1 \input texinfo @c -*- Texinfo -*-
2 @setfilename binutils.info
3 @settitle @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
12 @c man begin COPYRIGHT
13 Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
14 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
15 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
18 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
19 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
20 with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
21 Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
22 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
27 @dircategory Software development
29 * Binutils: (binutils). The GNU binary utilities.
32 @dircategory Individual utilities
34 * addr2line: (binutils)addr2line. Convert addresses to file and line.
35 * ar: (binutils)ar. Create, modify, and extract from archives.
36 * c++filt: (binutils)c++filt. Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols.
37 * cxxfilt: (binutils)c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt.
38 * dlltool: (binutils)dlltool. Create files needed to build and use DLLs.
39 * nlmconv: (binutils)nlmconv. Converts object code into an NLM.
40 * nm: (binutils)nm. List symbols from object files.
41 * objcopy: (binutils)objcopy. Copy and translate object files.
42 * objdump: (binutils)objdump. Display information from object files.
43 * ranlib: (binutils)ranlib. Generate index to archive contents.
44 * readelf: (binutils)readelf. Display the contents of ELF format files.
45 * size: (binutils)size. List section sizes and total size.
46 * strings: (binutils)strings. List printable strings from files.
47 * strip: (binutils)strip. Discard symbols.
48 * elfedit: (binutils)elfedit. Update the ELF header of ELF files.
49 * windmc: (binutils)windmc. Generator for Windows message resources.
50 * windres: (binutils)windres. Manipulate Windows resources.
54 @title The @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
55 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
56 @subtitle @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
58 @subtitle Version @value{VERSION}
60 @subtitle @value{UPDATED}
61 @author Roland H. Pesch
62 @author Jeffrey M. Osier
63 @author Cygnus Support
67 {\parskip=0pt \hfill Cygnus Support\par \hfill
68 Texinfo \texinfoversion\par }
71 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
80 This brief manual contains documentation for the @sc{gnu} binary
82 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
83 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
85 version @value{VERSION}:
90 Create, modify, and extract from archives
93 List symbols from object files
96 Copy and translate object files
99 Display information from object files
102 Generate index to archive contents
105 Display the contents of ELF format files.
108 List file section sizes and total size
111 List printable strings from files
117 Update the ELF header of ELF files.
120 Demangle encoded C++ symbols (on MS-DOS, this program is named
124 Convert addresses into file names and line numbers
127 Convert object code into a Netware Loadable Module
130 Manipulate Windows resources
133 Genertor for Windows message resources
136 Create the files needed to build and use Dynamic Link Libraries
140 This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
141 Documentation License version 1.3. A copy of the license is included
142 in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
145 * ar:: Create, modify, and extract from archives
146 * nm:: List symbols from object files
147 * objcopy:: Copy and translate object files
148 * objdump:: Display information from object files
149 * ranlib:: Generate index to archive contents
150 * readelf:: Display the contents of ELF format files
151 * size:: List section sizes and total size
152 * strings:: List printable strings from files
153 * strip:: Discard symbols
154 * elfedit:: Update the ELF header of ELF files
155 * c++filt:: Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols
156 * cxxfilt: c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt
157 * addr2line:: Convert addresses to file and line
158 * nlmconv:: Converts object code into an NLM
159 * windres:: Manipulate Windows resources
160 * windmc:: Generator for Windows message resources
161 * dlltool:: Create files needed to build and use DLLs
162 * Common Options:: Command-line options for all utilities
163 * Selecting the Target System:: How these utilities determine the target
164 * Reporting Bugs:: Reporting Bugs
165 * GNU Free Documentation License:: GNU Free Documentation License
166 * Binutils Index:: Binutils Index
174 @cindex collections of files
176 @c man title ar create, modify, and extract from archives
179 ar [@option{--plugin} @var{name}] [-]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
180 ar -M [ <mri-script ]
183 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ar
185 The @sc{gnu} @command{ar} program creates, modifies, and extracts from
186 archives. An @dfn{archive} is a single file holding a collection of
187 other files in a structure that makes it possible to retrieve
188 the original individual files (called @dfn{members} of the archive).
190 The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and
191 group are preserved in the archive, and can be restored on
195 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} can maintain archives whose members have names of any
196 length; however, depending on how @command{ar} is configured on your
197 system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed for compatibility
198 with archive formats maintained with other tools. If it exists, the
199 limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16
200 characters (typical of formats related to coff).
203 @command{ar} is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort
204 are most often used as @dfn{libraries} holding commonly needed
208 @command{ar} creates an index to the symbols defined in relocatable
209 object modules in the archive when you specify the modifier @samp{s}.
210 Once created, this index is updated in the archive whenever @command{ar}
211 makes a change to its contents (save for the @samp{q} update operation).
212 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and
213 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
214 their placement in the archive.
216 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index
217 table. If an archive lacks the table, another form of @command{ar} called
218 @command{ranlib} can be used to add just the table.
220 @cindex thin archives
221 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} can optionally create a @emph{thin} archive,
222 which contains a symbol index and references to the original copies
223 of the member files of the archives. Such an archive is useful
224 for building libraries for use within a local build, where the
225 relocatable objects are expected to remain available, and copying the
226 contents of each object would only waste time and space. Thin archives
227 are also @emph{flattened}, so that adding one or more archives to a
228 thin archive will add the elements of the nested archive individually.
229 The paths to the elements of the archive are stored relative to the
232 @cindex compatibility, @command{ar}
233 @cindex @command{ar} compatibility
234 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} is designed to be compatible with two different
235 facilities. You can control its activity using command-line options,
236 like the different varieties of @command{ar} on Unix systems; or, if you
237 specify the single command-line option @option{-M}, you can control it
238 with a script supplied via standard input, like the MRI ``librarian''
244 * ar cmdline:: Controlling @command{ar} on the command line
245 * ar scripts:: Controlling @command{ar} with a script
250 @section Controlling @command{ar} on the Command Line
253 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ar
254 ar [@option{--plugin} @var{name}] [@option{-X32_64}] [@option{-}]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
258 @cindex Unix compatibility, @command{ar}
259 When you use @command{ar} in the Unix style, @command{ar} insists on at least two
260 arguments to execute: one keyletter specifying the @emph{operation}
261 (optionally accompanied by other keyletters specifying
262 @emph{modifiers}), and the archive name to act on.
264 Most operations can also accept further @var{member} arguments,
265 specifying particular files to operate on.
267 @c man begin OPTIONS ar
269 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} allows you to mix the operation code @var{p} and modifier
270 flags @var{mod} in any order, within the first command-line argument.
272 If you wish, you may begin the first command-line argument with a
275 @cindex operations on archive
276 The @var{p} keyletter specifies what operation to execute; it may be
277 any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:
281 @cindex deleting from archive
282 @emph{Delete} modules from the archive. Specify the names of modules to
283 be deleted as @var{member}@dots{}; the archive is untouched if you
284 specify no files to delete.
286 If you specify the @samp{v} modifier, @command{ar} lists each module
290 @cindex moving in archive
291 Use this operation to @emph{move} members in an archive.
293 The ordering of members in an archive can make a difference in how
294 programs are linked using the library, if a symbol is defined in more
297 If no modifiers are used with @code{m}, any members you name in the
298 @var{member} arguments are moved to the @emph{end} of the archive;
299 you can use the @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} modifiers to move them to a
300 specified place instead.
303 @cindex printing from archive
304 @emph{Print} the specified members of the archive, to the standard
305 output file. If the @samp{v} modifier is specified, show the member
306 name before copying its contents to standard output.
308 If you specify no @var{member} arguments, all the files in the archive are
312 @cindex quick append to archive
313 @emph{Quick append}; Historically, add the files @var{member}@dots{} to the end of
314 @var{archive}, without checking for replacement.
316 The modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, and @samp{i} do @emph{not} affect this
317 operation; new members are always placed at the end of the archive.
319 The modifier @samp{v} makes @command{ar} list each file as it is appended.
321 Since the point of this operation is speed, the archive's symbol table
322 index is not updated, even if it already existed; you can use @samp{ar s} or
323 @command{ranlib} explicitly to update the symbol table index.
325 However, too many different systems assume quick append rebuilds the
326 index, so @sc{gnu} @command{ar} implements @samp{q} as a synonym for @samp{r}.
329 @cindex replacement in archive
330 Insert the files @var{member}@dots{} into @var{archive} (with
331 @emph{replacement}). This operation differs from @samp{q} in that any
332 previously existing members are deleted if their names match those being
335 If one of the files named in @var{member}@dots{} does not exist, @command{ar}
336 displays an error message, and leaves undisturbed any existing members
337 of the archive matching that name.
339 By default, new members are added at the end of the file; but you may
340 use one of the modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} to request
341 placement relative to some existing member.
343 The modifier @samp{v} used with this operation elicits a line of
344 output for each file inserted, along with one of the letters @samp{a} or
345 @samp{r} to indicate whether the file was appended (no old member
346 deleted) or replaced.
350 Add an index to the archive, or update it if it already exists. Note
351 this command is an exception to the rule that there can only be one
352 command letter, as it is possible to use it as either a command or a
353 modifier. In either case it does the same thing.
356 @cindex contents of archive
357 Display a @emph{table} listing the contents of @var{archive}, or those
358 of the files listed in @var{member}@dots{} that are present in the
359 archive. Normally only the member name is shown; if you also want to
360 see the modes (permissions), timestamp, owner, group, and size, you can
361 request that by also specifying the @samp{v} modifier.
363 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
366 @cindex repeated names in archive
367 @cindex name duplication in archive
368 If there is more than one file with the same name (say, @samp{fie}) in
369 an archive (say @samp{b.a}), @samp{ar t b.a fie} lists only the
370 first instance; to see them all, you must ask for a complete
371 listing---in our example, @samp{ar t b.a}.
372 @c WRS only; per Gumby, this is implementation-dependent, and in a more
373 @c recent case in fact works the other way.
376 @cindex extract from archive
377 @emph{Extract} members (named @var{member}) from the archive. You can
378 use the @samp{v} modifier with this operation, to request that
379 @command{ar} list each name as it extracts it.
381 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
384 Files cannot be extracted from a thin archive.
388 A number of modifiers (@var{mod}) may immediately follow the @var{p}
389 keyletter, to specify variations on an operation's behavior:
393 @cindex relative placement in archive
394 Add new files @emph{after} an existing member of the
395 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{a}, the name of an existing archive
396 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
397 @var{archive} specification.
400 Add new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
401 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{b}, the name of an existing archive
402 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
403 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{i}).
406 @cindex creating archives
407 @emph{Create} the archive. The specified @var{archive} is always
408 created if it did not exist, when you request an update. But a warning is
409 issued unless you specify in advance that you expect to create it, by
413 @cindex deterministic archives
414 Operate in @emph{deterministic} mode. When adding files and the archive
415 index use zero for UIDs, GIDs, timestamps, and use consistent file modes
416 for all files. When this option is used, if @command{ar} is used with
417 identical options and identical input files, multiple runs will create
418 identical output files regardless of the input files' owners, groups,
419 file modes, or modification times.
422 Truncate names in the archive. @sc{gnu} @command{ar} will normally permit file
423 names of any length. This will cause it to create archives which are
424 not compatible with the native @command{ar} program on some systems. If
425 this is a concern, the @samp{f} modifier may be used to truncate file
426 names when putting them in the archive.
429 Insert new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
430 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{i}, the name of an existing archive
431 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
432 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{b}).
435 This modifier is accepted but not used.
436 @c whaffor ar l modifier??? presumably compat; with
437 @c what???---doc@@cygnus.com, 25jan91
440 Uses the @var{count} parameter. This is used if there are multiple
441 entries in the archive with the same name. Extract or delete instance
442 @var{count} of the given name from the archive.
445 @cindex dates in archive
446 Preserve the @emph{original} dates of members when extracting them. If
447 you do not specify this modifier, files extracted from the archive
448 are stamped with the time of extraction.
451 Use the full path name when matching names in the archive. @sc{gnu}
452 @command{ar} can not create an archive with a full path name (such archives
453 are not POSIX complaint), but other archive creators can. This option
454 will cause @sc{gnu} @command{ar} to match file names using a complete path
455 name, which can be convenient when extracting a single file from an
456 archive created by another tool.
459 @cindex writing archive index
460 Write an object-file index into the archive, or update an existing one,
461 even if no other change is made to the archive. You may use this modifier
462 flag either with any operation, or alone. Running @samp{ar s} on an
463 archive is equivalent to running @samp{ranlib} on it.
466 @cindex not writing archive index
467 Do not generate an archive symbol table. This can speed up building a
468 large library in several steps. The resulting archive can not be used
469 with the linker. In order to build a symbol table, you must omit the
470 @samp{S} modifier on the last execution of @samp{ar}, or you must run
471 @samp{ranlib} on the archive.
474 @cindex creating thin archive
475 Make the specified @var{archive} a @emph{thin} archive. If it already
476 exists and is a regular archive, the existing members must be present
477 in the same directory as @var{archive}.
