DWARF_CHILD(3) Library Functions Manual DWARF_CHILD(3)

dwarf_child, dwarf_offdie, dwarf_offdie_b, dwarf_siblingof, dwarf_siblingof_b
retrieve DWARF Debugging Information Entry descriptors

DWARF Access Library (libdwarf, -ldwarf)

#include <libdwarf.h>

int
dwarf_child(Dwarf_Die die, Dwarf_Die *ret_die, Dwarf_Error *err);

int
dwarf_offdie(Dwarf_Debug dbg, Dwarf_Off offset, Dwarf_Die *ret_die, Dwarf_Error *err);

int
dwarf_offdie_b(Dwarf_Debug dbg, Dwarf_Off offset, Dwarf_Bool is_info, Dwarf_Die *ret_die, Dwarf_Error *err);

int
dwarf_siblingof(Dwarf_Debug dbg, Dwarf_Die die, Dwarf_Die *ret_die, Dwarf_Error *err);

int
dwarf_siblingof_b(Dwarf_Debug dbg, Dwarf_Die die, Dwarf_Die *ret_die, Dwarf_Bool is_info, Dwarf_Error *err);

These functions are used to retrieve and traverse DWARF Debugging Information Entry (DIE) descriptors associated with a compilation unit. These descriptors are arranged in the form of a tree, traversable using “child” and “sibling” links; see dwarf(3) for more information. DWARF Debugging Information Entry descriptors are represented by the Dwarf_Die opaque type.

Function dwarf_child() retrieves the child of descriptor denoted by argument die, and stores it in the location pointed to by argument ret_die.

Function dwarf_siblingof() retrieves the sibling of the descriptor denoted by argument die, and stores it in the location pointed to by argument ret_die. If argument die is NULL, the first debugging information entry descriptor for the current compilation unit will be returned. This function and function dwarf_child() may be used together to traverse the tree of debugging information entry descriptors for a compilation unit.

Function dwarf_siblingof_b() is identical to the function dwarf_siblingof() except that it can retrieve the sibling descriptor from either the current compilation unit or type unit. If argument is_info is non-zero, the function behaves identically to function dwarf_siblingof(). If argument is_info is zero, the descriptor referred by argument die should be associated with a debugging information entry in the type unit. The function will store the sibling of the descriptor in the location pointed to by argument ret_die. If argument is_info is zero and argument die is NULL, the first debugging information entry descriptor for the current type unit will be returned.

Function dwarf_offdie() retrieves the debugging information entry descriptor at global offset offset in the “.debug_info” section of the object associated with argument dbg. The returned descriptor is written to the location pointed to by argument ret_die.

Function dwarf_offdie_b() is identical to the function dwarf_offdie() except that it can retrieve the debugging information entry descriptor at global offset offset from either of the “.debug_info” and “.debug_types” sections of the object associated with argument dbg. If argument is_info is non-zero, the function will retrieve the debugging information entry from the “.debug_info” section, otherwise the function will retrieve the debugging information entry from the “.debug_types” section. The returned descriptor is written to the location pointed to by argument ret_die.

The memory area used for the Dwarf_Die descriptor returned in argument ret_die is allocated by the DWARF Access Library (libdwarf, -ldwarf). Application code should use function dwarf_dealloc() with the allocation type DW_DLA_DIE to free the memory area when the Dwarf_Die descriptor is no longer needed.

These functions return the following values:
[DW_DLV_OK]
The call succeeded.
[DW_DLV_ERROR]
The requested operation failed. Additional information about the error encountered will be recorded in argument err, if it is not NULL.
[DW_DLV_NO_ENTRY]
For functions dwarf_child(), dwarf_siblingof() and dwarf_siblingof_b(), the descriptor denoted by argument die did not have a child or sibling.

For functions dwarf_offdie() and dwarf_offdie_b(), there was no debugging information entry at the offset specified by argument offset.

To retrieve the first DWARF Debugging Information Entry descriptor for the first compilation unit associated with a Dwarf_Debug instance, and to traverse all its children, use:
Dwarf_Debug dbg;
Dwarf_Die die, die0;
Dwarf_Error de;

... allocate dbg using dwarf_init() etc ...

if (dwarf_next_cu_header(dbg, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &de) !=
    DW_DLV_OK)
	errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "dwarf_next_cu_header: %s",
	    dwarf_errmsg(de));

/* Get the first DIE for the current compilation unit. */
die = NULL;
if (dwarf_siblingof(dbg, die, &die0, &de) != DW_DLV_OK)
	errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "dwarf_siblingof: %s", dwarf_errmsg(de));

/* Get the first child of this DIE. */
die = die0;
if (dwarf_child(die, &die0, &de) != DW_DLV_OK)
	errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "dwarf_child: %s", dwarf_errmsg(de));

/* Get the rest of children. */
do {
	die = die0;
	if (dwarf_siblingof(dbg, die, &die0, &de) == DW_DLV_ERROR)
		errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "dwarf_siblingof: %s",
		    dwarf_errmsg(de));
} while (die0 != NULL);

These functions may fail with the following errors:
[]
Arguments dbg, die or ret_die were NULL.
[]
Argument dbg was not associated with a compilation unit.
[]
The descriptor denoted by argument die had no child or sibling, or there was no DWARF debugging information entry at the offset specified by argument offset.

dwarf(3), dwarf_errmsg(3), dwarf_get_die_infotypes_flag(3), dwarf_next_cu_header(3)
December 21, 2014 NetBSD 10.0