For example, whenever you call Perl's built-in "caller" function from the package "DB", the arguments that the corresponding stack frame was called with are copied to the @DB::args array. These mechanisms are enabled by calling Perl with the -d switch. Specifically, the following additional features are enabled (cf. ``$^P'' in perlvar):
Values in this array are magical in numeric context: they compare equal to zero only if the line is not breakable.
The same holds for evaluated strings that contain subroutines, or which are currently being executed. The $filename for "eval"ed strings looks like "(eval 34)".
If the call is to an lvalue subroutine, and &DB::lsub is defined &DB::lsub(args) is called instead, otherwise falling back to &DB::sub(args).
Note that if &DB::sub needs external data for it to work, no subroutine call is possible without it. As an example, the standard debugger's &DB::sub depends on the $DB::deep variable (it defines how many levels of recursion deep into the debugger you can go before a mandatory break). If $DB::deep is not defined, subroutine calls are not possible, even though &DB::sub exists.
The "PERL5DB" environment variable can be used to define a debugger. For example, the minimal ``working'' debugger (it actually doesn't do anything) consists of one line:
sub DB::DB {}
It can easily be defined like this:
$ PERL5DB="sub DB::DB {}" perl -d your-script
Another brief debugger, slightly more useful, can be created with only the line:
sub DB::DB {print ++$i; scalar <STDIN>}
This debugger prints a number which increments for each statement encountered and waits for you to hit a newline before continuing to the next statement.
The following debugger is actually useful:
{
package DB;
sub DB {}
sub sub {print ++$i, " $sub\n"; &$sub}
}
It prints the sequence number of each subroutine call and the name of the called subroutine. Note that &DB::sub is being compiled into the package "DB" through the use of the "package" directive.
When it starts, the debugger reads your rc file (./.perldb or ~/.perldb under Unix), which can set important options. (A subroutine (&afterinit) can be defined here as well; it is executed after the debugger completes its own initialization.)
After the rc file is read, the debugger reads the PERLDB_OPTS environment variable and uses it to set debugger options. The contents of this variable are treated as if they were the argument of an "o ..." debugger command (q.v. in ``Configurable Options'' in perldebug).
Debugger Internal Variables
In addition to the file and subroutine-related variables mentioned above, the debugger also maintains various magical internal variables.
Values in this array are magical in numeric context: they compare equal to zero only if the line is not breakable.
As previously noted, individual entries (as opposed to the whole hash) are settable. Perl only cares about Boolean true here, although the values used by perl5db.pl have the form "$break_condition\0$action".
Debugger Customization Functions
Some functions are provided to simplify customization.
Note that any variables and functions that are not documented in this manpages (or in perldebug) are considered for internal use only, and as such are subject to change without notice.
$ perl -de 42
Stack dump during die enabled outside of evals.
Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl patch level 0.94
Emacs support available.
Enter h or 'h h' for help.
main::(-e:1): 0
DB<1> sub foo { 14 }
DB<2> sub bar { 3 }
DB<3> t print foo() * bar()
main::((eval 172):3): print foo() + bar();
main::foo((eval 168):2):
main::bar((eval 170):2):
42
with this one, once the "o"ption "frame=2" has been set:
DB<4> o f=2
frame = '2'
DB<5> t print foo() * bar()
3: foo() * bar()
entering main::foo
2: sub foo { 14 };
exited main::foo
entering main::bar
2: sub bar { 3 };
exited main::bar
42
By way of demonstration, we present below a laborious listing resulting from setting your "PERLDB_OPTS" environment variable to the value "f=n N", and running perl -d -V from the command line. Examples using various values of "n" are shown to give you a feel for the difference between settings. Long though it may be, this is not a complete listing, but only excerpts.
entering main::BEGIN entering Config::BEGIN Package lib/Exporter.pm. Package lib/Carp.pm. Package lib/Config.pm. entering Config::TIEHASH entering Exporter::import entering Exporter::export entering Config::myconfig entering Config::FETCH entering Config::FETCH entering Config::FETCH entering Config::FETCH
entering main::BEGIN entering Config::BEGIN Package lib/Exporter.pm. Package lib/Carp.pm. exited Config::BEGIN Package lib/Config.pm. entering Config::TIEHASH exited Config::TIEHASH entering Exporter::import entering Exporter::export exited Exporter::export exited Exporter::import exited main::BEGIN entering Config::myconfig entering Config::FETCH exited Config::FETCH entering Config::FETCH exited Config::FETCH entering Config::FETCH
in $=main::BEGIN() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::BEGIN() from lib/Config.pm:2
Package lib/Exporter.pm.