480 @cindex updating an archive
481 Normally, @samp{ar r}@dots{} inserts all files
482 listed into the archive. If you would like to insert @emph{only} those
483 of the files you list that are newer than existing members of the same
484 names, use this modifier. The @samp{u} modifier is allowed only for the
485 operation @samp{r} (replace). In particular, the combination @samp{qu} is
486 not allowed, since checking the timestamps would lose any speed
487 advantage from the operation @samp{q}.
490 This modifier requests the @emph{verbose} version of an operation. Many
491 operations display additional information, such as filenames processed,
492 when the modifier @samp{v} is appended.
495 This modifier shows the version number of @command{ar}.
498 @command{ar} ignores an initial option spelt @samp{-X32_64}, for
499 compatibility with AIX. The behaviour produced by this option is the
500 default for @sc{gnu} @command{ar}. @command{ar} does not support any of the other
501 @samp{-X} options; in particular, it does not support @option{-X32}
502 which is the default for AIX @command{ar}.
504 The optional command line switch @option{--plugin} @var{name} causes
505 @command{ar} to load the plugin called @var{name} which adds support
506 for more file formats. This option is only available if the toolchain
507 has been built with plugin support enabled.
512 @c man begin SEEALSO ar
513 nm(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
518 @section Controlling @command{ar} with a Script
521 ar -M [ <@var{script} ]
524 @cindex MRI compatibility, @command{ar}
525 @cindex scripts, @command{ar}
526 If you use the single command-line option @samp{-M} with @command{ar}, you
527 can control its operation with a rudimentary command language. This
528 form of @command{ar} operates interactively if standard input is coming
529 directly from a terminal. During interactive use, @command{ar} prompts for
530 input (the prompt is @samp{AR >}), and continues executing even after
531 errors. If you redirect standard input to a script file, no prompts are
532 issued, and @command{ar} abandons execution (with a nonzero exit code)
535 The @command{ar} command language is @emph{not} designed to be equivalent
536 to the command-line options; in fact, it provides somewhat less control
537 over archives. The only purpose of the command language is to ease the
538 transition to @sc{gnu} @command{ar} for developers who already have scripts
539 written for the MRI ``librarian'' program.
541 The syntax for the @command{ar} command language is straightforward:
544 commands are recognized in upper or lower case; for example, @code{LIST}
545 is the same as @code{list}. In the following descriptions, commands are
546 shown in upper case for clarity.
549 a single command may appear on each line; it is the first word on the
553 empty lines are allowed, and have no effect.
556 comments are allowed; text after either of the characters @samp{*}
557 or @samp{;} is ignored.
560 Whenever you use a list of names as part of the argument to an @command{ar}
561 command, you can separate the individual names with either commas or
562 blanks. Commas are shown in the explanations below, for clarity.
565 @samp{+} is used as a line continuation character; if @samp{+} appears
566 at the end of a line, the text on the following line is considered part
567 of the current command.
570 Here are the commands you can use in @command{ar} scripts, or when using
571 @command{ar} interactively. Three of them have special significance:
573 @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE} specify a @dfn{current archive}, which is
574 a temporary file required for most of the other commands.
576 @code{SAVE} commits the changes so far specified by the script. Prior
577 to @code{SAVE}, commands affect only the temporary copy of the current
581 @item ADDLIB @var{archive}
582 @itemx ADDLIB @var{archive} (@var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
583 Add all the contents of @var{archive} (or, if specified, each named
584 @var{module} from @var{archive}) to the current archive.
586 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
588 @item ADDMOD @var{member}, @var{member}, @dots{} @var{member}
589 @c FIXME! w/Replacement?? If so, like "ar r @var{archive} @var{names}"
590 @c else like "ar q..."
591 Add each named @var{member} as a module in the current archive.
593 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
596 Discard the contents of the current archive, canceling the effect of
597 any operations since the last @code{SAVE}. May be executed (with no
598 effect) even if no current archive is specified.
600 @item CREATE @var{archive}
601 Creates an archive, and makes it the current archive (required for many
602 other commands). The new archive is created with a temporary name; it
603 is not actually saved as @var{archive} until you use @code{SAVE}.
604 You can overwrite existing archives; similarly, the contents of any
605 existing file named @var{archive} will not be destroyed until @code{SAVE}.
607 @item DELETE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
608 Delete each listed @var{module} from the current archive; equivalent to
609 @samp{ar -d @var{archive} @var{module} @dots{} @var{module}}.
611 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
613 @item DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
614 @itemx DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}) @var{outputfile}
615 List each named @var{module} present in @var{archive}. The separate
616 command @code{VERBOSE} specifies the form of the output: when verbose
617 output is off, output is like that of @samp{ar -t @var{archive}
618 @var{module}@dots{}}. When verbose output is on, the listing is like
619 @samp{ar -tv @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
621 Output normally goes to the standard output stream; however, if you
622 specify @var{outputfile} as a final argument, @command{ar} directs the
626 Exit from @command{ar}, with a @code{0} exit code to indicate successful
627 completion. This command does not save the output file; if you have
628 changed the current archive since the last @code{SAVE} command, those
631 @item EXTRACT @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
632 Extract each named @var{module} from the current archive, writing them
633 into the current directory as separate files. Equivalent to @samp{ar -x
634 @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
636 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
639 @c FIXME Tokens but no commands???
646 Display full contents of the current archive, in ``verbose'' style
647 regardless of the state of @code{VERBOSE}. The effect is like @samp{ar
648 tv @var{archive}}. (This single command is a @sc{gnu} @command{ar}
649 enhancement, rather than present for MRI compatibility.)
651 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
653 @item OPEN @var{archive}
654 Opens an existing archive for use as the current archive (required for
655 many other commands). Any changes as the result of subsequent commands
656 will not actually affect @var{archive} until you next use @code{SAVE}.
658 @item REPLACE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
659 In the current archive, replace each existing @var{module} (named in
660 the @code{REPLACE} arguments) from files in the current working directory.
661 To execute this command without errors, both the file, and the module in
662 the current archive, must exist.
664 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
667 Toggle an internal flag governing the output from @code{DIRECTORY}.
668 When the flag is on, @code{DIRECTORY} output matches output from
669 @samp{ar -tv }@dots{}.
672 Commit your changes to the current archive, and actually save it as a
673 file with the name specified in the last @code{CREATE} or @code{OPEN}
676 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
685 The @sc{gnu} linker @command{ld} is now described in a separate manual.
686 @xref{Top,, Overview,, Using LD: the @sc{gnu} linker}.
694 @c man title nm list symbols from object files
697 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nm
698 nm [@option{-a}|@option{--debug-syms}]
699 [@option{-g}|@option{--extern-only}][@option{--plugin} @var{name}]
700 [@option{-B}] [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]] [@option{-D}|@option{--dynamic}]
701 [@option{-S}|@option{--print-size}] [@option{-s}|@option{--print-armap}]
702 [@option{-A}|@option{-o}|@option{--print-file-name}][@option{--special-syms}]
703 [@option{-n}|@option{-v}|@option{--numeric-sort}] [@option{-p}|@option{--no-sort}]
704 [@option{-r}|@option{--reverse-sort}] [@option{--size-sort}] [@option{-u}|@option{--undefined-only}]
705 [@option{-t} @var{radix}|@option{--radix=}@var{radix}] [@option{-P}|@option{--portability}]
706 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-f}@var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
707 [@option{--defined-only}] [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}] [@option{--no-demangle}]
708 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}] [@option{-X 32_64}] [@option{--help}] [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
712 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nm
713 @sc{gnu} @command{nm} lists the symbols from object files @var{objfile}@dots{}.
714 If no object files are listed as arguments, @command{nm} assumes the file
717 For each symbol, @command{nm} shows:
721 The symbol value, in the radix selected by options (see below), or
722 hexadecimal by default.
725 The symbol type. At least the following types are used; others are, as
726 well, depending on the object file format. If lowercase, the symbol is
727 local; if uppercase, the symbol is global (external).
729 @c Some more detail on exactly what these symbol types are used for
733 The symbol's value is absolute, and will not be changed by further
738 The symbol is in the uninitialized data section (known as BSS).
741 The symbol is common. Common symbols are uninitialized data. When
742 linking, multiple common symbols may appear with the same name. If the
743 symbol is defined anywhere, the common symbols are treated as undefined
746 For more details on common symbols, see the discussion of
747 --warn-common in @ref{Options,,Linker options,ld.info,The GNU linker}.
752 The symbol is in the initialized data section.
756 The symbol is in an initialized data section for small objects. Some
757 object file formats permit more efficient access to small data objects,
758 such as a global int variable as opposed to a large global array.
761 For PE format files this indicates that the symbol is in a section
762 specific to the implementation of DLLs. For ELF format files this
763 indicates that the symbol is an indirect function. This is a GNU
764 extension to the standard set of ELF symbol types. It indicates a
765 symbol which if referenced by a relocation does not evaluate to its
766 address, but instead must be invoked at runtime. The runtime
767 execution will then return the value to be used in the relocation.
770 The symbol is a debugging symbol.
773 The symbols is in a stack unwind section.
777 The symbol is in a read only data section.
781 The symbol is in an uninitialized data section for small objects.
785 The symbol is in the text (code) section.
788 The symbol is undefined.
791 The symbol is a unique global symbol. This is a GNU extension to the
792 standard set of ELF symbol bindings. For such a symbol the dynamic linker
793 will make sure that in the entire process there is just one symbol with
794 this name and type in use.
798 The symbol is a weak object. When a weak defined symbol is linked with
799 a normal defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
800 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
801 the value of the weak symbol becomes zero with no error. On some
802 systems, uppercase indicates that a default value has been specified.
806 The symbol is a weak symbol that has not been specifically tagged as a
807 weak object symbol. When a weak defined symbol is linked with a normal
808 defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
809 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
810 the value of the symbol is determined in a system-specific manner without
811 error. On some systems, uppercase indicates that a default value has been
815 The symbol is a stabs symbol in an a.out object file. In this case, the
816 next values printed are the stabs other field, the stabs desc field, and
817 the stab type. Stabs symbols are used to hold debugging information.
819 For more information, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs Overview,stabs.info, The
820 ``stabs'' debug format}.
824 The symbol type is unknown, or object file format specific.
833 @c man begin OPTIONS nm
834 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
840 @itemx --print-file-name
841 @cindex input file name
843 @cindex source file name
844 Precede each symbol by the name of the input file (or archive member)
845 in which it was found, rather than identifying the input file once only,
846 before all of its symbols.
850 @cindex debugging symbols
851 Display all symbols, even debugger-only symbols; normally these are not
855 @cindex @command{nm} format
856 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
857 The same as @option{--format=bsd} (for compatibility with the MIPS @command{nm}).
860 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
861 @cindex demangling in nm
862 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
863 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
864 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
865 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
866 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
867 for more information on demangling.
870 Do not demangle low-level symbol names. This is the default.
874 @cindex dynamic symbols
875 Display the dynamic symbols rather than the normal symbols. This is
876 only meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
879 @item -f @var{format}
880 @itemx --format=@var{format}
881 @cindex @command{nm} format
882 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
883 Use the output format @var{format}, which can be @code{bsd},
884 @code{sysv}, or @code{posix}. The default is @code{bsd}.
885 Only the first character of @var{format} is significant; it can be
886 either upper or lower case.
890 @cindex external symbols
891 Display only external symbols.
893 @item --plugin @var{name}
895 Load the plugin called @var{name} to add support for extra target
896 types. This option is only available if the toolchain has been built
897 with plugin support enabled.
900 @itemx --line-numbers
901 @cindex symbol line numbers
902 For each symbol, use debugging information to try to find a filename and
903 line number. For a defined symbol, look for the line number of the
904 address of the symbol. For an undefined symbol, look for the line
905 number of a relocation entry which refers to the symbol. If line number
906 information can be found, print it after the other symbol information.
910 @itemx --numeric-sort
911 Sort symbols numerically by their addresses, rather than alphabetically
916 @cindex sorting symbols
917 Do not bother to sort the symbols in any order; print them in the order
922 Use the POSIX.2 standard output format instead of the default format.
923 Equivalent to @samp{-f posix}.
927 Print both value and size of defined symbols for the @code{bsd} output style.
928 This option has no effect for object formats that do not record symbol
929 sizes, unless @samp{--size-sort} is also used in which case a
930 calculated size is displayed.
934 @cindex symbol index, listing
935 When listing symbols from archive members, include the index: a mapping
936 (stored in the archive by @command{ar} or @command{ranlib}) of which modules
937 contain definitions for which names.
940 @itemx --reverse-sort
941 Reverse the order of the sort (whether numeric or alphabetic); let the
945 Sort symbols by size. The size is computed as the difference between
946 the value of the symbol and the value of the symbol with the next higher
947 value. If the @code{bsd} output format is used the size of the symbol
948 is printed, rather than the value, and @samp{-S} must be used in order
949 both size and value to be printed.
952 Display symbols which have a target-specific special meaning. These
953 symbols are usually used by the target for some special processing and
954 are not normally helpful when included included in the normal symbol
955 lists. For example for ARM targets this option would skip the mapping
956 symbols used to mark transitions between ARM code, THUMB code and
960 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
961 Use @var{radix} as the radix for printing the symbol values. It must be
962 @samp{d} for decimal, @samp{o} for octal, or @samp{x} for hexadecimal.
