idb, ifort - a coller coaster

[oh_moose]

Many of the CALL statements in my software are longer than one line and include numerous arguments. Whenever I debug these routines, idb goes up and down several times over every single line until a "step" or "next" finally makes it to the next statement. Is there a way to fix this or do I need a paper bag?

[jimdempseyatthecove]

oh_moose,

First let me prefix this by two things a) I am not from Intel, b) I am a Windows user

Yes, I find this annoying too. Under Wiindows using WinDbg from the IDE (and I see no reason the Intel Debugger under Linux won't have this feature too), there is an option to "Run to cursor" as well as "Step into". If you want to bypass the CALL then place the cursor past the CALL and use "Run to cursor" (like placing a break point there, run, remove break point in one operation). If you want go into the called routine then use "Step Into".

Jim Dempsey

[Steven_L_Intel1]

I think there is an idb option, something like "set step semantic", that will change the behavior. However, some people like the behavior you describe as it shows what part of the statement is being executed.

[oh_moose]

Hi Steve, Happy New Year!

Unfortunately idb does not understand "set step semantic" (neither in dbx nor gdb more). This is however a valid VMS debugger command. :-) Not that it fixes the same problem on VMS. I presume the Fortran compiler for OpenVMS/Alpha and for Linux share some common code. The roller coaster feature is one of the most annoying one (and users of Fortran for OpenVMS/Alpha have to live with it since 15 years). It costs me time and nerves, and it is completely useless.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

The issue is how to ascribe line numbers to instructions. The VMS debug language is much more expressive than that used on Linux or Windows. I suggest submitting a feature request to Intel Premier Support asking for an option to use the line number on which a statement begins for all code used in that statement.