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### 10.10 Convenience Variables

gdb provides convenience variables that you can use within gdb to hold on to a value and refer to it later. These variables exist entirely within gdb; they are not part of your program, and setting a convenience variable has no direct effect on further execution of your program. That is why you can use them freely.

Convenience variables are prefixed with ``$`'. Any name preceded by ``$`' can be used for a convenience variable, unless it is one of the predefined machine-specific register names (see Registers). (Value history references, in contrast, are numbers preceded by ``$`'. See Value History.)

You can save a value in a convenience variable with an assignment expression, just as you would set a variable in your program. For example:

         set $foo = *object_ptr

would save in `$foo` the value contained in the object pointed to by `object_ptr`.

Using a convenience variable for the first time creates it, but its value is `void` until you assign a new value. You can alter the value with another assignment at any time.

Convenience variables have no fixed types. You can assign a convenience variable any type of value, including structures and arrays, even if that variable already has a value of a different type. The convenience variable, when used as an expression, has the type of its current value.

`show convenience`
  Print a list of convenience variables used so far, and their values. Abbreviated `show conv`.

`init-if-undefined $`variable`=` expression
  Set a convenience variable if it has not already been set. This is useful for user-defined commands that keep some state. It is similar, in concept, to using local static variables with initializers in C (except that convenience variables are global). It can also be used to allow users to override default values used in a command script.

  If the variable is already defined then the expression is not evaluated so any side-effects do not occur.

One of the ways to use a convenience variable is as a counter to be incremented or a pointer to be advanced. For example, to print a field from successive elements of an array of structures:

         set $i = 0
         print bar[$i++]->contents

Repeat that command by typing <RET>.

Some convenience variables are created automatically by gdb and given values likely to be useful.

`$_`
  The variable `$_` is automatically set by the `x` command to the last address examined (see Examining Memory). Other commands which provide a default address for `x` to examine also set `$_` to that address; these commands include `info line` and `info breakpoint`. The type of `$_` is `void *` except when set by the `x` command, in which case it is a pointer to the type of `$__`.

`$__`
  The variable `$__` is automatically set by the `x` command to the value found in the last address examined. Its type is chosen to match the format in which the data was printed.
`$_exitcode`
  The variable `$_exitcode` is automatically set to the exit code when the program being debugged terminates.
`$_siginfo`
  The variable `$_siginfo` is bound to extra signal information inspection (see extra signal information).

On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that begins with a dollar sign, gdb searches for a user or system name first, before it searches for a convenience variable.

gdb also supplies some convenience functions. These have a syntax similar to convenience variables. A convenience function can be used in an expression just like an ordinary function; however, a convenience function is implemented internally to gdb.

`help function`
  Print a list of all convenience functions.