964 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
965 @cindex object code format
966 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
967 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
970 @itemx --undefined-only
971 @cindex external symbols
972 @cindex undefined symbols
973 Display only undefined symbols (those external to each object file).
976 @cindex external symbols
977 @cindex undefined symbols
978 Display only defined symbols for each object file.
982 Show the version number of @command{nm} and exit.
985 This option is ignored for compatibility with the AIX version of
986 @command{nm}. It takes one parameter which must be the string
987 @option{32_64}. The default mode of AIX @command{nm} corresponds
988 to @option{-X 32}, which is not supported by @sc{gnu} @command{nm}.
991 Show a summary of the options to @command{nm} and exit.
997 @c man begin SEEALSO nm
998 ar(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
1005 @c man title objcopy copy and translate object files
1008 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objcopy
1009 objcopy [@option{-F} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
1010 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
1011 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
1012 [@option{-B} @var{bfdarch}|@option{--binary-architecture=}@var{bfdarch}]
1013 [@option{-S}|@option{--strip-all}]
1014 [@option{-g}|@option{--strip-debug}]
1015 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1016 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname}|@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1017 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1018 [@option{-G} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-global-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1019 [@option{--localize-hidden}]
1020 [@option{-L} @var{symbolname}|@option{--localize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1021 [@option{--globalize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1022 [@option{-W} @var{symbolname}|@option{--weaken-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
1023 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
1024 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}]
1025 [@option{-X}|@option{--discard-locals}]
1026 [@option{-b} @var{byte}|@option{--byte=}@var{byte}]
1027 [@option{-i} [@var{breadth}]|@option{--interleave}[=@var{breadth}]]
1028 [@option{--interleave-width=}@var{width}]
1029 [@option{-j} @var{sectionname}|@option{--only-section=}@var{sectionname}]
1030 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname}|@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
1031 [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
1032 [@option{--debugging}]
1033 [@option{--gap-fill=}@var{val}]
1034 [@option{--pad-to=}@var{address}]
1035 [@option{--set-start=}@var{val}]
1036 [@option{--adjust-start=}@var{incr}]
1037 [@option{--change-addresses=}@var{incr}]
1038 [@option{--change-section-address} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
1039 [@option{--change-section-lma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
1040 [@option{--change-section-vma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
1041 [@option{--change-warnings}] [@option{--no-change-warnings}]
1042 [@option{--set-section-flags} @var{section}=@var{flags}]
1043 [@option{--add-section} @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}]
1044 [@option{--rename-section} @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]]
1045 [@option{--long-section-names} @{enable,disable,keep@}]
1046 [@option{--change-leading-char}] [@option{--remove-leading-char}]
1047 [@option{--reverse-bytes=}@var{num}]
1048 [@option{--srec-len=}@var{ival}] [@option{--srec-forceS3}]
1049 [@option{--redefine-sym} @var{old}=@var{new}]
1050 [@option{--redefine-syms=}@var{filename}]
1052 [@option{--keep-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1053 [@option{--strip-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1054 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1055 [@option{--keep-global-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1056 [@option{--localize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1057 [@option{--globalize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1058 [@option{--weaken-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1059 [@option{--alt-machine-code=}@var{index}]
1060 [@option{--prefix-symbols=}@var{string}]
1061 [@option{--prefix-sections=}@var{string}]
1062 [@option{--prefix-alloc-sections=}@var{string}]
1063 [@option{--add-gnu-debuglink=}@var{path-to-file}]
1064 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
1065 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
1066 [@option{--extract-symbol}]
1067 [@option{--writable-text}]
1068 [@option{--readonly-text}]
1071 [@option{--file-alignment=}@var{num}]
1072 [@option{--heap=}@var{size}]
1073 [@option{--image-base=}@var{address}]
1074 [@option{--section-alignment=}@var{num}]
1075 [@option{--stack=}@var{size}]
1076 [@option{--subsystem=}@var{which}:@var{major}.@var{minor}]
1077 [@option{--compress-debug-sections}]
1078 [@option{--decompress-debug-sections}]
1079 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
1080 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1081 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
1082 @var{infile} [@var{outfile}]
1086 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objcopy
1087 The @sc{gnu} @command{objcopy} utility copies the contents of an object
1088 file to another. @command{objcopy} uses the @sc{gnu} @sc{bfd} Library to
1089 read and write the object files. It can write the destination object
1090 file in a format different from that of the source object file. The
1091 exact behavior of @command{objcopy} is controlled by command-line options.
1092 Note that @command{objcopy} should be able to copy a fully linked file
1093 between any two formats. However, copying a relocatable object file
1094 between any two formats may not work as expected.
1096 @command{objcopy} creates temporary files to do its translations and
1097 deletes them afterward. @command{objcopy} uses @sc{bfd} to do all its
1098 translation work; it has access to all the formats described in @sc{bfd}
1099 and thus is able to recognize most formats without being told
1100 explicitly. @xref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}.
1102 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate S-records by using an output
1103 target of @samp{srec} (e.g., use @samp{-O srec}).
1105 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate a raw binary file by using an
1106 output target of @samp{binary} (e.g., use @option{-O binary}). When
1107 @command{objcopy} generates a raw binary file, it will essentially produce
1108 a memory dump of the contents of the input object file. All symbols and
1109 relocation information will be discarded. The memory dump will start at
1110 the load address of the lowest section copied into the output file.
1112 When generating an S-record or a raw binary file, it may be helpful to
1113 use @option{-S} to remove sections containing debugging information. In
1114 some cases @option{-R} will be useful to remove sections which contain
1115 information that is not needed by the binary file.
1117 Note---@command{objcopy} is not able to change the endianness of its input
1118 files. If the input format has an endianness (some formats do not),
1119 @command{objcopy} can only copy the inputs into file formats that have the
1120 same endianness or which have no endianness (e.g., @samp{srec}).
1121 (However, see the @option{--reverse-bytes} option.)
1125 @c man begin OPTIONS objcopy
1129 @itemx @var{outfile}
1130 The input and output files, respectively.
1131 If you do not specify @var{outfile}, @command{objcopy} creates a
1132 temporary file and destructively renames the result with
1133 the name of @var{infile}.
1135 @item -I @var{bfdname}
1136 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
1137 Consider the source file's object format to be @var{bfdname}, rather than
1138 attempting to deduce it. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1140 @item -O @var{bfdname}
1141 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
1142 Write the output file using the object format @var{bfdname}.
1143 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1145 @item -F @var{bfdname}
1146 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1147 Use @var{bfdname} as the object format for both the input and the output
1148 file; i.e., simply transfer data from source to destination with no
1149 translation. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1151 @item -B @var{bfdarch}
1152 @itemx --binary-architecture=@var{bfdarch}
1153 Useful when transforming a architecture-less input file into an object file.
1154 In this case the output architecture can be set to @var{bfdarch}. This
1155 option will be ignored if the input file has a known @var{bfdarch}. You
1156 can access this binary data inside a program by referencing the special
1157 symbols that are created by the conversion process. These symbols are
1158 called _binary_@var{objfile}_start, _binary_@var{objfile}_end and
1159 _binary_@var{objfile}_size. e.g. you can transform a picture file into
1160 an object file and then access it in your code using these symbols.
1162 @item -j @var{sectionname}
1163 @itemx --only-section=@var{sectionname}
1164 Copy only the named section from the input file to the output file.
1165 This option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1166 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1168 @item -R @var{sectionname}
1169 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
1170 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
1171 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1172 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1176 Do not copy relocation and symbol information from the source file.
1179 @itemx --strip-debug
1180 Do not copy debugging symbols or sections from the source file.
1182 @item --strip-unneeded
1183 Strip all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
1185 @item -K @var{symbolname}
1186 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1187 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
1188 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
1190 @item -N @var{symbolname}
1191 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1192 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option
1193 may be given more than once.
1195 @item --strip-unneeded-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1196 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file unless it is needed
1197 by a relocation. This option may be given more than once.
1199 @item -G @var{symbolname}
1200 @itemx --keep-global-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1201 Keep only symbol @var{symbolname} global. Make all other symbols local
1202 to the file, so that they are not visible externally. This option may
1203 be given more than once.
1205 @item --localize-hidden
1206 In an ELF object, mark all symbols that have hidden or internal visibility
1207 as local. This option applies on top of symbol-specific localization options
1208 such as @option{-L}.
1210 @item -L @var{symbolname}
1211 @itemx --localize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1212 Make symbol @var{symbolname} local to the file, so that it is not
1213 visible externally. This option may be given more than once.
1215 @item -W @var{symbolname}
1216 @itemx --weaken-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1217 Make symbol @var{symbolname} weak. This option may be given more than once.
1219 @item --globalize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1220 Give symbol @var{symbolname} global scoping so that it is visible
1221 outside of the file in which it is defined. This option may be given
1226 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
1227 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
1228 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
1229 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
1230 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
1237 would cause objcopy to weaken all symbols that start with ``fo''
1238 except for the symbol ``foo''.
1241 @itemx --discard-all
1242 Do not copy non-global symbols from the source file.
1243 @c FIXME any reason to prefer "non-global" to "local" here?
1246 @itemx --discard-locals
1247 Do not copy compiler-generated local symbols.
1248 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
1251 @itemx --byte=@var{byte}
1252 If interleaving has been enabled via the @option{--interleave} option
1253 then start the range of bytes to keep at the @var{byte}th byte.
1254 @var{byte} can be in the range from 0 to @var{breadth}-1, where
1255 @var{breadth} is the value given by the @option{--interleave} option.
1257 @item -i [@var{breadth}]
1258 @itemx --interleave[=@var{breadth}]
1259 Only copy a range out of every @var{breadth} bytes. (Header data is
1260 not affected). Select which byte in the range begins the copy with
1261 the @option{--byte} option. Select the width of the range with the
1262 @option{--interleave-width} option.
1264 This option is useful for creating files to program @sc{rom}. It is
1265 typically used with an @code{srec} output target. Note that
1266 @command{objcopy} will complain if you do not specify the
1267 @option{--byte} option as well.
1269 The default interleave breadth is 4, so with @option{--byte} set to 0,
1270 @command{objcopy} would copy the first byte out of every four bytes
1271 from the input to the output.
1273 @item --interleave-width=@var{width}
1274 When used with the @option{--interleave} option, copy @var{width}
1275 bytes at a time. The start of the range of bytes to be copied is set
1276 by the @option{--byte} option, and the extent of the range is set with
1277 the @option{--interleave} option.
1279 The default value for this option is 1. The value of @var{width} plus
1280 the @var{byte} value set by the @option{--byte} option must not exceed
1281 the interleave breadth set by the @option{--interleave} option.
1283 This option can be used to create images for two 16-bit flashes interleaved
1284 in a 32-bit bus by passing @option{-b 0 -i 4 --interleave-width=2}
1285 and @option{-b 2 -i 4 --interleave-width=2} to two @command{objcopy}
1286 commands. If the input was '12345678' then the outputs would be
1287 '1256' and '3478' respectively.
1290 @itemx --preserve-dates
1291 Set the access and modification dates of the output file to be the same
1292 as those of the input file.
1295 Convert debugging information, if possible. This is not the default
1296 because only certain debugging formats are supported, and the
1297 conversion process can be time consuming.
1299 @item --gap-fill @var{val}
1300 Fill gaps between sections with @var{val}. This operation applies to
1301 the @emph{load address} (LMA) of the sections. It is done by increasing
1302 the size of the section with the lower address, and filling in the extra
1303 space created with @var{val}.
1305 @item --pad-to @var{address}
1306 Pad the output file up to the load address @var{address}. This is
1307 done by increasing the size of the last section. The extra space is
1308 filled in with the value specified by @option{--gap-fill} (default zero).
1310 @item --set-start @var{val}
1311 Set the start address of the new file to @var{val}. Not all object file
1312 formats support setting the start address.
1314 @item --change-start @var{incr}
1315 @itemx --adjust-start @var{incr}
1316 @cindex changing start address
1317 Change the start address by adding @var{incr}. Not all object file
1318 formats support setting the start address.
1320 @item --change-addresses @var{incr}
1321 @itemx --adjust-vma @var{incr}
1322 @cindex changing object addresses
1323 Change the VMA and LMA addresses of all sections, as well as the start
1324 address, by adding @var{incr}. Some object file formats do not permit
1325 section addresses to be changed arbitrarily. Note that this does not
1326 relocate the sections; if the program expects sections to be loaded at a
1327 certain address, and this option is used to change the sections such
1328 that they are loaded at a different address, the program may fail.
