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<h3 class="section">C.1 Requirements for Building <span class="sc">gdb</span></h3>

<p><a name="index-building-_0040value_007bGDBN_007d_002c-requirements-for-3300"></a>
Building <span class="sc">gdb</span> requires various tools and packages to be available. 
Other packages will be used only if they are found.

<h3 class="heading">Tools/Packages Necessary for Building <span class="sc">gdb</span></h3>

     <dl>
<dt>C<tt>++</tt>11 compiler<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span> is written in C<tt>++</tt>11.  It should be buildable with any
recent C<tt>++</tt>11 compiler, e.g. GCC.

     <br><dt>GNU make<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span>'s build system relies on features only found in the GNU
make program.  Other variants of <code>make</code> will not work. 
</dl>

<h3 class="heading">Tools/Packages Optional for Building <span class="sc">gdb</span></h3>

     <dl>
<dt>Expat<dd><a name="Expat"></a><span class="sc">gdb</span> can use the Expat XML parsing library.  This library may be
included with your operating system distribution; if it is not, you
can get the latest version from <a href="http://expat.sourceforge.net">http://expat.sourceforge.net</a>. 
The <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp> script will search for this library in several
standard locations; if it is installed in an unusual path, you can
use the <samp><span class="option">--with-libexpat-prefix</span></samp> option to specify its location.

     <p>Expat is used for:

          <ul>
<li>Remote protocol memory maps (see <a href="Memory-Map-Format.html#Memory-Map-Format">Memory Map Format</a>)
<li>Target descriptions (see <a href="Target-Descriptions.html#Target-Descriptions">Target Descriptions</a>)
<li>Remote shared library lists (See <a href="Library-List-Format.html#Library-List-Format">Library List Format</a>,
or alternatively see <a href="Library-List-Format-for-SVR4-Targets.html#Library-List-Format-for-SVR4-Targets">Library List Format for SVR4 Targets</a>)
<li>MS-Windows shared libraries (see <a href="Shared-Libraries.html#Shared-Libraries">Shared Libraries</a>)
<li>Traceframe info (see <a href="Traceframe-Info-Format.html#Traceframe-Info-Format">Traceframe Info Format</a>)
<li>Branch trace (see <a href="Branch-Trace-Format.html#Branch-Trace-Format">Branch Trace Format</a>,
see <a href="Branch-Trace-Configuration-Format.html#Branch-Trace-Configuration-Format">Branch Trace Configuration Format</a>)
</ul>

     <br><dt>Guile<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span> can be scripted using GNU Guile.  See <a href="Guile.html#Guile">Guile</a>.  By
default, <span class="sc">gdb</span> will be compiled if the Guile libraries are
installed and are found by <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp>.  You can use the
<code>--with-guile</code> option to request Guile, and pass either the Guile
version number or the file name of the relevant <code>pkg-config</code>
program to choose a particular version of Guile.

     <br><dt>iconv<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span>'s features related to character sets (see <a href="Character-Sets.html#Character-Sets">Character Sets</a>) require a functioning <code>iconv</code> implementation.  If you are
on a GNU system, then this is provided by the GNU C Library.  Some
other systems also provide a working <code>iconv</code>.

     <p>If <span class="sc">gdb</span> is using the <code>iconv</code> program which is installed
in a non-standard place, you will need to tell <span class="sc">gdb</span> where to
find it.  This is done with <samp><span class="option">--with-iconv-bin</span></samp> which specifies
the directory that contains the <code>iconv</code> program.  This program is
run in order to make a list of the available character sets.

     <p>On systems without <code>iconv</code>, you can install GNU Libiconv.  If
Libiconv is installed in a standard place, <span class="sc">gdb</span> will
automatically use it if it is needed.  If you have previously
installed Libiconv in a non-standard place, you can use the
<samp><span class="option">--with-libiconv-prefix</span></samp> option to <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp>.

     <p><span class="sc">gdb</span>'s top-level <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">Makefile</span></samp> will
arrange to build Libiconv if a directory named <samp><span class="file">libiconv</span></samp> appears
in the top-most source directory.  If Libiconv is built this way, and
if the operating system does not provide a suitable <code>iconv</code>
implementation, then the just-built library will automatically be used
by <span class="sc">gdb</span>.  One easy way to set this up is to download GNU
Libiconv, unpack it inside the top-level directory of the <span class="sc">gdb</span>
source tree, and then rename the directory holding the Libiconv source
code to &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">libiconv</span></samp>&rsquo;.

     <br><dt>lzma<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span> can support debugging sections that are compressed with
the LZMA library.  See <a href="MiniDebugInfo.html#MiniDebugInfo">MiniDebugInfo</a>.  If this library is not
included with your operating system, you can find it in the xz package
at <a href="http://tukaani.org/xz/">http://tukaani.org/xz/</a>.  If the LZMA library is available in
the usual place, then the <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp> script will use it
automatically.  If it is installed in an unusual path, you can use the
<samp><span class="option">--with-lzma-prefix</span></samp> option to specify its location.

     <br><dt>MPFR<dd><a name="MPFR"></a><span class="sc">gdb</span> can use the GNU MPFR multiple-precision floating-point
library.  This library may be included with your operating system
distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
<a href="http://www.mpfr.org">http://www.mpfr.org</a>.  The <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp> script will search
for this library in several standard locations; if it is installed
in an unusual path, you can use the <samp><span class="option">--with-libmpfr-prefix</span></samp>
option to specify its location.

     <p>GNU MPFR is used to emulate target floating-point arithmetic during
expression evaluation when the target uses different floating-point
formats than the host.  If GNU MPFR it is not available, <span class="sc">gdb</span>
will fall back to using host floating-point arithmetic.

     <br><dt>Python<dd><span class="sc">gdb</span> can be scripted using Python language.  See <a href="Python.html#Python">Python</a>. 
By default, <span class="sc">gdb</span> will be compiled if the Python libraries are
installed and are found by <samp><span class="file">configure</span></samp>.  You can use the
<code>--with-python</code> option to request Python, and pass either the
file name of the relevant <code>python</code> executable, or the name of the
directory in which Python is installed, to choose a particular
installation of Python.

     <br><dt>zlib<dd><a name="index-compressed-debug-sections-3301"></a><span class="sc">gdb</span> will use the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">zlib</span></samp>&rsquo; library, if available, to read
compressed debug sections.  Some linkers, such as GNU gold, are capable
of producing binaries with compressed debug sections.  If <span class="sc">gdb</span>
is compiled with &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">zlib</span></samp>&rsquo;, it will be able to read the debug
information in such binaries.

     <p>The &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">zlib</span></samp>&rsquo; library is likely included with your operating system
distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
<a href="http://zlib.net">http://zlib.net</a>. 
</dl>

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