Dies ist/home/zooey/Sources/haiku/buildtools/trunk/binutils/ld/ld.info,hergestellt von Makeinfo Version 4.8 aus/home/zooey/Sources/haiku/buildtools/trunk/binutils/ld/ld.texinfo.START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY* Ld: (ld). The GNU linker.END-INFO-DIR-ENTRYThis file documents the GNU linker LD version 2.17.Copyright (C) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001,2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.File: ld.info, Node: Top, Next: Overview, Up: (dir)Using ld********This file documents the GNU linker ld version 2.17.This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU FreeDocumentation License. A copy of the license is included in thesection entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".* Menu:* Overview:: Overview* Invocation:: Invocation* Scripts:: Linker Scripts* Machine Dependent:: Machine Dependent Features* BFD:: BFD* Reporting Bugs:: Reporting Bugs* MRI:: MRI Compatible Script Files* GNU Free Documentation License:: GNU Free Documentation License* Index:: IndexFile: ld.info, Node: Overview, Next: Invocation, Prev: Top, Up: Top1 Overview**********`ld' combines a number of object and archive files, relocates theirdata and ties up symbol references. Usually the last step in compilinga program is to run `ld'.`ld' accepts Linker Command Language files written in a superset ofAT&T's Link Editor Command Language syntax, to provide explicit andtotal control over the linking process.This version of `ld' uses the general purpose BFD libraries tooperate on object files. This allows `ld' to read, combine, and writeobject files in many different formats--for example, COFF or `a.out'.Different formats may be linked together to produce any available kindof object file. *Note BFD::, for more information.Aside from its flexibility, the GNU linker is more helpful than otherlinkers in providing diagnostic information. Many linkers abandonexecution immediately upon encountering an error; whenever possible,`ld' continues executing, allowing you to identify other errors (or, insome cases, to get an output file in spite of the error).File: ld.info, Node: Invocation, Next: Scripts, Prev: Overview, Up: Top2 Invocation************The GNU linker `ld' is meant to cover a broad range of situations, andto be as compatible as possible with other linkers. As a result, youhave many choices to control its behavior.* Menu:* Options:: Command Line Options* Environment:: Environment VariablesFile: ld.info, Node: Options, Next: Environment, Up: Invocation2.1 Command Line Options========================The linker supports a plethora of command-line options, but in actualpractice few of them are used in any particular context. For instance,a frequent use of `ld' is to link standard Unix object files on astandard, supported Unix system. On such a system, to link a file`hello.o':ld -o OUTPUT /lib/crt0.o hello.o -lcThis tells `ld' to produce a file called OUTPUT as the result oflinking the file `/lib/crt0.o' with `hello.o' and the library `libc.a',which will come from the standard search directories. (See thediscussion of the `-l' option below.)Some of the command-line options to `ld' may be specified at anypoint in the command line. However, options which refer to files, suchas `-l' or `-T', cause the file to be read at the point at which theoption appears in the command line, relative to the object files andother file options. Repeating non-file options with a differentargument will either have no further effect, or override prioroccurrences (those further to the left on the command line) of thatoption. Options which may be meaningfully specified more than once arenoted in the descriptions below.Non-option arguments are object files or archives which are to belinked together. They may follow, precede, or be mixed in withcommand-line options, except that an object file argument may not beplaced between an option and its argument.Usually the linker is invoked with at least one object file, but youcan specify other forms of binary input files using `-l', `-R', and thescript command language. If _no_ binary input files at all arespecified, the linker does not produce any output, and issues themessage `No input files'.If the linker cannot recognize the format of an object file, it willassume that it is a linker script. A script specified in this wayaugments the main linker script used for the link (either the defaultlinker script or the one specified by using `-T'). This featurepermits the linker to link against a file which appears to be an objector an archive, but actually merely defines some symbol values, or uses`INPUT' or `GROUP' to load other objects. Note that specifying ascript in this way merely augments the main linker script; use the `-T'option to replace the default linker script entirely. *Note Scripts::.For options whose names are a single letter, option arguments musteither follow the option letter without intervening whitespace, or begiven as separate arguments immediately following the option thatrequires them.For options whose names are multiple letters, either one dash or twocan precede the option name; for example, `-trace-symbol' and`--trace-symbol' are equivalent. Note--there is one exception to thisrule. Multiple letter options that start with a lower case 'o' canonly be preceeded by two dashes. This is to reduce confusion with the`-o' option. So for example `-omagic' sets the output file name to`magic' whereas `--omagic' sets the NMAGIC flag on the output.Arguments to multiple-letter options must either be separated fromthe option name by an equals sign, or be given as separate argumentsimmediately following the option that requires them. For example,`--trace-symbol foo' and `--trace-symbol=foo' are equivalent. Uniqueabbreviations of the names of multiple-letter options are accepted.Note--if the linker is being invoked indirectly, via a compilerdriver (e.g. `gcc') then all the linker command line options should beprefixed by `-Wl,' (or whatever is appropriate for the particularcompiler driver) like this:gcc -Wl,--startgroup foo.o bar.o -Wl,--endgroupThis is important, because otherwise the compiler driver program maysilently drop the linker options, resulting in a bad link.Here is a table of the generic command line switches accepted by theGNU linker:`@FILE'Read command-line options from FILE. The options read areinserted in place of the original @FILE option. If FILE does notexist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treatedliterally, and not removed.Options in FILE are separated by whitespace. A whitespacecharacter may be included in an option by surrounding the entireoption in either single or double quotes. Any character(including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the characterto be included with a backslash. The FILE may itself containadditional @FILE options; any such options will be processedrecursively.`-aKEYWORD'This option is supported for HP/UX compatibility. The KEYWORDargument must be one of the strings `archive', `shared', or`default'. `-aarchive' is functionally equivalent to `-Bstatic',and the other two keywords are functionally equivalent to`-Bdynamic'. This option may be used any number of times.`-AARCHITECTURE'`--architecture=ARCHITECTURE'In the current release of `ld', this option is useful only for theIntel 960 family of architectures. In that `ld' configuration, theARCHITECTURE argument identifies the particular architecture inthe 960 family, enabling some safeguards and modifying thearchive-library search path. *Note `ld' and the Intel 960 family:i960, for details.Future releases of `ld' may support similar functionality forother architecture families.`-b INPUT-FORMAT'`--format=INPUT-FORMAT'`ld' may be configured to support more than one kind of objectfile. If your `ld' is configured this way, you can use the `-b'option to specify the binary format for input object files thatfollow this option on the command line. Even when `ld' isconfigured to support alternative object formats, you don'tusually need to specify this, as `ld' should be configured toexpect as a default input format the most usual format on eachmachine. INPUT-FORMAT is a text string, the name of a particularformat supported by the BFD libraries. (You can list theavailable binary formats with `objdump -i'.) *Note BFD::.You may want to use this option if you are linking files with anunusual binary format. You can also use `-b' to switch formatsexplicitly (when linking object files of different formats), byincluding `-b INPUT-FORMAT' before each group of object files in aparticular format.The default format is taken from the environment variable`GNUTARGET'. *Note Environment::. You can also define the inputformat from a script, using the command `TARGET'; see *Note FormatCommands::.`-c MRI-COMMANDFILE'`--mri-script=MRI-COMMANDFILE'For compatibility with linkers produced by MRI, `ld' accepts scriptfiles written in an alternate, restricted command language,described in *Note MRI Compatible Script Files: MRI. IntroduceMRI script files with the option `-c'; use the `-T' option to runlinker scripts written in the general-purpose `ld' scriptinglanguage. If MRI-CMDFILE does not exist, `ld' looks for it in thedirectories specified by any `-L' options.`-d'`-dc'`-dp'These three options are equivalent; multiple forms are supportedfor compatibility with other linkers. They assign space to commonsymbols even if a relocatable output file is specified (with`-r'). The script command `FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION' has the sameeffect. *Note Miscellaneous Commands::.`-e ENTRY'`--entry=ENTRY'Use ENTRY as the explicit symbol for beginning execution of yourprogram, rather than the default entry point. If there is nosymbol named ENTRY, the linker will try to parse ENTRY as a number,and use that as the entry address (the number will be interpretedin base 10; you may use a leading `0x' for base 16, or a leading`0' for base 8). *Note Entry Point::, for a discussion of defaultsand other ways of specifying the entry point.`--exclude-libs LIB,LIB,...'Specifies a list of archive libraries from which symbols shouldnot be automatically exported. The library names may be delimitedby commas or colons. Specifying `--exclude-libs ALL' excludessymbols in all archive libraries from automatic export. Thisoption is available only for the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker and for ELF targeted ports. For i386 PE, symbolsexplicitly listed in a .def file are still exported, regardless ofthis option. For ELF targeted ports, symbols affected by thisoption will be treated as hidden.`-E'`--export-dynamic'When creating a dynamically linked executable, add all symbols tothe dynamic symbol table. The dynamic symbol table is the set ofsymbols which are visible from dynamic objects at run time.If you do not use this option, the dynamic symbol table willnormally contain only those symbols which are referenced by somedynamic object mentioned in the link.If you use `dlopen' to load a dynamic object which needs to referback to the symbols defined by the program, rather than some otherdynamic object, then you will probably need to use this option whenlinking the program itself.You can also use the version script to control what symbols shouldbe added to the dynamic symbol table if the output format supportsit. See the description of `--version-script' in *Note VERSION::.`-EB'Link big-endian objects. This affects the default output format.`-EL'Link little-endian objects. This affects the default outputformat.`-f'`--auxiliary NAME'When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_AUXILIARYfield to the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker thatthe symbol table of the shared object should be used as anauxiliary filter on the symbol table of the shared object NAME.If you later link a program against this filter object, then, whenyou run the program, the dynamic linker will see the DT_AUXILIARYfield. If the dynamic linker resolves any symbols from the filterobject, it will first check whether there is a definition in theshared object NAME. If there is one, it will be used instead ofthe definition in the filter object. The shared object NAME neednot exist. Thus the shared object NAME may be used to provide analternative implementation of certain functions, perhaps fordebugging or for machine specific performance.This option may be specified more than once. The DT_AUXILIARYentries will be created in the order in which they appear on thecommand line.`-F NAME'`--filter NAME'When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_FILTERfield to the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker thatthe symbol table of the shared object which is being createdshould be used as a filter on the symbol table of the sharedobject NAME.If you later link a program against this filter object, then, whenyou run the program, the dynamic linker will see the DT_FILTERfield. The dynamic linker will resolve symbols according to thesymbol table of the filter object as usual, but it will actuallylink to the definitions found in the shared object NAME. Thus thefilter object can be used to select a subset of the symbolsprovided by the object NAME.Some older linkers used the `-F' option throughout a compilationtoolchain for specifying object-file format for both input andoutput object files. The GNU linker uses other mechanisms forthis purpose: the `-b', `--format', `--oformat' options, the`TARGET' command in linker scripts, and the `GNUTARGET'environment variable. The GNU linker will ignore the `-F' optionwhen not creating an ELF shared object.`-fini NAME'When creating an ELF executable or shared object, call NAME whenthe executable or shared object is unloaded, by setting DT_FINI tothe address of the function. By default, the linker uses `_fini'as the function to call.`-g'Ignored. Provided for compatibility with other tools.`-GVALUE'`--gpsize=VALUE'Set the maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GPregister to SIZE. This is only meaningful for object file formatssuch as MIPS ECOFF which supports putting large and small objectsinto different sections. This is ignored for other object fileformats.`-hNAME'`-soname=NAME'When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_SONAMEfield to the specified name. When an executable is linked with ashared object which has a DT_SONAME field, then when theexecutable is run the dynamic linker will attempt to load theshared object specified by the DT_SONAME field rather than theusing the file name given to the linker.`-i'Perform an incremental link (same as option `-r').`-init NAME'When creating an ELF executable or shared object, call NAME whenthe executable or shared object is loaded, by setting DT_INIT tothe address of the function. By default, the linker uses `_init'as the function to call.`-lARCHIVE'`--library=ARCHIVE'Add archive file ARCHIVE to the list of files to link. Thisoption may be used any number of times. `ld' will search itspath-list for occurrences of `libARCHIVE.a' for every ARCHIVEspecified.On systems which support shared libraries, `ld' may also search forlibraries with extensions other than `.a'. Specifically, on ELFand SunOS systems, `ld' will search a directory for a library withan extension of `.so' before searching for one with an extension of`.a'. By convention, a `.so' extension indicates a shared library.The linker will search an archive only once, at the location whereit is specified on the command line. If the archive defines asymbol which was undefined in some object which appeared beforethe archive on the command line, the linker will include theappropriate file(s) from the archive. However, an undefinedsymbol in an object appearing later on the command line will notcause the linker to search the archive again.See the `-(' option for a way to force the linker to searcharchives multiple times.You may list the same archive multiple times on the command line.This type of archive searching is standard for Unix linkers.However, if you are using `ld' on AIX, note that it is differentfrom the behaviour of the AIX linker.`-LSEARCHDIR'`--library-path=SEARCHDIR'Add path SEARCHDIR to the list of paths that `ld' will search forarchive libraries and `ld' control scripts. You may use thisoption any number of times. The directories are searched in theorder in which they are specified on the command line.Directories specified on the command line are searched before thedefault directories. All `-L' options apply to all `-l' options,regardless of the order in which the options appear.If SEARCHDIR begins with `=', then the `=' will be replaced by the"sysroot prefix", a path specified when the linker is configured.The default set of paths searched (without being specified with`-L') depends on which emulation mode `ld' is using, and in somecases also on how it was configured. *Note Environment::.The paths can also be specified in a link script with the`SEARCH_DIR' command. Directories specified this way are searchedat the point in which the linker script appears in the commandline.`-mEMULATION'Emulate the EMULATION linker. You can list the availableemulations with the `--verbose' or `-V' options.If the `-m' option is not used, the emulation is taken from the`LDEMULATION' environment variable, if that is defined.Otherwise, the default emulation depends upon how the linker wasconfigured.`-M'`--print-map'Print a link map to the standard output. A link map providesinformation about the link, including the following:* Where object files are mapped into memory.* How common symbols are allocated.* All archive members included in the link, with a mention ofthe symbol which caused the archive member to be brought in.* The values assigned to symbols.Note - symbols whose values are computed by an expressionwhich involves a reference to a previous value of the samesymbol may not have correct result displayed in the link map.This is because the linker discards intermediate results andonly retains the final value of an expression. Under suchcircumstances the linker will display the final valueenclosed by square brackets. Thus for example a linkerscript containing:foo = 1foo = foo * 4foo = foo + 8will produce the following output in the link map if the `-M'option is used:0x00000001 foo = 0x1[0x0000000c] foo = (foo * 0x4)[0x0000000c] foo = (foo + 0x8)See *Note Expressions:: for more information aboutexpressions in linker scripts.`-n'`--nmagic'Turn off page alignment of sections, and mark the output as`NMAGIC' if possible.`-N'`--omagic'Set the text and data sections to be readable and writable. Also,do not page-align the data segment, and disable linking againstshared libraries. If the output format supports Unix style magicnumbers, mark the output as `OMAGIC'. Note: Although a writabletext section is allowed for PE-COFF targets, it does not conformto the format specification published by Microsoft.`--no-omagic'This option negates most of the effects of the `-N' option. Itsets the text section to be read-only, and forces the data segmentto be page-aligned. Note - this option does not enable linkingagainst shared libraries. Use `-Bdynamic' for this.`-o OUTPUT'`--output=OUTPUT'Use OUTPUT as the name for the program produced by `ld'; if thisoption is not specified, the name `a.out' is used by default. Thescript command `OUTPUT' can also specify the output file name.`-O LEVEL'If LEVEL is a numeric values greater than zero `ld' optimizes theoutput. This might take significantly longer and thereforeprobably should only be enabled for the final binary.`-q'`--emit-relocs'Leave relocation sections and contents in fully linkedexececutables. Post link analysis and optimization tools may needthis information in order to perform correct modifications ofexecutables. This results in larger executables.This option is currently only supported on ELF platforms.`--force-dynamic'Force the output file to have dynamic sections. This option isspecific to VxWorks targets.`-r'`--relocatable'Generate relocatable output--i.e., generate an output file thatcan in turn serve as input to `ld'. This is often called "partiallinking". As a side effect, in environments that support standardUnix magic numbers, this option also sets the output file's magicnumber to `OMAGIC'. If this option is not specified, an absolutefile is produced. When linking C++ programs, this option _willnot_ resolve references to constructors; to do that, use `-Ur'.When an input file does not have the same format as the outputfile, partial linking is only supported if that input file doesnot contain any relocations. Different output formats can havefurther restrictions; for example some `a.out'-based formats donot support partial linking with input files in other formats atall.This option does the same thing as `-i'.`-R FILENAME'`--just-symbols=FILENAME'Read symbol names and their addresses from FILENAME, but do notrelocate it or include it in the output. This allows your outputfile to refer symbolically to absolute locations of memory definedin other programs. You may use this option more than once.For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the `-R' option isfollowed by a directory name, rather than a file name, it istreated as the `-rpath' option.`-s'`--strip-all'Omit all symbol information from the output file.`-S'`--strip-debug'Omit debugger symbol information (but not all symbols) from theoutput file.`-t'`--trace'Print the names of the input files as `ld' processes them.`-T SCRIPTFILE'`--script=SCRIPTFILE'Use SCRIPTFILE as the linker script. This script replaces `ld''sdefault linker script (rather than adding to it), so COMMANDFILEmust specify everything necessary to describe the output file.*Note Scripts::. If SCRIPTFILE does not exist in the currentdirectory, `ld' looks for it in the directories specified by anypreceding `-L' options. Multiple `-T' options accumulate.`-u SYMBOL'`--undefined=SYMBOL'Force SYMBOL to be entered in the output file as an undefinedsymbol. Doing this may, for example, trigger linking of additionalmodules from standard libraries. `-u' may be repeated withdifferent option arguments to enter additional undefined symbols.This option is equivalent to the `EXTERN' linker script command.`-Ur'For anything other than C++ programs, this option is equivalent to`-r': it generates relocatable output--i.e., an output file thatcan in turn serve as input to `ld'. When linking C++ programs,`-Ur' _does_ resolve references to constructors, unlike `-r'. Itdoes not work to use `-Ur' on files that were themselves linkedwith `-Ur'; once the constructor table has been built, it cannotbe added to. Use `-Ur' only for the last partial link, and `-r'for the others.`--unique[=SECTION]'Creates a separate output section for every input section matchingSECTION, or if the optional wildcard SECTION argument is missing,for every orphan input section. An orphan section is one notspecifically mentioned in a linker script. You may use this optionmultiple times on the command line; It prevents the normalmerging of input sections with the same name, overriding outputsection assignments in a linker script.`-v'`--version'`-V'Display the version number for `ld'. The `-V' option also liststhe supported emulations.`-x'`--discard-all'Delete all local symbols.`-X'`--discard-locals'Delete all temporary local symbols. For most targets, this is alllocal symbols whose names begin with `L'.`-y SYMBOL'`--trace-symbol=SYMBOL'Print the name of each linked file in which SYMBOL appears. Thisoption may be given any number of times. On many systems it isnecessary to prepend an underscore.This option is useful when you have an undefined symbol in yourlink but don't know where the reference is coming from.`-Y PATH'Add PATH to the default library search path. This option existsfor Solaris compatibility.`-z KEYWORD'The recognized keywords are:`combreloc'Combines multiple reloc sections and sorts them to makedynamic symbol lookup caching possible.`defs'Disallows undefined symbols in object files. Undefinedsymbols in shared libraries are still allowed.`execstack'Marks the object as requiring executable stack.`initfirst'This option is only meaningful when building a shared object.It marks the object so that its runtime initialization willoccur before the runtime initialization of any other objectsbrought into the process at the same time. Similarly theruntime finalization of the object will occur after theruntime finalization of any other objects.`interpose'Marks the object that its symbol table interposes before allsymbols but the primary executable.`loadfltr'Marks the object that its filters be processed immediately atruntime.`muldefs'Allows multiple definitions.`nocombreloc'Disables multiple reloc sections combining.`nocopyreloc'Disables production of copy relocs.`nodefaultlib'Marks the object that the search for dependencies of thisobject will ignore any default library search paths.`nodelete'Marks the object shouldn't be unloaded at runtime.`nodlopen'Marks the object not available to `dlopen'.`nodump'Marks the object can not be dumped by `dldump'.`noexecstack'Marks the object as not requiring executable stack.`norelro'Don't create an ELF `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment header in theobject.`now'When generating an executable or shared library, mark it totell the dynamic linker to resolve all symbols when theprogram is started, or when the shared library is linked tousing dlopen, instead of deferring function call resolutionto the point when the function is first called.`origin'Marks the object may contain $ORIGIN.`relro'Create an ELF `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment header in the object.Other keywords are ignored for Solaris compatibility.`-( ARCHIVES -)'`--start-group ARCHIVES --end-group'The ARCHIVES should be a list of archive files. They may beeither explicit file names, or `-l' options.The specified archives are searched repeatedly until no newundefined references are created. Normally, an archive issearched only once in the order that it is specified on thecommand line. If a symbol in that archive is needed to resolve anundefined symbol referred to by an object in an archive thatappears later on the command line, the linker would not be able toresolve that reference. By grouping the archives, they all besearched repeatedly until all possible references are resolved.Using this option has a significant performance cost. It is bestto use it only when there are unavoidable circular referencesbetween two or more archives.`--accept-unknown-input-arch'`--no-accept-unknown-input-arch'Tells the linker to accept input files whose architecture cannot berecognised. The assumption is that the user knows what they aredoing and deliberately wants to link in these unknown input files.This was the default behaviour of the linker, before release2.14. The default behaviour from release 2.14 onwards is toreject such input files, and so the `--accept-unknown-input-arch'option has been added to restore the old behaviour.