Summary: does dbx need a better user interface?

[Dan Kegel]

I recently posted the following question:
> I'm getting pretty pissed off at Sun's dbx.  Although I run it under SunView,
> and can use the mouse to grab parts of prior dbx commands, I still find
> myself typing csh-isms like !!, for example
>    (dbx) print foo->list
>	 dbx prints it...
>    (dbx) !!->head
>    unrecognized command/syntax "!"
>
> Maybe the "one user interface for all applications" people have a point-
> if dbx had csh's user interface (the history and editing parts of it, anyway),
> people like me would have a much easier time.
> Anybody know whether improvements in this area are in store for dbx?

Two interesting responses were:

<vic at fine.princeton.edu>
   Here I was the first person to use "gdb" the GNU debugger availble
   from prep.ai.mit.edu I was so impressed with its syntax, convenience
   and above all absense of bugs ( NO ONE here has found one yet ), that
   by now probably no one in the department is using dbx anymore.
   And we even donated money to the FSF on the basis of the quality of
   "gdb"
   Try it. 
   PS --  You may want to read the manual, it comes wih the distribution
   in TeX source form, or you can get one from FSF for less than $15 I
   believe.

Gautam Thaker <rochester!rutgers!trantor.harris-atd.com!thaker>
   Harris Copr, Adv. Tech. Department
   I have been using MIPS's M-500 running their BSD version of UNIX.
   The dbx there allows all csh things like "!!", "!somestring",
   "^P" and "^N" etc. It works great. It even pays attention to
   lineeditmin parameter.

I hadn't expected somebody to have done exactly what I wanted-
now if only Sun would get on the ball!  Unfortunately, they are in love
with their graphical interface to dbx (dbxtool), and they probably aren't
interested in other approaches to improving the user interface.

Thanks to those who replied.
I'm looking forward to trying gdb; for now, I've decided to only write
correct programs, so I won't have to deal with debuggers.
-- 
  Dan Kegel				Number 3, the Larch.
  srs!dan at cs.rochester.edu  rochester!srs!dan dan%srs.uucp at harvard.harvard.edu