashion. Nested data structures
are printed out recursively, unlike the real "print" function
in Perl. When dumping hashes, you'll probably prefer 'x \%h'
rather than 'x %h'. See Dumpvalue if you'd like to do this
yourself.
The output format is governed by multiple options described
under "Configurable Options".
If the "maxdepth" is included, it must be a numeral _N; the
value is dumped only _N levels deep, as if the "dumpDepth"
option had been temporarily set to _N.
V [pkg [vars]]
Display all (or some) variables in package (defaulting to
"main") using a data pretty-printer (hashes show their keys
and values so you see what's what, control characters are
made printable, etc.). Make sure you don't put the type
specifier (like "$") there, just the symbol names, like this:
V DB filename line
Use "~pattern" and "!pattern" for positive and negative
regexes.
This is similar to calling the "x" command on each applicable
var.
X [vars] Same as "V currentpackage [vars]".
y [level [vars]]
Display all (or some) lexical variables (mnemonic: "mY"
variables) in the current scope or _l_e_v_e_l scopes higher. You
can limit the variables that you see with _v_a_r_s which works
exactly as it does for the "V" and "X" commands. Requires
the "PadWalker" module version 0.08 or higher; will warn if
this isn't installed. Output is pretty-printed in the same
style as for "V" and the format is controlled by the same
options.
T Produce a stack backtrace. See below for details on its
output.
s [expr] Single step. Executes until the beginning of another
statement, descending into subroutine calls. If an
expression is supplied that includes function calls, it too
will be single-stepped.
n [expr] Next. Executes over subroutine calls, until the beginning of
the next statement. If an expression is supplied that
includes function calls, those functions will be executed
with stops before each statement.
r Continue until the return from the current subroutine. Dump
the return value if the "PrintRet" option is set (default).
<CR> Repeat last "n" or "s" command.
c [line|sub]
Continue, optionally inserting a one-time-only breakpoint at
the specified line or subroutine.
l List next window of lines.
l min+incr List "incr+1" lines starting at "min".
l min-max List lines "min" through "max". "l -" is synonymous to "-".
l line List a single line.
l subname List first window of lines from subroutine. _s_u_b_n_a_m_e may be a
variable that contains a code reference.
- List previous window of lines.
v [line] View a few lines of code around the current line.
. Return the internal debugger pointer to the line last
executed, and print out that line.
f filename Switch to viewing a different file or "eval" statement. If
_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e is not a full pathname found in the values of %INC,
it is considered a regex.
"eval"ed strings (when accessible) are considered to be
filenames: "f (eval 7)" and "f eval 7\b" access the body of
the 7th "eval"ed string (in the order of execution). The
bodies of the currently executed "eval" and of "eval"ed
strings that define subroutines are saved and thus
accessible.
/pattern/ Search forwards for pattern (a Perl regex); final / is
optional. The search is case-insensitive by default.
?pattern? Search backwards for pattern; final ? is optional. The
search is case-insensitive by default.
L [abw] List (default all) actions, breakpoints and watch expressions
S [[!]regex]
List subroutine names [not] matching the regex.
t [n] Toggle trace mode (see also the "AutoTrace" option).
Optional argument is the maximum number of levels to trace
below the current one; anything deeper than that will be
silent.
t [n] expr Trace through execution of "expr". Optional first argument
is the maximum number of levels to trace below the current
one; anything deeper than that will be silent. See "Frame
Listing Output Examples" in perldebguts for examples.
b Sets breakpoint on current line
b [line] [condition]
Set a breakpoint before the given line. If a condition is
specified, it's evaluated each time the statement is reached:
a breakpoint is taken only if the condition is true.
