Watchpoint Debugger Commands¶

wpset: sets memory access watchpoints
wpclear: clears watchpoints
wpdisable: disables watchpoints
wpenable: enables enables watchpoints
wplist: lists watchpoints

Watchpoints halt execution and activate the debugger when a CPU accesses a location in a particular memory range.

wpset¶

wp[{d|i|o}][set] <address>[:<space>],<length>,<type>[,<condition>[,<action>]]

Sets a new watchpoint starting at the specified <address> and extending for <length>. The range of the watchpoint is <address> through <address>+<length>-1, inclusive. The <address> may optionally be followed by a CPU and/or address space (see Specifying devices and address spaces for details). If an address space is not specified, the command suffix sets the address space: wpset defaults to the first address space exposed by the CPU, wpdset defaults to the space with index 1 (data), wpiset defaults to the space with index 2 (I/O), and wposet defaults to the space with index 3 (opcodes). The <type> parameter specifies the access types to trap on – it can be one of three values: r for read accesses, w for write accesses, or rw for both read and write accesses.

The optional <condition> parameter lets you specify an expression that will be evaluated each time the watchpoint is triggered. If the result of the expression is true (non-zero), the watchpoint will halt execution; otherwise, execution will continue with no notification. The optional <action> parameter provides a command to be executed whenever the watchpoint is triggered and the <condition> is true. Note that you may need to surround the action with braces { } to ensure commas and semicolons within the command are not interpreted in the context of the wpset command itself.

Each watchpoint that is set is assigned a numeric index which can be used to refer to it in other watchpoint commands. Watchpoint indices are unique throughout a session.

To make <condition> expressions more useful, two variables are available: for all watchpoints, the variable wpaddr is set to the access address that triggered the watchpoint; for write watchpoints, the variable wpdata is set to the data being written.

Examples:

wp 1234,6,rw: Set a watchpoint for the visible CPU that will halt execution whenever a read or write to the first address space occurs in the address range 1234-1239, inclusive.
wp 23456:data,a,w,wpdata == 1: Set a watchpoint for the visible CPU that will halt execution whenever a write to the data space occurs in the address range 23456-2345f and the data written is equal to 1.
wp 3456:maincpu,20,r,1,{ printf "Read @ %08X\n",wpaddr ; g }: Set a watchpoint for the CPU with the absolute tag path :maincpu that will halt execution whenever a read from the first address space occurs in the address range 3456-3475. When this happens, print Read @ <wpaddr> to the debugger console and resume execution.
temp0 = 0 ; wp 45678,1,w,wpdata==f0,{ temp0++ ; g }: Set a watchpoint for the visible CPU that will halt execution whenever a write to the first address space occurs at address 45678 where the value being written is equal to f0. When this happens, increment the variable temp0 and resume execution.

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wpclear¶

wpclear [<wpnum>[,…]]

Clear watchpoints. If <wpnum> is specified, the watchpoints referred to will be cleared. If <wpnum> is not specified, all watchpoints will be cleared.

Examples:

wpclear 3: Clear the watchpoint with index 3.
wpclear: Clear all watchpoints.

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wpdisable¶

wpdisable [<wpnum>[,…]]

Disable watchpoints. If <wpnum> is specified, the watchpoints referred to will be disabled. If <wpnum> is not specified, all watchpoints will be disabled.

Note that disabling a watchpoint does not delete it, it just temporarily marks the watchpoint as inactive. Disabled watchpoints will not cause execution to halt, their associated condition expressions will not be evaluated, and their associated commands will not be executed.

Examples:

wpdisable 3: Disable the watchpoint with index 3.
wpdisable: Disable all watchpoints.

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wpenable¶

wpenable [<wpnum>[,…]]

Enable watchpoints. If <wpnum> is specified, the watchpoints referred to will be enabled. If <wpnum> is not specified, all watchpoints will be enabled.

Examples:

wpenable 3: Enable the watchpoint with index 3.
wpenable: Enable all watchpoints.

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wplist¶

wplist [<CPU>]

List current watchpoints, along with their indices and any associated conditions or actions. If no <CPU> is specified, watchpoints for all CPUs in the system will be listed; if a <CPU> is specified, only watchpoints for that CPU will be listed. The <CPU> can be specified by tag or by debugger CPU number (see Specifying devices and address spaces for details).

Examples:

wplist: List all watchpoints.
wplist .: List all watchpoints for the visible CPU.
wplist maincpu: List all watchpoints for the CPU with the absolute tag path :maincpu.

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