1330 @item --change-section-address @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1331 @itemx --adjust-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1332 @cindex changing section address
1333 Set or change both the VMA address and the LMA address of the named
1334 @var{section}. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1335 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1336 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1337 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning will
1338 be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1340 @item --change-section-lma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1341 @cindex changing section LMA
1342 Set or change the LMA address of the named @var{section}. The LMA
1343 address is the address where the section will be loaded into memory at
1344 program load time. Normally this is the same as the VMA address, which
1345 is the address of the section at program run time, but on some systems,
1346 especially those where a program is held in ROM, the two can be
1347 different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1348 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1349 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1350 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning
1351 will be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1353 @item --change-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1354 @cindex changing section VMA
1355 Set or change the VMA address of the named @var{section}. The VMA
1356 address is the address where the section will be located once the
1357 program has started executing. Normally this is the same as the LMA
1358 address, which is the address where the section will be loaded into
1359 memory, but on some systems, especially those where a program is held in
1360 ROM, the two can be different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address
1361 is set to @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted
1362 from the section address. See the comments under
1363 @option{--change-addresses}, above. If @var{section} does not exist in
1364 the input file, a warning will be issued, unless
1365 @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1367 @item --change-warnings
1368 @itemx --adjust-warnings
1369 If @option{--change-section-address} or @option{--change-section-lma} or
1370 @option{--change-section-vma} is used, and the named section does not
1371 exist, issue a warning. This is the default.
1373 @item --no-change-warnings
1374 @itemx --no-adjust-warnings
1375 Do not issue a warning if @option{--change-section-address} or
1376 @option{--adjust-section-lma} or @option{--adjust-section-vma} is used, even
1377 if the named section does not exist.
1379 @item --set-section-flags @var{section}=@var{flags}
1380 Set the flags for the named section. The @var{flags} argument is a
1381 comma separated string of flag names. The recognized names are
1382 @samp{alloc}, @samp{contents}, @samp{load}, @samp{noload},
1383 @samp{readonly}, @samp{code}, @samp{data}, @samp{rom}, @samp{share}, and
1384 @samp{debug}. You can set the @samp{contents} flag for a section which
1385 does not have contents, but it is not meaningful to clear the
1386 @samp{contents} flag of a section which does have contents--just remove
1387 the section instead. Not all flags are meaningful for all object file
1390 @item --add-section @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}
1391 Add a new section named @var{sectionname} while copying the file. The
1392 contents of the new section are taken from the file @var{filename}. The
1393 size of the section will be the size of the file. This option only
1394 works on file formats which can support sections with arbitrary names.
1396 @item --rename-section @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]
1397 Rename a section from @var{oldname} to @var{newname}, optionally
1398 changing the section's flags to @var{flags} in the process. This has
1399 the advantage over usng a linker script to perform the rename in that
1400 the output stays as an object file and does not become a linked
1403 This option is particularly helpful when the input format is binary,
1404 since this will always create a section called .data. If for example,
1405 you wanted instead to create a section called .rodata containing binary
1406 data you could use the following command line to achieve it:
1409 objcopy -I binary -O <output_format> -B <architecture> \
1410 --rename-section .data=.rodata,alloc,load,readonly,data,contents \
1411 <input_binary_file> <output_object_file>
1414 @item --long-section-names @{enable,disable,keep@}
1415 Controls the handling of long section names when processing @code{COFF}
1416 and @code{PE-COFF} object formats. The default behaviour, @samp{keep},
1417 is to preserve long section names if any are present in the input file.
1418 The @samp{enable} and @samp{disable} options forcibly enable or disable
1419 the use of long section names in the output object; when @samp{disable}
1420 is in effect, any long section names in the input object will be truncated.
1421 The @samp{enable} option will only emit long section names if any are
1422 present in the inputs; this is mostly the same as @samp{keep}, but it
1423 is left undefined whether the @samp{enable} option might force the
1424 creation of an empty string table in the output file.
1426 @item --change-leading-char
1427 Some object file formats use special characters at the start of
1428 symbols. The most common such character is underscore, which compilers
1429 often add before every symbol. This option tells @command{objcopy} to
1430 change the leading character of every symbol when it converts between
1431 object file formats. If the object file formats use the same leading
1432 character, this option has no effect. Otherwise, it will add a
1433 character, or remove a character, or change a character, as
1436 @item --remove-leading-char
1437 If the first character of a global symbol is a special symbol leading
1438 character used by the object file format, remove the character. The
1439 most common symbol leading character is underscore. This option will
1440 remove a leading underscore from all global symbols. This can be useful
1441 if you want to link together objects of different file formats with
1442 different conventions for symbol names. This is different from
1443 @option{--change-leading-char} because it always changes the symbol name
1444 when appropriate, regardless of the object file format of the output
1447 @item --reverse-bytes=@var{num}
1448 Reverse the bytes in a section with output contents. A section length must
1449 be evenly divisible by the value given in order for the swap to be able to
1450 take place. Reversing takes place before the interleaving is performed.
1452 This option is used typically in generating ROM images for problematic
1453 target systems. For example, on some target boards, the 32-bit words
1454 fetched from 8-bit ROMs are re-assembled in little-endian byte order
1455 regardless of the CPU byte order. Depending on the programming model, the
1456 endianness of the ROM may need to be modified.
1458 Consider a simple file with a section containing the following eight
1459 bytes: @code{12345678}.
1461 Using @samp{--reverse-bytes=2} for the above example, the bytes in the
1462 output file would be ordered @code{21436587}.
1464 Using @samp{--reverse-bytes=4} for the above example, the bytes in the
1465 output file would be ordered @code{43218765}.
1467 By using @samp{--reverse-bytes=2} for the above example, followed by
1468 @samp{--reverse-bytes=4} on the output file, the bytes in the second
1469 output file would be ordered @code{34127856}.
1471 @item --srec-len=@var{ival}
1472 Meaningful only for srec output. Set the maximum length of the Srecords
1473 being produced to @var{ival}. This length covers both address, data and
1476 @item --srec-forceS3
1477 Meaningful only for srec output. Avoid generation of S1/S2 records,
1478 creating S3-only record format.
1480 @item --redefine-sym @var{old}=@var{new}
1481 Change the name of a symbol @var{old}, to @var{new}. This can be useful
1482 when one is trying link two things together for which you have no
1483 source, and there are name collisions.
1485 @item --redefine-syms=@var{filename}
1486 Apply @option{--redefine-sym} to each symbol pair "@var{old} @var{new}"
1487 listed in the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file,
1488 with one symbol pair per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1489 character. This option may be given more than once.
1492 Change all global symbols in the file to be weak. This can be useful
1493 when building an object which will be linked against other objects using
1494 the @option{-R} option to the linker. This option is only effective when
1495 using an object file format which supports weak symbols.
1497 @item --keep-symbols=@var{filename}
1498 Apply @option{--keep-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1499 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1500 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1501 This option may be given more than once.
1503 @item --strip-symbols=@var{filename}
1504 Apply @option{--strip-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1505 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1506 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1507 This option may be given more than once.
1509 @item --strip-unneeded-symbols=@var{filename}
1510 Apply @option{--strip-unneeded-symbol} option to each symbol listed in
1511 the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1512 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1513 character. This option may be given more than once.
1515 @item --keep-global-symbols=@var{filename}
1516 Apply @option{--keep-global-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the
1517 file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1518 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1519 character. This option may be given more than once.
1521 @item --localize-symbols=@var{filename}
1522 Apply @option{--localize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1523 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1524 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1525 This option may be given more than once.
1527 @item --globalize-symbols=@var{filename}
1528 Apply @option{--globalize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1529 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1530 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1531 This option may be given more than once.
1533 @item --weaken-symbols=@var{filename}
1534 Apply @option{--weaken-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1535 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1536 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1537 This option may be given more than once.
1539 @item --alt-machine-code=@var{index}
1540 If the output architecture has alternate machine codes, use the
1541 @var{index}th code instead of the default one. This is useful in case
1542 a machine is assigned an official code and the tool-chain adopts the
1543 new code, but other applications still depend on the original code
1544 being used. For ELF based architectures if the @var{index}
1545 alternative does not exist then the value is treated as an absolute
1546 number to be stored in the e_machine field of the ELF header.
1548 @item --writable-text
1549 Mark the output text as writable. This option isn't meaningful for all
1550 object file formats.
1552 @item --readonly-text
1553 Make the output text write protected. This option isn't meaningful for all
1554 object file formats.
1557 Mark the output file as demand paged. This option isn't meaningful for all
1558 object file formats.
1561 Mark the output file as impure. This option isn't meaningful for all
1562 object file formats.
1564 @item --prefix-symbols=@var{string}
1565 Prefix all symbols in the output file with @var{string}.
1567 @item --prefix-sections=@var{string}
1568 Prefix all section names in the output file with @var{string}.
1570 @item --prefix-alloc-sections=@var{string}
1571 Prefix all the names of all allocated sections in the output file with
1574 @item --add-gnu-debuglink=@var{path-to-file}
1575 Creates a .gnu_debuglink section which contains a reference to @var{path-to-file}
1576 and adds it to the output file.
1578 @item --keep-file-symbols
1579 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
1580 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
1581 which would otherwise get stripped.
1583 @item --only-keep-debug
1584 Strip a file, removing contents of any sections that would not be
1585 stripped by @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections
1586 intact. In ELF files, this preserves all note sections in the output.
1588 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
1589 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
1590 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
1591 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
1592 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
1593 to create these files is as follows:
1596 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
1598 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
1599 create a file containing the debugging info.
1600 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
1601 stripped executable.
1602 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
1603 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
1606 Note---the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
1607 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
1608 optional. You could instead do this:
1611 @item Link the executable as normal.
1612 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
1613 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo}
1614 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
1617 i.e., the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
1618 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
1619 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
1621 Note---this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
1622 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
1623 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
1624 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
1625 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
1628 @item --file-alignment @var{num}
1629 Specify the file alignment. Sections in the file will always begin at
1630 file offsets which are multiples of this number. This defaults to
1632 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1634 @item --heap @var{reserve}
1635 @itemx --heap @var{reserve},@var{commit}
1636 Specify the number of bytes of memory to reserve (and optionally commit)
1637 to be used as heap for this program.
1638 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1640 @item --image-base @var{value}
1641 Use @var{value} as the base address of your program or dll. This is
1642 the lowest memory location that will be used when your program or dll
1643 is loaded. To reduce the need to relocate and improve performance of
1644 your dlls, each should have a unique base address and not overlap any
1645 other dlls. The default is 0x400000 for executables, and 0x10000000
1647 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1649 @item --section-alignment @var{num}
1650 Sets the section alignment. Sections in memory will always begin at
1651 addresses which are a multiple of this number. Defaults to 0x1000.
1652 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1654 @item --stack @var{reserve}
1655 @itemx --stack @var{reserve},@var{commit}
1656 Specify the number of bytes of memory to reserve (and optionally commit)
1657 to be used as stack for this program.
1658 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1660 @item --subsystem @var{which}
1661 @itemx --subsystem @var{which}:@var{major}
1662 @itemx --subsystem @var{which}:@var{major}.@var{minor}
1663 Specifies the subsystem under which your program will execute. The
1664 legal values for @var{which} are @code{native}, @code{windows},
1665 @code{console}, @code{posix}, @code{efi-app}, @code{efi-bsd},
1666 @code{efi-rtd}, @code{sal-rtd}, and @code{xbox}. You may optionally set
1667 the subsystem version also. Numeric values are also accepted for
1669 [This option is specific to PE targets.]
1671 @item --extract-symbol
1672 Keep the file's section flags and symbols but remove all section data.
1673 Specifically, the option:
1676 @item removes the contents of all sections;
1677 @item sets the size of every section to zero; and
1678 @item sets the file's start address to zero.
1681 This option is used to build a @file{.sym} file for a VxWorks kernel.
1682 It can also be a useful way of reducing the size of a @option{--just-symbols}
1685 @item --compress-debug-sections
1686 Compress DWARF debug sections using zlib.
1688 @item --decompress-debug-sections
1689 Decompress DWARF debug sections using zlib.
1693 Show the version number of @command{objcopy}.
1697 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
1698 archives, @samp{objcopy -V} lists all members of the archive.
1701 Show a summary of the options to @command{objcopy}.
1704 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
1710 @c man begin SEEALSO objcopy
1711 ld(1), objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
1718 @cindex object file information
1721 @c man title objdump display information from object files.
1724 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objdump
1725 objdump [@option{-a}|@option{--archive-headers}]
1726 [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=@var{bfdname}}]
1727 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}] ]
1728 [@option{-d}|@option{--disassemble}]
1729 [@option{-D}|@option{--disassemble-all}]
1730 [@option{-z}|@option{--disassemble-zeroes}]
1731 [@option{-EB}|@option{-EL}|@option{--endian=}@{big | little @}]
1732 [@option{-f}|@option{--file-headers}]
1733 [@option{-F}|@option{--file-offsets}]
1734 [@option{--file-start-context}]
1735 [@option{-g}|@option{--debugging}]
1736 [@option{-e}|@option{--debugging-tags}]
1737 [@option{-h}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--headers}]
1738 [@option{-i}|@option{--info}]
1739 [@option{-j} @var{section}|@option{--section=}@var{section}]
1740 [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}]
1741 [@option{-S}|@option{--source}]
1742 [@option{-m} @var{machine}|@option{--architecture=}@var{machine}]
1743 [@option{-M} @var{options}|@option{--disassembler-options=}@var{options}]
1744 [@option{-p}|@option{--private-headers}]
1745 [@option{-r}|@option{--reloc}]
1746 [@option{-R}|@option{--dynamic-reloc}]
1747 [@option{-s}|@option{--full-contents}]
1748 [@option{-W[lLiaprmfFsoRt]}|
1749 @option{--dwarf}[=rawline,=decodedline,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges,=pubtypes,=trace_info,=trace_abbrev,=trace_aranges]]
1750 [@option{-G}|@option{--stabs}]
1751 [@option{-t}|@option{--syms}]
1752 [@option{-T}|@option{--dynamic-syms}]
1753 [@option{-x}|@option{--all-headers}]
1754 [@option{-w}|@option{--wide}]
1755 [@option{--start-address=}@var{address}]
1756 [@option{--stop-address=}@var{address}]
1757 [@option{--prefix-addresses}]
1758 [@option{--[no-]show-raw-insn}]
1759 [@option{--adjust-vma=}@var{offset}]
1760 [@option{--special-syms}]
1761 [@option{--prefix=}@var{prefix}]
1762 [@option{--prefix-strip=}@var{level}]
1763 [@option{--insn-width=}@var{width}]
1764 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1765 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
1766 @var{objfile}@dots{}
1770 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objdump
1772 @command{objdump} displays information about one or more object files.