`--as-needed'`--no-as-needed'This option affects ELF DT_NEEDED tags for dynamic librariesmentioned on the command line after the `--as-needed' option.Normally, the linker will add a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamiclibrary mentioned on the command line, regardless of whether thelibrary is actually needed. `--as-needed' causes DT_NEEDED tagsto only be emitted for libraries that satisfy some symbolreference from regular objects which is undefined at the pointthat the library was linked. `--no-as-needed' restores thedefault behaviour.`--add-needed'`--no-add-needed'This option affects the treatment of dynamic libraries from ELFDT_NEEDED tags in dynamic libraries mentioned on the command lineafter the `--no-add-needed' option. Normally, the linker will adda DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library from DT_NEEDED tags.`--no-add-needed' causes DT_NEEDED tags will never be emitted forthose libraries from DT_NEEDED tags. `--add-needed' restores thedefault behaviour.`-assert KEYWORD'This option is ignored for SunOS compatibility.`-Bdynamic'`-dy'`-call_shared'Link against dynamic libraries. This is only meaningful onplatforms for which shared libraries are supported. This optionis normally the default on such platforms. The different variantsof this option are for compatibility with various systems. Youmay use this option multiple times on the command line: it affectslibrary searching for `-l' options which follow it.`-Bgroup'Set the `DF_1_GROUP' flag in the `DT_FLAGS_1' entry in the dynamicsection. This causes the runtime linker to handle lookups in thisobject and its dependencies to be performed only inside the group.`--unresolved-symbols=report-all' is implied. This option is onlymeaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.`-Bstatic'`-dn'`-non_shared'`-static'Do not link against shared libraries. This is only meaningful onplatforms for which shared libraries are supported. The differentvariants of this option are for compatibility with varioussystems. You may use this option multiple times on the commandline: it affects library searching for `-l' options which followit. This option also implies `--unresolved-symbols=report-all'.This option can be used with `-shared'. Doing so means that ashared library is being created but that all of the library'sexternal references must be resolved by pulling in entries fromstatic libraries.`-Bsymbolic'When creating a shared library, bind references to global symbolsto the definition within the shared library, if any. Normally, itis possible for a program linked against a shared library tooverride the definition within the shared library. This option isonly meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.`--check-sections'`--no-check-sections'Asks the linker _not_ to check section addresses after they havebeen assigned to see if there are any overlaps. Normally thelinker will perform this check, and if it finds any overlaps itwill produce suitable error messages. The linker does know about,and does make allowances for sections in overlays. The defaultbehaviour can be restored by using the command line switch`--check-sections'.`--cref'Output a cross reference table. If a linker map file is beinggenerated, the cross reference table is printed to the map file.Otherwise, it is printed on the standard output.The format of the table is intentionally simple, so that it may beeasily processed by a script if necessary. The symbols areprinted out, sorted by name. For each symbol, a list of filenames is given. If the symbol is defined, the first file listedis the location of the definition. The remaining files containreferences to the symbol.`--no-define-common'This option inhibits the assignment of addresses to common symbols.The script command `INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION' has the same effect.*Note Miscellaneous Commands::.The `--no-define-common' option allows decoupling the decision toassign addresses to Common symbols from the choice of the outputfile type; otherwise a non-Relocatable output type forcesassigning addresses to Common symbols. Using `--no-define-common'allows Common symbols that are referenced from a shared library tobe assigned addresses only in the main program. This eliminatesthe unused duplicate space in the shared library, and alsoprevents any possible confusion over resolving to the wrongduplicate when there are many dynamic modules with specializedsearch paths for runtime symbol resolution.`--defsym SYMBOL=EXPRESSION'Create a global symbol in the output file, containing the absoluteaddress given by EXPRESSION. You may use this option as manytimes as necessary to define multiple symbols in the command line.A limited form of arithmetic is supported for the EXPRESSION inthis context: you may give a hexadecimal constant or the name ofan existing symbol, or use `+' and `-' to add or subtracthexadecimal constants or symbols. If you need more elaborateexpressions, consider using the linker command language from ascript (*note Assignment: Symbol Definitions: Assignments.)._Note:_ there should be no white space between SYMBOL, the equalssign ("<=>"), and EXPRESSION.`--demangle[=STYLE]'`--no-demangle'These options control whether to demangle symbol names in errormessages and other output. When the linker is told to demangle,it tries to present symbol names in a readable fashion: it stripsleading underscores if they are used by the object file format,and converts C++ mangled symbol names into user readable names.Different compilers have different mangling styles. The optionaldemangling style argument can be used to choose an appropriatedemangling style for your compiler. The linker will demangle bydefault unless the environment variable `COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE' isset. These options may be used to override the default.`--dynamic-linker FILE'Set the name of the dynamic linker. This is only meaningful whengenerating dynamically linked ELF executables. The default dynamiclinker is normally correct; don't use this unless you know whatyou are doing.`--fatal-warnings'Treat all warnings as errors.`--force-exe-suffix'Make sure that an output file has a .exe suffix.If a successfully built fully linked output file does not have a`.exe' or `.dll' suffix, this option forces the linker to copy theoutput file to one of the same name with a `.exe' suffix. Thisoption is useful when using unmodified Unix makefiles on aMicrosoft Windows host, since some versions of Windows won't runan image unless it ends in a `.exe' suffix.`--no-gc-sections'`--gc-sections'Enable garbage collection of unused input sections. It is ignoredon targets that do not support this option. This option is notcompatible with `-r'. The default behaviour (of not performingthis garbage collection) can be restored by specifying`--no-gc-sections' on the command line.`--help'Print a summary of the command-line options on the standard outputand exit.`--target-help'Print a summary of all target specific options on the standardoutput and exit.`-Map MAPFILE'Print a link map to the file MAPFILE. See the description of the`-M' option, above.`--no-keep-memory'`ld' normally optimizes for speed over memory usage by caching thesymbol tables of input files in memory. This option tells `ld' toinstead optimize for memory usage, by rereading the symbol tablesas necessary. This may be required if `ld' runs out of memoryspace while linking a large executable.`--no-undefined'`-z defs'Report unresolved symbol references from regular object files.This is done even if the linker is creating a non-symbolic sharedlibrary. The switch `--[no-]allow-shlib-undefined' controls thebehaviour for reporting unresolved references found in sharedlibraries being linked in.`--allow-multiple-definition'`-z muldefs'Normally when a symbol is defined multiple times, the linker willreport a fatal error. These options allow multiple definitions andthe first definition will be used.`--allow-shlib-undefined'`--no-allow-shlib-undefined'Allows (the default) or disallows undefined symbols in sharedlibraries. This switch is similar to `--no-undefined' except thatit determines the behaviour when the undefined symbols are in ashared library rather than a regular object file. It does notaffect how undefined symbols in regular object files are handled.The reason that `--allow-shlib-undefined' is the default is thatthe shared library being specified at link time may not be thesame as the one that is available at load time, so the symbolsmight actually be resolvable at load time. Plus there are somesystems, (eg BeOS) where undefined symbols in shared libraries isnormal. (The kernel patches them at load time to select whichfunction is most appropriate for the current architecture. Thisis used for example to dynamically select an appropriate memsetfunction). Apparently it is also normal for HPPA shared librariesto have undefined symbols.`--no-undefined-version'Normally when a symbol has an undefined version, the linker willignore it. This option disallows symbols with undefined versionand a fatal error will be issued instead.`--default-symver'Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) forunversioned exported symbols.`--default-imported-symver'Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) forunversioned imported symbols.`--no-warn-mismatch'Normally `ld' will give an error if you try to link together inputfiles that are mismatched for some reason, perhaps because theyhave been compiled for different processors or for differentendiannesses. This option tells `ld' that it should silentlypermit such possible errors. This option should only be used withcare, in cases when you have taken some special action thatensures that the linker errors are inappropriate.`--no-whole-archive'Turn off the effect of the `--whole-archive' option for subsequentarchive files.`--noinhibit-exec'Retain the executable output file whenever it is still usable.Normally, the linker will not produce an output file if itencounters errors during the link process; it exits withoutwriting an output file when it issues any error whatsoever.`-nostdlib'Only search library directories explicitly specified on thecommand line. Library directories specified in linker scripts(including linker scripts specified on the command line) areignored.`--oformat OUTPUT-FORMAT'`ld' may be configured to support more than one kind of objectfile. If your `ld' is configured this way, you can use the`--oformat' option to specify the binary format for the outputobject file. Even when `ld' is configured to support alternativeobject formats, you don't usually need to specify this, as `ld'should be configured to produce as a default output format the mostusual format on each machine. OUTPUT-FORMAT is a text string, thename of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries. (Youcan list the available binary formats with `objdump -i'.) Thescript command `OUTPUT_FORMAT' can also specify the output format,but this option overrides it. *Note BFD::.`-pie'`--pic-executable'Create a position independent executable. This is currently onlysupported on ELF platforms. Position independent executables aresimilar to shared libraries in that they are relocated by thedynamic linker to the virtual address the OS chooses for them(which can vary between invocations). Like normal dynamicallylinked executables they can be executed and symbols defined in theexecutable cannot be overridden by shared libraries.`-qmagic'This option is ignored for Linux compatibility.`-Qy'This option is ignored for SVR4 compatibility.`--relax'An option with machine dependent effects. This option is onlysupported on a few targets. *Note `ld' and the H8/300: H8/300.*Note `ld' and the Intel 960 family: i960. *Note `ld' and XtensaProcessors: Xtensa. *Note `ld' and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support:PowerPC ELF32.On some platforms, the `--relax' option performs globaloptimizations that become possible when the linker resolvesaddressing in the program, such as relaxing address modes andsynthesizing new instructions in the output object file.On some platforms these link time global optimizations may makesymbolic debugging of the resulting executable impossible. Thisis known to be the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300family of processors.On platforms where this is not supported, `--relax' is accepted,but ignored.`--retain-symbols-file FILENAME'Retain _only_ the symbols listed in the file FILENAME, discardingall others. FILENAME is simply a flat file, with one symbol nameper line. This option is especially useful in environments (suchas VxWorks) where a large global symbol table is accumulatedgradually, to conserve run-time memory.`--retain-symbols-file' does _not_ discard undefined symbols, orsymbols needed for relocations.You may only specify `--retain-symbols-file' once in the commandline. It overrides `-s' and `-S'.`-rpath DIR'Add a directory to the runtime library search path. This is usedwhen linking an ELF executable with shared objects. All `-rpath'arguments are concatenated and passed to the runtime linker, whichuses them to locate shared objects at runtime. The `-rpath'option is also used when locating shared objects which are neededby shared objects explicitly included in the link; see thedescription of the `-rpath-link' option. If `-rpath' is not usedwhen linking an ELF executable, the contents of the environmentvariable `LD_RUN_PATH' will be used if it is defined.The `-rpath' option may also be used on SunOS. By default, onSunOS, the linker will form a runtime search patch out of all the`-L' options it is given. If a `-rpath' option is used, theruntime search path will be formed exclusively using the `-rpath'options, ignoring the `-L' options. This can be useful when usinggcc, which adds many `-L' options which may be on NFS mountedfilesystems.For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the `-R' option isfollowed by a directory name, rather than a file name, it istreated as the `-rpath' option.`-rpath-link DIR'When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another.This happens when an `ld -shared' link includes a shared libraryas one of the input files.When the linker encounters such a dependency when doing anon-shared, non-relocatable link, it will automatically try tolocate the required shared library and include it in the link, ifit is not included explicitly. In such a case, the `-rpath-link'option specifies the first set of directories to search. The`-rpath-link' option may specify a sequence of directory nameseither by specifying a list of names separated by colons, or byappearing multiple times.This option should be used with caution as it overrides the searchpath that may have been hard compiled into a shared library. Insuch a case it is possible to use unintentionally a differentsearch path than the runtime linker would do.The linker uses the following search paths to locate requiredshared libraries.1. Any directories specified by `-rpath-link' options.2. Any directories specified by `-rpath' options. The differencebetween `-rpath' and `-rpath-link' is that directoriesspecified by `-rpath' options are included in the executableand used at runtime, whereas the `-rpath-link' option is onlyeffective at link time. It is for the native linker only.3. On an ELF system, if the `-rpath' and `rpath-link' optionswere not used, search the contents of the environment variable`LD_RUN_PATH'. It is for the native linker only.4. On SunOS, if the `-rpath' option was not used, search anydirectories specified using `-L' options.5. For a native linker, the contents of the environment variable`LD_LIBRARY_PATH'.6. For a native ELF linker, the directories in `DT_RUNPATH' or`DT_RPATH' of a shared library are searched for sharedlibraries needed by it. The `DT_RPATH' entries are ignored if`DT_RUNPATH' entries exist.7. The default directories, normally `/lib' and `/usr/lib'.8. For a native linker on an ELF system, if the file`/etc/ld.so.conf' exists, the list of directories found inthat file.If the required shared library is not found, the linker will issuea warning and continue with the link.`-shared'`-Bshareable'Create a shared library. This is currently only supported on ELF,XCOFF and SunOS platforms. On SunOS, the linker willautomatically create a shared library if the `-e' option is notused and there are undefined symbols in the link.`--sort-common'This option tells `ld' to sort the common symbols by size when itplaces them in the appropriate output sections. First come allthe one byte symbols, then all the two byte, then all the fourbyte, and then everything else. This is to prevent gaps betweensymbols due to alignment constraints.`--sort-section name'This option will apply `SORT_BY_NAME' to all wildcard sectionpatterns in the linker script.`--sort-section alignment'This option will apply `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' to all wildcard sectionpatterns in the linker script.`--split-by-file [SIZE]'Similar to `--split-by-reloc' but creates a new output section foreach input file when SIZE is reached. SIZE defaults to a size of1 if not given.`--split-by-reloc [COUNT]'Tries to creates extra sections in the output file so that nosingle output section in the file contains more than COUNTrelocations. This is useful when generating huge relocatablefiles for downloading into certain real time kernels with the COFFobject file format; since COFF cannot represent more than 65535relocations in a single section. Note that this will fail to workwith object file formats which do not support arbitrary sections.The linker will not split up individual input sections forredistribution, so if a single input section contains more thanCOUNT relocations one output section will contain that manyrelocations. COUNT defaults to a value of 32768.`--stats'Compute and display statistics about the operation of the linker,such as execution time and memory usage.`--sysroot=DIRECTORY'Use DIRECTORY as the location of the sysroot, overriding theconfigure-time default. This option is only supported by linkersthat were configured using `--with-sysroot'.`--traditional-format'For some targets, the output of `ld' is different in some ways fromthe output of some existing linker. This switch requests `ld' touse the traditional format instead.For example, on SunOS, `ld' combines duplicate entries in thesymbol string table. This can reduce the size of an output filewith full debugging information by over 30 percent.Unfortunately, the SunOS `dbx' program can not read the resultingprogram (`gdb' has no trouble). The `--traditional-format' switchtells `ld' to not combine duplicate entries.`--section-start SECTIONNAME=ORG'Locate a section in the output file at the absolute address givenby ORG. You may use this option as many times as necessary tolocate multiple sections in the command line. ORG must be asingle hexadecimal integer; for compatibility with other linkers,you may omit the leading `0x' usually associated with hexadecimalvalues. _Note:_ there should be no white space betweenSECTIONNAME, the equals sign ("<=>"), and ORG.`-Tbss ORG'`-Tdata ORG'`-Ttext ORG'Same as -section-start, with `.bss', `.data' or `.text' as theSECTIONNAME.`--unresolved-symbols=METHOD'Determine how to handle unresolved symbols. There are fourpossible values for `method':`ignore-all'Do not report any unresolved symbols.`report-all'Report all unresolved symbols. This is the default.`ignore-in-object-files'Report unresolved symbols that are contained in sharedlibraries, but ignore them if they come from regular objectfiles.`ignore-in-shared-libs'Report unresolved symbols that come from regular objectfiles, but ignore them if they come from shared libraries.This can be useful when creating a dynamic binary and it isknown that all the shared libraries that it should bereferencing are included on the linker's command line.The behaviour for shared libraries on their own can also becontrolled by the `--[no-]allow-shlib-undefined' option.Normally the linker will generate an error message for eachreported unresolved symbol but the option`--warn-unresolved-symbols' can change this to a warning.`--dll-verbose'`--verbose'Display the version number for `ld' and list the linker emulationssupported. Display which input files can and cannot be opened.Display the linker script being used by the linker.`--version-script=VERSION-SCRIPTFILE'Specify the name of a version script to the linker. This istypically used when creating shared libraries to specifyadditional information about the version hierarchy for the librarybeing created. This option is only meaningful on ELF platformswhich support shared libraries. *Note VERSION::.`--warn-common'Warn when a common symbol is combined with another common symbolor with a symbol definition. Unix linkers allow this somewhatsloppy practise, but linkers on some other operating systems donot. This option allows you to find potential problems fromcombining global symbols. Unfortunately, some C libraries usethis practise, so you may get some warnings about symbols in thelibraries as well as in your programs.There are three kinds of global symbols, illustrated here by Cexamples:`int i = 1;'A definition, which goes in the initialized data section ofthe output file.`extern int i;'An undefined reference, which does not allocate space. Theremust be either a definition or a common symbol for thevariable somewhere.`int i;'A common symbol. If there are only (one or more) commonsymbols for a variable, it goes in the uninitialized dataarea of the output file. The linker merges multiple commonsymbols for the same variable into a single symbol. If theyare of different sizes, it picks the largest size. Thelinker turns a common symbol into a declaration, if there isa definition of the same variable.The `--warn-common' option can produce five kinds of warnings.Each warning consists of a pair of lines: the first describes thesymbol just encountered, and the second describes the previoussymbol encountered with the same name. One or both of the twosymbols will be a common symbol.1. Turning a common symbol into a reference, because there isalready a definition for the symbol.FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'overridden by definitionFILE(SECTION): warning: defined here2. Turning a common symbol into a reference, because a laterdefinition for the symbol is encountered. This is the sameas the previous case, except that the symbols are encounteredin a different order.FILE(SECTION): warning: definition of `SYMBOL'overriding commonFILE(SECTION): warning: common is here3. Merging a common symbol with a previous same-sized commonsymbol.FILE(SECTION): warning: multiple commonof `SYMBOL'FILE(SECTION): warning: previous common is here4. Merging a common symbol with a previous larger common symbol.FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'overridden by larger commonFILE(SECTION): warning: larger common is here5. Merging a common symbol with a previous smaller commonsymbol. This is the same as the previous case, except thatthe symbols are encountered in a different order.FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'overriding smaller commonFILE(SECTION): warning: smaller common is here`--warn-constructors'Warn if any global constructors are used. This is only useful fora few object file formats. For formats like COFF or ELF, thelinker can not detect the use of global constructors.`--warn-multiple-gp'Warn if multiple global pointer values are required in the outputfile. This is only meaningful for certain processors, such as theAlpha. Specifically, some processors put large-valued constantsin a special section. A special register (the global pointer)points into the middle of this section, so that constants can beloaded efficiently via a base-register relative addressing mode.Since the offset in base-register relative mode is fixed andrelatively small (e.g., 16 bits), this limits the maximum size ofthe constant pool. Thus, in large programs, it is often necessaryto use multiple global pointer values in order to be able toaddress all possible constants. This option causes a warning tobe issued whenever this case occurs.`--warn-once'Only warn once for each undefined symbol, rather than once permodule which refers to it.`--warn-section-align'Warn if the address of an output section is changed because ofalignment. Typically, the alignment will be set by an inputsection. The address will only be changed if it not explicitlyspecified; that is, if the `SECTIONS' command does not specify astart address for the section (*note SECTIONS::).`--warn-shared-textrel'Warn if the linker adds a DT_TEXTREL to a shared object.`--warn-unresolved-symbols'If the linker is going to report an unresolved symbol (see theoption `--unresolved-symbols') it will normally generate an error.This option makes it generate a warning instead.`--error-unresolved-symbols'This restores the linker's default behaviour of generating errorswhen it is reporting unresolved symbols.`--whole-archive'For each archive mentioned on the command line after the`--whole-archive' option, include every object file in the archivein the link, rather than searching the archive for the requiredobject files. This is normally used to turn an archive file intoa shared library, forcing every object to be included in theresulting shared library. This option may be used more than once.Two notes when using this option from gcc: First, gcc doesn't knowabout this option, so you have to use `-Wl,-whole-archive'.Second, don't forget to use `-Wl,-no-whole-archive' after yourlist of archives, because gcc will add its own list of archives toyour link and you may not want this flag to affect those as well.`--wrap SYMBOL'Use a wrapper function for SYMBOL. Any undefined reference toSYMBOL will be resolved to `__wrap_SYMBOL'. Any undefinedreference to `__real_SYMBOL' will be resolved to SYMBOL.This can be used to provide a wrapper for a system function. Thewrapper function should be called `__wrap_SYMBOL'. If it wishesto call the system function, it should call `__real_SYMBOL'.Here is a trivial example:void *__wrap_malloc (size_t c){printf ("malloc called with %zu\n", c);return __real_malloc (c);}If you link other code with this file using `--wrap malloc', thenall calls to `malloc' will call the function `__wrap_malloc'instead. The call to `__real_malloc' in `__wrap_malloc' will callthe real `malloc' function.You may wish to provide a `__real_malloc' function as well, so thatlinks without the `--wrap' option will succeed. If you do this,you should not put the definition of `__real_malloc' in the samefile as `__wrap_malloc'; if you do, the assembler may resolve thecall before the linker has a chance to wrap it to `malloc'.`--eh-frame-hdr'Request creation of `.eh_frame_hdr' section and ELF`PT_GNU_EH_FRAME' segment header.`--enable-new-dtags'`--disable-new-dtags'This linker can create the new dynamic tags in ELF. But the olderELF systems may not understand them. If you specify`--enable-new-dtags', the dynamic tags will be created as needed.If you specify `--disable-new-dtags', no new dynamic tags will becreated. By default, the new dynamic tags are not created. Notethat those options are only available for ELF systems.