On 2026-03-05 14:49, Adriaan van Os via fpc-devel wrote:
1. Did you consider integrating this into LLDB? 2. Did you consider the JSON symbol file format?
Hi Adriaan, LLDB: The challenge is that LLDB converts all debug information into Clang types internally, making it just as C/C++ centric as GDB+DWARF. The impedance mismatch with Object Pascal concepts -- properties, AnsiString reference counting, VMT layout, sets -- would be the same. Interestingly, FPC's own LLVM backend (dbgllvm.pas) confirms this: its header comment states "LLVM debug information is loosely based on DWARF and reuses DWARF constants." So the LLVM path doesn't escape DWARF semantics, it just repackages them. JSON Symbol File: This one is a symbolication tool rather than a full debug information format -- it maps names to addresses for stripped binaries and crash log analysis. It has no type system or layout encoding, so it doesn't address my core requirements. That said, LLDB is definitely on my radar for Phase 3 (macOS support), where it is the system debugger and ptrace access is restricted. The plan there would be to use LLDB purely as a process controller, whilst keeping OPDF as the type and symbol source. Hope that answers your questions. Regards, - Graeme - _______________________________________________ fpc-devel maillist - [email protected] https://lists.freepascal.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fpc-devel
