p-x9/swift-dwarf

Usage

Basic

DWARF information from binary files can be retrieved via the dwarf property. Import the format-specific adapter that matches the binary type you want to inspect.

import MachOKit
import DWARF
import DWARFMachO

let machO: MachOFile = ...

// string table in `.debug_str` section
let strings = machO.dwarf.strings

// abbreviations tables in `.debug_abbrev` section
let abbreviationSets = machO.dwarf.abbreviationsSets

// compilation units in `.debug_info` section
let compilationUnits = machO.dwarf.compilationUnits
/* ... */

import ELFKit
import DWARF
import DWARFELF

let elf: ELFFile = ...

let elfStrings = elf.dwarf.strings
let elfCompilationUnits = elf.dwarf.compilationUnits

DWARFMachOPrintTests.swift provides test cases that generate output similar to dwarfdump. DWARFELFPrintTests.swift provides the same for ELF binaries. Please use these as a reference.

Status

Support is tracked by section and feature below. A supported section does not imply complete support for every DWARF version, form, or related object-file feature.

Legend: ✅ supported, 🟡 partially supported, ❌ not implemented.

Binary formats

| Format | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Mach-O | ✅ | Thin and fat binaries are supported. Full big-endian DWARF support is not guaranteed. | | ELF | 🟡 | ELFKit currently limits parsing to binaries with the same endianness as the host. Compressed debug sections are not supported. |

DWARF sections

| Section | DWARF version | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | .debug_abbrev | 2–5 | ✅ | Abbreviation tables and attribute specifications. | | .debug_info | 2–5 | 🟡 | Compilation units and DIEs. Some forms and external-file references remain unsupported. | | .debug_line | 4–5 | 🟡 | Headers, file tables, line programs, and VLIW operation state. DWARF 5 DW_LNE_define_file format descriptors and DWARF 2–3 headers are not supported. | | .debug_str | 2–5 | ✅ | String table lookup. | | .debug_line_str | 5 | ✅ | Line string table lookup. | | .debug_str_offsets | 5 | ✅ | String offsets tables. | | .debug_addr | 5 | ✅ | Address tables. | | .debug_aranges | 2–5 | ✅ | Address range table headers and tuples. | | .debug_rnglists | 5 | ✅ | Range list tables and entries. | | .debug_loclists | 5 | ✅ | Location list tables and entries. | | .debug_names | 5 | ✅ | Name index tables and lookup. | | .debug_ranges | 2–4 | ❌ | Legacy range lists. | | .debug_loc | 2–4 | ❌ | Legacy location lists. | | .debug_types | 4 | ❌ | Type unit headers and signature lookup are not implemented. | | .debug_macro | 5 | ❌ | Macro information. | | .debug_macinfo | 2–4 | ❌ | Legacy macro information. | | .debug_frame / .eh_frame | — | ❌ | Call frame information and unwinding. | | .debug_pubnames / .debug_pubtypes | 2–4 | ❌ | Legacy public name and type indexes. |

Known limitations

• Split DWARF .dwo loading and supplementary object files are not supported.
• DW_FORM_ref_sig8, DW_FORM_ref_sup4, DW_FORM_ref_sup8,

DW_FORM_strp_sup, and GNU alternate reference/string forms are read but not resolved.

• ELF compressed debug sections are not supported.
• Endianness is handled by several DWARF readers, but the library does not yet

claim complete big-endian coverage across every section and container.

License

swift-dwarf is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE

Package Metadata

Repository: p-x9/swift-dwarf

Default branch: main

README: README.md