1773 The options control what particular information to display. This
1774 information is mostly useful to programmers who are working on the
1775 compilation tools, as opposed to programmers who just want their
1776 program to compile and work.
1778 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. When you
1779 specify archives, @command{objdump} shows information on each of the member
1784 @c man begin OPTIONS objdump
1786 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
1787 equivalent. At least one option from the list
1788 @option{-a,-d,-D,-e,-f,-g,-G,-h,-H,-p,-r,-R,-s,-S,-t,-T,-V,-x} must be given.
1792 @itemx --archive-header
1793 @cindex archive headers
1794 If any of the @var{objfile} files are archives, display the archive
1795 header information (in a format similar to @samp{ls -l}). Besides the
1796 information you could list with @samp{ar tv}, @samp{objdump -a} shows
1797 the object file format of each archive member.
1799 @item --adjust-vma=@var{offset}
1800 @cindex section addresses in objdump
1801 @cindex VMA in objdump
1802 When dumping information, first add @var{offset} to all the section
1803 addresses. This is useful if the section addresses do not correspond to
1804 the symbol table, which can happen when putting sections at particular
1805 addresses when using a format which can not represent section addresses,
1808 @item -b @var{bfdname}
1809 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1810 @cindex object code format
1811 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
1812 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @var{objdump} can
1813 automatically recognize many formats.
1817 objdump -b oasys -m vax -h fu.o
1820 displays summary information from the section headers (@option{-h}) of
1821 @file{fu.o}, which is explicitly identified (@option{-m}) as a VAX object
1822 file in the format produced by Oasys compilers. You can list the
1823 formats available with the @option{-i} option.
1824 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1827 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
1828 @cindex demangling in objdump
1829 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
1830 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
1831 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
1832 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
1833 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
1834 for more information on demangling.
1838 Display debugging information. This attempts to parse STABS and IEEE
1839 debugging format information stored in the file and print it out using
1840 a C like syntax. If neither of these formats are found this option
1841 falls back on the @option{-W} option to print any DWARF information in
1845 @itemx --debugging-tags
1846 Like @option{-g}, but the information is generated in a format compatible
1850 @itemx --disassemble
1851 @cindex disassembling object code
1852 @cindex machine instructions
1853 Display the assembler mnemonics for the machine instructions from
1854 @var{objfile}. This option only disassembles those sections which are
1855 expected to contain instructions.
1858 @itemx --disassemble-all
1859 Like @option{-d}, but disassemble the contents of all sections, not just
1860 those expected to contain instructions.
1862 If the target is an ARM architecture this switch also has the effect
1863 of forcing the disassembler to decode pieces of data found in code
1864 sections as if they were instructions.
1866 @item --prefix-addresses
1867 When disassembling, print the complete address on each line. This is
1868 the older disassembly format.
1872 @itemx --endian=@{big|little@}
1874 @cindex disassembly endianness
1875 Specify the endianness of the object files. This only affects
1876 disassembly. This can be useful when disassembling a file format which
1877 does not describe endianness information, such as S-records.
1880 @itemx --file-headers
1881 @cindex object file header
1882 Display summary information from the overall header of
1883 each of the @var{objfile} files.
1886 @itemx --file-offsets
1887 @cindex object file offsets
1888 When disassembling sections, whenever a symbol is displayed, also
1889 display the file offset of the region of data that is about to be
1890 dumped. If zeroes are being skipped, then when disassembly resumes,
1891 tell the user how many zeroes were skipped and the file offset of the
1892 location from where the disassembly resumes. When dumping sections,
1893 display the file offset of the location from where the dump starts.
1895 @item --file-start-context
1896 @cindex source code context
1897 Specify that when displaying interlisted source code/disassembly
1898 (assumes @option{-S}) from a file that has not yet been displayed, extend the
1899 context to the start of the file.
1902 @itemx --section-headers
1904 @cindex section headers
1905 Display summary information from the section headers of the
1908 File segments may be relocated to nonstandard addresses, for example by
1909 using the @option{-Ttext}, @option{-Tdata}, or @option{-Tbss} options to
1910 @command{ld}. However, some object file formats, such as a.out, do not
1911 store the starting address of the file segments. In those situations,
1912 although @command{ld} relocates the sections correctly, using @samp{objdump
1913 -h} to list the file section headers cannot show the correct addresses.
1914 Instead, it shows the usual addresses, which are implicit for the
1919 Print a summary of the options to @command{objdump} and exit.
1923 @cindex architectures available
1924 @cindex object formats available
1925 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available
1926 for specification with @option{-b} or @option{-m}.
1929 @itemx --section=@var{name}
1930 @cindex section information
1931 Display information only for section @var{name}.
1934 @itemx --line-numbers
1935 @cindex source filenames for object files
1936 Label the display (using debugging information) with the filename and
1937 source line numbers corresponding to the object code or relocs shown.
1938 Only useful with @option{-d}, @option{-D}, or @option{-r}.
1940 @item -m @var{machine}
1941 @itemx --architecture=@var{machine}
1942 @cindex architecture
1943 @cindex disassembly architecture
1944 Specify the architecture to use when disassembling object files. This
1945 can be useful when disassembling object files which do not describe
1946 architecture information, such as S-records. You can list the available
1947 architectures with the @option{-i} option.
1949 If the target is an ARM architecture then this switch has an
1950 additional effect. It restricts the disassembly to only those
1951 instructions supported by the architecture specified by @var{machine}.
1952 If it is necessary to use this switch because the input file does not
1953 contain any architecture information, but it is also desired to
1954 disassemble all the instructions use @option{-marm}.
1956 @item -M @var{options}
1957 @itemx --disassembler-options=@var{options}
1958 Pass target specific information to the disassembler. Only supported on
1959 some targets. If it is necessary to specify more than one
1960 disassembler option then multiple @option{-M} options can be used or
1961 can be placed together into a comma separated list.
1963 If the target is an ARM architecture then this switch can be used to
1964 select which register name set is used during disassembler. Specifying
1965 @option{-M reg-names-std} (the default) will select the register names as
1966 used in ARM's instruction set documentation, but with register 13 called
1967 'sp', register 14 called 'lr' and register 15 called 'pc'. Specifying
1968 @option{-M reg-names-apcs} will select the name set used by the ARM
1969 Procedure Call Standard, whilst specifying @option{-M reg-names-raw} will
1970 just use @samp{r} followed by the register number.
1972 There are also two variants on the APCS register naming scheme enabled
1973 by @option{-M reg-names-atpcs} and @option{-M reg-names-special-atpcs} which
1974 use the ARM/Thumb Procedure Call Standard naming conventions. (Either
1975 with the normal register names or the special register names).
1977 This option can also be used for ARM architectures to force the
1978 disassembler to interpret all instructions as Thumb instructions by
1979 using the switch @option{--disassembler-options=force-thumb}. This can be
1980 useful when attempting to disassemble thumb code produced by other
1983 For the x86, some of the options duplicate functions of the @option{-m}
1984 switch, but allow finer grained control. Multiple selections from the
1985 following may be specified as a comma separated string.
1986 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} and @option{i8086} select disassembly for
1987 the given architecture. @option{intel} and @option{att} select between
1988 intel syntax mode and AT&T syntax mode.
1989 @option{intel-mnemonic} and @option{att-mnemonic} select between
1990 intel mnemonic mode and AT&T mnemonic mode. @option{intel-mnemonic}
1991 implies @option{intel} and @option{att-mnemonic} implies @option{att}.
1992 @option{addr64}, @option{addr32},
1993 @option{addr16}, @option{data32} and @option{data16} specify the default
1994 address size and operand size. These four options will be overridden if
1995 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} or @option{i8086} appear later in the
1996 option string. Lastly, @option{suffix}, when in AT&T mode,
1997 instructs the disassembler to print a mnemonic suffix even when the
1998 suffix could be inferred by the operands.
2000 For PowerPC, @option{booke} controls the disassembly of BookE
2001 instructions. @option{32} and @option{64} select PowerPC and
2002 PowerPC64 disassembly, respectively. @option{e300} selects
2003 disassembly for the e300 family. @option{440} selects disassembly for
2004 the PowerPC 440. @option{ppcps} selects disassembly for the paired
2005 single instructions of the PPC750CL.
2007 For MIPS, this option controls the printing of instruction mnemonic
2008 names and register names in disassembled instructions. Multiple
2009 selections from the following may be specified as a comma separated
2010 string, and invalid options are ignored:
2014 Print the 'raw' instruction mnemonic instead of some pseudo
2015 instruction mnemonic. I.e., print 'daddu' or 'or' instead of 'move',
2016 'sll' instead of 'nop', etc.
2018 @item gpr-names=@var{ABI}
2019 Print GPR (general-purpose register) names as appropriate
2020 for the specified ABI. By default, GPR names are selected according to
2021 the ABI of the binary being disassembled.
2023 @item fpr-names=@var{ABI}
2024 Print FPR (floating-point register) names as
2025 appropriate for the specified ABI. By default, FPR numbers are printed
2028 @item cp0-names=@var{ARCH}
2029 Print CP0 (system control coprocessor; coprocessor 0) register names
2030 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
2031 @var{ARCH}. By default, CP0 register names are selected according to
2032 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
2034 @item hwr-names=@var{ARCH}
2035 Print HWR (hardware register, used by the @code{rdhwr} instruction) names
2036 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
2037 @var{ARCH}. By default, HWR names are selected according to
2038 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
2040 @item reg-names=@var{ABI}
2041 Print GPR and FPR names as appropriate for the selected ABI.
2043 @item reg-names=@var{ARCH}
2044 Print CPU-specific register names (CP0 register and HWR names)
2045 as appropriate for the selected CPU or architecture.
2048 For any of the options listed above, @var{ABI} or
2049 @var{ARCH} may be specified as @samp{numeric} to have numbers printed
2050 rather than names, for the selected types of registers.
2051 You can list the available values of @var{ABI} and @var{ARCH} using
2052 the @option{--help} option.
2054 For VAX, you can specify function entry addresses with @option{-M
2055 entry:0xf00ba}. You can use this multiple times to properly
2056 disassemble VAX binary files that don't contain symbol tables (like
2057 ROM dumps). In these cases, the function entry mask would otherwise
2058 be decoded as VAX instructions, which would probably lead the rest
2059 of the function being wrongly disassembled.
2062 @itemx --private-headers
2063 Print information that is specific to the object file format. The exact
2064 information printed depends upon the object file format. For some
2065 object file formats, no additional information is printed.
2069 @cindex relocation entries, in object file
2070 Print the relocation entries of the file. If used with @option{-d} or
2071 @option{-D}, the relocations are printed interspersed with the
2075 @itemx --dynamic-reloc
2076 @cindex dynamic relocation entries, in object file
2077 Print the dynamic relocation entries of the file. This is only
2078 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
2079 libraries. As for @option{-r}, if used with @option{-d} or
2080 @option{-D}, the relocations are printed interspersed with the
2084 @itemx --full-contents
2085 @cindex sections, full contents
2086 @cindex object file sections
2087 Display the full contents of any sections requested. By default all
2088 non-empty sections are displayed.
2092 @cindex source disassembly
2093 @cindex disassembly, with source
2094 Display source code intermixed with disassembly, if possible. Implies
2097 @item --prefix=@var{prefix}
2098 @cindex Add prefix to absolute paths
2099 Specify @var{prefix} to add to the absolute paths when used with
2102 @item --prefix-strip=@var{level}
2103 @cindex Strip absolute paths
2104 Indicate how many initial directory names to strip off the hardwired
2105 absolute paths. It has no effect without @option{--prefix=}@var{prefix}.
2107 @item --show-raw-insn
2108 When disassembling instructions, print the instruction in hex as well as
2109 in symbolic form. This is the default except when
2110 @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
2112 @item --no-show-raw-insn
2113 When disassembling instructions, do not print the instruction bytes.
2114 This is the default when @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
2116 @item --insn-width=@var{width}
2117 @cindex Instruction width
2118 Display @var{width} bytes on a single line when disassembling
2121 @item -W[lLiaprmfFsoRt]
2122 @itemx --dwarf[=rawline,=decodedline,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges,=pubtypes,=trace_info,=trace_abbrev,=trace_aranges]
2124 @cindex debug symbols
2125 Displays the contents of the debug sections in the file, if any are
2126 present. If one of the optional letters or words follows the switch
2127 then only data found in those specific sections will be dumped.