`--hash-size=NUMBER'Set the default size of the linker's hash tables to a prime numberclose to NUMBER. Increasing this value can reduce the length oftime it takes the linker to perform its tasks, at the expense ofincreasing the linker's memory requirements. Similarly reducingthis value can reduce the memory requirements at the expense ofspeed.`--reduce-memory-overheads'This option reduces memory requirements at ld runtime, at theexpense of linking speed. This was introduced to select the oldO(n^2) algorithm for link map file generation, rather than the newO(n) algorithm which uses about 40% more memory for symbol storage.Another effect of the switch is to set the default hash table sizeto 1021, which again saves memory at the cost of lengthening thelinker's run time. This is not done however if the `--hash-size'switch has been used.The `--reduce-memory-overheads' switch may be also be used toenable other tradeoffs in future versions of the linker.2.1.1 Options Specific to i386 PE Targets-----------------------------------------The i386 PE linker supports the `-shared' option, which causes theoutput to be a dynamically linked library (DLL) instead of a normalexecutable. You should name the output `*.dll' when you use thisoption. In addition, the linker fully supports the standard `*.def'files, which may be specified on the linker command line like an objectfile (in fact, it should precede archives it exports symbols from, toensure that they get linked in, just like a normal object file).In addition to the options common to all targets, the i386 PE linkersupport additional command line options that are specific to the i386PE target. Options that take values may be separated from their valuesby either a space or an equals sign.`--add-stdcall-alias'If given, symbols with a stdcall suffix (@NN) will be exportedas-is and also with the suffix stripped. [This option is specificto the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--base-file FILE'Use FILE as the name of a file in which to save the base addressesof all the relocations needed for generating DLLs with `dlltool'.[This is an i386 PE specific option]`--dll'Create a DLL instead of a regular executable. You may also use`-shared' or specify a `LIBRARY' in a given `.def' file. [Thisoption is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--enable-stdcall-fixup'`--disable-stdcall-fixup'If the link finds a symbol that it cannot resolve, it will attemptto do "fuzzy linking" by looking for another defined symbol thatdiffers only in the format of the symbol name (cdecl vs stdcall)and will resolve that symbol by linking to the match. Forexample, the undefined symbol `_foo' might be linked to thefunction `_foo@12', or the undefined symbol `_bar@16' might belinked to the function `_bar'. When the linker does this, itprints a warning, since it normally should have failed to link,but sometimes import libraries generated from third-party dlls mayneed this feature to be usable. If you specify`--enable-stdcall-fixup', this feature is fully enabled andwarnings are not printed. If you specify`--disable-stdcall-fixup', this feature is disabled and suchmismatches are considered to be errors. [This option is specificto the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--export-all-symbols'If given, all global symbols in the objects used to build a DLLwill be exported by the DLL. Note that this is the default ifthere otherwise wouldn't be any exported symbols. When symbols areexplicitly exported via DEF files or implicitly exported viafunction attributes, the default is to not export anything elseunless this option is given. Note that the symbols `DllMain@12',`DllEntryPoint@0', `DllMainCRTStartup@12', and `impure_ptr' willnot be automatically exported. Also, symbols imported from otherDLLs will not be re-exported, nor will symbols specifying theDLL's internal layout such as those beginning with `_head_' orending with `_iname'. In addition, no symbols from `libgcc',`libstd++', `libmingw32', or `crtX.o' will be exported. Symbolswhose names begin with `__rtti_' or `__builtin_' will not beexported, to help with C++ DLLs. Finally, there is an extensivelist of cygwin-private symbols that are not exported (obviously,this applies on when building DLLs for cygwin targets). Thesecygwin-excludes are: `_cygwin_dll_entry@12',`_cygwin_crt0_common@8', `_cygwin_noncygwin_dll_entry@12',`_fmode', `_impure_ptr', `cygwin_attach_dll', `cygwin_premain0',`cygwin_premain1', `cygwin_premain2', `cygwin_premain3', and`environ'. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted portof the linker]`--exclude-symbols SYMBOL,SYMBOL,...'Specifies a list of symbols which should not be automaticallyexported. The symbol names may be delimited by commas or colons.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--file-alignment'Specify the file alignment. Sections in the file will alwaysbegin at file offsets which are multiples of this number. Thisdefaults to 512. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targetedport of the linker]`--heap RESERVE'`--heap RESERVE,COMMIT'Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) tobe used as heap for this program. The default is 1Mb reserved, 4Kcommitted. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted portof the linker]`--image-base VALUE'Use VALUE as the base address of your program or dll. This is thelowest memory location that will be used when your program or dllis loaded. To reduce the need to relocate and improve performanceof your dlls, each should have a unique base address and notoverlap any other dlls. The default is 0x400000 for executables,and 0x10000000 for dlls. [This option is specific to the i386 PEtargeted port of the linker]`--kill-at'If given, the stdcall suffixes (@NN) will be stripped from symbolsbefore they are exported. [This option is specific to the i386 PEtargeted port of the linker]`--large-address-aware'If given, the appropriate bit in the "Charateristics" field of theCOFF header is set to indicate that this executable supportsvirtual addresses greater than 2 gigabytes. This should be usedin conjuction with the /3GB or /USERVA=VALUE megabytes switch inthe "[operating systems]" section of the BOOT.INI. Otherwise,this bit has no effect. [This option is specific to PE targetedports of the linker]`--major-image-version VALUE'Sets the major number of the "image version". Defaults to 1.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--major-os-version VALUE'Sets the major number of the "os version". Defaults to 4. [Thisoption is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--major-subsystem-version VALUE'Sets the major number of the "subsystem version". Defaults to 4.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--minor-image-version VALUE'Sets the minor number of the "image version". Defaults to 0.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--minor-os-version VALUE'Sets the minor number of the "os version". Defaults to 0. [Thisoption is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--minor-subsystem-version VALUE'Sets the minor number of the "subsystem version". Defaults to 0.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--output-def FILE'The linker will create the file FILE which will contain a DEF filecorresponding to the DLL the linker is generating. This DEF file(which should be called `*.def') may be used to create an importlibrary with `dlltool' or may be used as a reference toautomatically or implicitly exported symbols. [This option isspecific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--out-implib FILE'The linker will create the file FILE which will contain an importlib corresponding to the DLL the linker is generating. This importlib (which should be called `*.dll.a' or `*.a' may be used to linkclients against the generated DLL; this behaviour makes itpossible to skip a separate `dlltool' import library creation step.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--enable-auto-image-base'Automatically choose the image base for DLLs, unless one isspecified using the `--image-base' argument. By using a hashgenerated from the dllname to create unique image bases for eachDLL, in-memory collisions and relocations which can delay programexecution are avoided. [This option is specific to the i386 PEtargeted port of the linker]`--disable-auto-image-base'Do not automatically generate a unique image base. If there is nouser-specified image base (`--image-base') then use the platformdefault. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port ofthe linker]`--dll-search-prefix STRING'When linking dynamically to a dll without an import library,search for `<string><basename>.dll' in preference to`lib<basename>.dll'. This behaviour allows easy distinctionbetween DLLs built for the various "subplatforms": native, cygwin,uwin, pw, etc. For instance, cygwin DLLs typically use`--dll-search-prefix=cyg'. [This option is specific to the i386PE targeted port of the linker]`--enable-auto-import'Do sophisticated linking of `_symbol' to `__imp__symbol' for DATAimports from DLLs, and create the necessary thunking symbols whenbuilding the import libraries with those DATA exports. Note: Useof the 'auto-import' extension will cause the text section of theimage file to be made writable. This does not conform to thePE-COFF format specification published by Microsoft.Using 'auto-import' generally will 'just work' - but sometimes youmay see this message:"variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read thedocumentation for ld's `--enable-auto-import' for details."This message occurs when some (sub)expression accesses an addressultimately given by the sum of two constants (Win32 import tablesonly allow one). Instances where this may occur include accessesto member fields of struct variables imported from a DLL, as wellas using a constant index into an array variable imported from aDLL. Any multiword variable (arrays, structs, long long, etc) maytrigger this error condition. However, regardless of the exactdata type of the offending exported variable, ld will alwaysdetect it, issue the warning, and exit.There are several ways to address this difficulty, regardless ofthe data type of the exported variable:One way is to use -enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc switch. This leavesthe task of adjusting references in your client code for runtimeenvironment, so this method works only when runtime environmentsupports this feature.A second solution is to force one of the 'constants' to be avariable - that is, unknown and un-optimizable at compile time.For arrays, there are two possibilities: a) make the indexee (thearray's address) a variable, or b) make the 'constant' index avariable. Thus:extern type extern_array[];extern_array[1] -->{ volatile type *t=extern_array; t[1] }orextern type extern_array[];extern_array[1] -->{ volatile int t=1; extern_array[t] }For structs (and most other multiword data types) the only optionis to make the struct itself (or the long long, or the ...)variable:extern struct s extern_struct;extern_struct.field -->{ volatile struct s *t=&extern_struct; t->field }orextern long long extern_ll;extern_ll -->{ volatile long long * local_ll=&extern_ll; *local_ll }A third method of dealing with this difficulty is to abandon'auto-import' for the offending symbol and mark it with`__declspec(dllimport)'. However, in practise that requires usingcompile-time #defines to indicate whether you are building a DLL,building client code that will link to the DLL, or merelybuilding/linking to a static library. In making the choicebetween the various methods of resolving the 'direct address withconstant offset' problem, you should consider typical real-worldusage:Original:--foo.hextern int arr[];--foo.c#include "foo.h"void main(int argc, char **argv){printf("%d\n",arr[1]);}Solution 1:--foo.hextern int arr[];--foo.c#include "foo.h"void main(int argc, char **argv){/* This workaround is for win32 and cygwin; do not "optimize" */volatile int *parr = arr;printf("%d\n",parr[1]);}Solution 2:--foo.h/* Note: auto-export is assumed (no __declspec(dllexport)) */#if (defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)) && \!(defined(FOO_BUILD_DLL) || defined(FOO_STATIC))#define FOO_IMPORT __declspec(dllimport)#else#define FOO_IMPORT#endifextern FOO_IMPORT int arr[];--foo.c#include "foo.h"void main(int argc, char **argv){printf("%d\n",arr[1]);}A fourth way to avoid this problem is to re-code your library touse a functional interface rather than a data interface for theoffending variables (e.g. set_foo() and get_foo() accessorfunctions). [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted portof the linker]`--disable-auto-import'Do not attempt to do sophisticated linking of `_symbol' to`__imp__symbol' for DATA imports from DLLs. [This option isspecific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc'If your code contains expressions described in -enable-auto-importsection, that is, DATA imports from DLL with non-zero offset, thisswitch will create a vector of 'runtime pseudo relocations' whichcan be used by runtime environment to adjust references to suchdata in your client code. [This option is specific to the i386 PEtargeted port of the linker]`--disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc'Do not create pseudo relocations for non-zero offset DATA importsfrom DLLs. This is the default. [This option is specific to thei386 PE targeted port of the linker]`--enable-extra-pe-debug'Show additional debug info related to auto-import symbol thunking.[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of thelinker]`--section-alignment'Sets the section alignment. Sections in memory will always beginat addresses which are a multiple of this number. Defaults to0x1000. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port ofthe linker]`--stack RESERVE'`--stack RESERVE,COMMIT'Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) tobe used as stack for this program. The default is 2Mb reserved, 4Kcommitted. [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted portof the linker]`--subsystem WHICH'`--subsystem WHICH:MAJOR'`--subsystem WHICH:MAJOR.MINOR'Specifies the subsystem under which your program will execute. Thelegal values for WHICH are `native', `windows', `console',`posix', and `xbox'. You may optionally set the subsystem versionalso. Numeric values are also accepted for WHICH. [This optionis specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]File: ld.info, Node: Environment, Prev: Options, Up: Invocation2.2 Environment Variables=========================You can change the behaviour of `ld' with the environment variables`GNUTARGET', `LDEMULATION' and `COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE'.`GNUTARGET' determines the input-file object format if you don't use`-b' (or its synonym `--format'). Its value should be one of the BFDnames for an input format (*note BFD::). If there is no `GNUTARGET' inthe environment, `ld' uses the natural format of the target. If`GNUTARGET' is set to `default' then BFD attempts to discover the inputformat by examining binary input files; this method often succeeds, butthere are potential ambiguities, since there is no method of ensuringthat the magic number used to specify object-file formats is unique.However, the configuration procedure for BFD on each system places theconventional format for that system first in the search-list, soambiguities are resolved in favor of convention.`LDEMULATION' determines the default emulation if you don't use the`-m' option. The emulation can affect various aspects of linkerbehaviour, particularly the default linker script. You can list theavailable emulations with the `--verbose' or `-V' options. If the `-m'option is not used, and the `LDEMULATION' environment variable is notdefined, the default emulation depends upon how the linker wasconfigured.Normally, the linker will default to demangling symbols. However, if`COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE' is set in the environment, then it will defaultto not demangling symbols. This environment variable is used in asimilar fashion by the `gcc' linker wrapper program. The default maybe overridden by the `--demangle' and `--no-demangle' options.File: ld.info, Node: Scripts, Next: Machine Dependent, Prev: Invocation, Up: Top3 Linker Scripts****************Every link is controlled by a "linker script". This script is writtenin the linker command language.The main purpose of the linker script is to describe how thesections in the input files should be mapped into the output file, andto control the memory layout of the output file. Most linker scriptsdo nothing more than this. However, when necessary, the linker scriptcan also direct the linker to perform many other operations, using thecommands described below.The linker always uses a linker script. If you do not supply oneyourself, the linker will use a default script that is compiled into thelinker executable. You can use the `--verbose' command line option todisplay the default linker script. Certain command line options, suchas `-r' or `-N', will affect the default linker script.You may supply your own linker script by using the `-T' command lineoption. When you do this, your linker script will replace the defaultlinker script.You may also use linker scripts implicitly by naming them as inputfiles to the linker, as though they were files to be linked. *NoteImplicit Linker Scripts::.* Menu:* Basic Script Concepts:: Basic Linker Script Concepts* Script Format:: Linker Script Format* Simple Example:: Simple Linker Script Example* Simple Commands:: Simple Linker Script Commands* Assignments:: Assigning Values to Symbols* SECTIONS:: SECTIONS Command* MEMORY:: MEMORY Command* PHDRS:: PHDRS Command* VERSION:: VERSION Command* Expressions:: Expressions in Linker Scripts* Implicit Linker Scripts:: Implicit Linker ScriptsFile: ld.info, Node: Basic Script Concepts, Next: Script Format, Up: Scripts3.1 Basic Linker Script Concepts================================We need to define some basic concepts and vocabulary in order todescribe the linker script language.The linker combines input files into a single output file. Theoutput file and each input file are in a special data format known as an"object file format". Each file is called an "object file". Theoutput file is often called an "executable", but for our purposes wewill also call it an object file. Each object file has, among otherthings, a list of "sections". We sometimes refer to a section in aninput file as an "input section"; similarly, a section in the outputfile is an "output section".Each section in an object file has a name and a size. Most sectionsalso have an associated block of data, known as the "section contents".A section may be marked as "loadable", which mean that the contentsshould be loaded into memory when the output file is run. A sectionwith no contents may be "allocatable", which means that an area inmemory should be set aside, but nothing in particular should be loadedthere (in some cases this memory must be zeroed out). A section whichis neither loadable nor allocatable typically contains some sort ofdebugging information.Every loadable or allocatable output section has two addresses. Thefirst is the "VMA", or virtual memory address. This is the address thesection will have when the output file is run. The second is the"LMA", or load memory address. This is the address at which thesection will be loaded. In most cases the two addresses will be thesame. An example of when they might be different is when a data sectionis loaded into ROM, and then copied into RAM when the program starts up(this technique is often used to initialize global variables in a ROMbased system). In this case the ROM address would be the LMA, and theRAM address would be the VMA.You can see the sections in an object file by using the `objdump'program with the `-h' option.Every object file also has a list of "symbols", known as the "symboltable". A symbol may be defined or undefined. Each symbol has a name,and each defined symbol has an address, among other information. Ifyou compile a C or C++ program into an object file, you will get adefined symbol for every defined function and global or staticvariable. Every undefined function or global variable which isreferenced in the input file will become an undefined symbol.You can see the symbols in an object file by using the `nm' program,or by using the `objdump' program with the `-t' option.File: ld.info, Node: Script Format, Next: Simple Example, Prev: Basic Script Concepts, Up: Scripts3.2 Linker Script Format========================Linker scripts are text files.You write a linker script as a series of commands. Each command iseither a keyword, possibly followed by arguments, or an assignment to asymbol. You may separate commands using semicolons. Whitespace isgenerally ignored.Strings such as file or format names can normally be entereddirectly. If the file name contains a character such as a comma whichwould otherwise serve to separate file names, you may put the file namein double quotes. There is no way to use a double quote character in afile name.You may include comments in linker scripts just as in C, delimited by`/*' and `*/'. As in C, comments are syntactically equivalent towhitespace.File: ld.info, Node: Simple Example, Next: Simple Commands, Prev: Script Format, Up: Scripts3.3 Simple Linker Script Example================================Many linker scripts are fairly simple.The simplest possible linker script has just one command:`SECTIONS'. You use the `SECTIONS' command to describe the memorylayout of the output file.The `SECTIONS' command is a powerful command. Here we will describea simple use of it. Let's assume your program consists only of code,initialized data, and uninitialized data. These will be in the`.text', `.data', and `.bss' sections, respectively. Let's assumefurther that these are the only sections which appear in your inputfiles.For this example, let's say that the code should be loaded at address0x10000, and that the data should start at address 0x8000000. Here is alinker script which will do that:SECTIONS{. = 0x10000;.text : { *(.text) }. = 0x8000000;.data : { *(.data) }.bss : { *(.bss) }}You write the `SECTIONS' command as the keyword `SECTIONS', followedby a series of symbol assignments and output section descriptionsenclosed in curly braces.The first line inside the `SECTIONS' command of the above examplesets the value of the special symbol `.', which is the locationcounter. If you do not specify the address of an output section in someother way (other ways are described later), the address is set from thecurrent value of the location counter. The location counter is thenincremented by the size of the output section. At the start of the`SECTIONS' command, the location counter has the value `0'.The second line defines an output section, `.text'. The colon isrequired syntax which may be ignored for now. Within the curly bracesafter the output section name, you list the names of the input sectionswhich should be placed into this output section. The `*' is a wildcardwhich matches any file name. The expression `*(.text)' means all`.text' input sections in all input files.Since the location counter is `0x10000' when the output section`.text' is defined, the linker will set the address of the `.text'section in the output file to be `0x10000'.The remaining lines define the `.data' and `.bss' sections in theoutput file. The linker will place the `.data' output section ataddress `0x8000000'. After the linker places the `.data' outputsection, the value of the location counter will be `0x8000000' plus thesize of the `.data' output section. The effect is that the linker willplace the `.bss' output section immediately after the `.data' outputsection in memory.The linker will ensure that each output section has the requiredalignment, by increasing the location counter if necessary. In thisexample, the specified addresses for the `.text' and `.data' sectionswill probably satisfy any alignment constraints, but the linker mayhave to create a small gap between the `.data' and `.bss' sections.That's it! That's a simple and complete linker script.File: ld.info, Node: Simple Commands, Next: Assignments, Prev: Simple Example, Up: Scripts3.4 Simple Linker Script Commands=================================In this section we describe the simple linker script commands.* Menu:* Entry Point:: Setting the entry point* File Commands:: Commands dealing with files* Format Commands:: Commands dealing with object file formats* Miscellaneous Commands:: Other linker script commandsFile: ld.info, Node: Entry Point, Next: File Commands, Up: Simple Commands3.4.1 Setting the Entry Point-----------------------------The first instruction to execute in a program is called the "entrypoint". You can use the `ENTRY' linker script command to set the entrypoint. The argument is a symbol name:ENTRY(SYMBOL)There are several ways to set the entry point. The linker will setthe entry point by trying each of the following methods in order, andstopping when one of them succeeds:* the `-e' ENTRY command-line option;* the `ENTRY(SYMBOL)' command in a linker script;* the value of the symbol `start', if defined;* the address of the first byte of the `.text' section, if present;* The address `0'.File: ld.info, Node: File Commands, Next: Format Commands, Prev: Entry Point, Up: Simple Commands3.4.2 Commands Dealing with Files---------------------------------Several linker script commands deal with files.`INCLUDE FILENAME'Include the linker script FILENAME at this point. The file willbe searched for in the current directory, and in any directoryspecified with the `-L' option. You can nest calls to `INCLUDE'up to 10 levels deep.`INPUT(FILE, FILE, ...)'`INPUT(FILE FILE ...)'The `INPUT' command directs the linker to include the named filesin the link, as though they were named on the command line.For example, if you always want to include `subr.o' any time you doa link, but you can't be bothered to put it on every link commandline, then you can put `INPUT (subr.o)' in your linker script.In fact, if you like, you can list all of your input files in thelinker script, and then invoke the linker with nothing but a `-T'option.In case a "sysroot prefix" is configured, and the filename startswith the `/' character, and the script being processed was locatedinside the "sysroot prefix", the filename will be looked for inthe "sysroot prefix". Otherwise, the linker will try to open thefile in the current directory. If it is not found, the linkerwill search through the archive library search path. See thedescription of `-L' in *Note Command Line Options: Options.If you use `INPUT (-lFILE)', `ld' will transform the name to`libFILE.a', as with the command line argument `-l'.When you use the `INPUT' command in an implicit linker script, thefiles will be included in the link at the point at which the linkerscript file is included. This can affect archive searching.