Examining Memory

Using GDB or DBX, you can examine memory in any of several formats, independently of your program's data types. The item Data => Memory pops up a panel where you can choose the format to be shown.

In the panel, you can enter

• a

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  , a decimal integer that specifies how much memory (counting by units) to display

• a

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  --one of

  • octal
  • Print as integer in octal
  • hex
  • Regard the bits of the value as an integer, and print the integer in hexadecimal.
  • decimal
  • Print as integer in signed decimal.
  • unsigned
  • Print as integer in unsigned decimal.
  • binary
  • Print as integer in binary.
  • float
  • Regard the bits of the value as a floating point number and print using typical floating point syntax.
  • address
  • Print as an address, both absolute in hexadecimal and as an offset from the nearest preceding symbol.
  • instruction
  • Print as machine instructions. The unit size is ignored for this display format.
  • char
  • Regard as an integer and print it as a character constant.
  • string
  • Print as null-terminated string. The unit size is ignored for this display format.

• a

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  --one of

  • bytes
  • Bytes.
  • halfwords
  • Halfwords (two bytes).
  • words
  • Words (four bytes).
  • giants
  • Giant words (eight bytes).

• an

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  --the starting display address. The expression need not have a pointer value (though it may); it is always interpreted as an integer address of a byte of memory.

There are two ways to examine the values:

• You can dump the memory in the debugger console (using Print). If you repeat the resulting x command by pressing <Return> in the debugger console (see Command History), the following area of memory is shown.
• You can also display the memory dump in the data window (using Display). If you choose to display the values, the values will be updated automatically each time the program stop.

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