2129 Note that there is no single letter option to display the content of
2136 @cindex debug symbols
2137 @cindex ELF object file format
2138 Display the full contents of any sections requested. Display the
2139 contents of the .stab and .stab.index and .stab.excl sections from an
2140 ELF file. This is only useful on systems (such as Solaris 2.0) in which
2141 @code{.stab} debugging symbol-table entries are carried in an ELF
2142 section. In most other file formats, debugging symbol-table entries are
2143 interleaved with linkage symbols, and are visible in the @option{--syms}
2146 For more information on stabs symbols, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs
2147 Overview,stabs.info, The ``stabs'' debug format}.
2150 @item --start-address=@var{address}
2151 @cindex start-address
2152 Start displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
2153 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
2155 @item --stop-address=@var{address}
2156 @cindex stop-address
2157 Stop displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
2158 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
2162 @cindex symbol table entries, printing
2163 Print the symbol table entries of the file.
2164 This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm} program,
2165 although the display format is different. The format of the output
2166 depends upon the format of the file being dumped, but there are two main
2167 types. One looks like this:
2170 [ 4](sec 3)(fl 0x00)(ty 0)(scl 3) (nx 1) 0x00000000 .bss
2171 [ 6](sec 1)(fl 0x00)(ty 0)(scl 2) (nx 0) 0x00000000 fred
2174 where the number inside the square brackets is the number of the entry
2175 in the symbol table, the @var{sec} number is the section number, the
2176 @var{fl} value are the symbol's flag bits, the @var{ty} number is the
2177 symbol's type, the @var{scl} number is the symbol's storage class and
2178 the @var{nx} value is the number of auxilary entries associated with
2179 the symbol. The last two fields are the symbol's value and its name.
2181 The other common output format, usually seen with ELF based files,
2185 00000000 l d .bss 00000000 .bss
2186 00000000 g .text 00000000 fred
2189 Here the first number is the symbol's value (sometimes refered to as
2190 its address). The next field is actually a set of characters and
2191 spaces indicating the flag bits that are set on the symbol. These
2192 characters are described below. Next is the section with which the
2193 symbol is associated or @emph{*ABS*} if the section is absolute (ie
2194 not connected with any section), or @emph{*UND*} if the section is
2195 referenced in the file being dumped, but not defined there.
2197 After the section name comes another field, a number, which for common
2198 symbols is the alignment and for other symbol is the size. Finally
2199 the symbol's name is displayed.
2201 The flag characters are divided into 7 groups as follows:
2207 The symbol is a local (l), global (g), unique global (u), neither
2208 global nor local (a space) or both global and local (!). A
2209 symbol can be neither local or global for a variety of reasons, e.g.,
2210 because it is used for debugging, but it is probably an indication of
2211 a bug if it is ever both local and global. Unique global symbols are
2212 a GNU extension to the standard set of ELF symbol bindings. For such
2213 a symbol the dynamic linker will make sure that in the entire process
2214 there is just one symbol with this name and type in use.
2217 The symbol is weak (w) or strong (a space).
2220 The symbol denotes a constructor (C) or an ordinary symbol (a space).
2223 The symbol is a warning (W) or a normal symbol (a space). A warning
2224 symbol's name is a message to be displayed if the symbol following the
2225 warning symbol is ever referenced.
2229 The symbol is an indirect reference to another symbol (I), a function
2230 to be evaluated during reloc processing (i) or a normal symbol (a
2235 The symbol is a debugging symbol (d) or a dynamic symbol (D) or a
2236 normal symbol (a space).
2241 The symbol is the name of a function (F) or a file (f) or an object
2242 (O) or just a normal symbol (a space).
2246 @itemx --dynamic-syms
2247 @cindex dynamic symbol table entries, printing
2248 Print the dynamic symbol table entries of the file. This is only
2249 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
2250 libraries. This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm}
2251 program when given the @option{-D} (@option{--dynamic}) option.
2253 @item --special-syms
2254 When displaying symbols include those which the target considers to be
2255 special in some way and which would not normally be of interest to the
2260 Print the version number of @command{objdump} and exit.
2263 @itemx --all-headers
2264 @cindex all header information, object file
2265 @cindex header information, all
2266 Display all available header information, including the symbol table and
2267 relocation entries. Using @option{-x} is equivalent to specifying all of
2268 @option{-a -f -h -p -r -t}.
2272 @cindex wide output, printing
2273 Format some lines for output devices that have more than 80 columns.
2274 Also do not truncate symbol names when they are displayed.
2277 @itemx --disassemble-zeroes
2278 Normally the disassembly output will skip blocks of zeroes. This
2279 option directs the disassembler to disassemble those blocks, just like
2286 @c man begin SEEALSO objdump
2287 nm(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2295 @cindex archive contents
2296 @cindex symbol index
2298 @c man title ranlib generate index to archive.
2301 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ranlib
2302 ranlib [@option{-vVt}] @var{archive}
2306 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ranlib
2308 @command{ranlib} generates an index to the contents of an archive and
2309 stores it in the archive. The index lists each symbol defined by a
2310 member of an archive that is a relocatable object file.
2312 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index.
2314 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library and
2315 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
2316 their placement in the archive.
2318 The @sc{gnu} @command{ranlib} program is another form of @sc{gnu} @command{ar}; running
2319 @command{ranlib} is completely equivalent to executing @samp{ar -s}.
2324 @c man begin OPTIONS ranlib
2330 Show the version number of @command{ranlib}.
2333 Update the timestamp of the symbol map of an archive.
2339 @c man begin SEEALSO ranlib
2340 ar(1), nm(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2348 @cindex section sizes
2350 @c man title size list section sizes and total size.
2353 @c man begin SYNOPSIS size
2354 size [@option{-A}|@option{-B}|@option{--format=}@var{compatibility}]
2356 [@option{-d}|@option{-o}|@option{-x}|@option{--radix=}@var{number}]
2358 [@option{-t}|@option{--totals}]
2359 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2360 [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
2364 @c man begin DESCRIPTION size
2366 The @sc{gnu} @command{size} utility lists the section sizes---and the total
2367 size---for each of the object or archive files @var{objfile} in its
2368 argument list. By default, one line of output is generated for each
2369 object file or each module in an archive.
2371 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined.
2372 If none are specified, the file @code{a.out} will be used.
2376 @c man begin OPTIONS size
2378 The command line options have the following meanings:
2383 @itemx --format=@var{compatibility}
2384 @cindex @command{size} display format
2385 Using one of these options, you can choose whether the output from @sc{gnu}
2386 @command{size} resembles output from System V @command{size} (using @option{-A},
2387 or @option{--format=sysv}), or Berkeley @command{size} (using @option{-B}, or
2388 @option{--format=berkeley}). The default is the one-line format similar to
2390 @c Bonus for doc-source readers: you can also say --format=strange (or
2391 @c anything else that starts with 's') for sysv, and --format=boring (or
2392 @c anything else that starts with 'b') for Berkeley.
2394 Here is an example of the Berkeley (default) format of output from
2397 $ size --format=Berkeley ranlib size
2398 text data bss dec hex filename
2399 294880 81920 11592 388392 5ed28 ranlib
2400 294880 81920 11888 388688 5ee50 size
2404 This is the same data, but displayed closer to System V conventions:
2407 $ size --format=SysV ranlib size
2425 Show a summary of acceptable arguments and options.
2430 @itemx --radix=@var{number}
2431 @cindex @command{size} number format
2432 @cindex radix for section sizes
2433 Using one of these options, you can control whether the size of each
2434 section is given in decimal (@option{-d}, or @option{--radix=10}); octal
2435 (@option{-o}, or @option{--radix=8}); or hexadecimal (@option{-x}, or
2436 @option{--radix=16}). In @option{--radix=@var{number}}, only the three
2437 values (8, 10, 16) are supported. The total size is always given in two
2438 radices; decimal and hexadecimal for @option{-d} or @option{-x} output, or
2439 octal and hexadecimal if you're using @option{-o}.
2442 Print total size of common symbols in each file. When using Berkeley
2443 format these are included in the bss size.
2447 Show totals of all objects listed (Berkeley format listing mode only).
2449 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
2450 @cindex object code format
2451 Specify that the object-code format for @var{objfile} is
2452 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @command{size} can
2453 automatically recognize many formats.
2454 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2458 Display the version number of @command{size}.
2464 @c man begin SEEALSO size
2465 ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2472 @cindex listings strings
2473 @cindex printing strings
2474 @cindex strings, printing
2476 @c man title strings print the strings of printable characters in files.
2479 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strings
2480 strings [@option{-afovV}] [@option{-}@var{min-len}]
2481 [@option{-n} @var{min-len}] [@option{--bytes=}@var{min-len}]
2482 [@option{-t} @var{radix}] [@option{--radix=}@var{radix}]
2483 [@option{-e} @var{encoding}] [@option{--encoding=}@var{encoding}]
2484 [@option{-}] [@option{--all}] [@option{--print-file-name}]
2485 [@option{-T} @var{bfdname}] [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2486 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] @var{file}@dots{}
2490 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strings
2492 For each @var{file} given, @sc{gnu} @command{strings} prints the printable
2493 character sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number
2494 given with the options below) and are followed by an unprintable
2495 character. By default, it only prints the strings from the initialized
2496 and loaded sections of object files; for other types of files, it prints
2497 the strings from the whole file.
2499 @command{strings} is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text
2504 @c man begin OPTIONS strings
2510 Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files;
2511 scan the whole files.
2514 @itemx --print-file-name
2515 Print the name of the file before each string.
2518 Print a summary of the program usage on the standard output and exit.
2520 @item -@var{min-len}
2521 @itemx -n @var{min-len}
2522 @itemx --bytes=@var{min-len}
2523 Print sequences of characters that are at least @var{min-len} characters
2524 long, instead of the default 4.
2527 Like @samp{-t o}. Some other versions of @command{strings} have @option{-o}
2528 act like @samp{-t d} instead. Since we can not be compatible with both
2529 ways, we simply chose one.
2531 @item -t @var{radix}
2532 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
2533 Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
2534 character argument specifies the radix of the offset---@samp{o} for
2535 octal, @samp{x} for hexadecimal, or @samp{d} for decimal.
2537 @item -e @var{encoding}
2538 @itemx --encoding=@var{encoding}
2539 Select the character encoding of the strings that are to be found.
2540 Possible values for @var{encoding} are: @samp{s} = single-7-bit-byte
2541 characters (ASCII, ISO 8859, etc., default), @samp{S} =
2542 single-8-bit-byte characters, @samp{b} = 16-bit bigendian, @samp{l} =
2543 16-bit littleendian, @samp{B} = 32-bit bigendian, @samp{L} = 32-bit
2544 littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings. (@samp{l}
2545 and @samp{b} apply to, for example, Unicode UTF-16/UCS-2 encodings).
2547 @item -T @var{bfdname}
2548 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2549 @cindex object code format
2550 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
2551 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2556 Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.
2562 @c man begin SEEALSO strings
2563 ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1)
2564 and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2572 @cindex removing symbols
2573 @cindex discarding symbols
2574 @cindex symbols, discarding
2576 @c man title strip Discard symbols from object files.
2579 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strip
2580 strip [@option{-F} @var{bfdname} |@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2581 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname} |@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2582 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname} |@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2583 [@option{-s}|@option{--strip-all}]
2584 [@option{-S}|@option{-g}|@option{-d}|@option{--strip-debug}]
2585 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname} |@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2586 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname} |@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2587 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
2588 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}] [@option{-X} |@option{--discard-locals}]
2589 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname} |@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
2590 [@option{-o} @var{file}] [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
2591 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
2592 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
2593 [@option{-v} |@option{--verbose}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2594 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
2595 @var{objfile}@dots{}
2599 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strip
2601 @sc{gnu} @command{strip} discards all symbols from object files
2602 @var{objfile}. The list of object files may include archives.
2603 At least one object file must be given.
2605 @command{strip} modifies the files named in its argument,
2606 rather than writing modified copies under different names.
2610 @c man begin OPTIONS strip
2613 @item -F @var{bfdname}
2614 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2615 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2616 code format @var{bfdname}, and rewrite it in the same format.
2617 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2620 Show a summary of the options to @command{strip} and exit.
2623 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
2625 @item -I @var{bfdname}
2626 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
2627 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2628 code format @var{bfdname}.
2629 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2631 @item -O @var{bfdname}
2632 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
2633 Replace @var{objfile} with a file in the output format @var{bfdname}.
2634 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2636 @item -R @var{sectionname}
2637 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
2638 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
2639 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
2640 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
2649 @itemx --strip-debug
2650 Remove debugging symbols only.
2652 @item --strip-unneeded
2653 Remove all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
2655 @item -K @var{symbolname}
2656 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2657 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
2658 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
2660 @item -N @var{symbolname}
2661 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2662 Remove symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option may be
2663 given more than once, and may be combined with strip options other than
2667 Put the stripped output in @var{file}, rather than replacing the
2668 existing file. When this argument is used, only one @var{objfile}
2669 argument may be specified.
