DDD 2.2.3 is available -*- text -*- ====================== Release 2.2.3 of the Data Display Debugger (DDD), a common graphical front-end for GDB, DBX, and XDB debuggers, is now available at ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/ddd-2.2.3.tar.gz Diffs from earlier versions are in ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/diffs/ Contributed DDD binaries for various architectures are in ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/bin/ The DDD WWW page is at http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/softech/ddd/ Please try a closer FTP site first; see below for a list. What's new in DDD? ================== DDD 2.2.3 fixes some problems reported for DDD 2.2.2: - `struct' recognition with DBX now works again. (This one was serious.) - `configure' now checks for correct ISO C++ . - DDD now runs under the `tvtwm' virtual desktop. - DBX Settings now work with Solaris DBX. What is DDD, anyway? ==================== The Data Display Debugger (DDD) is a common graphical user interface to GDB, DBX, and XDB, the popular UNIX debuggers. Besides ``usual'' features such as viewing source texts and breakpoints, DDD provides a graphical data display, where data structures are displayed as graphs. A simple mouse click dereferences pointers or reveals structure contents, updated each time the program stops. Using DDD, you can reason about your application by viewing its data, not just by viewing it execute lines of source code. Other DDD features include: debugging of programs written in C, C++, Ada, Fortran, Pascal, Modula-2, or Modula-3; machine-level debugging; hypertext source navigation and lookup; breakpoint, backtrace, and history editors; preferences and settings editors; program execution in terminal emulator window; debugging on remote host; on-line manual; interactive help on the Motif user interface; GDB/DBX/XDB command-line interface with full editing, history, and completion capabilities. DDD has been designed to compete with well-known commercial debuggers. Speaking of platforms: DDD configures, compiles and runs out-of-the-box on every major UNIX platform, including AIX (powerpc-ibm-aix3, rs6000-ibm-aix3), FreeBSD (i386-intel-freebsd1), HP-UX (hppa1.1-hp-hpux9, m68k-hp-hpux9), IRIX (mips-sgi-irix5), Linux (i[3456]86-unknown-linux, i[3456]86-unknown-linuxaout), Alpha OSF (alpha-osf3), Solaris (i386-sun-solaris2, sparc-sun-solaris2), SunOS (sparc-sun-sunos4), and ULTRIX (mips-dec-ultrix4). DDD is free software, protected by the GNU general public license. It is actively maintained by its authors, Dorothea Luetkehaus and Andreas Zeller at the Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany. What do I need to build DDD? ============================ To build a complete DDD from sources, you need: * The GNU C++ compiler (GCC/G++), preferably version 2.7.2 or later, and a matching C++ I/O library (libstdc++ or libg++). Some other C++ compilers have been reported to compile DDD as well. Good results have been reported with Sun CC 4.0. SGI CC and AIX xlC compile DDD, but introduce some subtle errors. Cfront 3.0 does not compile DDD. In doubt, GCC is preferred. * The X window library (Xlib) and X toolkit library (Xt), X11R4 or later. * A Motif Widget library, version 1.1 or later. Best results are achieved using OSF/Motif 2.0 or later. DDD also compiles and runs with LessTif, a free Motif clone, release 0.82 or later, without loss of functionality. Be sure to check the DDD WWW site and the `patches/' directory for patches required to make DDD run. LessTif is available via `http://www.lesstif.org/'. * Optionally, in addition to the Motif widget library, the Athena Widget library (release 5 or later). Having the Athena Widget library is convenient for supporting two-dimensional scrollbars and the `editres' protocol. * Optionally, the XPM library (release 3.2 or later). The XPM library brings support for multi-color icons and logos. * Lots of virtual memory. To run DDD, you need an inferior command-line debugger. Best results are achieved with GDB, the GNU debugger. (GDB 4.x is required; best results are achieved with GDB 4.13 or later.) Using GDB, you can debug programs written in C and C++; GNU Ada (`gnat'), GNU Fortran (`g77') and GNU Modula-2 have been reported to work as well. As an alternative to GDB, DDD also supports the DBX debugger as found on SUN, DEC, AIX, and IRIX systems. Using DBX, you can debug programs written in C, C++, Pascal, Fortran, and Modula-2. DDD adapts automatically to a wide range of other DBX variants. As another alternative, DDD also supports the XDB debugger as found on HP-UX systems. XDB usage has been tested for C programs only, but may work for other languages as well. Where do I get more information? ================================ The DDD WWW page (including screen shots) is available at http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/softech/ddd/ A short DDD survey with several screen shots is available at ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/ddd-paper.ps.gz The six-page paper gives a short introduction to the look-and-feel of DDD and highlights some internal aspects. The DDD manual is the official, up-to-date DDD reference. It now includes more than 40 screen shots. Available at ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/doc/ The DDD users mailing list, ddd-users@ips.cs.tu-bs.de is the right place to contact other DDD users for assistance and hints. New DDD releases are also announced here. For more information on this list, and for subscription, send a mail to ddd-users-request@ips.cs.tu-bs.de Please send suggestions and bug reports for DDD to ddd-bugs@ips.cs.tu-bs.de As the DDD developers are usually busy with other projects, don't expect an immediate personal answer. However, all bug reports are read and considered for the next DDD release. Getting DDD =========== DDD is available from a number of FTP sites: * ftp://ftp.ips.cs.tu-bs.de/pub/local/softech/ddd/ Main FTP site; carries DDD sources (src/), patches (patches/), diffs (diffs/), snapshots (current/), documentation (doc/), WWW pages (www/) and various binaries (bin/). Usually overloaded. Mirrored in several places, including ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/packages/ddd/ ftp://richb-pc.acc.qc.edu/pub/ddd/ ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/programming/tools/ddd/ ftp://ftp.gre.ac.uk/pub/tools/debuggers/ddd/ * ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/devel/debuggers/ddd/ FTP server for Linux and contributions. Carries DDD sources and Linux binaries. Mirrored in several places; the file `MIRRORS' contains a list. * ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/utilities/ FTP server for X11 and contributions. Carries DDD sources. Mirrored in several places; server sends a list when overloaded. Have fun with DDD! -- Andreas Zeller Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany ddd@ips.cs.tu-bs.de http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/softech/ddd/