Breakpoints may only be set on lines that begin an executable
statement. Conditions don't use "if":
b 237 $x > 30
b 237 ++$count237 < 11
b 33 /pattern/i
If the line number is ".", sets a breakpoint on the current
line:
b . $n > 100
b [file]:[line] [condition]
Set a breakpoint before the given line in a (possibly
different) file. If a condition is specified, it's evaluated
each time the statement is reached: a breakpoint is taken
only if the condition is true. Breakpoints may only be set
on lines that begin an executable statement. Conditions
don't use "if":
b lib/MyModule.pm:237 $x > 30
b /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/CGI.pm:100 ++$count100 < 11
b subname [condition]
Set a breakpoint before the first line of the named
subroutine. _s_u_b_n_a_m_e may be a variable containing a code
reference (in this case _c_o_n_d_i_t_i_o_n is not supported).
b postpone subname [condition]
Set a breakpoint at first line of subroutine after it is
compiled.
b load filename
Set a breakpoint before the first executed line of the
_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e, which should be a full pathname found amongst the
%INC values.
b compile subname
Sets a breakpoint before the first statement executed after
the specified subroutine is compiled.
B line Delete a breakpoint from the specified _l_i_n_e.
B * Delete all installed breakpoints.
disable [file]:[line]
Disable the breakpoint so it won't stop the execution of the
program. Breakpoints are enabled by default and can be re-
enabled using the "enable" command.
disable [line]
Disable the breakpoint so it won't stop the execution of the
program. Breakpoints are enabled by default and can be re-
enabled using the "enable" command.
This is done for a breakpoint in the current file.
enable [file]:[line]
Enable the breakpoint so it will stop the execution of the
program.
enable [line]
Enable the breakpoint so it will stop the execution of the
program.
This is done for a breakpoint in the current file.
a [line] command
Set an action to be done before the line is executed. If
_l_i_n_e is omitted, set an action on the line about to be
executed. The sequence of steps taken by the debugger is
1. check for a breakpoint at this line
2. print the line if necessary (tracing)
3. do any actions associated with that line
4. prompt user if at a breakpoint or in single-step
5. evaluate line
For example, this will print out $foo every time line 53 is
passed:
a 53 print "DB FOUND $foo\n"
A line Delete an action from the specified line.
A * Delete all installed actions.
w expr Add a global watch-expression. Whenever a watched global
changes the debugger will stop and display the old and new
values.
W expr Delete watch-expression
W * Delete all watch-expressions.
o Display all options.
o booloption ...
Set each listed Boolean option to the value 1.
o anyoption? ...
Print out the value of one or more options.
o option=value ...
Set the value of one or more options. If the value has
internal whitespace, it should be quoted. For example, you
could set "o pager="less -MQeicsNfr"" to call lleessss with those
specific options. You may use either single or double
quotes, but if you do, you must escape any embedded instances
of same sort of quote you began with, as well as any escaping
any escapes that immediately precede that quote but which are
not meant to escape the quote itself. In other words, you
follow single-quoting rules irrespective of the quote; eg: "o
option='this isn\'t bad'" or "o option="She said, \"Isn't
it?\""".
For historical reasons, the "=value" is optional, but
defaults to 1 only where it is safe to do so--that is, mostly
for Boolean options. It is always better to assign a
specific value using "=". The "option" can be abbreviated,
but for clarity probably should not be. Several options can
be set together. See "Configurable Options" for a list of
these.
< ? List out all pre-prompt Perl command actions.
< [ command ]
Set an action (Perl command) to happen before every debugger
prompt. A multi-line command may be entered by backslashing
the newlines.
< * Delete all pre-prompt Perl command actions.
<< command Add an action (Perl command) to happen before every debugger
prompt. A multi-line command may be entered by backwhacking
the newlines.
> ? List out post-prompt Perl command actions.
> command Set an action (Perl command) to happen after the prompt when
you've just given a command to return to executing the
script. A multi-line command may be entered by backslashing
the newlines (we bet you couldn't have guessed this by now).
> * Delete all post-prompt Perl command actions.
>> command Adds an action (Perl command) to happen after the prompt when
you've just given a command to return to executing the
script. A multi-line command may be entered by backslashing
the newlines.
{ ? List out pre-prompt debugger commands.
{ [ command ]
Set an action (debugger command) to happen before every
debugger prompt. A multi-line command may be entered in the
customary fashion.
Because this command is in some senses new, a warning is
issued if you appear to have accidentally entered a block
instead. If that's what you mean to do, write it as with ";{
... }" or even "do { ... }".