`GROUP(FILE, FILE, ...)'`GROUP(FILE FILE ...)'The `GROUP' command is like `INPUT', except that the named filesshould all be archives, and they are searched repeatedly until nonew undefined references are created. See the description of `-('in *Note Command Line Options: Options.`AS_NEEDED(FILE, FILE, ...)'`AS_NEEDED(FILE FILE ...)'This construct can appear only inside of the `INPUT' or `GROUP'commands, among other filenames. The files listed will be handledas if they appear directly in the `INPUT' or `GROUP' commands,with the exception of ELF shared libraries, that will be added onlywhen they are actually needed. This construct essentially enables`--as-needed' option for all the files listed inside of it andrestores previous `--as-needed' resp. `--no-as-needed' settingafterwards.`OUTPUT(FILENAME)'The `OUTPUT' command names the output file. Using`OUTPUT(FILENAME)' in the linker script is exactly like using `-oFILENAME' on the command line (*note Command Line Options:Options.). If both are used, the command line option takesprecedence.You can use the `OUTPUT' command to define a default name for theoutput file other than the usual default of `a.out'.`SEARCH_DIR(PATH)'The `SEARCH_DIR' command adds PATH to the list of paths where `ld'looks for archive libraries. Using `SEARCH_DIR(PATH)' is exactlylike using `-L PATH' on the command line (*note Command LineOptions: Options.). If both are used, then the linker will searchboth paths. Paths specified using the command line option aresearched first.`STARTUP(FILENAME)'The `STARTUP' command is just like the `INPUT' command, exceptthat FILENAME will become the first input file to be linked, asthough it were specified first on the command line. This may beuseful when using a system in which the entry point is always thestart of the first file.File: ld.info, Node: Format Commands, Next: Miscellaneous Commands, Prev: File Commands, Up: Simple Commands3.4.3 Commands Dealing with Object File Formats-----------------------------------------------A couple of linker script commands deal with object file formats.`OUTPUT_FORMAT(BFDNAME)'`OUTPUT_FORMAT(DEFAULT, BIG, LITTLE)'The `OUTPUT_FORMAT' command names the BFD format to use for theoutput file (*note BFD::). Using `OUTPUT_FORMAT(BFDNAME)' isexactly like using `--oformat BFDNAME' on the command line (*noteCommand Line Options: Options.). If both are used, the commandline option takes precedence.You can use `OUTPUT_FORMAT' with three arguments to use differentformats based on the `-EB' and `-EL' command line options. Thispermits the linker script to set the output format based on thedesired endianness.If neither `-EB' nor `-EL' are used, then the output format willbe the first argument, DEFAULT. If `-EB' is used, the outputformat will be the second argument, BIG. If `-EL' is used, theoutput format will be the third argument, LITTLE.For example, the default linker script for the MIPS ELF targetuses this command:OUTPUT_FORMAT(elf32-bigmips, elf32-bigmips, elf32-littlemips)This says that the default format for the output file is`elf32-bigmips', but if the user uses the `-EL' command lineoption, the output file will be created in the `elf32-littlemips'format.`TARGET(BFDNAME)'The `TARGET' command names the BFD format to use when reading inputfiles. It affects subsequent `INPUT' and `GROUP' commands. Thiscommand is like using `-b BFDNAME' on the command line (*noteCommand Line Options: Options.). If the `TARGET' command is usedbut `OUTPUT_FORMAT' is not, then the last `TARGET' command is alsoused to set the format for the output file. *Note BFD::.File: ld.info, Node: Miscellaneous Commands, Prev: Format Commands, Up: Simple Commands3.4.4 Other Linker Script Commands----------------------------------There are a few other linker scripts commands.`ASSERT(EXP, MESSAGE)'Ensure that EXP is non-zero. If it is zero, then exit the linkerwith an error code, and print MESSAGE.`EXTERN(SYMBOL SYMBOL ...)'Force SYMBOL to be entered in the output file as an undefinedsymbol. Doing this may, for example, trigger linking of additionalmodules from standard libraries. You may list several SYMBOLs foreach `EXTERN', and you may use `EXTERN' multiple times. Thiscommand has the same effect as the `-u' command-line option.`FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION'This command has the same effect as the `-d' command-line option:to make `ld' assign space to common symbols even if a relocatableoutput file is specified (`-r').`INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION'This command has the same effect as the `--no-define-common'command-line option: to make `ld' omit the assignment of addressesto common symbols even for a non-relocatable output file.`NOCROSSREFS(SECTION SECTION ...)'This command may be used to tell `ld' to issue an error about anyreferences among certain output sections.In certain types of programs, particularly on embedded systems whenusing overlays, when one section is loaded into memory, anothersection will not be. Any direct references between the twosections would be errors. For example, it would be an error ifcode in one section called a function defined in the other section.The `NOCROSSREFS' command takes a list of output section names. If`ld' detects any cross references between the sections, it reportsan error and returns a non-zero exit status. Note that the`NOCROSSREFS' command uses output section names, not input sectionnames.`OUTPUT_ARCH(BFDARCH)'Specify a particular output machine architecture. The argument isone of the names used by the BFD library (*note BFD::). You cansee the architecture of an object file by using the `objdump'program with the `-f' option.File: ld.info, Node: Assignments, Next: SECTIONS, Prev: Simple Commands, Up: Scripts3.5 Assigning Values to Symbols===============================You may assign a value to a symbol in a linker script. This will definethe symbol and place it into the symbol table with a global scope.* Menu:* Simple Assignments:: Simple Assignments* PROVIDE:: PROVIDE* PROVIDE_HIDDEN:: PROVIDE_HIDDEN* Source Code Reference:: How to use a linker script defined symbol in source codeFile: ld.info, Node: Simple Assignments, Next: PROVIDE, Up: Assignments3.5.1 Simple Assignments------------------------You may assign to a symbol using any of the C assignment operators:`SYMBOL = EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL += EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL -= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL *= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL /= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL <<= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL >>= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL &= EXPRESSION ;'`SYMBOL |= EXPRESSION ;'The first case will define SYMBOL to the value of EXPRESSION. Inthe other cases, SYMBOL must already be defined, and the value will beadjusted accordingly.The special symbol name `.' indicates the location counter. You mayonly use this within a `SECTIONS' command. *Note Location Counter::.The semicolon after EXPRESSION is required.Expressions are defined below; see *Note Expressions::.You may write symbol assignments as commands in their own right, oras statements within a `SECTIONS' command, or as part of an outputsection description in a `SECTIONS' command.The section of the symbol will be set from the section of theexpression; for more information, see *Note Expression Section::.Here is an example showing the three different places that symbolassignments may be used:floating_point = 0;SECTIONS{.text :{*(.text)_etext = .;}_bdata = (. + 3) & ~ 3;.data : { *(.data) }}In this example, the symbol `floating_point' will be defined aszero. The symbol `_etext' will be defined as the address following thelast `.text' input section. The symbol `_bdata' will be defined as theaddress following the `.text' output section aligned upward to a 4 byteboundary.File: ld.info, Node: PROVIDE, Next: PROVIDE_HIDDEN, Prev: Simple Assignments, Up: Assignments3.5.2 PROVIDE-------------In some cases, it is desirable for a linker script to define a symbolonly if it is referenced and is not defined by any object included inthe link. For example, traditional linkers defined the symbol `etext'.However, ANSI C requires that the user be able to use `etext' as afunction name without encountering an error. The `PROVIDE' keyword maybe used to define a symbol, such as `etext', only if it is referencedbut not defined. The syntax is `PROVIDE(SYMBOL = EXPRESSION)'.Here is an example of using `PROVIDE' to define `etext':SECTIONS{.text :{*(.text)_etext = .;PROVIDE(etext = .);}}In this example, if the program defines `_etext' (with a leadingunderscore), the linker will give a multiple definition error. If, onthe other hand, the program defines `etext' (with no leadingunderscore), the linker will silently use the definition in the program.If the program references `etext' but does not define it, the linkerwill use the definition in the linker script.File: ld.info, Node: PROVIDE_HIDDEN, Next: Source Code Reference, Prev: PROVIDE, Up: Assignments3.5.3 PROVIDE_HIDDEN--------------------Similar to `PROVIDE'. For ELF targeted ports, the symbol will behidden and won't be exported.File: ld.info, Node: Source Code Reference, Prev: PROVIDE_HIDDEN, Up: Assignments3.5.4 Source Code Reference---------------------------Accessing a linker script defined variable from source code is notintuitive. In particular a linker script symbol is not equivalent to avariable declaration in a high level language, it is instead a symbolthat does not have a value.Before going further, it is important to note that compilers oftentransform names in the source code into different names when they arestored in the symbol table. For example, Fortran compilers commonlyprepend or append an underscore, and C++ performs extensive `namemangling'. Therefore there might be a discrepancy between the name ofa variable as it is used in source code and the name of the samevariable as it is defined in a linker script. For example in C alinker script variable might be referred to as:extern int foo;But in the linker script it might be defined as:_foo = 1000;In the remaining examples however it is assumed that no nametransformation has taken place.When a symbol is declared in a high level language such as C, twothings happen. The first is that the compiler reserves enough space inthe program's memory to hold the _value_ of the symbol. The second isthat the compiler creates an entry in the program's symbol table whichholds the symbol's _address_. ie the symbol table contains the addressof the block of memory holding the symbol's value. So for example thefollowing C declaration, at file scope:int foo = 1000;creates a entry called `foo' in the symbol table. This entry holdsthe address of an `int' sized block of memory where the number 1000 isinitially stored.When a program references a symbol the compiler generates code thatfirst accesses the symbol table to find the address of the symbol'smemory block and then code to read the value from that memory block.So:foo = 1;looks up the symbol `foo' in the symbol table, gets the addressassociated with this symbol and then writes the value 1 into thataddress. Whereas:int * a = & foo;looks up the symbol `foo' in the symbol table, gets it address andthen copies this address into the block of memory associated with thevariable `a'.Linker scripts symbol declarations, by contrast, create an entry inthe symbol table but do not assign any memory to them. Thus they arean address without a value. So for example the linker scriptdefinition:foo = 1000;creates an entry in the symbol table called `foo' which holds theaddress of memory location 1000, but nothing special is stored ataddress 1000. This means that you cannot access the _value_ of alinker script defined symbol - it has no value - all you can do isaccess the _address_ of a linker script defined symbol.Hence when you are using a linker script defined symbol in sourcecode you should always take the address of the symbol, and neverattempt to use its value. For example suppose you want to copy thecontents of a section of memory called .ROM into a section called.FLASH and the linker script contains these declarations:start_of_ROM = .ROM;end_of_ROM = .ROM + sizeof (.ROM) - 1;start_of_FLASH = .FLASH;Then the C source code to perform the copy would be:extern char start_of_ROM, end_of_ROM, start_of_FLASH;memcpy (& start_of_FLASH, & start_of_ROM, & end_of_ROM - & start_of_ROM);Note the use of the `&' operators. These are correct.File: ld.info, Node: SECTIONS, Next: MEMORY, Prev: Assignments, Up: Scripts3.6 SECTIONS Command====================The `SECTIONS' command tells the linker how to map input sections intooutput sections, and how to place the output sections in memory.The format of the `SECTIONS' command is:SECTIONS{SECTIONS-COMMANDSECTIONS-COMMAND...}Each SECTIONS-COMMAND may of be one of the following:* an `ENTRY' command (*note Entry command: Entry Point.)* a symbol assignment (*note Assignments::)* an output section description* an overlay descriptionThe `ENTRY' command and symbol assignments are permitted inside the`SECTIONS' command for convenience in using the location counter inthose commands. This can also make the linker script easier tounderstand because you can use those commands at meaningful points inthe layout of the output file.Output section descriptions and overlay descriptions are describedbelow.If you do not use a `SECTIONS' command in your linker script, thelinker will place each input section into an identically named outputsection in the order that the sections are first encountered in theinput files. If all input sections are present in the first file, forexample, the order of sections in the output file will match the orderin the first input file. The first section will be at address zero.* Menu:* Output Section Description:: Output section description* Output Section Name:: Output section name* Output Section Address:: Output section address* Input Section:: Input section description* Output Section Data:: Output section data* Output Section Keywords:: Output section keywords* Output Section Discarding:: Output section discarding* Output Section Attributes:: Output section attributes* Overlay Description:: Overlay descriptionFile: ld.info, Node: Output Section Description, Next: Output Section Name, Up: SECTIONS3.6.1 Output Section Description--------------------------------The full description of an output section looks like this:SECTION [ADDRESS] [(TYPE)] :[AT(LMA)] [ALIGN(SECTION_ALIGN)] [SUBALIGN(SUBSECTION_ALIGN)]{OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMANDOUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND...} [>REGION] [AT>LMA_REGION] [:PHDR :PHDR ...] [=FILLEXP]Most output sections do not use most of the optional sectionattributes.The whitespace around SECTION is required, so that the section nameis unambiguous. The colon and the curly braces are also required. Theline breaks and other white space are optional.Each OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND may be one of the following:* a symbol assignment (*note Assignments::)* an input section description (*note Input Section::)* data values to include directly (*note Output Section Data::)* a special output section keyword (*note Output Section Keywords::)File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Name, Next: Output Section Address, Prev: Output Section Description, Up: SECTIONS3.6.2 Output Section Name-------------------------The name of the output section is SECTION. SECTION must meet theconstraints of your output format. In formats which only support alimited number of sections, such as `a.out', the name must be one ofthe names supported by the format (`a.out', for example, allows only`.text', `.data' or `.bss'). If the output format supports any numberof sections, but with numbers and not names (as is the case for Oasys),the name should be supplied as a quoted numeric string. A section namemay consist of any sequence of characters, but a name which containsany unusual characters such as commas must be quoted.The output section name `/DISCARD/' is special; *Note Output SectionDiscarding::.File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Address, Next: Input Section, Prev: Output Section Name, Up: SECTIONS3.6.3 Output Section Address----------------------------The ADDRESS is an expression for the VMA (the virtual memory address)of the output section. If you do not provide ADDRESS, the linker willset it based on REGION if present, or otherwise based on the currentvalue of the location counter.If you provide ADDRESS, the address of the output section will beset to precisely that. If you provide neither ADDRESS nor REGION, thenthe address of the output section will be set to the current value ofthe location counter aligned to the alignment requirements of theoutput section. The alignment requirement of the output section is thestrictest alignment of any input section contained within the outputsection.For example,.text . : { *(.text) }and.text : { *(.text) }are subtly different. The first will set the address of the `.text'output section to the current value of the location counter. Thesecond will set it to the current value of the location counter alignedto the strictest alignment of a `.text' input section.The ADDRESS may be an arbitrary expression; *Note Expressions::.For example, if you want to align the section on a 0x10 byte boundary,so that the lowest four bits of the section address are zero, you coulddo something like this:.text ALIGN(0x10) : { *(.text) }This works because `ALIGN' returns the current location counteraligned upward to the specified value.Specifying ADDRESS for a section will change the value of thelocation counter.File: ld.info, Node: Input Section, Next: Output Section Data, Prev: Output Section Address, Up: SECTIONS3.6.4 Input Section Description-------------------------------The most common output section command is an input section description.The input section description is the most basic linker scriptoperation. You use output sections to tell the linker how to lay outyour program in memory. You use input section descriptions to tell thelinker how to map the input files into your memory layout.* Menu:* Input Section Basics:: Input section basics* Input Section Wildcards:: Input section wildcard patterns* Input Section Common:: Input section for common symbols* Input Section Keep:: Input section and garbage collection* Input Section Example:: Input section exampleFile: ld.info, Node: Input Section Basics, Next: Input Section Wildcards, Up: Input Section3.6.4.1 Input Section Basics............................An input section description consists of a file name optionally followedby a list of section names in parentheses.The file name and the section name may be wildcard patterns, which wedescribe further below (*note Input Section Wildcards::).The most common input section description is to include all inputsections with a particular name in the output section. For example, toinclude all input `.text' sections, you would write:*(.text)Here the `*' is a wildcard which matches any file name. To excludea list of files from matching the file name wildcard, EXCLUDE_FILE maybe used to match all files except the ones specified in theEXCLUDE_FILE list. For example:(*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *otherfile.o) .ctors))will cause all .ctors sections from all files except `crtend.o' and`otherfile.o' to be included.There are two ways to include more than one section:*(.text .rdata)*(.text) *(.rdata)The difference between these is the order in which the `.text' and`.rdata' input sections will appear in the output section. In thefirst example, they will be intermingled, appearing in the same order asthey are found in the linker input. In the second example, all `.text'input sections will appear first, followed by all `.rdata' inputsections.You can specify a file name to include sections from a particularfile. You would do this if one or more of your files contain specialdata that needs to be at a particular location in memory. For example:data.o(.data)If you use a file name without a list of sections, then all sectionsin the input file will be included in the output section. This is notcommonly done, but it may by useful on occasion. For example:data.oWhen you use a file name which does not contain any wild cardcharacters, the linker will first see if you also specified the filename on the linker command line or in an `INPUT' command. If you didnot, the linker will attempt to open the file as an input file, asthough it appeared on the command line. Note that this differs from an`INPUT' command, because the linker will not search for the file in thearchive search path.File: ld.info, Node: Input Section Wildcards, Next: Input Section Common, Prev: Input Section Basics, Up: Input Section3.6.4.2 Input Section Wildcard Patterns.......................................In an input section description, either the file name or the sectionname or both may be wildcard patterns.The file name of `*' seen in many examples is a simple wildcardpattern for the file name.The wildcard patterns are like those used by the Unix shell.`*'matches any number of characters`?'matches any single character`[CHARS]'matches a single instance of any of the CHARS; the `-' charactermay be used to specify a range of characters, as in `[a-z]' tomatch any lower case letter`\'quotes the following characterWhen a file name is matched with a wildcard, the wildcard characterswill not match a `/' character (used to separate directory names onUnix). A pattern consisting of a single `*' character is an exception;it will always match any file name, whether it contains a `/' or not.In a section name, the wildcard characters will match a `/' character.File name wildcard patterns only match files which are explicitlyspecified on the command line or in an `INPUT' command. The linkerdoes not search directories to expand wildcards.If a file name matches more than one wildcard pattern, or if a filename appears explicitly and is also matched by a wildcard pattern, thelinker will use the first match in the linker script. For example, thissequence of input section descriptions is probably in error, because the`data.o' rule will not be used:.data : { *(.data) }.data1 : { data.o(.data) }Normally, the linker will place files and sections matched bywildcards in the order in which they are seen during the link. You canchange this by using the `SORT_BY_NAME' keyword, which appears before awildcard pattern in parentheses (e.g., `SORT_BY_NAME(.text*)'). Whenthe `SORT_BY_NAME' keyword is used, the linker will sort the files orsections into ascending order by name before placing them in the outputfile.`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' is very similar to `SORT_BY_NAME'. Thedifference is `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' will sort sections into ascendingorder by alignment before placing them in the output file.`SORT' is an alias for `SORT_BY_NAME'.When there are nested section sorting commands in linker script,there can be at most 1 level of nesting for section sorting commands.1. `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard section pattern)).It will sort the input sections by name first, then by alignmentif 2 sections have the same name.2. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)).It will sort the input sections by alignment first, then by nameif 2 sections have the same alignment.3. `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)) istreated the same as `SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern).4. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard sectionpattern)) is treated the same as `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcardsection pattern).5. All other nested section sorting commands are invalid.When both command line section sorting option and linker scriptsection sorting command are used, section sorting command always takesprecedence over the command line option.If the section sorting command in linker script isn't nested, thecommand line option will make the section sorting command to be treatedas nested sorting command.1. `SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern ) with `--sort-sectionsalignment' is equivalent to `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT'(wildcard section pattern)).2. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard section pattern) with`--sort-section name' is equivalent to `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT'(`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)).If the section sorting command in linker script is nested, thecommand line option will be ignored.If you ever get confused about where input sections are going, usethe `-M' linker option to generate a map file. The map file showsprecisely how input sections are mapped to output sections.This example shows how wildcard patterns might be used to partitionfiles. This linker script directs the linker to place all `.text'sections in `.text' and all `.bss' sections in `.bss'. The linker willplace the `.data' section from all files beginning with an upper casecharacter in `.DATA'; for all other files, the linker will place the`.data' section in `.data'.SECTIONS {.text : { *(.text) }.DATA : { [A-Z]*(.data) }.data : { *(.data) }.bss : { *(.bss) }}File: ld.info, Node: Input Section Common, Next: Input Section Keep, Prev: Input Section Wildcards, Up: Input Section3.6.4.3 Input Section for Common Symbols........................................A special notation is needed for common symbols, because in many objectfile formats common symbols do not have a particular input section. Thelinker treats common symbols as though they are in an input sectionnamed `COMMON'.You may use file names with the `COMMON' section just as with anyother input sections. You can use this to place common symbols from aparticular input file in one section while common symbols from otherinput files are placed in another section.In most cases, common symbols in input files will be placed in the`.bss' section in the output file. For example:.bss { *(.bss) *(COMMON) }Some object file formats have more than one type of common symbol.For example, the MIPS ELF object file format distinguishes standardcommon symbols and small common symbols. In this case, the linker willuse a different special section name for other types of common symbols.In the case of MIPS ELF, the linker uses `COMMON' for standard commonsymbols and `.scommon' for small common symbols. This permits you tomap the different types of common symbols into memory at differentlocations.You will sometimes see `[COMMON]' in old linker scripts. Thisnotation is now considered obsolete. It is equivalent to `*(COMMON)'.File: ld.info, Node: Input Section Keep, Next: Input Section Example, Prev: Input Section Common, Up: Input Section3.6.4.4 Input Section and Garbage Collection............................................When link-time garbage collection is in use (`--gc-sections'), it isoften useful to mark sections that should not be eliminated. This isaccomplished by surrounding an input section's wildcard entry with`KEEP()', as in `KEEP(*(.init))' or `KEEP(SORT_BY_NAME(*)(.ctors))'.File: ld.info, Node: Input Section Example, Prev: Input Section Keep, Up: Input Section3.6.4.5 Input Section Example.............................The following example is a complete linker script. It tells the linkerto read all of the sections from file `all.o' and place them at thestart of output section `outputa' which starts at location `0x10000'.All of section `.input1' from file `foo.o' follows immediately, in thesame output section. All of section `.input2' from `foo.o' goes intooutput section `outputb', followed by section `.input1' from `foo1.o'.All of the remaining `.input1' and `.input2' sections from any filesare written to output section `outputc'.SECTIONS {outputa 0x10000 :{all.ofoo.o (.input1)}outputb :{foo.o (.input2)foo1.o (.input1)}outputc :{*(.input1)*(.input2)}}File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Data, Next: Output Section Keywords, Prev: Input Section, Up: SECTIONS3.6.5 Output Section Data-------------------------You can include explicit bytes of data in an output section by using`BYTE', `SHORT', `LONG', `QUAD', or `SQUAD' as an output sectioncommand. Each keyword is followed by an expression in parenthesesproviding the value to store (*note Expressions::). The value of theexpression is stored at the current value of the location counter.The `BYTE', `SHORT', `LONG', and `QUAD' commands store one, two,four, and eight bytes (respectively). After storing the bytes, thelocation counter is incremented by the number of bytes stored.For example, this will store the byte 1 followed by the four bytevalue of the symbol `addr':BYTE(1)LONG(addr)When using a 64 bit host or target, `QUAD' and `SQUAD' are the same;they both store an 8 byte, or 64 bit, value. When both host and targetare 32 bits, an expression is computed as 32 bits. In this case `QUAD'stores a 32 bit value zero extended to 64 bits, and `SQUAD' stores a 32bit value sign extended to 64 bits.If the object file format of the output file has an explicitendianness, which is the normal case, the value will be stored in thatendianness. When the object file format does not have an explicitendianness, as is true of, for example, S-records, the value will bestored in the endianness of the first input object file.Note--these commands only work inside a section description and notbetween them, so the following will produce an error from the linker:SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } LONG(1) .data : { *(.data) } }whereas this will work:SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) ; LONG(1) } .data : { *(.data) } }You may use the `FILL' command to set the fill pattern for thecurrent section. It is followed by an expression in parentheses. Anyotherwise unspecified regions of memory within the section (for example,gaps left due to the required alignment of input sections) are filledwith the value of the expression, repeated as necessary. A `FILL'statement covers memory locations after the point at which it occurs inthe section definition; by including more than one `FILL' statement,you can have different fill patterns in different parts of an outputsection.This example shows how to fill unspecified regions of memory with thevalue `0x90':FILL(0x90909090)The `FILL' command is similar to the `=FILLEXP' output sectionattribute, but it only affects the part of the section following the`FILL' command, rather than the entire section. If both are used, the`FILL' command takes precedence. *Note Output Section Fill::, fordetails on the fill expression.File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Keywords, Next: Output Section Discarding, Prev: Output Section Data, Up: SECTIONS3.6.6 Output Section Keywords-----------------------------There are a couple of keywords which can appear as output sectioncommands.`CREATE_OBJECT_SYMBOLS'The command tells the linker to create a symbol for each inputfile. The name of each symbol will be the name of thecorresponding input file. The section of each symbol will be theoutput section in which the `CREATE_OBJECT_SYMBOLS' commandappears.This is conventional for the a.out object file format. It is notnormally used for any other object file format.`CONSTRUCTORS'When linking using the a.out object file format, the linker uses anunusual set construct to support C++ global constructors anddestructors. When linking object file formats which do not supportarbitrary sections, such as ECOFF and XCOFF, the linker willautomatically recognize C++ global constructors and destructors byname. For these object file formats, the `CONSTRUCTORS' commandtells the linker to place constructor information in the outputsection where the `CONSTRUCTORS' command appears. The`CONSTRUCTORS' command is ignored for other object file formats.The symbol `__CTOR_LIST__' marks the start of the globalconstructors, and the symbol `__CTOR_END__' marks the end.Similarly, `__DTOR_LIST__' and `__DTOR_END__' mark the start andend of the global destructors. The first word in the list is thenumber of entries, followed by the address of each constructor ordestructor, followed by a zero word. The compiler must arrange toactually run the code. For these object file formats GNU C++normally calls constructors from a subroutine `__main'; a call to`__main' is automatically inserted into the startup code for`main'. GNU C++ normally runs destructors either by using`atexit', or directly from the function `exit'.For object file formats such as `COFF' or `ELF' which supportarbitrary section names, GNU C++ will normally arrange to put theaddresses of global constructors and destructors into the `.ctors'and `.dtors' sections. Placing the following sequence into yourlinker script will build the sort of table which the GNU C++runtime code expects to see.__CTOR_LIST__ = .;LONG((__CTOR_END__ - __CTOR_LIST__) / 4 - 2)*(.ctors)LONG(0)__CTOR_END__ = .;__DTOR_LIST__ = .;LONG((__DTOR_END__ - __DTOR_LIST__) / 4 - 2)*(.dtors)LONG(0)__DTOR_END__ = .;If you are using the GNU C++ support for initialization priority,which provides some control over the order in which globalconstructors are run, you must sort the constructors at link timeto ensure that they are executed in the correct order. When usingthe `CONSTRUCTORS' command, use `SORT_BY_NAME(CONSTRUCTORS)'instead. When using the `.ctors' and `.dtors' sections, use`*(SORT_BY_NAME(.ctors))' and `*(SORT_BY_NAME(.dtors))' instead ofjust `*(.ctors)' and `*(.dtors)'.Normally the compiler and linker will handle these issuesautomatically, and you will not need to concern yourself withthem. However, you may need to consider this if you are using C++and writing your own linker scripts.File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Discarding, Next: Output Section Attributes, Prev: Output Section Keywords, Up: SECTIONS3.6.7 Output Section Discarding-------------------------------The linker will not create output section which do not have anycontents. This is for convenience when referring to input sections thatmay or may not be present in any of the input files. For example:.foo { *(.foo) }will only create a `.foo' section in the output file if there is a`.foo' section in at least one input file.If you use anything other than an input section description as anoutput section command, such as a symbol assignment, then the outputsection will always be created, even if there are no matching inputsections.The special output section name `/DISCARD/' may be used to discardinput sections. Any input sections which are assigned to an outputsection named `/DISCARD/' are not included in the output file.File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Attributes, Next: Overlay Description, Prev: Output Section Discarding, Up: SECTIONS3.6.8 Output Section Attributes-------------------------------We showed above that the full description of an output section lookedlike this:SECTION [ADDRESS] [(TYPE)] :[AT(LMA)] [ALIGN(SECTION_ALIGN)] [SUBALIGN(SUBSECTION_ALIGN)]{OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMANDOUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND...} [>REGION] [AT>LMA_REGION] [:PHDR :PHDR ...] [=FILLEXP]We've already described SECTION, ADDRESS, andOUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND. In this section we will describe the remainingsection attributes.* Menu:* Output Section Type:: Output section type* Output Section LMA:: Output section LMA* Forced Output Alignment:: Forced Output Alignment* Forced Input Alignment:: Forced Input Alignment* Output Section Region:: Output section region* Output Section Phdr:: Output section phdr* Output Section Fill:: Output section fillFile: ld.info, Node: Output Section Type, Next: Output Section LMA, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.1 Output Section Type...........................Each output section may have a type. The type is a keyword inparentheses. The following types are defined:`NOLOAD'The section should be marked as not loadable, so that it will notbe loaded into memory when the program is run.`DSECT'`COPY'`INFO'`OVERLAY'These type names are supported for backward compatibility, and arerarely used. They all have the same effect: the section should bemarked as not allocatable, so that no memory is allocated for thesection when the program is run.The linker normally sets the attributes of an output section based onthe input sections which map into it. You can override this by usingthe section type. For example, in the script sample below, the `ROM'section is addressed at memory location `0' and does not need to beloaded when the program is run. The contents of the `ROM' section willappear in the linker output file as usual.SECTIONS {ROM 0 (NOLOAD) : { ... }...}File: ld.info, Node: Output Section LMA, Next: Forced Output Alignment, Prev: Output Section Type, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.2 Output Section LMA..........................Every section has a virtual address (VMA) and a load address (LMA); see*Note Basic Script Concepts::. The address expression which may appearin an output section description sets the VMA (*note Output SectionAddress::).The linker will normally set the LMA equal to the VMA. You canchange that by using the `AT' keyword. The expression LMA that followsthe `AT' keyword specifies the load address of the section.Alternatively, with `AT>LMA_REGION' expression, you may specify amemory region for the section's load address. *Note MEMORY::. Notethat if the section has not had a VMA assigned to it then the linkerwill use the LMA_REGION as the VMA region as well. *Note OutputSection Region::.This feature is designed to make it easy to build a ROM image. Forexample, the following linker script creates three output sections: onecalled `.text', which starts at `0x1000', one called `.mdata', which isloaded at the end of the `.text' section even though its VMA is`0x2000', and one called `.bss' to hold uninitialized data at address`0x3000'. The symbol `_data' is defined with the value `0x2000', whichshows that the location counter holds the VMA value, not the LMA value.SECTIONS{.text 0x1000 : { *(.text) _etext = . ; }.mdata 0x2000 :AT ( ADDR (.text) + SIZEOF (.text) ){ _data = . ; *(.data); _edata = . ; }.bss 0x3000 :{ _bstart = . ; *(.bss) *(COMMON) ; _bend = . ;}}The run-time initialization code for use with a program generatedwith this linker script would include something like the following, tocopy the initialized data from the ROM image to its runtime address.Notice how this code takes advantage of the symbols defined by thelinker script.extern char _etext, _data, _edata, _bstart, _bend;char *src = &_etext;char *dst = &_data;/* ROM has data at end of text; copy it. */while (dst < &_edata) {*dst++ = *src++;}/* Zero bss */for (dst = &_bstart; dst< &_bend; dst++)*dst = 0;File: ld.info, Node: Forced Output Alignment, Next: Forced Input Alignment, Prev: Output Section LMA, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.3 Forced Output Alignment...............................You can increase an output section's alignment by using ALIGN.File: ld.info, Node: Forced Input Alignment, Next: Output Section Region, Prev: Forced Output Alignment, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.4 Forced Input Alignment..............................You can force input section alignment within an output section by usingSUBALIGN. The value specified overrides any alignment given by inputsections, whether larger or smaller.File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Region, Next: Output Section Phdr, Prev: Forced Input Alignment, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.5 Output Section Region.............................You can assign a section to a previously defined region of memory byusing `>REGION'. *Note MEMORY::.Here is a simple example:MEMORY { rom : ORIGIN = 0x1000, LENGTH = 0x1000 }SECTIONS { ROM : { *(.text) } >rom }File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Phdr, Next: Output Section Fill, Prev: Output Section Region, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.6 Output Section Phdr...........................You can assign a section to a previously defined program segment byusing `:PHDR'. *Note PHDRS::. If a section is assigned to one or moresegments, then all subsequent allocated sections will be assigned tothose segments as well, unless they use an explicitly `:PHDR' modifier.You can use `:NONE' to tell the linker to not put the section in anysegment at all.Here is a simple example:PHDRS { text PT_LOAD ; }SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } :text }File: ld.info, Node: Output Section Fill, Prev: Output Section Phdr, Up: Output Section Attributes3.6.8.7 Output Section Fill...........................You can set the fill pattern for an entire section by using `=FILLEXP'.FILLEXP is an expression (*note Expressions::). Any otherwiseunspecified regions of memory within the output section (for example,gaps left due to the required alignment of input sections) will befilled with the value, repeated as necessary. If the fill expressionis a simple hex number, ie. a string of hex digit starting with `0x'and without a trailing `k' or `M', then an arbitrarily long sequence ofhex digits can be used to specify the fill pattern; Leading zerosbecome part of the pattern too. For all other cases, including extraparentheses or a unary `+', the fill pattern is the four leastsignificant bytes of the value of the expression. In all cases, thenumber is big-endian.You can also change the fill value with a `FILL' command in theoutput section commands; (*note Output Section Data::).Here is a simple example:SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } =0x90909090 }File: ld.info, Node: Overlay Description, Prev: Output Section Attributes, Up: SECTIONS3.6.9 Overlay Description-------------------------An overlay description provides an easy way to describe sections whichare to be loaded as part of a single memory image but are to be run atthe same memory address. At run time, some sort of overlay manager willcopy the overlaid sections in and out of the runtime memory address asrequired, perhaps by simply manipulating addressing bits. This approachcan be useful, for example, when a certain region of memory is fasterthan another.Overlays are described using the `OVERLAY' command. The `OVERLAY'command is used within a `SECTIONS' command, like an output sectiondescription. The full syntax of the `OVERLAY' command is as follows:OVERLAY [START] : [NOCROSSREFS] [AT ( LDADDR )]{SECNAME1{OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMANDOUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND...} [:PHDR...] [=FILL]SECNAME2{OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMANDOUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND...} [:PHDR...] [=FILL]...} [>REGION] [:PHDR...] [=FILL]Everything is optional except `OVERLAY' (a keyword), and eachsection must have a name (SECNAME1 and SECNAME2 above). The sectiondefinitions within the `OVERLAY' construct are identical to thosewithin the general `SECTIONS' contruct (*note SECTIONS::), except thatno addresses and no memory regions may be defined for sections withinan `OVERLAY'.The sections are all defined with the same starting address. Theload addresses of the sections are arranged such that they areconsecutive in memory starting at the load address used for the`OVERLAY' as a whole (as with normal section definitions, the loadaddress is optional, and defaults to the start address; the startaddress is also optional, and defaults to the current value of thelocation counter).If the `NOCROSSREFS' keyword is used, and there any references amongthe sections, the linker will report an error. Since the sections allrun at the same address, it normally does not make sense for onesection to refer directly to another. *Note NOCROSSREFS: MiscellaneousCommands.For each section within the `OVERLAY', the linker automaticallydefines two symbols. The symbol `__load_start_SECNAME' is defined asthe starting load address of the section. The symbol`__load_stop_SECNAME' is defined as the final load address of thesection. Any characters within SECNAME which are not legal within Cidentifiers are removed. C (or assembler) code may use these symbolsto move the overlaid sections around as necessary.At the end of the overlay, the value of the location counter is setto the start address of the overlay plus the size of the largestsection.Here is an example. Remember that this would appear inside a`SECTIONS' construct.OVERLAY 0x1000 : AT (0x4000){.text0 { o1/*.o(.text) }.text1 { o2/*.o(.text) }}This will define both `.text0' and `.text1' to start at address0x1000. `.text0' will be loaded at address 0x4000, and `.text1' willbe loaded immediately after `.text0'. The following symbols will bedefined: `__load_start_text0', `__load_stop_text0',`__load_start_text1', `__load_stop_text1'.C code to copy overlay `.text1' into the overlay area might looklike the following.extern char __load_start_text1, __load_stop_text1;memcpy ((char *) 0x1000, &__load_start_text1,&__load_stop_text1 - &__load_start_text1);Note that the `OVERLAY' command is just syntactic sugar, sinceeverything it does can be done using the more basic commands. The aboveexample could have been written identically as follows..text0 0x1000 : AT (0x4000) { o1/*.o(.text) }__load_start_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0);__load_stop_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0) + SIZEOF (.text0);.text1 0x1000 : AT (0x4000 + SIZEOF (.text0)) { o2/*.o(.text) }__load_start_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1);__load_stop_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1) + SIZEOF (.text1);. = 0x1000 + MAX (SIZEOF (.text0), SIZEOF (.text1));File: ld.info, Node: MEMORY, Next: PHDRS, Prev: SECTIONS, Up: Scripts3.7 MEMORY Command==================The linker's default configuration permits allocation of all availablememory. You can override this by using the `MEMORY' command.The `MEMORY' command describes the location and size of blocks ofmemory in the target. You can use it to describe which memory regionsmay be used by the linker, and which memory regions it must avoid. Youcan then assign sections to particular memory regions. The linker willset section addresses based on the memory regions, and will warn aboutregions that become too full. The linker will not shuffle sectionsaround to fit into the available regions.A linker script may contain at most one use of the `MEMORY' command.However, you can define as many blocks of memory within it as youwish. The syntax is:MEMORY{NAME [(ATTR)] : ORIGIN = ORIGIN, LENGTH = LEN...}The NAME is a name used in the linker script to refer to the region.The region name has no meaning outside of the linker script. Regionnames are stored in a separate name space, and will not conflict withsymbol names, file names, or section names. Each memory region musthave a distinct name.The ATTR string is an optional list of attributes that specifywhether to use a particular memory region for an input section which isnot explicitly mapped in the linker script. As described in *NoteSECTIONS::, if you do not specify an output section for some inputsection, the linker will create an output section with the same name asthe input section. If you define region attributes, the linker will usethem to select the memory region for the output section that it creates.The ATTR string must consist only of the following characters:`R'Read-only section`W'Read/write section`X'Executable section`A'Allocatable section`I'Initialized section`L'Same as `I'`!'Invert the sense of any of the preceding attributesIf a unmapped section matches any of the listed attributes other than`!', it will be placed in the memory region. The `!' attributereverses this test, so that an unmapped section will be placed in thememory region only if it does not match any of the listed attributes.The ORIGIN is an numerical expression for the start address of thememory region. The expression must evaluate to a constant and itcannot involve any symbols. The keyword `ORIGIN' may be abbreviated to`org' or `o' (but not, for example, `ORG').The LEN is an expression for the size in bytes of the memory region.As with the ORIGIN expression, the expression must be numerical onlyand must evaluate to a constant. The keyword `LENGTH' may beabbreviated to `len' or `l'.In the following example, we specify that there are two memoryregions available for allocation: one starting at `0' for 256 kilobytes,and the other starting at `0x40000000' for four megabytes. The linkerwill place into the `rom' memory region every section which is notexplicitly mapped into a memory region, and is either read-only orexecutable. The linker will place other sections which are notexplicitly mapped into a memory region into the `ram' memory region.MEMORY{rom (rx) : ORIGIN = 0, LENGTH = 256Kram (!rx) : org = 0x40000000, l = 4M}Once you define a memory region, you can direct the linker to placespecific output sections into that memory region by using the `>REGION'output section attribute. For example, if you have a memory regionnamed `mem', you would use `>mem' in the output section definition.*Note Output Section Region::. If no address was specified for theoutput section, the linker will set the address to the next availableaddress within the memory region. If the combined output sectionsdirected to a memory region are too large for the region, the linkerwill issue an error message.It is possible to access the origin and length of a memory in anexpression via the `ORIGIN(MEMORY)' and `LENGTH(MEMORY)' functions:_fstack = ORIGIN(ram) + LENGTH(ram) - 4;File: ld.info, Node: PHDRS, Next: VERSION, Prev: MEMORY, Up: Scripts3.8 PHDRS Command=================The ELF object file format uses "program headers", also knows as"segments". The program headers describe how the program should beloaded into memory. You can print them out by using the `objdump'program with the `-p' option.When you run an ELF program on a native ELF system, the system loaderreads the program headers in order to figure out how to load theprogram. This will only work if the program headers are set correctly.This manual does not describe the details of how the system loaderinterprets program headers; for more information, see the ELF ABI.The linker will create reasonable program headers by default.However, in some cases, you may need to specify the program headers moreprecisely. You may use the `PHDRS' command for this purpose. When thelinker sees the `PHDRS' command in the linker script, it will notcreate any program headers other than the ones specified.The linker only pays attention to the `PHDRS' command whengenerating an ELF output file. In other cases, the linker will simplyignore `PHDRS'.This is the syntax of the `PHDRS' command. The words `PHDRS',`FILEHDR', `AT', and `FLAGS' are keywords.PHDRS{NAME TYPE [ FILEHDR ] [ PHDRS ] [ AT ( ADDRESS ) ][ FLAGS ( FLAGS ) ] ;}The NAME is used only for reference in the `SECTIONS' command of thelinker script. It is not put into the output file. Program headernames are stored in a separate name space, and will not conflict withsymbol names, file names, or section names. Each program header musthave a distinct name.Certain program header types describe segments of memory which thesystem loader will load from the file. In the linker script, youspecify the contents of these segments by placing allocatable outputsections in the segments. You use the `:PHDR' output section attributeto place a section in a particular segment. *Note Output SectionPhdr::.It is normal to put certain sections in more than one segment. Thismerely implies that one segment of memory contains another. You mayrepeat `:PHDR', using it once for each segment which should contain thesection.If you place a section in one or more segments using `:PHDR', thenthe linker will place all subsequent allocatable sections which do notspecify `:PHDR' in the same segments. This is for convenience, sincegenerally a whole set of contiguous sections will be placed in a singlesegment. You can use `:NONE' to override the default segment and tellthe linker to not put the section in any segment at all.You may use the `FILEHDR' and `PHDRS' keywords appear after theprogram header type to further describe the contents of the segment.The `FILEHDR' keyword means that the segment should include the ELFfile header. The `PHDRS' keyword means that the segment should includethe ELF program headers themselves.The TYPE may be one of the following. The numbers indicate thevalue of the keyword.`PT_NULL' (0)Indicates an unused program header.`PT_LOAD' (1)Indicates that this program header describes a segment to beloaded from the file.`PT_DYNAMIC' (2)Indicates a segment where dynamic linking information can be found.`PT_INTERP' (3)Indicates a segment where the name of the program interpreter maybe found.`PT_NOTE' (4)Indicates a segment holding note information.`PT_SHLIB' (5)A reserved program header type, defined but not specified by theELF ABI.`PT_PHDR' (6)Indicates a segment where the program headers may be found.EXPRESSIONAn expression giving the numeric type of the program header. Thismay be used for types not defined above.You can specify that a segment should be loaded at a particularaddress in memory by using an `AT' expression. This is identical to the`AT' command used as an output section attribute (*note Output SectionLMA::). The `AT' command for a program header overrides the outputsection attribute.The linker will normally set the segment flags based on the sectionswhich comprise the segment. You may use the `FLAGS' keyword toexplicitly specify the segment flags. The value of FLAGS must be aninteger. It is used to set the `p_flags' field of the program header.Here is an example of `PHDRS'. This shows a typical set of programheaders used on a native ELF system.PHDRS{headers PT_PHDR PHDRS ;interp PT_INTERP ;text PT_LOAD FILEHDR PHDRS ;data PT_LOAD ;dynamic PT_DYNAMIC ;}SECTIONS{. = SIZEOF_HEADERS;.interp : { *(.interp) } :text :interp.text : { *(.text) } :text.rodata : { *(.rodata) } /* defaults to :text */.... = . + 0x1000; /* move to a new page in memory */.data : { *(.data) } :data.dynamic : { *(.dynamic) } :data :dynamic...