Package lib/Carp.pm.
Package lib/Config.pm.
in $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:644
in $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
in $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from li
in @=Config::myconfig() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'package') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'baserev') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'PERL_VERSION') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'PERL_SUBVERSION') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'osname') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'osvers') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=main::BEGIN() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::BEGIN() from lib/Config.pm:2
Package lib/Exporter.pm.
Package lib/Carp.pm.
out $=Config::BEGIN() from lib/Config.pm:0
Package lib/Config.pm.
in $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:644
out $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:644
in $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
in $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/
out $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/
out $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
out $=main::BEGIN() from /dev/null:0
in @=Config::myconfig() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'package') from lib/Config.pm:574
out $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'package') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'baserev') from lib/Config.pm:574
out $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'baserev') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'PERL_VERSION') from lib/Config.pm:574
out $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'PERL_VERSION') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH(ref(Config), 'PERL_SUBVERSION') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=main::BEGIN() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::BEGIN() from lib/Config.pm:2
Package lib/Exporter.pm.
Package lib/Carp.pm.
out $=Config::BEGIN() from lib/Config.pm:0
Package lib/Config.pm.
in $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:644
out $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:644
in $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
in $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/E
out $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/E
out $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
out $=main::BEGIN() from /dev/null:0
in @=Config::myconfig() from /dev/null:0
in $=Config::FETCH('Config=HASH(0x1aa444)', 'package') from lib/Config.pm:574
out $=Config::FETCH('Config=HASH(0x1aa444)', 'package') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=Config::FETCH('Config=HASH(0x1aa444)', 'baserev') from lib/Config.pm:574
out $=Config::FETCH('Config=HASH(0x1aa444)', 'baserev') from lib/Config.pm:574
in $=CODE(0x15eca4)() from /dev/null:0
in $=CODE(0x182528)() from lib/Config.pm:2
Package lib/Exporter.pm.
out $=CODE(0x182528)() from lib/Config.pm:0
scalar context return from CODE(0x182528): undef
Package lib/Config.pm.
in $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:628
out $=Config::TIEHASH('Config') from lib/Config.pm:628
scalar context return from Config::TIEHASH: empty hash
in $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
in $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/Exporter.pm:171
out $=Exporter::export('Config', 'main', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from lib/Exporter.pm:171
scalar context return from Exporter::export: ''
out $=Exporter::import('Config', 'myconfig', 'config_vars') from /dev/null:0
scalar context return from Exporter::import: ''
In all cases shown above, the line indentation shows the call tree. If bit 2 of "frame" is set, a line is printed on exit from a subroutine as well. If bit 4 is set, the arguments are printed along with the caller info. If bit 8 is set, the arguments are printed even if they are tied or references. If bit 16 is set, the return value is printed, too.
When a package is compiled, a line like this
Package lib/Carp.pm.
is printed with proper indentation.
If your perl is compiled with "-DDEBUGGING", you may use the -Dr flag on the command line, and "-Drv" for more verbose information.
Otherwise, one can "use re 'debug'", which has effects at both compile time and run time. Since Perl 5.9.5, this pragma is lexically scoped.
Compiling REx '[bc]d(ef*g)+h[ij]k$'
size 45 Got 364 bytes for offset annotations.
first at 1
rarest char g at 0
rarest char d at 0
1: ANYOF[bc](12)
12: EXACT <d>(14)
14: CURLYX[0] {1,32767}(28)
16: OPEN1(18)
18: EXACT <e>(20)
20: STAR(23)
21: EXACT <f>(0)
23: EXACT <g>(25)
25: CLOSE1(27)
27: WHILEM[1/1](0)
28: NOTHING(29)
29: EXACT <h>(31)
31: ANYOF[ij](42)
42: EXACT <k>(44)
44: EOL(45)
45: END(0)
anchored 'de' at 1 floating 'gh' at 3..2147483647 (checking floating)
stclass 'ANYOF[bc]' minlen 7
Offsets: [45]
1[4] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 5[1]
0[0] 12[1] 0[0] 6[1] 0[0] 7[1] 0[0] 9[1] 8[1] 0[0] 10[1] 0[0]
11[1] 0[0] 12[0] 12[0] 13[1] 0[0] 14[4] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0]
0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 18[1] 0[0] 19[1] 20[0]
Omitting $` $& $' support.
