For a library, GDB does only see source in header files, whereas source in .cpp files is not available

Question

I am using gdb to debug a program compiled against a static library. Both the library and the program were compiled with debug symbols. For this library, gdb does only see the source code implemented in .h files and not the source code implemented in .cpp files. I wonder why?

For example
```
(gdb) info sources
```
only lists header files from that library and no .cpp files.
I am able to set breakpoint to some function that was implemented in a .cpp file. For example gdb understands this command:
```
(gdb) break orgQhull::Qhull::runQhull,
```
it is, however, not possible to debug the code inside the body of that function. (It is only possible to step through individual instructions on the assembler level using the stepi command.) On the other hand, the debuger is able to see the code of functions implemented in header files.

The backtrace command reports that there is "No symbol table available" for the runQhull function mentioned earlier:

(gdb) backtrace full

#0  0x00000000004d361a in orgQhull::Qhull::runQhull(orgQhull::RboxPoints const&, char const*) ()
No symbol table info available.
#1  0x000000000049573a in ConvexHull::ConvexHull (this=0x7fffffffcb70, tree=..., begin=..., end=...)
    at /home/filip/fel/dp/sandbox/src/populating_octomap/include/ConvexHull.h:40

What could be the reason for this? Any suggestions are welcome!

Some details:

The library in question is Qhull's libqhullcpp.a with sources at git://gitorious.org/qhull/qhull.git
System: Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS with GNU/Linux 3.2.0-40-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP x86_64
gcc (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5) 4.6.3
GNU gdb (Ubuntu/Linaro 7.4-2012.04-0ubuntu2.1) 7.4-2012.04

Have you included the library source directory in gdb source search path? — yhager
– yhager, Commented May 1, 2013 at 20:23
I am really sorry and I apologize. I have complied against wrong library archive. The debug version of the static library had been created with a suffix and I did not realize that. Mea culpa. Thank you for your help. Thank you for your time. — Filip J.
– Filip J., Commented May 2, 2013 at 22:51

Employed Russian · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-01 23:10:40Z

1

What could be the reason for this?

Either

you've built the library without -g flag, or
you've stripped the library after it was built (this is very unlikely).

Check your library build log. You believe you built it with -g, but you are very likely mistaken.

answered May 1, 2013 at 23:10

Employed Russian

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3 Comments

Filip J. Over a year ago

You are right. Thank you for your time. I am really sorry I wasted your time.

Filip J. Over a year ago

I have compiled against wrong library archive. I am using CMake to build both the library and my program. The debug version of the library had been created with a suffix and I did not realize that. The non-debug version was named libqhullcpp.a and it stayed in the build directory even after make clean. The version built with -g was named libqhullcpp_d.a. It seems like it is not a good idea to change the build type -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug in an existing build directory?

Filip J. Over a year ago

Should I add [cmake] tag to the question? Should I modify it in order to make it more useful for other users? Or should I create another question/answer pair instead? What would be preferred here on SO?

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