GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)	     GNU Development Tools	      GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)


NAME
       gdb-add-index - Add index files to speed up GDB

SYNOPSIS
       gdb-add-index [-dwarf-5] filename

DESCRIPTION
       When GDB finds a symbol file, it scans the symbols in the file in order
       to construct an internal symbol table.  This lets most GDB operations
       work quickly--at the cost of a delay early on.  For large programs,
       this delay can be quite lengthy, so GDB provides a way to build an
       index, which speeds up startup.

       To determine whether a file contains such an index, use the command
       "readelf -S filename": the index is stored in a section named
       ".gdb_index" (pre-DWARF 5) or ".debug_names" and ".debug_str" (DWARF
       5).  Indexes can only be produced on systems which use ELF binaries and
       DWARF debug information (i.e., sections named ".debug_*").

       By default gdb-add-index will add a pre-DWARF 5 ".gdb_index" section to
       filename.  With -dwarf-5 DWARF 5 sections are added instead.

       filename must be writable.

       gdb-add-index uses GDB, objcopy, and readelf found in the PATH
       environment variable.  If you want to use different versions of these
       programs, you can specify them through the appropriate environment
       variables (see below).

       gdb-add-index exits with status 0 if it succeeds in creating the index
       for filename or greater than 0 if an error occurs.

       See more in the GDB manual in node "Index Files" -- shell command "info
       -f gdb -n "Index Files"".

OPTIONS
       -dwarf-5
	   Add DWARF 5 sections instead of previous ".debug_index" section.

ENVIRONMENT
       GDB Full file name of the "gdb" program to use for index generation.
	   If not set, the PATH will be searched for a "gdb" program.

       OBJCOPY
	   Full file name of the "objcopy" program to use to copy section
	   information into the given file.  If not set, the PATH will be
	   searched for a "objcopy" program.

       READELF
	   Full file name of the "readelf" program to use to inspect
	   properties of the given file.  If not set, the PATH will be
	   searched for a "readelf" program.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for GDB is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
       the "info" and "gdb" programs and GDB's Texinfo documentation are
       properly installed at your site, the command

	       info gdb

       should give you access to the complete manual.

       Using GDB: A Guide to the GNU Source-Level Debugger, Richard M.
       Stallman and Roland H. Pesch, July 1991.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1988-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
       under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
       any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
       Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software Needs Free
       Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," and
       with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.

       (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify this
       GNU Manual.  Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in
       developing GNU and promoting software freedom."

gdb-16.3			  2025-04-20		      GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)