Enhancements for the debugger

[Dan Sugalski]

As I studiously ignore all the thread threads (Ah, deadlines--gotta
love 'em) I'm bumping into a number of things in the system as it
currently stands that could use fixing/enhancement/rethinking. At the
moment, the thing is the debugger, trace mode, and/or the compiler.

First off, trace mode is just darned useful, and I'm pretty sure
having it around has shaved a day or two off the project I'm working
on. Kudos, and I owe a number of people thanks, a beer, and maybe a
pie. (Mmmm, pie! Stationary, though) Having said that...

I think it's about time to get the annotated metadata stuff spec'd
out, possibly in conjunction with annotated listings from imcc. What
I'd like, ultimately, is to have the source file/line information
spat out when tracing, as well as getting a listing file from IMCC
such that I can look at it and see which line of the source
corresponds to the op at offset 684 (or whatever) when trace mode is
running.

I know Melvin's working on gutting and rewriting the imcc bits, so it
may be better to dig into the metadata bits first. Folks uninterested
(or feeling unqualified) in participating in the thread thread might
want to jump in here.

Ultimately the metadata info will allow targeting the source file and
line that an instruction's from, regardless of the language it came
from, so keep flexibility in mind. (Speed isn't essential here, since
the info will generally be used only in extraordinary
circumstances--tracing or error messages--where a millisecond or
three extra's no big deal)
--
Dan

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