f78 Disabling breakpoints Contents|Index|Previous|Next

Disabling breakpoints

Rather than deleting a breakpoint or watchpoint, you might prefer to disable it. This makes the breakpoint inoperative as if it had been deleted, but remembers the information on the breakpoint so that you can enable it again later. You disable and enable breakpoints and watchpoints with the enable and disable commands, optionally specifying one or more breakpoint numbers as arguments. Use info break or info watch to print a list of breakpoints or watchpoints if you do not know which numbers to use. A breakpoint or watchpoint can have any of four different states of enablement:

gdb00090000.gif Enabled
The breakpoint stops your program. A breakpoint set with the break command starts out in this state.

gdb00090000.gif Disabled
The breakpoint has no effect on your program.

gdb00090000.gif Enabled once
The breakpoint stops your program, but then becomes disabled. A breakpoint set with the tbreak command starts out in this state.

gdb00090000.gif Enabled for deletion
The breakpoint stops your program, but immediately after it does so it is deleted permanently.

You can use the following commands to enable or disable breakpoints and watchpoints.

disable [breakpoints][bnums ...]
Disable the specified breakpoints—or all breakpoints, if none are listed. A disabled breakpoint has no effect but is not forgotten. All options such as ignore-counts, conditions and commands are remembered in case the breakpoint is enabled again later. You may abbreviate disable as dis.

enable [breakpoints][bnums ...]
Enable the specified breakpoints (or all defined breakpoints). They become effective once again in stopping your program.

enable [breakpoints] once bnums...
Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. GDB disables any of these breakpoints immediately after stopping your program.

enable [breakpoints] delete bnums...
Enable the specified breakpoints to work once, then die. GDB deletes any of these breakpoints as soon as your program stops there.

Except for a breakpoint set with tbreak (see Setting br 228 eakpoints), breakpoints that you set are initially enabled; subsequently, they become disabled or enabled only when you use one of the previously discussed commands. (The command until can set and delete a breakpoint of its own, but it does not change the state of your other breakpoints; see Continuing and stepping.)

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