{ * Delete all pre-prompt debugger commands.
{{ command Add an action (debugger command) to happen before every
debugger prompt. A multi-line command may be entered, if you
can guess how: see above.
! number Redo a previous command (defaults to the previous command).
! -number Redo number'th previous command.
! pattern Redo last command that started with pattern. See "o
recallCommand", too.
!! cmd Run cmd in a subprocess (reads from DB::IN, writes to
DB::OUT) See "o shellBang", also. Note that the user's
current shell (well, their $ENV{SHELL} variable) will be
used, which can interfere with proper interpretation of exit
status or signal and coredump information.
source file Read and execute debugger commands from _f_i_l_e. _f_i_l_e may
itself contain "source" commands.
H -number Display last n commands. Only commands longer than one
character are listed. If _n_u_m_b_e_r is omitted, list them all.
q or ^D Quit. ("quit" doesn't work for this, unless you've made an
alias) This is the only supported way to exit the debugger,
though typing "exit" twice might work.
Set the "inhibit_exit" option to 0 if you want to be able to
step off the end the script. You may also need to set
$finished to 0 if you want to step through global
destruction.
R Restart the debugger by "exec()"ing a new session. We try to
maintain your history across this, but internal settings and
command-line options may be lost.
The following setting are currently preserved: history,
breakpoints, actions, debugger options, and the Perl command-
line options --ww, --II, and --ee.
|dbcmd Run the debugger command, piping DB::OUT into your current
pager.
||dbcmd Same as "|dbcmd" but DB::OUT is temporarily "select"ed as
well.
= [alias value]
Define a command alias, like
= quit q
or list current aliases.
command Execute command as a Perl statement. A trailing semicolon
will be supplied. If the Perl statement would otherwise be
confused for a Perl debugger, use a leading semicolon, too.
m expr List which methods may be called on the result of the
evaluated expression. The expression may evaluated to a
reference to a blessed object, or to a package name.
M Display all loaded modules and their versions.
man [manpage]
Despite its name, this calls your system's default
documentation viewer on the given page, or on the viewer
itself if _m_a_n_p_a_g_e is omitted. If that viewer is mmaann, the
current "Config" information is used to invoke mmaann using the
proper MANPATH or --MM _m_a_n_p_a_t_h option. Failed lookups of the
form "XXX" that match known manpages of the form _p_e_r_l_X_X_X will
be retried. This lets you type "man debug" or "man op" from
the debugger.
On systems traditionally bereft of a usable mmaann command, the
debugger invokes ppeerrllddoocc. Occasionally this determination is
incorrect due to recalcitrant vendors or rather more
felicitously, to enterprising users. If you fall into either
category, just manually set the $DB::doccmd variable to
whatever viewer to view the Perl documentation on your
system. This may be set in an rc file, or through direct
assignment. We're still waiting for a working example of
something along the lines of:
$DB::doccmd = 'netscape -remote http://something.here/';
CCoonnffiigguurraabbllee OOppttiioonnss The debugger has numerous options settable using the “o” command, either interactively or from the environment or an rc file. The file is named _._/_._p_e_r_l_d_b or _~_/_._p_e_r_l_d_b under Unix with _/_d_e_v_/_t_t_y, _p_e_r_l_d_b_._i_n_i otherwise.
"recallCommand", "ShellBang"
The characters used to recall a command or spawn a shell. By
default, both are set to "!", which is unfortunate.
"pager" Program to use for output of pager-piped commands (those
beginning with a "|" character.) By default, $ENV{PAGER}
will be used. Because the debugger uses your current
terminal characteristics for bold and underlining, if the
chosen pager does not pass escape sequences through
unchanged, the output of some debugger commands will not be
readable when sent through the pager.
"tkRunning" Run Tk while prompting (with ReadLine).
"signalLevel", "warnLevel", "dieLevel"
Level of verbosity. By default, the debugger leaves your
exceptions and warnings alone, because altering them can
break correctly running programs. It will attempt to print a
message when uncaught INT, BUS, or SEGV signals arrive. (But
see the mention of signals in "BUGS" below.)