}File: ld.info, Node: VERSION, Next: Expressions, Prev: PHDRS, Up: Scripts3.9 VERSION Command===================The linker supports symbol versions when using ELF. Symbol versions areonly useful when using shared libraries. The dynamic linker can usesymbol versions to select a specific version of a function when it runsa program that may have been linked against an earlier version of theshared library.You can include a version script directly in the main linker script,or you can supply the version script as an implicit linker script. Youcan also use the `--version-script' linker option.The syntax of the `VERSION' command is simplyVERSION { version-script-commands }The format of the version script commands is identical to that usedby Sun's linker in Solaris 2.5. The version script defines a tree ofversion nodes. You specify the node names and interdependencies in theversion script. You can specify which symbols are bound to whichversion nodes, and you can reduce a specified set of symbols to localscope so that they are not globally visible outside of the sharedlibrary.The easiest way to demonstrate the version script language is with afew examples.VERS_1.1 {global:foo1;local:old*;original*;new*;};VERS_1.2 {foo2;} VERS_1.1;VERS_2.0 {bar1; bar2;extern "C++" {ns::*;"int f(int, double)";}} VERS_1.2;This example version script defines three version nodes. The firstversion node defined is `VERS_1.1'; it has no other dependencies. Thescript binds the symbol `foo1' to `VERS_1.1'. It reduces a number ofsymbols to local scope so that they are not visible outside of theshared library; this is done using wildcard patterns, so that anysymbol whose name begins with `old', `original', or `new' is matched.The wildcard patterns available are the same as those used in the shellwhen matching filenames (also known as "globbing"). However, if youspecify the symbol name inside double quotes, then the name is treatedas literal, rather than as a glob pattern.Next, the version script defines node `VERS_1.2'. This node dependsupon `VERS_1.1'. The script binds the symbol `foo2' to the versionnode `VERS_1.2'.Finally, the version script defines node `VERS_2.0'. This nodedepends upon `VERS_1.2'. The scripts binds the symbols `bar1' and`bar2' are bound to the version node `VERS_2.0'.When the linker finds a symbol defined in a library which is notspecifically bound to a version node, it will effectively bind it to anunspecified base version of the library. You can bind all otherwiseunspecified symbols to a given version node by using `global: *;'somewhere in the version script.The names of the version nodes have no specific meaning other thanwhat they might suggest to the person reading them. The `2.0' versioncould just as well have appeared in between `1.1' and `1.2'. However,this would be a confusing way to write a version script.Node name can be omited, provided it is the only version node in theversion script. Such version script doesn't assign any versions tosymbols, only selects which symbols will be globally visible out andwhich won't.{ global: foo; bar; local: *; };When you link an application against a shared library that hasversioned symbols, the application itself knows which version of eachsymbol it requires, and it also knows which version nodes it needs fromeach shared library it is linked against. Thus at runtime, the dynamicloader can make a quick check to make sure that the libraries you havelinked against do in fact supply all of the version nodes that theapplication will need to resolve all of the dynamic symbols. In thisway it is possible for the dynamic linker to know with certainty thatall external symbols that it needs will be resolvable without having tosearch for each symbol reference.The symbol versioning is in effect a much more sophisticated way ofdoing minor version checking that SunOS does. The fundamental problemthat is being addressed here is that typically references to externalfunctions are bound on an as-needed basis, and are not all bound whenthe application starts up. If a shared library is out of date, arequired interface may be missing; when the application tries to usethat interface, it may suddenly and unexpectedly fail. With symbolversioning, the user will get a warning when they start their program ifthe libraries being used with the application are too old.There are several GNU extensions to Sun's versioning approach. Thefirst of these is the ability to bind a symbol to a version node in thesource file where the symbol is defined instead of in the versioningscript. This was done mainly to reduce the burden on the librarymaintainer. You can do this by putting something like:__asm__(".symver original_foo,foo@VERS_1.1");in the C source file. This renames the function `original_foo' tobe an alias for `foo' bound to the version node `VERS_1.1'. The`local:' directive can be used to prevent the symbol `original_foo'from being exported. A `.symver' directive takes precedence over aversion script.The second GNU extension is to allow multiple versions of the samefunction to appear in a given shared library. In this way you can makean incompatible change to an interface without increasing the majorversion number of the shared library, while still allowing applicationslinked against the old interface to continue to function.To do this, you must use multiple `.symver' directives in the sourcefile. Here is an example:__asm__(".symver original_foo,foo@");__asm__(".symver old_foo,foo@VERS_1.1");__asm__(".symver old_foo1,foo@VERS_1.2");__asm__(".symver new_foo,foo@@VERS_2.0");In this example, `foo@' represents the symbol `foo' bound to theunspecified base version of the symbol. The source file that containsthis example would define 4 C functions: `original_foo', `old_foo',`old_foo1', and `new_foo'.When you have multiple definitions of a given symbol, there needs tobe some way to specify a default version to which external references tothis symbol will be bound. You can do this with the `foo@@VERS_2.0'type of `.symver' directive. You can only declare one version of asymbol as the default in this manner; otherwise you would effectivelyhave multiple definitions of the same symbol.If you wish to bind a reference to a specific version of the symbolwithin the shared library, you can use the aliases of convenience(i.e., `old_foo'), or you can use the `.symver' directive tospecifically bind to an external version of the function in question.You can also specify the language in the version script:VERSION extern "lang" { version-script-commands }The supported `lang's are `C', `C++', and `Java'. The linker williterate over the list of symbols at the link time and demangle themaccording to `lang' before matching them to the patterns specified in`version-script-commands'.Demangled names may contains spaces and other special characters. Asdescribed above, you can use a glob pattern to match demangled names,or you can use a double-quoted string to match the string exactly. Inthe latter case, be aware that minor differences (such as differingwhitespace) between the version script and the demangler output willcause a mismatch. As the exact string generated by the demangler mightchange in the future, even if the mangled name does not, you shouldcheck that all of your version directives are behaving as you expectwhen you upgrade.File: ld.info, Node: Expressions, Next: Implicit Linker Scripts, Prev: VERSION, Up: Scripts3.10 Expressions in Linker Scripts==================================The syntax for expressions in the linker script language is identical tothat of C expressions. All expressions are evaluated as integers. Allexpressions are evaluated in the same size, which is 32 bits if both thehost and target are 32 bits, and is otherwise 64 bits.You can use and set symbol values in expressions.The linker defines several special purpose builtin functions for usein expressions.* Menu:* Constants:: Constants* Symbols:: Symbol Names* Orphan Sections:: Orphan Sections* Location Counter:: The Location Counter* Operators:: Operators* Evaluation:: Evaluation* Expression Section:: The Section of an Expression* Builtin Functions:: Builtin FunctionsFile: ld.info, Node: Constants, Next: Symbols, Up: Expressions3.10.1 Constants----------------All constants are integers.As in C, the linker considers an integer beginning with `0' to beoctal, and an integer beginning with `0x' or `0X' to be hexadecimal.The linker considers other integers to be decimal.In addition, you can use the suffixes `K' and `M' to scale aconstant by `1024' or `1024*1024' respectively. For example, thefollowing all refer to the same quantity:_fourk_1 = 4K;_fourk_2 = 4096;_fourk_3 = 0x1000;File: ld.info, Node: Symbols, Next: Orphan Sections, Prev: Constants, Up: Expressions3.10.2 Symbol Names-------------------Unless quoted, symbol names start with a letter, underscore, or periodand may include letters, digits, underscores, periods, and hyphens.Unquoted symbol names must not conflict with any keywords. You canspecify a symbol which contains odd characters or has the same name as akeyword by surrounding the symbol name in double quotes:"SECTION" = 9;"with a space" = "also with a space" + 10;Since symbols can contain many non-alphabetic characters, it issafest to delimit symbols with spaces. For example, `A-B' is onesymbol, whereas `A - B' is an expression involving subtraction.File: ld.info, Node: Orphan Sections, Next: Location Counter, Prev: Symbols, Up: Expressions3.10.3 Orphan Sections----------------------Orphan sections are sections present in the input files which are notexplicitly placed into the output file by the linker script. Thelinker will still copy these sections into the output file, but it hasto guess as to where they should be placed. The linker uses a simpleheuristic to do this. It attempts to place orphan sections afternon-orphan sections of the same attribute, such as code vs data,loadable vs non-loadable, etc. If there is not enough room to do thisthen it places at the end of the file.For ELF targets, the attribute of the section includes section typeas well as section flag.File: ld.info, Node: Location Counter, Next: Operators, Prev: Orphan Sections, Up: Expressions3.10.4 The Location Counter---------------------------The special linker variable "dot" `.' always contains the currentoutput location counter. Since the `.' always refers to a location inan output section, it may only appear in an expression within a`SECTIONS' command. The `.' symbol may appear anywhere that anordinary symbol is allowed in an expression.Assigning a value to `.' will cause the location counter to bemoved. This may be used to create holes in the output section. Thelocation counter may never be moved backwards.SECTIONS{output :{file1(.text). = . + 1000;file2(.text). += 1000;file3(.text)} = 0x12345678;}In the previous example, the `.text' section from `file1' is locatedat the beginning of the output section `output'. It is followed by a1000 byte gap. Then the `.text' section from `file2' appears, alsowith a 1000 byte gap following before the `.text' section from `file3'.The notation `= 0x12345678' specifies what data to write in the gaps(*note Output Section Fill::).Note: `.' actually refers to the byte offset from the start of thecurrent containing object. Normally this is the `SECTIONS' statement,whose start address is 0, hence `.' can be used as an absolute address.If `.' is used inside a section description however, it refers to thebyte offset from the start of that section, not an absolute address.Thus in a script like this:SECTIONS{. = 0x100.text: {*(.text). = 0x200}. = 0x500.data: {*(.data). += 0x600}}The `.text' section will be assigned a starting address of 0x100 anda size of exactly 0x200 bytes, even if there is not enough data in the`.text' input sections to fill this area. (If there is too much data,an error will be produced because this would be an attempt to move `.'backwards). The `.data' section will start at 0x500 and it will havean extra 0x600 bytes worth of space after the end of the values fromthe `.data' input sections and before the end of the `.data' outputsection itself.Setting symbols to the value of the location counter outside of anoutput section statement can result in unexpected values if the linkerneeds to place orphan sections. For example, given the following:SECTIONS{start_of_text = . ;.text: { *(.text) }end_of_text = . ;start_of_data = . ;.data: { *(.data) }end_of_data = . ;}If the linker needs to place some input section, e.g. `.rodata', notmentioned in the script, it might choose to place that section between`.text' and `.data'. You might think the linker should place `.rodata'on the blank line in the above script, but blank lines are of noparticular significance to the linker. As well, the linker doesn'tassociate the above symbol names with their sections. Instead, itassumes that all assignments or other statements belong to the previousoutput section, except for the special case of an assignment to `.'.I.e., the linker will place the orphan `.rodata' section as if thescript was written as follows:SECTIONS{start_of_text = . ;.text: { *(.text) }end_of_text = . ;start_of_data = . ;.rodata: { *(.rodata) }.data: { *(.data) }end_of_data = . ;}This may or may not be the script author's intention for the value of`start_of_data'. One way to influence the orphan section placement isto assign the location counter to itself, as the linker assumes that anassignment to `.' is setting the start address of a following outputsection and thus should be grouped with that section. So you couldwrite:SECTIONS{start_of_text = . ;.text: { *(.text) }end_of_text = . ;. = . ;start_of_data = . ;.data: { *(.data) }end_of_data = . ;}Now, the orphan `.rodata' section will be placed between`end_of_text' and `start_of_data'.File: ld.info, Node: Operators, Next: Evaluation, Prev: Location Counter, Up: Expressions3.10.5 Operators----------------The linker recognizes the standard C set of arithmetic operators, withthe standard bindings and precedence levels:precedence associativity Operators Notes(highest)1 left ! - ~ (1)2 left * / %3 left + -4 left >> <<5 left == != > < <= >=6 left &7 left |8 left &&9 left ||10 right ? :11 right &= += -= *= /= (2)(lowest)Notes: (1) Prefix operators (2) *Note Assignments::.File: ld.info, Node: Evaluation, Next: Expression Section, Prev: Operators, Up: Expressions3.10.6 Evaluation-----------------The linker evaluates expressions lazily. It only computes the value ofan expression when absolutely necessary.The linker needs some information, such as the value of the startaddress of the first section, and the origins and lengths of memoryregions, in order to do any linking at all. These values are computedas soon as possible when the linker reads in the linker script.However, other values (such as symbol values) are not known or neededuntil after storage allocation. Such values are evaluated later, whenother information (such as the sizes of output sections) is availablefor use in the symbol assignment expression.The sizes of sections cannot be known until after allocation, soassignments dependent upon these are not performed until afterallocation.Some expressions, such as those depending upon the location counter`.', must be evaluated during section allocation.If the result of an expression is required, but the value is notavailable, then an error results. For example, a script like thefollowingSECTIONS{.text 9+this_isnt_constant :{ *(.text) }}will cause the error message `non constant expression for initialaddress'.File: ld.info, Node: Expression Section, Next: Builtin Functions, Prev: Evaluation, Up: Expressions3.10.7 The Section of an Expression-----------------------------------When the linker evaluates an expression, the result is either absoluteor relative to some section. A relative expression is expressed as afixed offset from the base of a section.The position of the expression within the linker script determineswhether it is absolute or relative. An expression which appears withinan output section definition is relative to the base of the outputsection. An expression which appears elsewhere will be absolute.A symbol set to a relative expression will be relocatable if yourequest relocatable output using the `-r' option. That means that afurther link operation may change the value of the symbol. The symbol'ssection will be the section of the relative expression.A symbol set to an absolute expression will retain the same valuethrough any further link operation. The symbol will be absolute, andwill not have any particular associated section.You can use the builtin function `ABSOLUTE' to force an expressionto be absolute when it would otherwise be relative. For example, tocreate an absolute symbol set to the address of the end of the outputsection `.data':SECTIONS{.data : { *(.data) _edata = ABSOLUTE(.); }}If `ABSOLUTE' were not used, `_edata' would be relative to the`.data' section.File: ld.info, Node: Builtin Functions, Prev: Expression Section, Up: Expressions3.10.8 Builtin Functions------------------------The linker script language includes a number of builtin functions foruse in linker script expressions.`ABSOLUTE(EXP)'Return the absolute (non-relocatable, as opposed to non-negative)value of the expression EXP. Primarily useful to assign anabsolute value to a symbol within a section definition, wheresymbol values are normally section relative. *Note ExpressionSection::.`ADDR(SECTION)'Return the absolute address (the VMA) of the named SECTION. Yourscript must previously have defined the location of that section.In the following example, `symbol_1' and `symbol_2' are assignedidentical values:SECTIONS { ....output1 :{start_of_output_1 = ABSOLUTE(.);...}.output :{symbol_1 = ADDR(.output1);symbol_2 = start_of_output_1;}... }`ALIGN(ALIGN)'`ALIGN(EXP,ALIGN)'Return the location counter (`.') or arbitrary expression alignedto the next ALIGN boundary. The single operand `ALIGN' doesn'tchange the value of the location counter--it just does arithmeticon it. The two operand `ALIGN' allows an arbitrary expression tobe aligned upwards (`ALIGN(ALIGN)' is equivalent to `ALIGN(.,ALIGN)').Here is an example which aligns the output `.data' section to thenext `0x2000' byte boundary after the preceding section and sets avariable within the section to the next `0x8000' boundary after theinput sections:SECTIONS { ....data ALIGN(0x2000): {*(.data)variable = ALIGN(0x8000);}... }The first use of `ALIGN' in this example specifies thelocation of a section because it is used as the optional ADDRESSattribute of a section definition (*note Output SectionAddress::). The second use of `ALIGN' is used to defines thevalue of a symbol.The builtin function `NEXT' is closely related to `ALIGN'.`BLOCK(EXP)'This is a synonym for `ALIGN', for compatibility with older linkerscripts. It is most often seen when setting the address of anoutput section.`DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE, COMMONPAGESIZE)'This is equivalent to either(ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE) + (. & (MAXPAGESIZE - 1)))or(ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE) + (. & (MAXPAGESIZE - COMMONPAGESIZE)))depending on whether the latter uses fewer COMMONPAGESIZE sizedpages for the data segment (area between the result of thisexpression and `DATA_SEGMENT_END') than the former or not. If thelatter form is used, it means COMMONPAGESIZE bytes of runtimememory will be saved at the expense of up to COMMONPAGESIZE wastedbytes in the on-disk file.This expression can only be used directly in `SECTIONS' commands,not in any output section descriptions and only once in the linkerscript. COMMONPAGESIZE should be less or equal to MAXPAGESIZE andshould be the system page size the object wants to be optimizedfor (while still working on system page sizes up to MAXPAGESIZE).Example:. = DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN(0x10000, 0x2000);`DATA_SEGMENT_END(EXP)'This defines the end of data segment for `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN'evaluation purposes.. = DATA_SEGMENT_END(.);`DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(OFFSET, EXP)'This defines the end of the `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment when `-z relro'option is used. Second argument is returned. When `-z relro'option is not present, `DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END' does nothing,otherwise `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN' is padded so that EXP + OFFSET isaligned to the most commonly used page boundary for particulartarget. If present in the linker script, it must always come inbetween `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN' and `DATA_SEGMENT_END'.. = DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(24, .);`DEFINED(SYMBOL)'Return 1 if SYMBOL is in the linker global symbol table and isdefined before the statement using DEFINED in the script, otherwisereturn 0. You can use this function to provide default values forsymbols. For example, the following script fragment shows how toset a global symbol `begin' to the first location in the `.text'section--but if a symbol called `begin' already existed, its valueis preserved:SECTIONS { ....text : {begin = DEFINED(begin) ? begin : . ;...}...}`LENGTH(MEMORY)'Return the length of the memory region named MEMORY.`LOADADDR(SECTION)'Return the absolute LMA of the named SECTION. This is normallythe same as `ADDR', but it may be different if the `AT' attributeis used in the output section definition (*note Output SectionLMA::).`MAX(EXP1, EXP2)'Returns the maximum of EXP1 and EXP2.`MIN(EXP1, EXP2)'Returns the minimum of EXP1 and EXP2.`NEXT(EXP)'Return the next unallocated address that is a multiple of EXP.This function is closely related to `ALIGN(EXP)'; unless you usethe `MEMORY' command to define discontinuous memory for the outputfile, the two functions are equivalent.`ORIGIN(MEMORY)'Return the origin of the memory region named MEMORY.`SEGMENT_START(SEGMENT, DEFAULT)'Return the base address of the named SEGMENT. If an explicitvalue has been given for this segment (with a command-line `-T'option) that value will be returned; otherwise the value will beDEFAULT. At present, the `-T' command-line option can only beused to set the base address for the "text", "data", and "bss"sections, but you use `SEGMENT_START' with any segment name.`SIZEOF(SECTION)'Return the size in bytes of the named SECTION, if that section hasbeen allocated. If the section has not been allocated when this isevaluated, the linker will report an error. In the followingexample, `symbol_1' and `symbol_2' are assigned identical values:SECTIONS{ ....output {.start = . ;....end = . ;}symbol_1 = .end - .start ;symbol_2 = SIZEOF(.output);... }`SIZEOF_HEADERS'`sizeof_headers'Return the size in bytes of the output file's headers. This isinformation which appears at the start of the output file. Youcan use this number when setting the start address of the firstsection, if you choose, to facilitate paging.When producing an ELF output file, if the linker script uses the`SIZEOF_HEADERS' builtin function, the linker must compute thenumber of program headers before it has determined all the sectionaddresses and sizes. If the linker later discovers that it needsadditional program headers, it will report an error `not enoughroom for program headers'. To avoid this error, you must avoidusing the `SIZEOF_HEADERS' function, or you must rework your linkerscript to avoid forcing the linker to use additional programheaders, or you must define the program headers yourself using the`PHDRS' command (*note PHDRS::).File: ld.info, Node: Implicit Linker Scripts, Prev: Expressions, Up: Scripts3.11 Implicit Linker Scripts============================If you specify a linker input file which the linker can not recognize asan object file or an archive file, it will try to read the file as alinker script. If the file can not be parsed as a linker script, thelinker will report an error.An implicit linker script will not replace the default linker script.Typically an implicit linker script would contain only symbolassignments, or the `INPUT', `GROUP', or `VERSION' commands.Any input files read because of an implicit linker script will beread at the position in the command line where the implicit linkerscript was read. This can affect archive searching.File: ld.info, Node: Machine Dependent, Next: BFD, Prev: Scripts, Up: Top4 Machine Dependent Features****************************`ld' has additional features on some platforms; the following sectionsdescribe them. Machines where `ld' has no additional functionality arenot listed.* Menu:* H8/300:: `ld' and the H8/300* i960:: `ld' and the Intel 960 family* ARM:: `ld' and the ARM family* HPPA ELF32:: `ld' and HPPA 32-bit ELF* MMIX:: `ld' and MMIX* MSP430:: `ld' and MSP430* PowerPC ELF32:: `ld' and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support* PowerPC64 ELF64:: `ld' and PowerPC64 64-bit ELF Support* TI COFF:: `ld' and TI COFF* WIN32:: `ld' and WIN32 (cygwin/mingw)* Xtensa:: `ld' and Xtensa ProcessorsFile: ld.info, Node: H8/300, Next: i960, Up: Machine Dependent4.1 `ld' and the H8/300=======================For the H8/300, `ld' can perform these global optimizations when youspecify the `--relax' command-line option._relaxing address modes_`ld' finds all `jsr' and `jmp' instructions whose targets arewithin eight bits, and turns them into eight-bit program-counterrelative `bsr' and `bra' instructions, respectively._synthesizing instructions_`ld' finds all `mov.b' instructions which use the sixteen-bitabsolute address form, but refer to the top page of memory, andchanges them to use the eight-bit address form. (That is: thelinker turns `mov.b `@'AA:16' into `mov.b `@'AA:8' whenever theaddress AA is in the top page of memory)._bit manipulation instructions_`ld' finds all bit manipulation instructions like `band, bclr,biand, bild, bior, bist, bixor, bld, bnot, bor, bset, bst, btst,bxor' which use 32 bit and 16 bit absolute address form, but referto the top page of memory, and changes them to use the 8 bitaddress form. (That is: the linker turns `bset #xx:3,`@'AA:32'into `bset #xx:3,`@'AA:8' whenever the address AA is in the toppage of memory)._system control instructions_`ld' finds all `ldc.w, stc.w' instrcutions which use the 32 bitabsolute address form, but refer to the top page of memory, andchanges them to use 16 bit address form. (That is: the linkerturns `ldc.w `@'AA:32,ccr' into `ldc.w `@'AA:16,ccr' whenever theaddress AA is in the top page of memory).File: ld.info, Node: i960, Next: ARM, Prev: H8/300, Up: Machine Dependent4.2 `ld' and the Intel 960 Family=================================You can use the `-AARCHITECTURE' command line option to specify one ofthe two-letter names identifying members of the 960 family; the optionspecifies the desired output target, and warns of any incompatibleinstructions in the input files. It also modifies the linker's searchstrategy for archive libraries, to support the use of librariesspecific to each particular architecture, by including in the searchloop names suffixed with the string identifying the architecture.For example, if your `ld' command line included `-ACA' as well as`-ltry', the linker would look (in its built-in search paths, and inany paths you specify with `-L') for a library with the namestrylibtry.atrycalibtryca.aThe first two possibilities would be considered in any event; the lasttwo are due to the use of `-ACA'.You can meaningfully use `-A' more than once on a command line, sincethe 960 architecture family allows combination of target architectures;each use will add another pair of name variants to search for when `-l'specifies a library.