The first line shows the pre-compiled form of the regex. The second shows the size of the compiled form (in arbitrary units, usually 4-byte words) and the total number of bytes allocated for the offset/length table, usually 4+"size"*8. The next line shows the label id of the first node that does a match.
The
anchored 'de' at 1 floating 'gh' at 3..2147483647 (checking floating)
stclass 'ANYOF[bc]' minlen 7
line (split into two lines above) contains optimizer information. In the example shown, the optimizer found that the match should contain a substring "de" at offset 1, plus substring "gh" at some offset between 3 and infinity. Moreover, when checking for these substrings (to abandon impossible matches quickly), Perl will check for the substring "gh" before checking for the substring "de". The optimizer may also use the knowledge that the match starts (at the "first" id) with a character class, and no string shorter than 7 characters can possibly match.
The fields of interest which may appear in this line are
If a substring is known to match at end-of-line only, it may be followed by "$", as in "floating 'k'$".
The optimizer-specific information is used to avoid entering (a slow) regex engine on strings that will not definitely match. If the "isall" flag is set, a call to the regex engine may be avoided even when the optimizer found an appropriate place for the match.
Above the optimizer section is the list of nodes of the compiled form of the regex. Each line has format
" "id: TYPE OPTIONAL-INFO (next-id)
# TYPE arg-description [regnode-struct-suffix] [longjump-len] DESCRIPTION
# Exit points
END no End of program.
SUCCEED no Return from a subroutine, basically.
# Line Start Anchors:
SBOL no Match "" at beginning of line: /^/, /\A/
MBOL no Same, assuming multiline: /^/m
# Line End Anchors:
SEOL no Match "" at end of line: /$/
MEOL no Same, assuming multiline: /$/m
EOS no Match "" at end of string: /\z/
# Match Start Anchors:
GPOS no Matches where last m//g left off.
# Word Boundary Opcodes:
BOUND no Like BOUNDA for non-utf8, otherwise like
BOUNDU
BOUNDL no Like BOUND/BOUNDU, but \w and \W are
defined by current locale
BOUNDU no Match "" at any boundary of a given type
using /u rules.
BOUNDA no Match "" at any boundary between \w\W or
\W\w, where \w is [_a-zA-Z0-9]
NBOUND no Like NBOUNDA for non-utf8, otherwise like
BOUNDU
NBOUNDL no Like NBOUND/NBOUNDU, but \w and \W are
defined by current locale
NBOUNDU no Match "" at any non-boundary of a given
type using using /u rules.
NBOUNDA no Match "" betweeen any \w\w or \W\W, where
\w is [_a-zA-Z0-9]
# [Special] alternatives:
REG_ANY no Match any one character (except newline).
SANY no Match any one character.
ANYOF sv Match character in (or not in) this class,
charclass single char match only
ANYOFD sv Like ANYOF, but /d is in effect
charclass
ANYOFL sv Like ANYOF, but /l is in effect
charclass
ANYOFPOSIXL sv Like ANYOFL, but matches [[:posix:]]
charclass_ classes
posixl
ANYOFH sv 1 Like ANYOF, but only has "High" matches,
none in the bitmap; the flags field
contains the lowest matchable UTF-8 start
byte
ANYOFHb sv 1 Like ANYOFH, but all matches share the same
UTF-8 start byte, given in the flags field
ANYOFHr sv 1 Like ANYOFH, but the flags field contains
packed bounds for all matchable UTF-8 start
bytes.
ANYOFHs sv 1 Like ANYOFHb, but has a string field that
gives the leading matchable UTF-8 bytes;
flags field is len
ANYOFR packed 1 Matches any character in the range given by
its packed args: upper 12 bits is the max
delta from the base lower 20; the flags
field contains the lowest matchable UTF-8
start byte
ANYOFRb packed 1 Like ANYOFR, but all matches share the same
UTF-8 start byte, given in the flags field
ANYOFM byte 1 Like ANYOF, but matches an invariant byte
as determined by the mask and arg
NANYOFM byte 1 complement of ANYOFM
# POSIX Character Classes:
POSIXD none Some [[:class:]] under /d; the FLAGS field
gives which one
POSIXL none Some [[:class:]] under /l; the FLAGS field
gives which one
POSIXU none Some [[:class:]] under /u; the FLAGS field
gives which one
POSIXA none Some [[:class:]] under /a; the FLAGS field
gives which one
NPOSIXD none complement of POSIXD, [[:^class:]]
NPOSIXL none complement of POSIXL, [[:^class:]]
NPOSIXU none complement of POSIXU, [[:^class:]]
NPOSIXA none complement of POSIXA, [[:^class:]]
