I use GDB in Emacs 24 with gdb-many-windows set to t, usually in its own frame. I like to have a separate editing frame. It looks like this (apologies for my crude ASCII diagram):
+-------------+-------------+
| gdb | locals |
+-------------+-------------+
| source | I/O |
| | |
+-------------+-------------+
| stack | breakpoints |
+-------------+-------------+
This works pretty well except for one big problem. Whenever gdb needs to display a different source buffer, e.g., after up/down/step, it doesn't always show it in the "source" window. For example, if I have the same buffer open in a window in a different frame, it will raise that frame while keeping keyboard focus in the gdb frame. This is really annoying on a single-monitor setup when the frames cover each other.
I'd like gdb to always use the source window in the gdb-many-windows setup to display source, no matter if the same source buffer is displayed elsewhere. How can I do that?
EDIT: More detailed instructions to reproduce. I'm using Emacs 24.2.1 with GDB 7.5-ubuntu. I've seen this problem on Ubuntu 10.04 and Linux Mint Nadia with Cinnamon.
- Evaluate this expression:
(setq gdb-many-windows t) - Compile a C program with at least two files.
For example:
// foo.c
void bar(int);
void foo(int c) {
if (c > 0)
bar(c - 1);
}
int main(void) {
foo(100);
return 0;
}
// bar.c
void foo(int c);
void bar(int c) {
if (c > 0)
foo(c - 2);
}
// compile with gcc -g -O0 foo.c bar.c -o test
- Let bar.c be displayed in the main frame. Open a new frame with
M-x 5 2. In that frame, start gdb withM-x gdb. There should be six windows in that frame as shown above. Position the gdb frame on top of the source frame. - Set a breakpoint in
mainand step through calls tofooandbar. Whenbaris called, the main frame will be raised over the gdb frame since bar.c is already visible there, but keyboard focus will stay in the gdb frame.
I think the problem function is gdb-display-source-buffer in gud.el.gz. I'm planning to try overriding this with defadvice, but I'm not really familiar with advice. If I figure it out, I'll post an answer here.
emacs -qto detect potential problems with your configuration. Also try to provide a minimal example. I.e., small source files and step-by-step instructions to reproduce the problem. – Poverty