extending Gdb to display app specific data

[bstell at netscape dot com (Brian Stell)]

Has there been a thread on how to extend Gdb
to display app specific data?

The reason I ask is as more apps support Unicode
it is hard for the developers to see the text in strings
since the strings are no longer simple "char *".

The strings could be UTF-8, UTF-16, some kind
of C++ object, etc.

What provision is there for Gdb users to extend
Gdb to display an application specific item like
this?

This, of course, is a particular instance of the
need to display various types of app. specific
data which out the user having to type in a
long or complex routine each time. It is fine to
require that the routines be complex as a few
developers will figure out how to do it and the
rest will copy the answer and benefit.


Brian,

PS: I asked the Insight mailing list the same
question and they suggested I as gdb:

> Fernando Nasser wrote:
> You should ask first if there are plans for GDB (gdb@sources.redhat.com) to
> handle/display Unicode data.   Insight, being the GDB GUI, will probably
> follow with some way to access what GDB provides.