CLUMP no Match any extended grapheme cluster
sequence
# Alternation
# BRANCH The set of branches constituting a single choice are
# hooked together with their "next" pointers, since
# precedence prevents anything being concatenated to
# any individual branch. The "next" pointer of the last
# BRANCH in a choice points to the thing following the
# whole choice. This is also where the final "next"
# pointer of each individual branch points; each branch
# starts with the operand node of a BRANCH node.
#
BRANCH node Match this alternative, or the next...
# Literals
EXACT str Match this string (flags field is the
length).
# In a long string node, the U32 argument is the length, and is
# immediately followed by the string.
LEXACT len:str 1 Match this long string (preceded by length;
flags unused).
EXACTL str Like EXACT, but /l is in effect (used so
locale-related warnings can be checked for)
EXACTF str Like EXACT, but match using /id rules;
(string not UTF-8, ASCII folded; non-ASCII
not)
EXACTFL str Like EXACT, but match using /il rules;
(string not likely to be folded)
EXACTFU str Like EXACT, but match using /iu rules;
(string folded)
EXACTFAA str Like EXACT, but match using /iaa rules;
(string folded except in non-UTF8 patterns:
MICRO, SHARP S; folded length <= unfolded)
EXACTFUP str Like EXACT, but match using /iu rules;
(string not UTF-8, folded except MICRO,
SHARP S: hence Problematic)
EXACTFLU8 str Like EXACTFU, but use /il, UTF-8, (string
is folded, and everything in it is above
255
EXACTFAA_NO_TRIE str Like EXACT, but match using /iaa rules
(string not UTF-8, not guaranteed to be
folded, not currently trie-able)
EXACT_REQ8 str Like EXACT, but only UTF-8 encoded targets
can match
LEXACT_REQ8 len:str 1 Like LEXACT, but only UTF-8 encoded targets
can match
EXACTFU_REQ8 str Like EXACTFU, but only UTF-8 encoded
targets can match
EXACTFU_S_EDGE str /di rules, but nothing in it precludes /ui,
except begins and/or ends with [Ss];
(string not UTF-8; compile-time only)
# Do nothing types
NOTHING no Match empty string.
# A variant of above which delimits a group, thus stops optimizations
TAIL no Match empty string. Can jump here from
outside.
# Loops
# STAR,PLUS '?', and complex '*' and '+', are implemented as
# circular BRANCH structures. Simple cases
# (one character per match) are implemented with STAR
# and PLUS for speed and to minimize recursive plunges.
#
STAR node Match this (simple) thing 0 or more times.
PLUS node Match this (simple) thing 1 or more times.
CURLY sv 2 Match this simple thing {n,m} times.
CURLYN no 2 Capture next-after-this simple thing
CURLYM no 2 Capture this medium-complex thing {n,m}
times.
CURLYX sv 2 Match this complex thing {n,m} times.
# This terminator creates a loop structure for CURLYX
WHILEM no Do curly processing and see if rest
matches.
# Buffer related
# OPEN,CLOSE,GROUPP ...are numbered at compile time.
OPEN num 1 Mark this point in input as start of #n.
CLOSE num 1 Close corresponding OPEN of #n.
SROPEN none Same as OPEN, but for script run
SRCLOSE none Close preceding SROPEN
REF num 1 Match some already matched string
REFF num 1 Match already matched string, using /di
rules.
REFFL num 1 Match already matched string, using /li
rules.
REFFU num 1 Match already matched string, usng /ui.
REFFA num 1 Match already matched string, using /aai
rules.
# Named references. Code in regcomp.c assumes that these all are after
# the numbered references
REFN no-sv 1 Match some already matched string
REFFN no-sv 1 Match already matched string, using /di
rules.
REFFLN no-sv 1 Match already matched string, using /li
rules.
REFFUN num 1 Match already matched string, using /ui
rules.
REFFAN num 1 Match already matched string, using /aai
rules.
# Support for long RE
LONGJMP off 1 1 Jump far away.
BRANCHJ off 1 1 BRANCH with long offset.
