Debugging Dynamic Memory Usage Errors Using HP WDB

Introduction
HP Wildebeest Debugger (WDB) is an HP-supported implementation of the open source debugger
GDB. Apart from the normal debugging functions, it also enables you to debug memory-related
errors in a program.
HP WDB supports memory-debugging (using Run Time Checking (RTC)) of source-level programs
written in HP C, HP aC++, and Fortran 90 on Itanium®-based systems running HP-UX 11i v2,
or HP-UX 11i v3, and PA-RISC systems running HP-UX 11.0, HP-UX 11i v1, HP-UX 11i v2, or
HP-UX 11i v3 operating systems.
WDB offers the following memory-debugging capabilities:
• Reports memory leaks
• Reports heap allocation profile
• Stops program execution if bad writes occur with string operations such as strcpy(), and
memcpy()
• Stops program execution when freeing un-allocated or de-allocated blocks
• Stops program execution when freeing a block if bad writes occur outside block boundary
• Stops program execution conditionally based on whether a specified block address is allocated
or de-allocated
• Scrambles previous memory contents at malloc(), and free() calls
• Simulates and detects out-of-memory event errors
• Monitors changes in data segment space allocation
Intended Audience
This document is intended for C, C++, and Fortran programmers who use WDB to detect and
debug memory-related errors in HP C, HP aC++ and Fortran 90 applications. Reader of this
document must be familiar with the basic commands supported by WDB.
Typographic Conventions
This document uses the following typographical conventions:
$, $or #
A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bourne, Korn,
and POSIX shells. A number sign represents the superuser
prompt.
gdb(5) A manpage. The manpage name is gdb.
Command
A command name or qualified command phrase.
Computer output
Text displayed by the computer.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE The name of an environment variable, for example, PATH.
[ERROR NAME]
The name of an error, usually returned in the errno variable.
Variable
The name of a placeholder in a command, function, or other
syntax display that you replace with an actual value.
< > The contents are optional in syntax. If the contents are a list
separated by |, you must choose one of the items.
[ ] The contents are optional in syntax. If the contents are a list
separated by |, you must choose one of the items.
| Separates items in a list of choices.
IMPORTANT This alert provides essential information to explain a concept or
to complete a task
NOTE A note contains additional information to emphasize or
supplement important points of the main text.
Introduction 11