`ld' supports the `--relax' option for the i960 family. If youspecify `--relax', `ld' finds all `balx' and `calx' instructions whosetargets are within 24 bits, and turns them into 24-bit program-counterrelative `bal' and `cal' instructions, respectively. `ld' also turns`cal' instructions into `bal' instructions when it determines that thetarget subroutine is a leaf routine (that is, the target subroutine doesnot itself call any subroutines).File: ld.info, Node: ARM, Next: HPPA ELF32, Prev: i960, Up: Machine Dependent4.3 `ld' and the ARM family===========================For the ARM, `ld' will generate code stubs to allow functions callsbetweem ARM and Thumb code. These stubs only work with code that hasbeen compiled and assembled with the `-mthumb-interwork' command lineoption. If it is necessary to link with old ARM object files orlibraries, which have not been compiled with the -mthumb-interworkoption then the `--support-old-code' command line switch should begiven to the linker. This will make it generate larger stub functionswhich will work with non-interworking aware ARM code. Note, however,the linker does not support generating stubs for function calls tonon-interworking aware Thumb code.The `--thumb-entry' switch is a duplicate of the generic `--entry'switch, in that it sets the program's starting address. But it alsosets the bottom bit of the address, so that it can be branched to usinga BX instruction, and the program will start executing in Thumb modestraight away.The `--be8' switch instructs `ld' to generate BE8 formatexecutables. This option is only valid when linking big-endian objects.The resulting image will contain big-endian data and little-endian code.The `R_ARM_TARGET1' relocation is typically used for entries in the`.init_array' section. It is interpreted as either `R_ARM_REL32' or`R_ARM_ABS32', depending on the target. The `--target1-rel' and`--target1-abs' switches override the default.The `--target2=type' switch overrides the default definition of the`R_ARM_TARGET2' relocation. Valid values for `type', their meanings,and target defaults are as follows:`rel'`R_ARM_REL32' (arm*-*-elf, arm*-*-eabi)`abs'`R_ARM_ABS32' (arm*-*-symbianelf)`got-rel'`R_ARM_GOT_PREL' (arm*-*-linux, arm*-*-*bsd)The `R_ARM_V4BX' relocation (defined by the ARM AAELF specification)enables objects compiled for the ARMv4 architecture to beinterworking-safe when linked with other objects compiled for ARMv4t,but also allows pure ARMv4 binaries to be built from the same ARMv4objects.In the latter case, the switch `--fix-v4bx' must be passed to thelinker, which causes v4t `BX rM' instructions to be rewritten as `MOVPC,rM', since v4 processors do not have a `BX' instruction.In the former case, the switch should not be used, and `R_ARM_V4BX'relocations are ignored.The `--use-blx' switch enables the linker to use ARM/Thumb BLXinstructions (available on ARMv5t and above) in various situations.Currently it is used to perform calls via the PLT from Thumb code usingBLX rather than using BX and a mode-switching stub before each PLTentry. This should lead to such calls executing slightly faster.This option is enabled implicitly for SymbianOS, so there is no needto specify it if you are using that target.File: ld.info, Node: HPPA ELF32, Next: MMIX, Prev: ARM, Up: Machine Dependent4.4 `ld' and HPPA 32-bit ELF Support====================================When generating a shared library, `ld' will by default generate importstubs suitable for use with a single sub-space application. The`--multi-subspace' switch causes `ld' to generate export stubs, anddifferent (larger) import stubs suitable for use with multiplesub-spaces.Long branch stubs and import/export stubs are placed by `ld' in stubsections located between groups of input sections. `--stub-group-size'specifies the maximum size of a group of input sections handled by onestub section. Since branch offsets are signed, a stub section mayserve two groups of input sections, one group before the stub section,and one group after it. However, when using conditional branches thatrequire stubs, it may be better (for branch prediction) that stubsections only serve one group of input sections. A negative value for`N' chooses this scheme, ensuring that branches to stubs always use anegative offset. Two special values of `N' are recognized, `1' and`-1'. These both instruct `ld' to automatically size input sectiongroups for the branch types detected, with the same behaviour regardingstub placement as other positive or negative values of `N' respectively.Note that `--stub-group-size' does not split input sections. Asingle input section larger than the group size specified will of coursecreate a larger group (of one section). If input sections are toolarge, it may not be possible for a branch to reach its stub.File: ld.info, Node: MMIX, Next: MSP430, Prev: HPPA ELF32, Up: Machine Dependent4.5 `ld' and MMIX=================For MMIX, there is a choice of generating `ELF' object files or `mmo'object files when linking. The simulator `mmix' understands the `mmo'format. The binutils `objcopy' utility can translate between the twoformats.There is one special section, the `.MMIX.reg_contents' section.Contents in this section is assumed to correspond to that of globalregisters, and symbols referring to it are translated to specialsymbols, equal to registers. In a final link, the start address of the`.MMIX.reg_contents' section corresponds to the first allocated globalregister multiplied by 8. Register `$255' is not included in thissection; it is always set to the program entry, which is at the symbol`Main' for `mmo' files.Symbols with the prefix `__.MMIX.start.', for example`__.MMIX.start..text' and `__.MMIX.start..data' are special; there mustbe only one each, even if they are local. The default linker scriptuses these to set the default start address of a section.Initial and trailing multiples of zero-valued 32-bit words in asection, are left out from an mmo file.File: ld.info, Node: MSP430, Next: PowerPC ELF32, Prev: MMIX, Up: Machine Dependent4.6 `ld' and MSP430===================For the MSP430 it is possible to select the MPU architecture. The flag`-m [mpu type]' will select an appropriate linker script for selectedMPU type. (To get a list of known MPUs just pass `-m help' option tothe linker).The linker will recognize some extra sections which are MSP430specific:``.vectors''Defines a portion of ROM where interrupt vectors located.``.bootloader''Defines the bootloader portion of the ROM (if applicable). Anycode in this section will be uploaded to the MPU.``.infomem''Defines an information memory section (if applicable). Any code inthis section will be uploaded to the MPU.``.infomemnobits''This is the same as the `.infomem' section except that any code inthis section will not be uploaded to the MPU.``.noinit''Denotes a portion of RAM located above `.bss' section.The last two sections are used by gcc.File: ld.info, Node: PowerPC ELF32, Next: PowerPC64 ELF64, Prev: MSP430, Up: Machine Dependent4.7 `ld' and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support=======================================Branches on PowerPC processors are limited to a signed 26-bitdisplacement, which may result in `ld' giving `relocation truncated tofit' errors with very large programs. `--relax' enables the generationof trampolines that can access the entire 32-bit address space. Thesetrampolines are inserted at section boundaries, so may not themselvesbe reachable if an input section exceeds 33M in size.`--bss-plt'Current PowerPC GCC accepts a `-msecure-plt' option that generatescode capable of using a newer PLT and GOT layout that has thesecurity advantage of no executable section ever needing to bewritable and no writable section ever being executable. PowerPC`ld' will generate this layout, including stubs to access the PLT,if all input files (including startup and static libraries) werecompiled with `-msecure-plt'. `--bss-plt' forces the old BSS PLT(and GOT layout) which can give slightly better performance.`--sdata-got'The new secure PLT and GOT are placed differently relative to othersections compared to older BSS PLT and GOT placement. Thelocation of `.plt' must change because the new secure PLT is aninitialized section while the old PLT is uninitialized. Thereason for the `.got' change is more subtle: The new placementallows `.got' to be read-only in applications linked with `-zrelro -z now'. However, this placement means that `.sdata' cannotalways be used in shared libraries, because the PowerPC ABIaccesses `.sdata' in shared libraries from the GOT pointer.`--sdata-got' forces the old GOT placement. PowerPC GCC doesn'tuse `.sdata' in shared libraries, so this option is really onlyuseful for other compilers that may do so.`--emit-stub-syms'This option causes `ld' to label linker stubs with a local symbolthat encodes the stub type and destination.`--no-tls-optimize'PowerPC `ld' normally performs some optimization of code sequencesused to access Thread-Local Storage. Use this option to disablethe optimization.File: ld.info, Node: PowerPC64 ELF64, Next: TI COFF, Prev: PowerPC ELF32, Up: Machine Dependent4.8 `ld' and PowerPC64 64-bit ELF Support=========================================`--stub-group-size'Long branch stubs, PLT call stubs and TOC adjusting stubs areplaced by `ld' in stub sections located between groups of inputsections. `--stub-group-size' specifies the maximum size of agroup of input sections handled by one stub section. Since branchoffsets are signed, a stub section may serve two groups of inputsections, one group before the stub section, and one group afterit. However, when using conditional branches that require stubs,it may be better (for branch prediction) that stub sections onlyserve one group of input sections. A negative value for `N'chooses this scheme, ensuring that branches to stubs always use anegative offset. Two special values of `N' are recognized, `1'and `-1'. These both instruct `ld' to automatically size inputsection groups for the branch types detected, with the samebehaviour regarding stub placement as other positive or negativevalues of `N' respectively.Note that `--stub-group-size' does not split input sections. Asingle input section larger than the group size specified will ofcourse create a larger group (of one section). If input sectionsare too large, it may not be possible for a branch to reach itsstub.`--emit-stub-syms'This option causes `ld' to label linker stubs with a local symbolthat encodes the stub type and destination.`--dotsyms, --no-dotsyms'These two options control how `ld' interprets version patterns ina version script. Older PowerPC64 compilers emitted both afunction descriptor symbol with the same name as the function, anda code entry symbol with the name prefixed by a dot (`.'). Toproperly version a function `foo', the version script thus needsto control both `foo' and `.foo'. The option `--dotsyms', on bydefault, automatically adds the required dot-prefixed patterns.Use `--no-dotsyms' to disable this feature.`--no-tls-optimize'PowerPC64 `ld' normally performs some optimization of codesequences used to access Thread-Local Storage. Use this option todisable the optimization.`--no-opd-optimize'PowerPC64 `ld' normally removes `.opd' section entriescorresponding to deleted link-once functions, or functions removedby the action of `--gc-sections' or linker scrip `/DISCARD/'. Usethis option to disable `.opd' optimization.`--non-overlapping-opd'Some PowerPC64 compilers have an option to generate compressed`.opd' entries spaced 16 bytes apart, overlapping the third word,the static chain pointer (unused in C) with the first word of thenext entry. This option expands such entries to the full 24 bytes.`--no-toc-optimize'PowerPC64 `ld' normally removes unused `.toc' section entries.Such entries are detected by examining relocations that referencethe TOC in code sections. A reloc in a deleted code section marksa TOC word as unneeded, while a reloc in a kept code section marksa TOC word as needed. Since the TOC may reference itself, TOCrelocs are also examined. TOC words marked as both needed andunneeded will of course be kept. TOC words without any referencingreloc are assumed to be part of a multi-word entry, and are kept ordiscarded as per the nearest marked preceding word. This worksreliably for compiler generated code, but may be incorrect ifassembly code is used to insert TOC entries. Use this option todisable the optimization.`--no-multi-toc'By default, PowerPC64 GCC generates code for a TOC model where TOCentries are accessed with a 16-bit offset from r2. This limits thetotal TOC size to 64K. PowerPC64 `ld' extends this limit bygrouping code sections such that each group uses less than 64K forits TOC entries, then inserts r2 adjusting stubs betweeninter-group calls. `ld' does not split apart input sections, socannot help if a single input file has a `.toc' section thatexceeds 64K, most likely from linking multiple files with `ld -r'.Use this option to turn off this feature.File: ld.info, Node: TI COFF, Next: WIN32, Prev: PowerPC64 ELF64, Up: Machine Dependent4.9 `ld''s Support for Various TI COFF Versions===============================================The `--format' switch allows selection of one of the various TI COFFversions. The latest of this writing is 2; versions 0 and 1 are alsosupported. The TI COFF versions also vary in header byte-order format;`ld' will read any version or byte order, but the output header formatdepends on the default specified by the specific target.File: ld.info, Node: WIN32, Next: Xtensa, Prev: TI COFF, Up: Machine Dependent4.10 `ld' and WIN32 (cygwin/mingw)==================================This section describes some of the win32 specific `ld' issues. See*Note Command Line Options: Options. for detailed decription of thecommand line options mentioned here._import libraries_The standard Windows linker creates and uses so-called importlibraries, which contains information for linking to dll's. Theyare regular static archives and are handled as any other staticarchive. The cygwin and mingw ports of `ld' have specific supportfor creating such libraries provided with the `--out-implib'command line option._exporting DLL symbols_The cygwin/mingw `ld' has several ways to export symbols for dll's._using auto-export functionality_By default `ld' exports symbols with the auto-exportfunctionality, which is controlled by the following commandline options:* -export-all-symbols [This is the default]* -exclude-symbols* -exclude-libsIf, however, `--export-all-symbols' is not given explicitlyon the command line, then the default auto-export behaviorwill be _disabled_ if either of the following are true:* A DEF file is used.* Any symbol in any object file was marked with the__declspec(dllexport) attribute._using a DEF file_Another way of exporting symbols is using a DEF file. A DEFfile is an ASCII file containing definitions of symbols whichshould be exported when a dll is created. Usually it isnamed `<dll name>.def' and is added as any other object fileto the linker's command line. The file's name must end in`.def' or `.DEF'.gcc -o <output> <objectfiles> <dll name>.defUsing a DEF file turns off the normal auto-export behavior,unless the `--export-all-symbols' option is also used.Here is an example of a DEF file for a shared library called`xyz.dll':LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x20000000EXPORTSfoobar_bar = baranother_foo = abc.dll.afoovar1 DATAThis example defines a DLL with a non-default base addressand five symbols in the export table. The third exportedsymbol `_bar' is an alias for the second. The fourth symbol,`another_foo' is resolved by "forwarding" to another moduleand treating it as an alias for `afoo' exported from the DLL`abc.dll'. The final symbol `var1' is declared to be a dataobject.The optional `LIBRARY <name>' command indicates the _internal_name of the output DLL. If `<name>' does not include a suffix,the default library suffix, `.DLL' is appended.When the .DEF file is used to build an application. ratherthan a library, the `NAME <name>' command shoud be usedinstead of `LIBRARY'. If `<name>' does not include a suffix,the default executable suffix, `.EXE' is appended.With either `LIBRARY <name>' or `NAME <name>' the optionalspecification `BASE = <number>' may be used to specify anon-default base address for the image.If neither `LIBRARY <name>' nor `NAME <name>' is specified,or they specify an empty string, the internal name is thesame as the filename specified on the command line.The complete specification of an export symbol is:EXPORTS( ( ( <name1> [ = <name2> ] )| ( <name1> = <module-name> . <external-name>))[ @ <integer> ] [NONAME] [DATA] [CONSTANT] [PRIVATE] ) *Declares `<name1>' as an exported symbol from the DLL, ordeclares `<name1>' as an exported alias for `<name2>'; ordeclares `<name1>' as a "forward" alias for the symbol`<external-name>' in the DLL `<module-name>'. Optionally,the symbol may be exported by the specified ordinal`<integer>' alias.The optional keywords that follow the declaration indicate:`NONAME': Do not put the symbol name in the DLL's exporttable. It will still be exported by its ordinal alias(either the value specified by the .def specification or,otherwise, the value assigned by the linker). The symbolname, however, does remain visible in the import library (ifany), unless `PRIVATE' is also specified.`DATA': The symbol is a variable or object, rather than afunction. The import lib will export only an indirectreference to `foo' as the symbol `_imp__foo' (ie, `foo' mustbe resolved as `*_imp__foo').`CONSTANT': Like `DATA', but put the undecorated `foo' aswell as `_imp__foo' into the import library. Both refer to theread-only import address table's pointer to the variable, notto the variable itself. This can be dangerous. If the usercode fails to add the `dllimport' attribute and also fails toexplicitly add the extra indirection that the use of theattribute enforces, the application will behave unexpectedly.`PRIVATE': Put the symbol in the DLL's export table, but donot put it into the static import library used to resolveimports at link time. The symbol can still be imported usingthe `LoadLibrary/GetProcAddress' API at runtime or by byusing the GNU ld extension of linking directly to the DLLwithout an import library.See ld/deffilep.y in the binutils sources for the fullspecification of other DEF file statementsWhile linking a shared dll, `ld' is able to create a DEF filewith the `--output-def <file>' command line option._Using decorations_Another way of marking symbols for export is to modify thesource code itself, so that when building the DLL each symbolto be exported is declared as:__declspec(dllexport) int a_variable__declspec(dllexport) void a_function(int with_args)All such symbols will be exported from the DLL. If, however,any of the object files in the DLL contain symbols decoratedin this way, then the normal auto-export behavior isdisabled, unless the `--export-all-symbols' option is alsoused.Note that object files that wish to access these symbols must_not_ decorate them with dllexport. Instead, they should usedllimport, instead:__declspec(dllimport) int a_variable__declspec(dllimport) void a_function(int with_args)This complicates the structure of library header files,because when included by the library itself the header mustdeclare the variables and functions as dllexport, but whenincluded by client code the header must declare them asdllimport. There are a number of idioms that are typicallyused to do this; often client code can omit the __declspec()declaration completely. See `--enable-auto-import' and`automatic data imports' for more imformation._automatic data imports_The standard Windows dll format supports data imports from dllsonly by adding special decorations (dllimport/dllexport), whichlet the compiler produce specific assembler instructions to dealwith this issue. This increases the effort necessary to portexisting Un*x code to these platforms, especially for large c++libraries and applications. The auto-import feature, which wasinitially provided by Paul Sokolovsky, allows one to omit thedecorations to archieve a behavior that conforms to that onPOSIX/Un*x platforms. This feature is enabled with the`--enable-auto-import' command-line option, although it is enabledby default on cygwin/mingw. The `--enable-auto-import' optionitself now serves mainly to suppress any warnings that areordinarily emitted when linked objects trigger the feature's use.auto-import of variables does not always work flawlessly withoutadditional assistance. Sometimes, you will see this message"variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read thedocumentation for ld's `--enable-auto-import' for details."The `--enable-auto-import' documentation explains why this erroroccurs, and several methods that can be used to overcome thisdifficulty. One of these methods is the _runtime pseudo-relocs_feature, described below.For complex variables imported from DLLs (such as structs orclasses), object files typically contain a base address for thevariable and an offset (_addend_) within the variable-to specify aparticular field or public member, for instance. Unfortunately,the runtime loader used in win32 environments is incapable offixing these references at runtime without the additionalinformation supplied by dllimport/dllexport decorations. Thestandard auto-import feature described above is unable to resolvethese references.The `--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs' switch allows thesereferences to be resolved without error, while leaving the task ofadjusting the references themselves (with their non-zero addends)to specialized code provided by the runtime environment. Recentversions of the cygwin and mingw environments and compilersprovide this runtime support; older versions do not. However, thesupport is only necessary on the developer's platform; thecompiled result will run without error on an older system.`--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs' is not the default; it must beexplicitly enabled as needed._direct linking to a dll_The cygwin/mingw ports of `ld' support the direct linking,including data symbols, to a dll without the usage of any importlibraries. This is much faster and uses much less memory thandoes the traditional import library method, expecially whenlinking large libraries or applications. When `ld' creates animport lib, each function or variable exported from the dll isstored in its own bfd, even though a single bfd could contain manyexports. The overhead involved in storing, loading, andprocessing so many bfd's is quite large, and explains thetremendous time, memory, and storage needed to link againstparticularly large or complex libraries when using import libs.Linking directly to a dll uses no extra command-line switchesother than `-L' and `-l', because `ld' already searches for anumber of names to match each library. All that is needed fromthe developer's perspective is an understanding of this search, inorder to force ld to select the dll instead of an import library.For instance, when ld is called with the argument `-lxxx' it willattempt to find, in the first directory of its search path,libxxx.dll.axxx.dll.alibxxx.acygxxx.dll (*)libxxx.dllxxx.dllbefore moving on to the next directory in the search path.(*) Actually, this is not `cygxxx.dll' but in fact is`<prefix>xxx.dll', where `<prefix>' is set by the `ld' option`--dll-search-prefix=<prefix>'. In the case of cygwin, thestandard gcc spec file includes `--dll-search-prefix=cyg', so ineffect we actually search for `cygxxx.dll'.Other win32-based unix environments, such as mingw or pw32, mayuse other `<prefix>'es, although at present only cygwin makes useof this feature. It was originally intended to help avoid nameconflicts among dll's built for the various win32/un*xenvironments, so that (for example) two versions of a zlib dllcould coexist on the same machine.The generic cygwin/mingw path layout uses a `bin' directory forapplications and dll's and a `lib' directory for the importlibraries (using cygwin nomenclature):bin/cygxxx.dlllib/libxxx.dll.a (in case of dll's)libxxx.a (in case of static archive)Linking directly to a dll without using the import library can bedone two ways:1. Use the dll directly by adding the `bin' path to the link linegcc -Wl,-verbose -o a.exe -L../bin/ -lxxxHowever, as the dll's often have version numbers appended to theirnames (`cygncurses-5.dll') this will often fail, unless onespecifies `-L../bin -lncurses-5' to include the version. Importlibs are generally not versioned, and do not have this difficulty.2. Create a symbolic link from the dll to a file in the `lib'directory according to the above mentioned search pattern. Thisshould be used to avoid unwanted changes in the tools needed formaking the app/dll.ln -s bin/cygxxx.dll lib/[cyg|lib|]xxx.dll[.a]Then you can link without any make environment changes.gcc -Wl,-verbose -o a.exe -L../lib/ -lxxxThis technique also avoids the version number problems, becausethe following is perfectly legalbin/cygxxx-5.dlllib/libxxx.dll.a -> ../bin/cygxxx-5.dllLinking directly to a dll without using an import lib will workeven when auto-import features are exercised, and even when`--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs' is used.Given the improvements in speed and memory usage, one mightjustifiably wonder why import libraries are used at all. Thereare two reasons:1. Until recently, the link-directly-to-dll functionality did _not_work with auto-imported data.2. Sometimes it is necessary to include pure static objects withinthe import library (which otherwise contains only bfd's forindirection symbols that point to the exports of a dll). Again,the import lib for the cygwin kernel makes use of this ability,and it is not possible to do this without an import lib.So, import libs are not going away. But the ability to replacetrue import libs with a simple symbolic link to (or a copy of) adll, in most cases, is a useful addition to the suite of toolsbinutils makes available to the win32 developer. Given themassive improvements in memory requirements during linking, storagerequirements, and linking speed, we expect that many developerswill soon begin to use this feature whenever possible._symbol aliasing__adding additional names_Sometimes, it is useful to export symbols with additionalnames. A symbol `foo' will be exported as `foo', but it canalso be exported as `_foo' by using special directives in theDEF file when creating the dll. This will affect also theoptional created import library. Consider the following DEFfile:LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000EXPORTSfoo_foo = fooThe line `_foo = foo' maps the symbol `foo' to `_foo'.Another method for creating a symbol alias is to create it inthe source code using the "weak" attribute:void foo () { /* Do something. */; }void _foo () __attribute__ ((weak, alias ("foo")));See the gcc manual for more information about attributes andweak symbols._renaming symbols_Sometimes it is useful to rename exports. For instance, thecygwin kernel does this regularly. A symbol `_foo' can beexported as `foo' but not as `_foo' by using specialdirectives in the DEF file. (This will also affect the importlibrary, if it is created). In the following example:LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000EXPORTS_foo = fooThe line `_foo = foo' maps the exported symbol `foo' to`_foo'.Note: using a DEF file disables the default auto-export behavior,unless the `--export-all-symbols' command line option is used.If, however, you are trying to rename symbols, then you should list_all_ desired exports in the DEF file, including the symbols thatare not being renamed, and do _not_ use the `--export-all-symbols'option. If you list only the renamed symbols in the DEF file, anduse `--export-all-symbols' to handle the other symbols, then theboth the new names _and_ the original names for the renamedsymbols will be exported. In effect, you'd be aliasing thosesymbols, not renaming them, which is probably not what you wanted._weak externals_The Windows object format, PE, specifies a form of weak symbolscalled weak externals. When a weak symbol is linked and thesymbol is not defined, the weak symbol becomes an alias for someother symbol. There are three variants of weak externals:* Definition is searched for in objects and libraries,historically called lazy externals.