To disable this default safe mode, set these values to
something higher than 0. At a level of 1, you get backtraces
upon receiving any kind of warning (this is often annoying)
or exception (this is often valuable). Unfortunately, the
debugger cannot discern fatal exceptions from non-fatal ones.
If "dieLevel" is even 1, then your non-fatal exceptions are
also traced and unceremoniously altered if they came from
"eval'ed" strings or from any kind of "eval" within modules
you're attempting to load. If "dieLevel" is 2, the debugger
doesn't care where they came from: It usurps your exception
handler and prints out a trace, then modifies all exceptions
with its own embellishments. This may perhaps be useful for
some tracing purposes, but tends to hopelessly destroy any
program that takes its exception handling seriously.
"AutoTrace" Trace mode (similar to "t" command, but can be put into
“PERLDB_OPTS”). #
"LineInfo" File or pipe to print line number info to. If it is a pipe
(say, "|visual_perl_db"), then a short message is used. This
is the mechanism used to interact with a client editor or
visual debugger, such as the special "vi" or "emacs" hooks,
or the "ddd" graphical debugger.
"inhibit_exit"
If 0, allows _s_t_e_p_p_i_n_g _o_f_f the end of the script.
"PrintRet" Print return value after "r" command if set (default).
"ornaments" Affects screen appearance of the command line (see
Term::ReadLine). There is currently no way to disable these,
which can render some output illegible on some displays, or
with some pagers. This is considered a bug.
"frame" Affects the printing of messages upon entry and exit from
subroutines. If "frame & 2" is false, messages are printed
on entry only. (Printing on exit might be useful if
interspersed with other messages.)
If "frame & 4", arguments to functions are printed, plus
context and caller info. If "frame & 8", overloaded
"stringify" and "tie"d "FETCH" is enabled on the printed
arguments. If "frame & 16", the return value from the
subroutine is printed.
The length at which the argument list is truncated is
governed by the next option:
"maxTraceLen"
Length to truncate the argument list when the "frame"
option's bit 4 is set.
"windowSize"
Change the size of code list window (default is 10 lines).
The following options affect what happens with "V", "X", and "x"
commands:
"arrayDepth", "hashDepth"
Print only first N elements ('' for all).
"dumpDepth" Limit recursion depth to N levels when dumping structures.
Negative values are interpreted as infinity. Default:
infinity.
"compactDump", "veryCompact"
Change the style of array and hash output. If "compactDump",
short array may be printed on one line.
"globPrint" Whether to print contents of globs.
"DumpDBFiles"
Dump arrays holding debugged files.
"DumpPackages"
Dump symbol tables of packages.
"DumpReused"
Dump contents of "reused" addresses.
"quote", "HighBit", "undefPrint"
Change the style of string dump. The default value for
"quote" is "auto"; one can enable double-quotish or single-
quotish format by setting it to """ or "'", respectively. By
default, characters with their high bit set are printed
verbatim.
"UsageOnly" Rudimentary per-package memory usage dump. Calculates total
size of strings found in variables in the package. This does
not include lexicals in a module's file scope, or lost in
closures.
"HistFile" The path of the file from which the history (assuming a
usable Term::ReadLine backend) will be read on the debugger's
startup, and to which it will be saved on shutdown (for
persistence across sessions). Similar in concept to Bash's
".bash_history" file.
"HistSize" The count of the saved lines in the history (assuming
"HistFile" above).
After the rc file is read, the debugger reads the $ENV{PERLDB_OPTS}
environment variable and parses this as the remainder of a "O ..." line
as one might enter at the debugger prompt. You may place the
initialization options "TTY", "noTTY", "ReadLine", and "NonStop" there.
If your rc file contains:
parse_options("NonStop=1 LineInfo=db.out AutoTrace");
then your script will run without human intervention, putting trace
information into the file _d_b_._o_u_t. (If you interrupt it, you'd better
reset "LineInfo" to _/_d_e_v_/_t_t_y if you expect to see anything.)
"TTY" The TTY to use for debugging I/O.
