Re: [RFA/python:2/2] First script in GDB python library - command/pahole.py

[Joel Brobecker <brobecker at adacore dot com>]

> There is no sensible way for a user to activate such a command.  With
> this patch a user would have to know the name of the command's file and
> invoke "python import gdb.command.pahole".

That's what I did to test the code, and I thought that this was OK.
In my mind, I was not suggesting the addition of a new command, but
rather of a new script. The distinction is really subtle but it makes
the "python import ..." command the natural way to use that script.
But the ulterior motive is not about the pahole command, but rather
about getting things started in terms of the gdb python library.

I think it would be nice to indeed have a better way of activating
these commands.  But in the meantime, I thought that this would already
be enough of an improvement to be worthwhile on its own. We could work
on the activation as a separate patch?

> One idea would be to allow some kind of auto-loading when a command is
> not found.  That is, load pahole.py the first time the "pahole" command
> is used.  Or even better, scan the install tree first so that command
> completion still works.  (This is not ideal, though, since there is not
> actually a way to discover command names without loading the file.)
> 
> FWIW I did not want to load all the commands at startup, as I was
> concerned about slowing down startup.

I tend to agree that it's not ideal to just import every gdb.command.*
module at startup.  It seems like a nice idea 

In terms of documentation, I agree we need to write something up.
I can take care of that:
  - Document the location where the GDB scripts are;
  - Add a section where we document new commands implemented
    in python.

-- 
Joel