[c++] Can I set a breakpoint on 'memory access' in GDB?

I am running an application through gdb and I want to set a breakpoint for any time a specific variable is accessed / changed. Is there a good method for doing this? I would also be interested in other ways to monitor a variable in C/C++ to see if/when it changes.

I just tried the following:

 $ cat gdbtest.c
 int abc = 43;

 int main()
 {
   abc = 10;
 }
 $ gcc -g -o gdbtest gdbtest.c
 $ gdb gdbtest
 ...
 (gdb) watch abc
 Hardware watchpoint 1: abc
 (gdb) r
 Starting program: /home/mweerden/gdbtest 
 ...

 Old value = 43
 New value = 10
 main () at gdbtest.c:6
 6       }
 (gdb) quit

So it seems possible, but you do appear to need some hardware support.

Use watch to see when a variable is written to, rwatch when it is read and awatch when it is read/written from/to, as noted above. However, please note that to use this command, you must break the program, and the variable must be in scope when you've broken the program:

Use the watch command. The argument to the watch command is an expression that is evaluated. This implies that the variabel you want to set a watchpoint on must be in the current scope. So, to set a watchpoint on a non-global variable, you must have set a breakpoint that will stop your program when the variable is in scope. You set the watchpoint after the program breaks.

What you're looking for is called a watchpoint.

Usage

(gdb) watch foo: watch the value of variable foo

(gdb) watch *(int*)0x12345678: watch the value pointed by an address, casted to whatever type you want

(gdb) watch a*b + c/d: watch an arbitrarily complex expression, valid in the program's native language

Watchpoints are of three kinds:

• watch: gdb will break when a write occurs
• rwatch: gdb will break wnen a read occurs
• awatch: gdb will break in both cases

You may choose the more appropriate for your needs.

For more information, check this out.

Assuming the first answer is referring to the C-like syntax (char *)(0x135700 +0xec1a04f) then the answer to do rwatch *0x135700+0xec1a04f is incorrect. The correct syntax is rwatch *(0x135700+0xec1a04f).

The lack of ()s there caused me a great deal of pain trying to use watchpoints myself.