# Special Case Regops
IFMATCH off 1 1 Succeeds if the following matches; non-zero
flags "f", next_off "o" means lookbehind
assertion starting "f..(f-o)" characters
before current
UNLESSM off 1 1 Fails if the following matches; non-zero
flags "f", next_off "o" means lookbehind
assertion starting "f..(f-o)" characters
before current
SUSPEND off 1 1 "Independent" sub-RE.
IFTHEN off 1 1 Switch, should be preceded by switcher.
GROUPP num 1 Whether the group matched.
# The heavy worker
EVAL evl/flags Execute some Perl code.
2L
# Modifiers
MINMOD no Next operator is not greedy.
LOGICAL no Next opcode should set the flag only.
# This is not used yet
RENUM off 1 1 Group with independently numbered parens.
# Trie Related
# Behave the same as A|LIST|OF|WORDS would. The '..C' variants
# have inline charclass data (ascii only), the 'C' store it in the
# structure.
TRIE trie 1 Match many EXACT(F[ALU]?)? at once.
flags==type
TRIEC trie Same as TRIE, but with embedded charclass
charclass data
AHOCORASICK trie 1 Aho Corasick stclass. flags==type
AHOCORASICKC trie Same as AHOCORASICK, but with embedded
charclass charclass data
# Regex Subroutines
GOSUB num/ofs 2L recurse to paren arg1 at (signed) ofs arg2
# Special conditionals
GROUPPN no-sv 1 Whether the group matched.
INSUBP num 1 Whether we are in a specific recurse.
DEFINEP none 1 Never execute directly.
# Backtracking Verbs
ENDLIKE none Used only for the type field of verbs
OPFAIL no-sv 1 Same as (?!), but with verb arg
ACCEPT no-sv/num Accepts the current matched string, with
2L verbar
# Verbs With Arguments
VERB no-sv 1 Used only for the type field of verbs
PRUNE no-sv 1 Pattern fails at this startpoint if no-
backtracking through this
MARKPOINT no-sv 1 Push the current location for rollback by
cut.
SKIP no-sv 1 On failure skip forward (to the mark)
before retrying
COMMIT no-sv 1 Pattern fails outright if backtracking
through this
CUTGROUP no-sv 1 On failure go to the next alternation in
the group
# Control what to keep in $&.
KEEPS no $& begins here.
# New charclass like patterns
LNBREAK none generic newline pattern
# SPECIAL REGOPS
# This is not really a node, but an optimized away piece of a "long"
# node. To simplify debugging output, we mark it as if it were a node
OPTIMIZED off Placeholder for dump.
# Special opcode with the property that no opcode in a compiled program
# will ever be of this type. Thus it can be used as a flag value that
# no other opcode has been seen. END is used similarly, in that an END
# node cant be optimized. So END implies "unoptimizable" and PSEUDO
# mean "not seen anything to optimize yet".
PSEUDO off Pseudo opcode for internal use.
REGEX_SET depth p Regex set, temporary node used in pre-
optimization compilation
Following the optimizer information is a dump of the offset/length table, here split across several lines:
Offsets: [45]
1[4] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 5[1]
0[0] 12[1] 0[0] 6[1] 0[0] 7[1] 0[0] 9[1] 8[1] 0[0] 10[1] 0[0]
11[1] 0[0] 12[0] 12[0] 13[1] 0[0] 14[4] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0]
0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 0[0] 18[1] 0[0] 19[1] 20[0]
The first line here indicates that the offset/length table contains 45 entries. Each entry is a pair of integers, denoted by "offset[length]". Entries are numbered starting with 1, so entry #1 here is "1[4]" and entry #12 is "5[1]". "1[4]" indicates that the node labeled "1:" (the "1: ANYOF[bc]") begins at character position 1 in the pre-compiled form of the regex, and has a length of 4 characters. "5[1]" in position 12 indicates that the node labeled "12:" (the "12: EXACT <d>") begins at character position 5 in the pre-compiled form of the regex, and has a length of 1 character. "12[1]" in position 14 indicates that the node labeled "14:" (the "14: CURLYX[0] {1,32767}") begins at character position 12 in the pre-compiled form of the regex, and has a length of 1 character---that is, it corresponds to the "+" symbol in the precompiled regex.
"0[0]" items indicate that there is no corresponding node.
