When gdb prompts for input, it annotates this fact so it is possible to know when to send output, when the output from a given command is over, etc.
Different kinds of input each have a different input type. Each input type has three annotations: a pre- annotation, which denotes the beginning of any prompt which is being output, a plain annotation, which denotes the end of the prompt, and then a post- annotation which denotes the end of any echo which may (or may not) be associated with the input. For example, the prompt input type features the following annotations:
^Z^Zpre-prompt ^Z^Zprompt ^Z^Zpost-prompt |
The input types are
When gdb is prompting for a command (the main gdb prompt).
When gdb prompts for a set of commands, like in the commands command. The annotations are repeated for each command which is input.
When gdb wants the user to select between various overloaded functions.
When gdb wants the user to confirm a potentially dangerous operation.
When gdb is asking the user to press return to continue. Note: Don't expect this to work well; instead use set height 0 to disable prompting. This is because the counting of lines is buggy in the presence of annotations.