* Definition is searched for only in other objects, not inlibraries. This form is not presently implemented.* No search; the symbol is an alias. This form is not presentlyimplemented.As a GNU extension, weak symbols that do not specify an alternatesymbol are supported. If the symbol is undefined when linking,the symbol uses a default value.File: ld.info, Node: Xtensa, Prev: WIN32, Up: Machine Dependent4.11 `ld' and Xtensa Processors===============================The default `ld' behavior for Xtensa processors is to interpret`SECTIONS' commands so that lists of explicitly named sections in aspecification with a wildcard file will be interleaved when necessary tokeep literal pools within the range of PC-relative load offsets. Forexample, with the command:SECTIONS{.text : {*(.literal .text)}}`ld' may interleave some of the `.literal' and `.text' sections fromdifferent object files to ensure that the literal pools are within therange of PC-relative load offsets. A valid interleaving might placethe `.literal' sections from an initial group of files followed by the`.text' sections of that group of files. Then, the `.literal' sectionsfrom the rest of the files and the `.text' sections from the rest ofthe files would follow.Relaxation is enabled by default for the Xtensa version of `ld' andprovides two important link-time optimizations. The first optimizationis to combine identical literal values to reduce code size. A redundantliteral will be removed and all the `L32R' instructions that use itwill be changed to reference an identical literal, as long as thelocation of the replacement literal is within the offset range of allthe `L32R' instructions. The second optimization is to removeunnecessary overhead from assembler-generated "longcall" sequences of`L32R'/`CALLXN' when the target functions are within range of direct`CALLN' instructions.For each of these cases where an indirect call sequence can beoptimized to a direct call, the linker will change the `CALLXN'instruction to a `CALLN' instruction, remove the `L32R' instruction,and remove the literal referenced by the `L32R' instruction if it isnot used for anything else. Removing the `L32R' instruction alwaysreduces code size but can potentially hurt performance by changing thealignment of subsequent branch targets. By default, the linker willalways preserve alignments, either by switching some instructionsbetween 24-bit encodings and the equivalent density instructions or byinserting a no-op in place of the `L32R' instruction that was removed.If code size is more important than performance, the `--size-opt'option can be used to prevent the linker from widening densityinstructions or inserting no-ops, except in a few cases where no-opsare required for correctness.The following Xtensa-specific command-line options can be used tocontrol the linker:`--no-relax'Since the Xtensa version of `ld' enables the `--relax' option bydefault, the `--no-relax' option is provided to disable relaxation.`--size-opt'When optimizing indirect calls to direct calls, optimize for codesize more than performance. With this option, the linker will notinsert no-ops or widen density instructions to preserve branchtarget alignment. There may still be some cases where no-ops arerequired to preserve the correctness of the code.File: ld.info, Node: BFD, Next: Reporting Bugs, Prev: Machine Dependent, Up: Top5 BFD*****The linker accesses object and archive files using the BFD libraries.These libraries allow the linker to use the same routines to operate onobject files whatever the object file format. A different object fileformat can be supported simply by creating a new BFD back end and addingit to the library. To conserve runtime memory, however, the linker andassociated tools are usually configured to support only a subset of theobject file formats available. You can use `objdump -i' (*noteobjdump: (binutils.info)objdump.) to list all the formats available foryour configuration.As with most implementations, BFD is a compromise between severalconflicting requirements. The major factor influencing BFD design wasefficiency: any time used converting between formats is time whichwould not have been spent had BFD not been involved. This is partlyoffset by abstraction payback; since BFD simplifies applications andback ends, more time and care may be spent optimizing algorithms for agreater speed.One minor artifact of the BFD solution which you should bear in mindis the potential for information loss. There are two places whereuseful information can be lost using the BFD mechanism: duringconversion and during output. *Note BFD information loss::.* Menu:* BFD outline:: How it works: an outline of BFDFile: ld.info, Node: BFD outline, Up: BFD5.1 How It Works: An Outline of BFD===================================When an object file is opened, BFD subroutines automatically determinethe format of the input object file. They then build a descriptor inmemory with pointers to routines that will be used to access elements ofthe object file's data structures.As different information from the object files is required, BFDreads from different sections of the file and processes them. Forexample, a very common operation for the linker is processing symboltables. Each BFD back end provides a routine for converting betweenthe object file's representation of symbols and an internal canonicalformat. When the linker asks for the symbol table of an object file, itcalls through a memory pointer to the routine from the relevant BFDback end which reads and converts the table into a canonical form. Thelinker then operates upon the canonical form. When the link is finishedand the linker writes the output file's symbol table, another BFD backend routine is called to take the newly created symbol table andconvert it into the chosen output format.* Menu:* BFD information loss:: Information Loss* Canonical format:: The BFD canonical object-file formatFile: ld.info, Node: BFD information loss, Next: Canonical format, Up: BFD outline5.1.1 Information Loss----------------------_Information can be lost during output._ The output formats supportedby BFD do not provide identical facilities, and information which canbe described in one form has nowhere to go in another format. Oneexample of this is alignment information in `b.out'. There is nowherein an `a.out' format file to store alignment information on thecontained data, so when a file is linked from `b.out' and an `a.out'image is produced, alignment information will not propagate to theoutput file. (The linker will still use the alignment informationinternally, so the link is performed correctly).Another example is COFF section names. COFF files may contain anunlimited number of sections, each one with a textual section name. Ifthe target of the link is a format which does not have many sections(e.g., `a.out') or has sections without names (e.g., the Oasys format),the link cannot be done simply. You can circumvent this problem bydescribing the desired input-to-output section mapping with the linkercommand language._Information can be lost during canonicalization._ The BFD internalcanonical form of the external formats is not exhaustive; there arestructures in input formats for which there is no direct representationinternally. This means that the BFD back ends cannot maintain allpossible data richness through the transformation between external tointernal and back to external formats.This limitation is only a problem when an application reads oneformat and writes another. Each BFD back end is responsible formaintaining as much data as possible, and the internal BFD canonicalform has structures which are opaque to the BFD core, and exported onlyto the back ends. When a file is read in one format, the canonical formis generated for BFD and the application. At the same time, the backend saves away any information which may otherwise be lost. If the datais then written back in the same format, the back end routine will beable to use the canonical form provided by the BFD core as well as theinformation it prepared earlier. Since there is a great deal ofcommonality between back ends, there is no information lost whenlinking or copying big endian COFF to little endian COFF, or `a.out' to`b.out'. When a mixture of formats is linked, the information is onlylost from the files whose format differs from the destination.File: ld.info, Node: Canonical format, Prev: BFD information loss, Up: BFD outline5.1.2 The BFD canonical object-file format------------------------------------------The greatest potential for loss of information occurs when there is theleast overlap between the information provided by the source format,that stored by the canonical format, and that needed by the destinationformat. A brief description of the canonical form may help youunderstand which kinds of data you can count on preserving acrossconversions._files_Information stored on a per-file basis includes target machinearchitecture, particular implementation format type, a demandpageable bit, and a write protected bit. Information like Unixmagic numbers is not stored here--only the magic numbers' meaning,so a `ZMAGIC' file would have both the demand pageable bit and thewrite protected text bit set. The byte order of the target isstored on a per-file basis, so that big- and little-endian objectfiles may be used with one another._sections_Each section in the input file contains the name of the section,the section's original address in the object file, size andalignment information, various flags, and pointers into other BFDdata structures._symbols_Each symbol contains a pointer to the information for the objectfile which originally defined it, its name, its value, and variousflag bits. When a BFD back end reads in a symbol table, itrelocates all symbols to make them relative to the base of thesection where they were defined. Doing this ensures that eachsymbol points to its containing section. Each symbol also has avarying amount of hidden private data for the BFD back end. Sincethe symbol points to the original file, the private data formatfor that symbol is accessible. `ld' can operate on a collectionof symbols of wildly different formats without problems.Normal global and simple local symbols are maintained on output,so an output file (no matter its format) will retain symbolspointing to functions and to global, static, and common variables.Some symbol information is not worth retaining; in `a.out', typeinformation is stored in the symbol table as long symbol names.This information would be useless to most COFF debuggers; thelinker has command line switches to allow users to throw it away.There is one word of type information within the symbol, so if theformat supports symbol type information within symbols (forexample, COFF, IEEE, Oasys) and the type is simple enough to fitwithin one word (nearly everything but aggregates), theinformation will be preserved._relocation level_Each canonical BFD relocation record contains a pointer to thesymbol to relocate to, the offset of the data to relocate, thesection the data is in, and a pointer to a relocation typedescriptor. Relocation is performed by passing messages throughthe relocation type descriptor and the symbol pointer. Therefore,relocations can be performed on output data using a relocationmethod that is only available in one of the input formats. Forinstance, Oasys provides a byte relocation format. A relocationrecord requesting this relocation type would point indirectly to aroutine to perform this, so the relocation may be performed on abyte being written to a 68k COFF file, even though 68k COFF has nosuch relocation type._line numbers_Object formats can contain, for debugging purposes, some form ofmapping between symbols, source line numbers, and addresses in theoutput file. These addresses have to be relocated along with thesymbol information. Each symbol with an associated list of linenumber records points to the first record of the list. The headof a line number list consists of a pointer to the symbol, whichallows finding out the address of the function whose line numberis being described. The rest of the list is made up of pairs:offsets into the section and line numbers. Any format which cansimply derive this information can pass it successfully betweenformats (COFF, IEEE and Oasys).File: ld.info, Node: Reporting Bugs, Next: MRI, Prev: BFD, Up: Top6 Reporting Bugs****************Your bug reports play an essential role in making `ld' reliable.Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem,or it may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug reportis to help the entire community by making the next version of `ld' workbetter. Bug reports are your contribution to the maintenance of `ld'.In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include theinformation that enables us to fix the bug.* Menu:* Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?* Bug Reporting:: How to report bugsFile: ld.info, Node: Bug Criteria, Next: Bug Reporting, Up: Reporting Bugs6.1 Have You Found a Bug?=========================If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are someguidelines:* If the linker gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that isa `ld' bug. Reliable linkers never crash.* If `ld' produces an error message for valid input, that is a bug.* If `ld' does not produce an error message for invalid input, thatmay be a bug. In the general case, the linker can not verify thatobject files are correct.* If you are an experienced user of linkers, your suggestions forimprovement of `ld' are welcome in any case.File: ld.info, Node: Bug Reporting, Prev: Bug Criteria, Up: Reporting Bugs6.2 How to Report Bugs======================A number of companies and individuals offer support for GNU products.If you obtained `ld' from a support organization, we recommend youcontact that organization first.You can find contact information for many support companies andindividuals in the file `etc/SERVICE' in the GNU Emacs distribution.Otherwise, send bug reports for `ld' to `bug-binutils@gnu.org'.The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:*report all the facts*. If you are not sure whether to state a fact orleave it out, state it!Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes theproblem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you mightassume that the name of a symbol you use in an example does not matter.Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bugis a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the locationwhere that name is stored in memory; perhaps, if the name weredifferent, the contents of that location would fool the linker intodoing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give aspecific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do,and the most helpful.Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fixthe bug if it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reportson the assumption that the bug has not been reported previously.Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, "Does this ring abell?" This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless. Werespond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate. Youmight as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:* The version of `ld'. `ld' announces it if you start it with the`--version' argument.Without this, we will not know whether there is any point inlooking for the bug in the current version of `ld'.* Any patches you may have applied to the `ld' source, including anypatches made to the `BFD' library.* The type of machine you are using, and the operating system nameand version number.* What compiler (and its version) was used to compile `ld'--e.g."`gcc-2.7'".* The command arguments you gave the linker to link your example andobserve the bug. To guarantee you will not omit somethingimportant, list them all. A copy of the Makefile (or the outputfrom make) is sufficient.If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guesswrong and then we might not encounter the bug.* A complete input file, or set of input files, that will reproducethe bug. It is generally most helpful to send the actual objectfiles provided that they are reasonably small. Say no more than10K. For bigger files you can either make them available by FTPor HTTP or else state that you are willing to send the objectfile(s) to whomever requests them. (Note - your email will begoing to a mailing list, so we do not want to clog it up withlarge attachments). But small attachments are best.If the source files were assembled using `gas' or compiled using`gcc', then it may be OK to send the source files rather than theobject files. In this case, be sure to say exactly what version of`gas' or `gcc' was used to produce the object files. Also say how`gas' or `gcc' were configured.* A description of what behavior you observe that you believe isincorrect. For example, "It gets a fatal signal."Of course, if the bug is that `ld' gets a fatal signal, then wewill certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, wemight not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as wellnot give us a chance to make a mistake.Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you shouldstill say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on,such as, your copy of `ld' is out of synch, or you haveencountered a bug in the C library on your system. (This hashappened!) Your copy might crash and ours would not. If you toldus to expect a crash, then when ours fails to crash, we would knowthat the bug was not happening for us. If you had not told us toexpect a crash, then we would not be able to draw any conclusionfrom our observations.* If you wish to suggest changes to the `ld' source, send us contextdiffs, as generated by `diff' with the `-u', `-c', or `-p' option.Always send diffs from the old file to the new file. If you evendiscuss something in the `ld' source, refer to it by context, notby line number.The line numbers in our development sources will not match thosein your sources. Your line numbers would convey no usefulinformation to us.Here are some things that are not necessary:* A description of the envelope of the bug.Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigatingwhich changes to the input file will make the bug go away and whichchanges will not affect it.This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the waywe will find the bug is by running a single example under thedebugger with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series ofexamples. We recommend that you save your time for something else.Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report _instead_of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in theoutput will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will takeless time, and so on.However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to dothis, report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case youused.* A patch for the bug.A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do notomit the necessary information, such as the test case, on theassumption that a patch is all we need. We might see problemswith your patch and decide to fix the problem another way, or wemight not understand it at all.Sometimes with a program as complicated as `ld' it is very hard toconstruct an example that will make the program follow a certainpath through the code. If you do not send us the example, we willnot be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verifythat the bug is fixed.And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or whyyour patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. Atest case will help us to understand.* A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right aboutsuch things without first using the debugger to find the facts.File: ld.info, Node: MRI, Next: GNU Free Documentation License, Prev: Reporting Bugs, Up: TopAnhang A MRI Compatible Script Files************************************To aid users making the transition to GNU `ld' from the MRI linker,`ld' can use MRI compatible linker scripts as an alternative to themore general-purpose linker scripting language described in *NoteScripts::. MRI compatible linker scripts have a much simpler commandset than the scripting language otherwise used with `ld'. GNU `ld'supports the most commonly used MRI linker commands; these commands aredescribed here.In general, MRI scripts aren't of much use with the `a.out' objectfile format, since it only has three sections and MRI scripts lack somefeatures to make use of them.You can specify a file containing an MRI-compatible script using the`-c' command-line option.Each command in an MRI-compatible script occupies its own line; eachcommand line starts with the keyword that identifies the command (thoughblank lines are also allowed for punctuation). If a line of anMRI-compatible script begins with an unrecognized keyword, `ld' issuesa warning message, but continues processing the script.Lines beginning with `*' are comments.You can write these commands using all upper-case letters, or alllower case; for example, `chip' is the same as `CHIP'. The followinglist shows only the upper-case form of each command.`ABSOLUTE SECNAME'`ABSOLUTE SECNAME, SECNAME, ... SECNAME'Normally, `ld' includes in the output file all sections from allthe input files. However, in an MRI-compatible script, you canuse the `ABSOLUTE' command to restrict the sections that will bepresent in your output program. If the `ABSOLUTE' command is usedat all in a script, then only the sections named explicitly in`ABSOLUTE' commands will appear in the linker output. You canstill use other input sections (whatever you select on the commandline, or using `LOAD') to resolve addresses in the output file.`ALIAS OUT-SECNAME, IN-SECNAME'Use this command to place the data from input section IN-SECNAMEin a section called OUT-SECNAME in the linker output file.IN-SECNAME may be an integer.`ALIGN SECNAME = EXPRESSION'Align the section called SECNAME to EXPRESSION. The EXPRESSIONshould be a power of two.`BASE EXPRESSION'Use the value of EXPRESSION as the lowest address (other thanabsolute addresses) in the output file.`CHIP EXPRESSION'`CHIP EXPRESSION, EXPRESSION'This command does nothing; it is accepted only for compatibility.`END'This command does nothing whatever; it's only accepted forcompatibility.`FORMAT OUTPUT-FORMAT'Similar to the `OUTPUT_FORMAT' command in the more general linkerlanguage, but restricted to one of these output formats:1. S-records, if OUTPUT-FORMAT is `S'2. IEEE, if OUTPUT-FORMAT is `IEEE'3. COFF (the `coff-m68k' variant in BFD), if OUTPUT-FORMAT is`COFF'`LIST ANYTHING...'Print (to the standard output file) a link map, as produced by the`ld' command-line option `-M'.The keyword `LIST' may be followed by anything on the same line,with no change in its effect.`LOAD FILENAME'`LOAD FILENAME, FILENAME, ... FILENAME'Include one or more object file FILENAME in the link; this has thesame effect as specifying FILENAME directly on the `ld' commandline.`NAME OUTPUT-NAME'OUTPUT-NAME is the name for the program produced by `ld'; theMRI-compatible command `NAME' is equivalent to the command-lineoption `-o' or the general script language command `OUTPUT'.`ORDER SECNAME, SECNAME, ... SECNAME'`ORDER SECNAME SECNAME SECNAME'Normally, `ld' orders the sections in its output file in the orderin which they first appear in the input files. In anMRI-compatible script, you can override this ordering with the`ORDER' command. The sections you list with `ORDER' will appearfirst in your output file, in the order specified.`PUBLIC NAME=EXPRESSION'`PUBLIC NAME,EXPRESSION'`PUBLIC NAME EXPRESSION'Supply a value (EXPRESSION) for external symbol NAME used in thelinker input files.`SECT SECNAME, EXPRESSION'`SECT SECNAME=EXPRESSION'`SECT SECNAME EXPRESSION'You can use any of these three forms of the `SECT' command tospecify the start address (EXPRESSION) for section SECNAME. Ifyou have more than one `SECT' statement for the same SECNAME, onlythe _first_ sets the start address.File: ld.info, Node: GNU Free Documentation License, Next: Index, Prev: MRI, Up: TopAnhang B GNU Free Documentation License***************************************Version 1.1, March 2000Copyright (C) 2000, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USAEveryone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copiesof this license document, but changing it is not allowed.0. 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