[Dwarf-discuss] Question: Clarification for DW_AT_string_length

[Martin]

DW_AT_string_length is described as "that provides the value of the 
length of the string"

Is that the length in characters or bytes?

That matters for e.g. Utf-16 when the DW_TAG_base_type for the char has 
a DW_AT_byte_size of 2 (or more).



Below is from the draft for DWARF-6, but the same info is in earlier 
versions.

> 5.11 String Type Entries
>  The string type entry may also have a DW_AT_string_length attribute whose
>  value is either (a) a reference (see Section 2.19) to another debugging information
>  entry that provides the value of the length of the string, or (b) a location
>  description yielding the location where the length of the string is stored in the
>  program. If the DW_AT_string_length attribute is not present, the size of the
>  string is assumed to be the amount of storage that is allocated for the string (as
>  specified by the DW_AT_byte_size or DW_AT_bit_size attribute)