2672 @itemx --preserve-dates
2673 Preserve the access and modification dates of the file.
2677 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
2678 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
2679 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
2680 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
2681 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
2688 would cause strip to only keep symbols that start with the letters
2689 ``fo'', but to discard the symbol ``foo''.
2692 @itemx --discard-all
2693 Remove non-global symbols.
2696 @itemx --discard-locals
2697 Remove compiler-generated local symbols.
2698 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
2700 @item --keep-file-symbols
2701 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
2702 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
2703 which would otherwise get stripped.
2705 @item --only-keep-debug
2706 Strip a file, removing contents of any sections that would not be
2707 stripped by @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections
2708 intact. In ELF files, this preserves all note sections in the output.
2710 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
2711 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
2712 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
2713 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
2714 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
2715 to create these files is as follows:
2718 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
2720 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
2721 create a file containing the debugging info.
2722 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
2723 stripped executable.
2724 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
2725 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
2728 Note---the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
2729 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
2730 optional. You could instead do this:
2733 @item Link the executable as normal.
2734 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
2735 @item Run @code{strip --strip-debug foo}
2736 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
2739 i.e., the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
2740 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
2741 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
2743 Note---this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
2744 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
2745 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
2746 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
2747 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
2752 Show the version number for @command{strip}.
2756 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
2757 archives, @samp{strip -v} lists all members of the archive.
2763 @c man begin SEEALSO strip
2764 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2768 @node c++filt, addr2line, elfedit, Top
2772 @cindex demangling C++ symbols
2774 @c man title cxxfilt Demangle C++ and Java symbols.
2777 @c man begin SYNOPSIS cxxfilt
2778 c++filt [@option{-_}|@option{--strip-underscores}]
2779 [@option{-n}|@option{--no-strip-underscores}]
2780 [@option{-p}|@option{--no-params}]
2781 [@option{-t}|@option{--types}]
2782 [@option{-i}|@option{--no-verbose}]
2783 [@option{-s} @var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
2784 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] [@var{symbol}@dots{}]
2788 @c man begin DESCRIPTION cxxfilt
2791 The C++ and Java languages provide function overloading, which means
2792 that you can write many functions with the same name, providing that
2793 each function takes parameters of different types. In order to be
2794 able to distinguish these similarly named functions C++ and Java
2795 encode them into a low-level assembler name which uniquely identifies
2796 each different version. This process is known as @dfn{mangling}. The
2798 @footnote{MS-DOS does not allow @kbd{+} characters in file names, so on
2799 MS-DOS this program is named @command{CXXFILT}.}
2800 program does the inverse mapping: it decodes (@dfn{demangles}) low-level
2801 names into user-level names so that they can be read.
2803 Every alphanumeric word (consisting of letters, digits, underscores,
2804 dollars, or periods) seen in the input is a potential mangled name.
2805 If the name decodes into a C++ name, the C++ name replaces the
2806 low-level name in the output, otherwise the original word is output.
2807 In this way you can pass an entire assembler source file, containing
2808 mangled names, through @command{c++filt} and see the same source file
2809 containing demangled names.
2811 You can also use @command{c++filt} to decipher individual symbols by
2812 passing them on the command line:
2815 c++filt @var{symbol}
2818 If no @var{symbol} arguments are given, @command{c++filt} reads symbol
2819 names from the standard input instead. All the results are printed on
2820 the standard output. The difference between reading names from the
2821 command line versus reading names from the standard input is that
2822 command line arguments are expected to be just mangled names and no
2823 checking is performed to separate them from surrounding text. Thus
2830 will work and demangle the name to ``f()'' whereas:
2836 will not work. (Note the extra comma at the end of the mangled
2837 name which makes it invalid). This command however will work:
2840 echo _Z1fv, | c++filt -n
2843 and will display ``f(),'', i.e., the demangled name followed by a
2844 trailing comma. This behaviour is because when the names are read
2845 from the standard input it is expected that they might be part of an
2846 assembler source file where there might be extra, extraneous
2847 characters trailing after a mangled name. For example:
2850 .type _Z1fv, @@function
2855 @c man begin OPTIONS cxxfilt
2859 @itemx --strip-underscores
2860 On some systems, both the C and C++ compilers put an underscore in front
2861 of every name. For example, the C name @code{foo} gets the low-level
2862 name @code{_foo}. This option removes the initial underscore. Whether
2863 @command{c++filt} removes the underscore by default is target dependent.
2866 @itemx --no-strip-underscores
2867 Do not remove the initial underscore.
2871 When demangling the name of a function, do not display the types of
2872 the function's parameters.
2876 Attempt to demangle types as well as function names. This is disabled
2877 by default since mangled types are normally only used internally in
2878 the compiler, and they can be confused with non-mangled names. For example,
2879 a function called ``a'' treated as a mangled type name would be
2880 demangled to ``signed char''.
2884 Do not include implementation details (if any) in the demangled
2887 @item -s @var{format}
2888 @itemx --format=@var{format}
2889 @command{c++filt} can decode various methods of mangling, used by
2890 different compilers. The argument to this option selects which
2895 Automatic selection based on executable (the default method)
2897 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++)
2899 the one used by the Lucid compiler (lcc)
2901 the one specified by the C++ Annotated Reference Manual
2903 the one used by the HP compiler (aCC)
2905 the one used by the EDG compiler
2907 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++) with the V3 ABI.
2909 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Java compiler (gcj)
2911 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Ada compiler (GNAT).
2915 Print a summary of the options to @command{c++filt} and exit.
2918 Print the version number of @command{c++filt} and exit.
2924 @c man begin SEEALSO cxxfilt
2925 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2930 @emph{Warning:} @command{c++filt} is a new utility, and the details of its
2931 user interface are subject to change in future releases. In particular,
2932 a command-line option may be required in the future to decode a name
2933 passed as an argument on the command line; in other words,
2936 c++filt @var{symbol}
2940 may in a future release become
2943 c++filt @var{option} @var{symbol}
2951 @cindex address to file name and line number
2953 @c man title addr2line convert addresses into file names and line numbers.
2956 @c man begin SYNOPSIS addr2line
2957 addr2line [@option{-a}|@option{--addresses}]
2958 [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2959 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]]
2960 [@option{-e} @var{filename}|@option{--exe=}@var{filename}]
2961 [@option{-f}|@option{--functions}] [@option{-s}|@option{--basename}]
2962 [@option{-i}|@option{--inlines}]
2963 [@option{-p}|@option{--pretty-print}]
2964 [@option{-j}|@option{--section=}@var{name}]
2965 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2970 @c man begin DESCRIPTION addr2line
2972 @command{addr2line} translates addresses into file names and line numbers.
2973 Given an address in an executable or an offset in a section of a relocatable
2974 object, it uses the debugging information to figure out which file name and
2975 line number are associated with it.
2977 The executable or relocatable object to use is specified with the @option{-e}
2978 option. The default is the file @file{a.out}. The section in the relocatable
2979 object to use is specified with the @option{-j} option.
2981 @command{addr2line} has two modes of operation.
2983 In the first, hexadecimal addresses are specified on the command line,
2984 and @command{addr2line} displays the file name and line number for each
2987 In the second, @command{addr2line} reads hexadecimal addresses from
2988 standard input, and prints the file name and line number for each
2989 address on standard output. In this mode, @command{addr2line} may be used
2990 in a pipe to convert dynamically chosen addresses.
2992 The format of the output is @samp{FILENAME:LINENO}. The file name and
2993 line number for each address is printed on a separate line. If the
2994 @command{-f} option is used, then each @samp{FILENAME:LINENO} line is
2995 preceded by a @samp{FUNCTIONNAME} line which is the name of the function
2996 containing the address. If the @command{-a} option is used, then the
2997 address read is first printed.
2999 If the file name or function name can not be determined,
3000 @command{addr2line} will print two question marks in their place. If the
3001 line number can not be determined, @command{addr2line} will print 0.
3005 @c man begin OPTIONS addr2line
3007 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
3013 Display address before function names or file and line number
3014 information. The address is printed with a @samp{0x} prefix to easily
3017 @item -b @var{bfdname}
3018 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
3019 @cindex object code format
3020 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
3024 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
3025 @cindex demangling in objdump
3026 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
3027 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
3028 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
3029 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
3030 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
3031 for more information on demangling.
3033 @item -e @var{filename}
3034 @itemx --exe=@var{filename}
3035 Specify the name of the executable for which addresses should be
3036 translated. The default file is @file{a.out}.
3040 Display function names as well as file and line number information.
3044 Display only the base of each file name.
3048 If the address belongs to a function that was inlined, the source
3049 information for all enclosing scopes back to the first non-inlined
3050 function will also be printed. For example, if @code{main} inlines
3051 @code{callee1} which inlines @code{callee2}, and address is from
3052 @code{callee2}, the source information for @code{callee1} and @code{main}
3053 will also be printed.
3057 Read offsets relative to the specified section instead of absolute addresses.
3060 @itemx --pretty-print
3061 Make the output more human friendly: each location are printed on one line.
3062 If option @option{-i} is specified, lines for all enclosing scopes are
3063 prefixed with @samp{(inlined by)}.
3069 @c man begin SEEALSO addr2line
3070 Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3077 @command{nlmconv} converts a relocatable object file into a NetWare
3081 @command{nlmconv} currently works with @samp{i386} object
3082 files in @code{coff}, @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format, and @sc{SPARC}
3083 object files in @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format@footnote{
3084 @command{nlmconv} should work with any @samp{i386} or @sc{sparc} object
3085 format in the Binary File Descriptor library. It has only been tested
3086 with the above formats.}.
3090 @emph{Warning:} @command{nlmconv} is not always built as part of the binary
3091 utilities, since it is only useful for NLM targets.
3094 @c man title nlmconv converts object code into an NLM.
3097 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nlmconv
3098 nlmconv [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
3099 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
3100 [@option{-T} @var{headerfile}|@option{--header-file=}@var{headerfile}]
3101 [@option{-d}|@option{--debug}] [@option{-l} @var{linker}|@option{--linker=}@var{linker}]
3102 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
3103 @var{infile} @var{outfile}
3107 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nlmconv
3109 @command{nlmconv} converts the relocatable @samp{i386} object file
3110 @var{infile} into the NetWare Loadable Module @var{outfile}, optionally
3111 reading @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions
3112 on writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see the
3113 @samp{linkers} section, @samp{NLMLINK} in particular, of the @cite{NLM
3114 Development and Tools Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software
3115 Developer's Kit (``NLM SDK''), available from Novell, Inc.
3116 @command{nlmconv} uses the @sc{gnu} Binary File Descriptor library to read
3119 see @ref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}, for more information.
3122 @command{nlmconv} can perform a link step. In other words, you can list
3123 more than one object file for input if you list them in the definitions
3124 file (rather than simply specifying one input file on the command line).
3125 In this case, @command{nlmconv} calls the linker for you.
3129 @c man begin OPTIONS nlmconv
3132 @item -I @var{bfdname}
3133 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
3134 Object format of the input file. @command{nlmconv} can usually determine
3135 the format of a given file (so no default is necessary).
3136 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
3138 @item -O @var{bfdname}
3139 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
3140 Object format of the output file. @command{nlmconv} infers the output
3141 format based on the input format, e.g. for a @samp{i386} input file the
3142 output format is @samp{nlm32-i386}.
3143 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
3145 @item -T @var{headerfile}
3146 @itemx --header-file=@var{headerfile}
3147 Reads @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions on
3148 writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see@ see the
3149 @samp{linkers} section, of the @cite{NLM Development and Tools
3150 Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software Developer's Kit, available
3155 Displays (on standard error) the linker command line used by @command{nlmconv}.
3157 @item -l @var{linker}
3158 @itemx --linker=@var{linker}
3159 Use @var{linker} for any linking. @var{linker} can be an absolute or a
3164 Prints a usage summary.
3168 Prints the version number for @command{nlmconv}.
3174 @c man begin SEEALSO nlmconv
3175 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3182 @command{windmc} may be used to generator Windows message resources.
3185 @emph{Warning:} @command{windmc} is not always built as part of the binary
3186 utilities, since it is only useful for Windows targets.
3189 @c man title windmc generates Windows message resources.
3192 @c man begin SYNOPSIS windmc
3193 windmc [options] input-file
3197 @c man begin DESCRIPTION windmc
3199 @command{windmc} reads message definitions from an input file (.mc) and
3200 translate them into a set of output files. The output files may be of
3205 A C header file containing the message definitions.
3208 A resource file compilable by the @command{windres} tool.
3211 One or more binary files containing the resource data for a specific
3215 A C include file that maps message id's to their symbolic name.
3218 The exact description of these different formats is available in
3219 documentation from Microsoft.
3221 When @command{windmc} converts from the @code{mc} format to the @code{bin}
3222 format, @code{rc}, @code{h}, and optional @code{dbg} it is acting like the
3223 Windows Message Compiler.
3227 @c man begin OPTIONS windmc
3232 Specifies that the input file specified is ASCII. This is the default
3237 Specifies that messages in the output @code{bin} files should be in ASCII
3242 Specifies that @code{bin} filenames should have to be prefixed by the
3243 basename of the source file.
