7.4. Using dbx

The symbolic debugger, dbx, is the most commonly used debugger on UNIX operating systems, including AIX. The command provides many useful functions to debug application problems, including:

  • Examines object and core files

  • Provides a controlled environment for running a program

  • Sets break points

  • Traces program flow

  • Supervises symbolic variables

Although the usage of dbx is well explained in Chapter 3, “Debugging Programs”, in AIX 5L Version 5.2 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs, we describe the basic use of dbx and show useful customization examples.

Note

dbx does not support lightweight core file.

7.4.1. Starting a dbx session

If an application aborted and generated a core file, run dbx as follows:

 dbx ...

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