Why is gdb not finding any debugging symbols, even though I have -g at every stage of compilation and linkage in my Makefile?

Question

I downloaded gdb 9.1 on macOS Catalina Version 10.15.2. I am trying to debug an executable from a code written in C called test that is created in my Makefile and linked to a static library. I have tried putting -g and -ggdb at all compilation lines and linkage lines. I make sure to use make clean every time I make changes then run make test to rerun the Makefile. My Makefile reads as the following:

all: main
    mkdir -p build/bin
    mkdir -p build/lib
    mkdir -p build/objects
    mv *.o build/objects
    mv *.a build/lib
    mv main build/bin

main: main.o liblinkedlist.a
    gcc main.o -g -o main -llinkedlist -L.

test: test.o liblinkedlist.a
    gcc test.o -g -o test -llinkedlist -L.
    mkdir -p build/bin
    mkdir -p build/lib
    mkdir -p build/objects
    mv *.o build/objects
    mv *.a build/lib

test.o: src/bin/test.c
    gcc src/bin/test.c -g -c -I include

main.o: src/bin/main.c
    gcc -g src/bin/main.c -c -I include

liblinkedlist.a: src/lib.c
    gcc src/lib.c -g -c -I include
    ar rs liblinkedlist.a lib.o

clean:
    rm -rf build
    rm -f test
    rm -f main

When I try to do gdb ./test it gives me the following lines of code in the terminal:

Reading symbols from ./test...

warning: Could not open OSO archive file "/Users/eamonohare/Desktop/Spring_2020_Classes/CSE_109/homework-3/./liblinkedlist.a"

warning: `/Users/eamonohare/Desktop/Spring_2020_Classes/CSE_109/homework-3/test.o': can't open to read symbols: No such file or directory. (No debugging symbols found in ./test)

(gdb)

I have tried the solution to every other user having this problem and none of them worked. I am not sure how I can solve this.

Answer 1

place the source code, the object file, and the executable file in the same directory as where you are running gdb

There are other ways, which require some simple commands into gdb before entering run , however; they are a nuisance to redo over and over.