If the regex engine was entered, the output may look like this:
Matching '[bc]d(ef*g)+h[ij]k$' against 'abcdefg__gh__'
Setting an EVAL scope, savestack=3
2 <ab> <cdefg__gh_> | 1: ANYOF
3 <abc> <defg__gh_> | 11: EXACT <d>
4 <abcd> <efg__gh_> | 13: CURLYX {1,32767}
4 <abcd> <efg__gh_> | 26: WHILEM
0 out of 1..32767 cc=effff31c
4 <abcd> <efg__gh_> | 15: OPEN1
4 <abcd> <efg__gh_> | 17: EXACT <e>
5 <abcde> <fg__gh_> | 19: STAR
EXACT <f> can match 1 times out of 32767...
Setting an EVAL scope, savestack=3
6 <bcdef> <g__gh__> | 22: EXACT <g>
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 24: CLOSE1
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 26: WHILEM
1 out of 1..32767 cc=effff31c
Setting an EVAL scope, savestack=12
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 15: OPEN1
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 17: EXACT <e>
restoring \1 to 4(4)..7
failed, try continuation...
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 27: NOTHING
7 <bcdefg> <__gh__> | 28: EXACT <h>
failed...
failed...
The most significant information in the output is about the particular node of the compiled regex that is currently being tested against the target string. The format of these lines is
" "STRING-OFFSET <PRE-STRING> <POST-STRING> |ID: TYPE
The TYPE info is indented with respect to the backtracking level. Other incidental information appears interspersed within.
Assume that an integer cannot take less than 20 bytes of memory, a float cannot take less than 24 bytes, a string cannot take less than 32 bytes (all these examples assume 32-bit architectures, the result are quite a bit worse on 64-bit architectures). If a variable is accessed in two of three different ways (which require an integer, a float, or a string), the memory footprint may increase yet another 20 bytes. A sloppy malloc(3) implementation can inflate these numbers dramatically.
On the opposite end of the scale, a declaration like
sub foo;
may take up to 500 bytes of memory, depending on which release of Perl you're running.
Anecdotal estimates of source-to-compiled code bloat suggest an eightfold increase. This means that the compiled form of reasonable (normally commented, properly indented etc.) code will take about eight times more space in memory than the code took on disk.
The -DL command-line switch is obsolete since circa Perl 5.6.0 (it was available only if Perl was built with "-DDEBUGGING"). The switch was used to track Perl's memory allocations and possible memory leaks. These days the use of malloc debugging tools like Purify or valgrind is suggested instead. See also ``PERL_MEM_LOG'' in perlhacktips.
One way to find out how much memory is being used by Perl data structures is to install the Devel::Size module from CPAN: it gives you the minimum number of bytes required to store a particular data structure. Please be mindful of the difference between the size() and total_size().
If Perl has been compiled using Perl's malloc you can analyze Perl memory usage by setting $ENV{PERL_DEBUG_MSTATS}.
$ PERL_DEBUG_MSTATS=2 perl -e "require Carp" Memory allocation statistics after compilation: (buckets 4(4)..8188(8192) 14216 free: 130 117 28 7 9 0 2 2 1 0 0 437 61 36 0 5 60924 used: 125 137 161 55 7 8 6 16 2 0 1 74 109 304 84 20 Total sbrk(): 77824/21:119. Odd ends: pad+heads+chain+tail: 0+636+0+2048. Memory allocation statistics after execution: (buckets 4(4)..8188(8192) 30888 free: 245 78 85 13 6 2 1 3 2 0 1 315 162 39 42 11 175816 used: 265 176 1112 111 26 22 11 27 2 1 1 196 178 1066 798 39 Total sbrk(): 215040/47:145. Odd ends: pad+heads+chain+tail: 0+2192+0+6144.
It is possible to ask for such a statistic at arbitrary points in your execution using the mstat() function out of the standard Devel::Peek module.
Here is some explanation of that format:
The line above describes the limits of buckets currently in use. Each bucket has two sizes: memory footprint and the maximal size of user data that can fit into this bucket. Suppose in the above example that the smallest bucket were size 4. The biggest bucket would have usable size 8188, and the memory footprint would be 8192.
In a Perl built for debugging, some buckets may have negative usable size. This means that these buckets cannot (and will not) be used. For larger buckets, the memory footprint may be one page greater than a power of 2. If so, the corresponding power of two is printed in the "APPROX" field above.
For example, suppose under the previous example, the memory footprints were
free: 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192
4 12 24 48 80
With a non-"DEBUGGING" perl, the buckets starting from 128 have a 4-byte overhead, and thus an 8192-long bucket may take up to 8188-byte allocations.
Memory allocated by external libraries is not counted.