# phpman > man > GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)

[GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GDB-ADD-INDEX/1/markdown)                        GNU Development Tools                       [GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GDB-ADD-INDEX/1/markdown)



## NAME
       gdb-add-index - Add index files to speed up GDB

## SYNOPSIS
       gdb-add-index _filename_

## DESCRIPTION
       When GDB finds a symbol file, it scans the symbols in the file in order to construct an
       internal symbol table.  This lets most GDB operations work quickly--at the cost of a delay
       early on.  For large programs, this delay can be quite lengthy, so GDB provides a way to
       build an index, which speeds up startup.

       To determine whether a file contains such an index, use the command "readelf -S filename":
       the index is stored in a section named ".gdb_index".  The index file can only be produced on
       systems which use ELF binaries and DWARF debug information (i.e., sections named ".debug_*").

       **gdb-add-index** uses GDB and **objdump** found in the **PATH** environment variable.  If you want to
       use different versions of these programs, you can specify them through the **GDB** and **OBJDUMP**
       environment variables.

       See more in the GDB manual in node "Index Files" -- shell command "info -f gdb -n "Index
       Files"".

## OPTIONS
## SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for GDB is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the "info" and "gdb"
       programs and GDB's Texinfo documentation are properly installed at your site, the command

               info gdb

       should give you access to the complete manual.

       _Using_ _GDB:_ _A_ _Guide_ _to_ _the_ _GNU_ _Source-Level_ _Debugger_, Richard M. Stallman and Roland H. Pesch,
       July 1991.

## COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1988-2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the
       GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free
       Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software
       Needs Free Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," and with the
       Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.

       (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify this GNU Manual.  Buying
       copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in developing GNU and promoting software freedom."



gdb-                                         2024-06-13                             [GDB-ADD-INDEX(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GDB-ADD-INDEX/1/markdown)