Re: [MACTCL] MacOS Debugging setup

[Phillip B. <phi...@um...>]

Yes:

% tclsh

% puts $::env(DYLD_IMAGE_SUFFIX)

_debug

zsh seems mostly compatible with bash as far as I can tell.

Phil

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM Kevin Walzer <kw...@co...> wrote:

> The “export” syntax was for bash - is zsh compatible?
>
> On Oct 24, 2025, at 8:19 PM, Phillip Brooks <phi...@um...> wrote:
>
> 
> OK - I am finally getting somewhere.
>
> The environment variable doesn't seem to do anything (is it misspelled?
> Google certainly turns up hits for it - or has this changed under MacOS
> 26?).  I tried it both as a build time variable, and as a runtime variable
> when running lldb, but the non-debug library always seems to come in.
>
> I am setting it using:
>
> export DYLD_IMAGE_SUFFIX=_debug
>
>
> in zsh, then building with:
>
>
> make -f GNUmakefile distclean
>
> make -f GNUmakefile
>
> sudo make -f GNUmakefile install
>
>
> Running lldb still won't show source code for Tcl_ParseVarName.
>
>
> Getting rid of the deploy step, however, seems to have helped keep the
> debug library intact, so now, if I copy the Tcl_debug library to Tcl, and
> then run lldb, it works fine, and I see source code in Tcl_ParseVarName.
>
>
> Any other thoughts on what to try?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 8:23 PM Brian Griffin <bri...@ea...>
> wrote:
>
>> It sounds like the file was not compiled for debug.
>> Try confirming that flags are all applied correctly.
>>
>> I’ve had no problems with lldb on mac, but it’s been awhile (couple
>> years) since I last used it.
>>
>> -Brian
>> (from mobile device)
>>
>> On Oct 23, 2025, at 17:10, Phillip Brooks <phi...@um...> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> Thanks Kevin,
>>
>> I am pretty familiar with gdb and debugging Tcl in a Linux environment.
>> The gdb-lldb guide will be useful, but that isn’t where I am hung up.
>>
>> I am hung up on these two questions:
>>
>> What configure and build options will give me source level debugging on a
>> MacOS tclsh build?
>>
>> Where is the debug version of tclsh after I do that build?
>>
>> Do I need to do anything special to avoid MacOS security (I.e. signing
>> things)?
>>
>> Phil
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 4:22 PM Kevin Walzer <kw...@co...> wrote:
>>
>>> Debugging a Tcl extension written in C using gdb
>>> <https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Debugging+a+Tcl+extension+written+in+C+using+gdb?R=0>
>>> wiki.tcl-lang.org
>>> <https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Debugging+a+Tcl+extension+written+in+C+using+gdb?R=0>
>>> <favicon.ico>
>>>
>>> <https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Debugging+a+Tcl+extension+written+in+C+using+gdb?R=0>
>>> <https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Debugging+a+Tcl+extension+written+in+C+using+gdb?R=0>
>>>
>>> This is a guide to using gdb with Tcl.
>>>
>>> GDB and LLDB Command Examples
>>> <https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/gdb_to_lldb_transition_guide/document/lldb-command-examples.html>
>>> developer.apple.com
>>> <https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/gdb_to_lldb_transition_guide/document/lldb-command-examples.html>
>>> <apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png>
>>>
>>> <https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/gdb_to_lldb_transition_guide/document/lldb-command-examples.html>
>>> <https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/gdb_to_lldb_transition_guide/document/lldb-command-examples.html>
>>>
>>> This is a gdb-lldb translation guide.
>>>
>>> On Oct 23, 2025, at 6:43 PM, Phillip Brooks <phi...@um...> wrote:
>>>
>>> 
>>>
>>> Can anyone point me toward a guide to running lldb on a built Tcl
>>> executable on MacOS 26 Arm64?  I found:
>>>
>>> https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Tcl+on+MacOS
>>>
>>> on the wiki, but it seems more interested in wish than in Tcl, and also
>>> in exercising the full MacOS App mechanism and running Wish.app.  There
>>> isn't much there about running the debugger and even less about tclsh.  I
>>> have successfully built tclsh, and can invoke it under lldb, set
>>> breakpoints, run etc. but I seem unable to get a debug version of the file
>>> that I am trying to look at (tclParse.c).  I can see source code around the
>>> call to Tcl_Main, but not at lower levels of the stack.  When I stop, say
>>> in Tcl_ParseVarName, I just see assembly code.
>>>
>>> Can you describe how to build, invoke lldb, set a breakpoint at
>>> Tcl_ParseVarName and then have the debugger show source code for
>>> Tcl_ParseVarName?
>>>
>>> Here is a detailed runthrough of what I last tried:
>>>
>>> I used the make command:
>>>
>>> $ CONFIGURE_ARGS="--enable-symbols" make -f GNUmakefile
>>>
>>>  inside of the macosx directory, then ran lldb:
>>>
>>> $ lldb ../../build/tcl/Development//usr/local/bin/Development/tclsh
>>>
>>> I ran that tclsh in another shell window and I used the attach <pid>
>>> command to attach to my running tclsh (I want to be able to type into Tcl
>>> and debug from another window at the same time), though I get the same
>>> result when I just use the run command from inside lldb.
>>>
>>> Typed "b Tcl_ParseVarName" and successfully set the breakpoint.
>>>
>>> Typed continue, but when it stops in Tcl_ParseVarName, I see only
>>> assembly code, no source.  If I type list, I see source code, but it is
>>> only for the call to Tcl_Main.  I can't go down the stack without diving
>>> into assembly code.  I am thinking that I have only partial debug code for
>>> some reason, but I don't know enough about how the MacOS build works to
>>> know what is where and how it got there.  It seems that things are built a
>>> couple times by default.
>>>
>>> I am running on MacOS 26 - newly installed, and have never tried running
>>> a debugger on MacOS before (my previous experience is all on Linux).  I am
>>> also trying to build something close to the tip of Tcl 9.1 - i.e. the main
>>> branch.  I am a complete newbie concerning things like codesigning etc.
>>>
>>> Phil
>>>
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