"noTTY" If set, the debugger goes into "NonStop" mode and will not
connect to a TTY. If interrupted (or if control goes to the
debugger via explicit setting of $DB::signal or $DB::single
from the Perl script), it connects to a TTY specified in the
"TTY" option at startup, or to a tty found at runtime using
the "Term::Rendezvous" module of your choice.
This module should implement a method named "new" that
returns an object with two methods: "IN" and "OUT". These
should return filehandles to use for debugging input and
output correspondingly. The "new" method should inspect an
argument containing the value of $ENV{PERLDB_NOTTY} at
startup, or "$ENV{HOME}/.perldbtty$$" otherwise. This file
is not inspected for proper ownership, so security hazards
are theoretically possible.
"ReadLine" If false, readline support in the debugger is disabled in
order to debug applications that themselves use ReadLine.
"NonStop" If set, the debugger goes into non-interactive mode until
interrupted, or programmatically by setting $DB::signal or
$DB::single.
Here's an example of using the $ENV{PERLDB_OPTS} variable:
$ PERLDB_OPTS="NonStop frame=2" perl -d myprogram
That will run the script mmyypprrooggrraamm without human intervention, printing
out the call tree with entry and exit points. Note that "NonStop=1
frame=2" is equivalent to "N f=2", and that originally, options could be
uniquely abbreviated by the first letter (modulo the "Dump*" options).
It is nevertheless recommended that you always spell them out in full for
legibility and future compatibility.
Other examples include
$ PERLDB_OPTS="NonStop LineInfo=listing frame=2" perl -d myprogram
which runs script non-interactively, printing info on each entry into a
subroutine and each executed line into the file named _l_i_s_t_i_n_g. (If you
interrupt it, you would better reset "LineInfo" to something
"interactive"!)
Other examples include (using standard shell syntax to show environment
variable settings):
$ ( PERLDB_OPTS="NonStop frame=1 AutoTrace LineInfo=tperl.out"
perl -d myprogram )
which may be useful for debugging a program that uses "Term::ReadLine"
itself. Do not forget to detach your shell from the TTY in the window
that corresponds to _/_d_e_v_/_t_t_y_X_X, say, by issuing a command like
$ sleep 1000000
See "Debugger Internals" in perldebguts for details.
DDeebbuuggggeerr IInnppuutt//OOuuttppuutt Prompt The debugger prompt is something like
DB<8> #
or even
DB«17» #
where that number is the command number, and which you'd use to
access with the built-in ccsshh-like history mechanism. For
example, "!17" would repeat command number 17. The depth of the
angle brackets indicates the nesting depth of the debugger. You
could get more than one set of brackets, for example, if you'd
already at a breakpoint and then printed the result of a function
call that itself has a breakpoint, or you step into an expression
via "s/n/t expression" command.
Multiline commands
If you want to enter a multi-line command, such as a subroutine
definition with several statements or a format, escape the
newline that would normally end the debugger command with a
backslash. Here's an example:
DB<1> for (1..4) { \
cont: print "ok\n"; \
cont: }
ok
ok
ok
ok
Note that this business of escaping a newline is specific to
interactive commands typed into the debugger.
Stack backtrace
Here's an example of what a stack backtrace via "T" command might
look like:
$ = main::infested called from file 'Ambulation.pm' line 10
@ = Ambulation::legs(1, 2, 3, 4) called from file 'camel_flea'
line 7
$ = main::pests('bactrian', 4) called from file 'camel_flea'
line 4
The left-hand character up there indicates the context in which
the function was called, with "$" and "@" meaning scalar or list
contexts respectively, and "." meaning void context (which is
actually a sort of scalar context). The display above says that
you were in the function "main::infested" when you ran the stack
dump, and that it was called in scalar context from line 10 of
the file _A_m_b_u_l_a_t_i_o_n_._p_m, but without any arguments at all, meaning
it was called as &infested. The next stack frame shows that the
function "Ambulation::legs" was called in list context from the
_c_a_m_e_l___f_l_e_a file with four arguments. The last stack frame shows
that "main::pests" was called in scalar context, also from
_c_a_m_e_l___f_l_e_a, but from line 4.
