How do I print the full value of a long string in gdb?

Question

I want to print the full length of a C-string in GDB. By default it\'s being abbreviated, how do I force GDB to print the whole string?

Answer 1

Using set elements ... isn't always the best way. It would be useful if there were a distinct set string-elements ....

So, I use these functions in my .gdbinit:

define pstr
  ptype $arg0._M_dataplus._M_p
  printf "[%d] = %s\n", $arg0._M_string_length, $arg0._M_dataplus._M_p
end

define pcstr
  ptype $arg0
  printf "[%d] = %s\n", strlen($arg0), $arg0
end

Caveats:

• The first is c++ lib dependent as it accesses members of std::string, but is easily adjusted.
• The second can only be used on a running program as it calls strlen.