How to get a stack trace for C++ using gcc with line number information?

Question

We use stack traces in proprietary assert like macro to catch developer mistakes - when error is caught, stack trace is printed.

I find gcc\'s pair

Answer 1

Use the google glog library for it. It has new BSD licence.

It contains a GetStackTrace function in the stacktrace.h file.

EDIT

I found here http://blog.bigpixel.ro/2010/09/09/stack-unwinding-stack-trace-with-gcc/ that there is an utility called addr2line that translates program addresses into file names and line numbers.

http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/addr2line1.html

Answer 2

Here's my third answer -- still trying to take advantage of core dumps.

It wasn't completely clear in the question whether the "assert-like" macros were supposed to terminate the application (the way assert does) or they were supposed to continue executing after generating their stack-trace.

In this answer, I'm addressing the case where you want to show a stack-trace and continue executing. I wrote the coredump() function below to generate a core dump, automatically extract the stack-trace from it, then continue executing the program.

Usage is the same as that of assert(). The difference, of course, is that assert() terminates the program but coredump_assert() does not.

   #include <iostream>
   #include <sys/resource.h> 
   #include <cstdio>
   #include <cstdlib>
   #include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
   #include <string>
   #include <sys/wait.h>
   #include <unistd.h>

   std::string exename;

// expression argument is for diagnostic purposes (shows up in call-stack)
void coredump( char const * expression )
   {

   pid_t childpid = fork();

   if ( childpid == 0 ) // child process generates core dump
      {
      rlimit core_limit = { RLIM_INFINITY, RLIM_INFINITY };
      setrlimit( RLIMIT_CORE, &core_limit ); // enable core dumps
      abort(); // terminate child process and generate core dump
      }

// give each core-file a unique name
   if ( childpid > 0 ) waitpid( childpid, 0, 0 );
   static int count=0;
   using std::string;
   string pid = boost::lexical_cast<string>(getpid());
   string newcorename = "core-"+boost::lexical_cast<string>(count++)+"."+pid;
   string rawcorename = "core."+boost::lexical_cast<string>(childpid);
   int rename_rval = rename(rawcorename.c_str(),newcorename.c_str()); // try with core.PID
   if ( rename_rval == -1 ) rename_rval = rename("core",newcorename.c_str()); // try with just core
   if ( rename_rval == -1 ) std::cerr<<"failed to capture core file\n";

  #if 1 // optional: dump stack trace and delete core file
   string cmd = "( CMDFILE=$(mktemp); echo 'bt' >${CMDFILE}; gdb 2>/dev/null --batch -x ${CMDFILE} "+exename+" "+newcorename+" ; unlink ${CMDFILE} )";
   int system_rval = system( ("bash -c '"+cmd+"'").c_str() );
   if ( system_rval == -1 ) std::cerr.flush(), perror("system() failed during stack trace"), fflush(stderr);
   unlink( newcorename.c_str() );
  #endif

   }

#ifdef NDEBUG
   #define coredump_assert( expression ) ((void)(expression))
#else
   #define coredump_assert( expression ) do { if ( !(expression) ) { coredump( #expression ); } } while (0)
#endif

void recursive( int i=0 )
   {
   coredump_assert( i < 2 );
   if ( i < 4 ) recursive(i+1);
   }

int main( int argc, char * argv[] )
   {
   exename = argv[0]; // this is used to generate the stack trace
   recursive();
   }

When I run the program, it displays three stack traces...

Core was generated by `./temp.exe'.                                         
Program terminated with signal 6, Aborted.
[New process 24251]
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1  0x00007f2818acbbc3 in abort () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x0000000000401a0e in coredump (expression=0x403303 "i < 2") at ./demo3.cpp:29
#3  0x0000000000401f5f in recursive (i=2) at ./demo3.cpp:60
#4  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=1) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#5  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=0) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#6  0x0000000000401f8b in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffc229eb98) at ./demo3.cpp:66
Core was generated by `./temp.exe'.
Program terminated with signal 6, Aborted.
[New process 24259]
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1  0x00007f2818acbbc3 in abort () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x0000000000401a0e in coredump (expression=0x403303 "i < 2") at ./demo3.cpp:29
#3  0x0000000000401f5f in recursive (i=3) at ./demo3.cpp:60
#4  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=2) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#5  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=1) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#6  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=0) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#7  0x0000000000401f8b in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffc229eb98) at ./demo3.cpp:66
Core was generated by `./temp.exe'.
Program terminated with signal 6, Aborted.
[New process 24267]
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#0  0x00007f2818ac9fb5 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1  0x00007f2818acbbc3 in abort () from /lib/libc.so.6
#2  0x0000000000401a0e in coredump (expression=0x403303 "i < 2") at ./demo3.cpp:29
#3  0x0000000000401f5f in recursive (i=4) at ./demo3.cpp:60
#4  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=3) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#5  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=2) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#6  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=1) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#7  0x0000000000401f70 in recursive (i=0) at ./demo3.cpp:61
#8  0x0000000000401f8b in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffc229eb98) at ./demo3.cpp:66