If you execute the "T" command from inside an active "use"
statement, the backtrace will contain both a "require" frame and
an "eval" frame.
Line Listing Format
This shows the sorts of output the "l" command can produce:
DB<<13>> l
101: @i{@i} = ();
102:b @isa{@i,$pack} = ()
103 if(exists $i{$prevpack} || exists $isa{$pack});
104 }
105
106 next
107==> if(exists $isa{$pack});
108
109:a if ($extra-- > 0) {
110: %isa = ($pack,1);
Breakable lines are marked with ":". Lines with breakpoints are
marked by "b" and those with actions by "a". The line that's
about to be executed is marked by "==>".
Please be aware that code in debugger listings may not look the
same as your original source code. Line directives and external
source filters can alter the code before Perl sees it, causing
code to move from its original positions or take on entirely
different forms.
Frame listing
When the "frame" option is set, the debugger would print entered
(and optionally exited) subroutines in different styles. See
perldebguts for incredibly long examples of these.
DDeebbuuggggiinngg CCoommppiillee--TTiimmee SSttaatteemmeennttss If you have compile-time executable statements (such as code within BEGIN, UNITCHECK and CHECK blocks or “use” statements), these will _n_o_t be stopped by debugger, although “require"s and INIT blocks will, and compile-time statements can be traced with the “AutoTrace” option set in “PERLDB_OPTS”). From your own Perl code, however, you can transfer control back to the debugger using the following statement, which is harmless if the debugger is not running:
$DB::single = 1;
If you set $DB::single to 2, it's equivalent to having just typed the "n"
command, whereas a value of 1 means the "s" command. The $DB::trace
variable should be set to 1 to simulate having typed the "t" command.
Another way to debug compile-time code is to start the debugger, set a
breakpoint on the _l_o_a_d of some module:
DB<7> b load f:/perllib/lib/Carp.pm
Will stop on load of 'f:/perllib/lib/Carp.pm'.
and then restart the debugger using the "R" command (if possible). One
can use "b compile subname" for the same purpose.
DDeebbuuggggeerr CCuussttoommiizzaattiioonn The debugger probably contains enough configuration hooks that you won’t ever have to modify it yourself. You may change the behaviour of the debugger from within the debugger using its “o” command, from the command line via the “PERLDB_OPTS” environment variable, and from customization files.
You can do some customization by setting up a _._p_e_r_l_d_b file, which
contains initialization code. For instance, you could make aliases like
these (the last one is one people expect to be there):
$DB::alias{'len'} = 's/^len(.*)/p length($1)/';
$DB::alias{'stop'} = 's/^stop (at|in)/b/';
$DB::alias{'ps'} = 's/^ps\b/p scalar /';
$DB::alias{'quit'} = 's/^quit(\s*)/exit/';
You can change options from _._p_e_r_l_d_b by using calls like this one;
parse_options("NonStop=1 LineInfo=db.out AutoTrace=1 frame=2");
The code is executed in the package "DB". Note that _._p_e_r_l_d_b is processed
before processing "PERLDB_OPTS". If _._p_e_r_l_d_b defines the subroutine
"afterinit", that function is called after debugger initialization ends.
_._p_e_r_l_d_b may be contained in the current directory, or in the home
directory. Because this file is sourced in by Perl and may contain
arbitrary commands, for security reasons, it must be owned by the
superuser or the current user, and writable by no one but its owner.
You can mock TTY input to debugger by adding arbitrary commands to
@DB::typeahead. For example, your _._p_e_r_l_d_b file might contain:
sub afterinit { push @DB::typeahead, "b 4", "b 6"; }
Which would attempt to set breakpoints on lines 4 and 6 immediately after
debugger initialization. Note that @DB::typeahead is not a supported
interface and is subject to change in future releases.
If you want to modify the debugger, copy _p_e_r_l_5_d_b_._p_l from the Perl library
to another name and hack it to your heart's content. You'll then want to
set your "PERL5DB" environment variable to say something like this:
BEGIN { require "myperl5db.pl" }
As a last resort, you could also use "PERL5DB" to customize the debugger
by directly setting internal variables or calling debugger functions.
