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adb: absolute debugger

Starting adb

By using the following form, any executable C or assembly language program file can initiate the debugger:

adb [ filename ]

filename is the name of the file to be debugged. The type of file can be data, program or core. The adb program opens the file and prepares its text (instructions) and data for subsequent debugging. By initiating adb with the -w option, changes and corrections can be made in a program file. See ``Patching binary files and memory'' for details. Once started, adb prompts with an asterisk (*) and waits for commands to be entered.

If the filename provided does not exist or is in the wrong format, adb displays an error message. For example:

   adb sample
   adb: cannot open 'sample'
adb can be started without a filename. In this case, adb searches for the default file a.out in the current working directory. The executable file a.out is created by the C compiler when a program is compiled and linked successfully. adb can be invoked by either of the following methods:
   adb
   or
   adb a.out

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