Note that any variables and functions that are not documented in this
document (or in perldebguts) are considered for internal use only, and as
such are subject to change without notice.
RReeaaddlliinnee SSuuppppoorrtt // HHiissttoorryy iinn tthhee DDeebbuuggggeerr As shipped, the only command-line history supplied is a simplistic one that checks for leading exclamation points. However, if you install the Term::ReadKey and Term::ReadLine modules from CPAN (such as Term::ReadLine::Gnu, Term::ReadLine::Perl, …) you will have full editing capabilities much like those GNU _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e(3) provides. Look for these in the _m_o_d_u_l_e_s_/_b_y_-_m_o_d_u_l_e_/_T_e_r_m directory on CPAN. These do not support normal vvii command-line editing, however.
A rudimentary command-line completion is also available, including
lexical variables in the current scope if the "PadWalker" module is
installed.
Without Readline support you may see the symbols "^[[A", "^[[C", "^[[B",
"^[[D"", "^H", ... when using the arrow keys and/or the backspace key.
EEddiittoorr SSuuppppoorrtt ffoorr DDeebbuuggggiinngg If you have the GNU’s version of eemmaaccss installed on your system, it can interact with the Perl debugger to provide an integrated software development environment reminiscent of its interactions with C debuggers.
Recent versions of Emacs come with a start file for making eemmaaccss act like
a syntax-directed editor that understands (some of) Perl's syntax. See
perlfaq3.
Users of vvii should also look into vviimm and ggvviimm, the mousey and windy
version, for coloring of Perl keywords.
Note that only perl can truly parse Perl, so all such CASE tools fall
somewhat short of the mark, especially if you don't program your Perl as
a C programmer might.
TThhee PPeerrll PPrrooffiilleerr If you wish to supply an alternative debugger for Perl to run, invoke your script with a colon and a package argument given to the --dd flag. Perl’s alternative debuggers include a Perl profiler, Devel::NYTProf, which is available separately as a CPAN distribution. To profile your Perl program in the file _m_y_c_o_d_e_._p_l, just type:
$ perl -d:NYTProf mycode.pl
When the script terminates the profiler will create a database of the
profile information that you can turn into reports using the profiler's
tools. See <perlperf> for details.
DDeebbuuggggiinngg RReegguullaarr EExxpprreessssiioonnss “use re ‘debug’” enables you to see the gory details of how the Perl regular expression engine works. In order to understand this typically voluminous output, one must not only have some idea about how regular expression matching works in general, but also know how Perl’s regular expressions are internally compiled into an automaton. These matters are explored in some detail in “Debugging Regular Expressions” in perldebguts.
DDeebbuuggggiinngg MMeemmoorryy UUssaaggee Perl contains internal support for reporting its own memory usage, but this is a fairly advanced concept that requires some understanding of how memory allocation works. See “Debugging Perl Memory Usage” in perldebguts for the details.
SSEEEE AALLSSOO #
You do have "use strict" and "use warnings" enabled, don't you?
perldebtut, perldebguts, perl5db.pl, re, DB, Devel::NYTProf, Dumpvalue,
and perlrun.
When debugging a script that uses #! and is thus normally found in $PATH,
the -S option causes perl to search $PATH for it, so you don't have to
type the path or "which $scriptname".
$ perl -Sd foo.pl
BBUUGGSS #
You cannot get stack frame information or in any fashion debug functions
that were not compiled by Perl, such as those from C or C++ extensions.
If you alter your @_ arguments in a subroutine (such as with "shift" or
"pop"), the stack backtrace will not show the original values.
The debugger does not currently work in conjunction with the --WW command-
line switch, because it itself is not free of warnings.
If you're in a slow syscall (like "wait"ing, "accept"ing, or "read"ing
from your keyboard or a socket) and haven't set up your own $SIG{INT}
handler, then you won't be able to CTRL-C your way back to the debugger,
because the debugger's own $SIG{INT} handler doesn't understand that it
needs to raise an exception to lloonnggjjmmpp(3) out of slow syscalls.
perl v5.36.3 2023-02-15 PERLDEBUG(1)