3247 Sets the customer bit in all message id's.
3249 @item -C @var{codepage}
3250 @itemx --codepage_in @var{codepage}
3251 Sets the default codepage to be used to convert input file to UTF16. The
3252 default is ocdepage 1252.
3255 @itemx --decimal_values
3256 Outputs the constants in the header file in decimal. Default is using
3260 @itemx --extension @var{ext}
3261 The extension for the header file. The default is .h extension.
3263 @item -F @var{target}
3264 @itemx --target @var{target}
3265 Specify the BFD format to use for a bin file as output. This
3266 is a BFD target name; you can use the @option{--help} option to see a list
3267 of supported targets. Normally @command{windmc} will use the default
3268 format, which is the first one listed by the @option{--help} option.
3270 @ref{Target Selection}.
3274 @itemx --headerdir @var{path}
3275 The target directory of the generated header file. The default is the
3280 Displays a list of command line options and then exits.
3282 @item -m @var{characters}
3283 @itemx --maxlength @var{characters}
3284 Instructs @command{windmc} to generate a warning if the length
3285 of any message exceeds the number specified.
3288 @itemx --nullterminate
3289 Terminate message text in @code{bin} files by zero. By default they are
3290 terminated by CR/LF.
3293 @itemx --hresult_use
3294 Not yet implemented. Instructs @code{windmc} to generate an OLE2 header
3295 file, using HRESULT definitions. Status codes are used if the flag is not
3298 @item -O @var{codepage}
3299 @itemx --codepage_out @var{codepage}
3300 Sets the default codepage to be used to output text files. The default
3304 @itemx --rcdir @var{path}
3305 The target directory for the generated @code{rc} script and the generated
3306 @code{bin} files that the resource compiler script includes. The default
3307 is the current directory.
3311 Specifies that the input file is UTF16.
3314 @itemx --unicode_out
3315 Specifies that messages in the output @code{bin} file should be in UTF16
3316 format. This is the default behaviour.
3320 Enable verbose mode.
3324 Prints the version number for @command{windmc}.
3327 @itemx --xdgb @var{path}
3328 The path of the @code{dbg} C include file that maps message id's to the
3329 symbolic name. No such file is generated without specifying the switch.
3335 @c man begin SEEALSO windmc
3336 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3343 @command{windres} may be used to manipulate Windows resources.
3346 @emph{Warning:} @command{windres} is not always built as part of the binary
3347 utilities, since it is only useful for Windows targets.
3350 @c man title windres manipulate Windows resources.
3353 @c man begin SYNOPSIS windres
3354 windres [options] [input-file] [output-file]
3358 @c man begin DESCRIPTION windres
3360 @command{windres} reads resources from an input file and copies them into
3361 an output file. Either file may be in one of three formats:
3365 A text format read by the Resource Compiler.
3368 A binary format generated by the Resource Compiler.
3371 A COFF object or executable.
3374 The exact description of these different formats is available in
3375 documentation from Microsoft.
3377 When @command{windres} converts from the @code{rc} format to the @code{res}
3378 format, it is acting like the Windows Resource Compiler. When
3379 @command{windres} converts from the @code{res} format to the @code{coff}
3380 format, it is acting like the Windows @code{CVTRES} program.
3382 When @command{windres} generates an @code{rc} file, the output is similar
3383 but not identical to the format expected for the input. When an input
3384 @code{rc} file refers to an external filename, an output @code{rc} file
3385 will instead include the file contents.
3387 If the input or output format is not specified, @command{windres} will
3388 guess based on the file name, or, for the input file, the file contents.
3389 A file with an extension of @file{.rc} will be treated as an @code{rc}
3390 file, a file with an extension of @file{.res} will be treated as a
3391 @code{res} file, and a file with an extension of @file{.o} or
3392 @file{.exe} will be treated as a @code{coff} file.
3394 If no output file is specified, @command{windres} will print the resources
3395 in @code{rc} format to standard output.
3397 The normal use is for you to write an @code{rc} file, use @command{windres}
3398 to convert it to a COFF object file, and then link the COFF file into
3399 your application. This will make the resources described in the
3400 @code{rc} file available to Windows.
3404 @c man begin OPTIONS windres
3407 @item -i @var{filename}
3408 @itemx --input @var{filename}
3409 The name of the input file. If this option is not used, then
3410 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument as the input file
3411 name. If there are no non-option arguments, then @command{windres} will
3412 read from standard input. @command{windres} can not read a COFF file from
3415 @item -o @var{filename}
3416 @itemx --output @var{filename}
3417 The name of the output file. If this option is not used, then
3418 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument, after any used
3419 for the input file name, as the output file name. If there is no
3420 non-option argument, then @command{windres} will write to standard output.
3421 @command{windres} can not write a COFF file to standard output. Note,
3422 for compatibility with @command{rc} the option @option{-fo} is also
3423 accepted, but its use is not recommended.
3425 @item -J @var{format}
3426 @itemx --input-format @var{format}
3427 The input format to read. @var{format} may be @samp{res}, @samp{rc}, or
3428 @samp{coff}. If no input format is specified, @command{windres} will
3429 guess, as described above.
3431 @item -O @var{format}
3432 @itemx --output-format @var{format}
3433 The output format to generate. @var{format} may be @samp{res},
3434 @samp{rc}, or @samp{coff}. If no output format is specified,
3435 @command{windres} will guess, as described above.
3437 @item -F @var{target}
3438 @itemx --target @var{target}
3439 Specify the BFD format to use for a COFF file as input or output. This
3440 is a BFD target name; you can use the @option{--help} option to see a list
3441 of supported targets. Normally @command{windres} will use the default
3442 format, which is the first one listed by the @option{--help} option.
3444 @ref{Target Selection}.
3447 @item --preprocessor @var{program}
3448 When @command{windres} reads an @code{rc} file, it runs it through the C
3449 preprocessor first. This option may be used to specify the preprocessor
3450 to use, including any leading arguments. The default preprocessor
3451 argument is @code{gcc -E -xc-header -DRC_INVOKED}.
3453 @item -I @var{directory}
3454 @itemx --include-dir @var{directory}
3455 Specify an include directory to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
3456 @command{windres} will pass this to the preprocessor as an @option{-I}
3457 option. @command{windres} will also search this directory when looking for
3458 files named in the @code{rc} file. If the argument passed to this command
3459 matches any of the supported @var{formats} (as described in the @option{-J}
3460 option), it will issue a deprecation warning, and behave just like the
3461 @option{-J} option. New programs should not use this behaviour. If a
3462 directory happens to match a @var{format}, simple prefix it with @samp{./}
3463 to disable the backward compatibility.
3465 @item -D @var{target}
3466 @itemx --define @var{sym}[=@var{val}]
3467 Specify a @option{-D} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
3470 @item -U @var{target}
3471 @itemx --undefine @var{sym}
3472 Specify a @option{-U} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
3476 Ignored for compatibility with rc.
3479 Enable verbose mode. This tells you what the preprocessor is if you
3483 @item --codepage @var{val}
3484 Specify the default codepage to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
3485 @var{val} should be a hexadecimal prefixed by @samp{0x} or decimal
3486 codepage code. The valid range is from zero up to 0xffff, but the
3487 validity of the codepage is host and configuration dependent.
3490 @item --language @var{val}
3491 Specify the default language to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
3492 @var{val} should be a hexadecimal language code. The low eight bits are
3493 the language, and the high eight bits are the sublanguage.
3495 @item --use-temp-file
3496 Use a temporary file to instead of using popen to read the output of
3497 the preprocessor. Use this option if the popen implementation is buggy
3498 on the host (eg., certain non-English language versions of Windows 95 and
3499 Windows 98 are known to have buggy popen where the output will instead
3502 @item --no-use-temp-file
3503 Use popen, not a temporary file, to read the output of the preprocessor.
3504 This is the default behaviour.
3508 Prints a usage summary.
3512 Prints the version number for @command{windres}.
3515 If @command{windres} is compiled with @code{YYDEBUG} defined as @code{1},
3516 this will turn on parser debugging.
3522 @c man begin SEEALSO windres
3523 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3532 @command{dlltool} is used to create the files needed to create dynamic
3533 link libraries (DLLs) on systems which understand PE format image
3534 files such as Windows. A DLL contains an export table which contains
3535 information that the runtime loader needs to resolve references from a
3536 referencing program.
3538 The export table is generated by this program by reading in a
3539 @file{.def} file or scanning the @file{.a} and @file{.o} files which
3540 will be in the DLL. A @file{.o} file can contain information in
3541 special @samp{.drectve} sections with export information.
3544 @emph{Note:} @command{dlltool} is not always built as part of the
3545 binary utilities, since it is only useful for those targets which
3549 @c man title dlltool Create files needed to build and use DLLs.
3552 @c man begin SYNOPSIS dlltool
3553 dlltool [@option{-d}|@option{--input-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3554 [@option{-b}|@option{--base-file} @var{base-file-name}]
3555 [@option{-e}|@option{--output-exp} @var{exports-file-name}]
3556 [@option{-z}|@option{--output-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3557 [@option{-l}|@option{--output-lib} @var{library-file-name}]
3558 [@option{-y}|@option{--output-delaylib} @var{library-file-name}]
3559 [@option{--export-all-symbols}] [@option{--no-export-all-symbols}]
3560 [@option{--exclude-symbols} @var{list}]
3561 [@option{--no-default-excludes}]
3562 [@option{-S}|@option{--as} @var{path-to-assembler}] [@option{-f}|@option{--as-flags} @var{options}]
3563 [@option{-D}|@option{--dllname} @var{name}] [@option{-m}|@option{--machine} @var{machine}]
3564 [@option{-a}|@option{--add-indirect}]
3565 [@option{-U}|@option{--add-underscore}] [@option{--add-stdcall-underscore}]
3566 [@option{-k}|@option{--kill-at}] [@option{-A}|@option{--add-stdcall-alias}]
3567 [@option{-p}|@option{--ext-prefix-alias} @var{prefix}]
3568 [@option{-x}|@option{--no-idata4}] [@option{-c}|@option{--no-idata5}]
3569 [@option{--use-nul-prefixed-import-tables}]
3570 [@option{-I}|@option{--identify} @var{library-file-name}] [@option{--identify-strict}]
3571 [@option{-i}|@option{--interwork}]
3572 [@option{-n}|@option{--nodelete}] [@option{-t}|@option{--temp-prefix} @var{prefix}]
3573 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
3574 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
3575 [@option{--no-leading-underscore}] [@option{--leading-underscore}]
3576 [object-file @dots{}]
3580 @c man begin DESCRIPTION dlltool
3582 @command{dlltool} reads its inputs, which can come from the @option{-d} and
3583 @option{-b} options as well as object files specified on the command
3584 line. It then processes these inputs and if the @option{-e} option has
3585 been specified it creates a exports file. If the @option{-l} option
3586 has been specified it creates a library file and if the @option{-z} option
3587 has been specified it creates a def file. Any or all of the @option{-e},
3588 @option{-l} and @option{-z} options can be present in one invocation of
3591 When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary
3592 to have three other files. @command{dlltool} can help with the creation of
3595 The first file is a @file{.def} file which specifies which functions are
3596 exported from the DLL, which functions the DLL imports, and so on. This
3597 is a text file and can be created by hand, or @command{dlltool} can be used
3598 to create it using the @option{-z} option. In this case @command{dlltool}
3599 will scan the object files specified on its command line looking for
3600 those functions which have been specially marked as being exported and
3601 put entries for them in the @file{.def} file it creates.
3603 In order to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to
3604 have an @option{-export:<name_of_function>} entry in the @samp{.drectve}
3605 section of the object file. This can be done in C by using the
3609 asm (".section .drectve");
3610 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");
3612 int my_func (void) @{ @dots{} @}
3615 The second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file. This file
3616 is linked with the object files that make up the body of the DLL and it
3617 handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world. This is a
3618 binary file and it can be created by giving the @option{-e} option to
3619 @command{dlltool} when it is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3621 The third file needed for DLL creation is the library file that programs
3622 will link with in order to access the functions in the DLL (an `import
3623 library'). This file can be created by giving the @option{-l} option to
3624 dlltool when it is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3626 If the @option{-y} option is specified, dlltool generates a delay-import
3627 library that can be used instead of the normal import library to allow
3628 a program to link to the dll only as soon as an imported function is
3629 called for the first time. The resulting executable will need to be
3630 linked to the static delayimp library containing __delayLoadHelper2(),
3631 which in turn will import LoadLibraryA and GetProcAddress from kernel32.
3633 @command{dlltool} builds the library file by hand, but it builds the
3634 exports file by creating temporary files containing assembler statements
3635 and then assembling these. The @option{-S} command line option can be
3636 used to specify the path to the assembler that dlltool will use,
3637 and the @option{-f} option can be used to pass specific flags to that
3638 assembler. The @option{-n} can be used to prevent dlltool from deleting
3639 these temporary assembler files when it is done, and if @option{-n} is
3640 specified twice then this will prevent dlltool from deleting the
3641 temporary object files it used to build the library.
3643 Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file @samp{dll.c} and
3644 also creating a program (from an object file called @samp{program.o})
3649 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
3650 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
3651 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program
3655 @command{dlltool} may also be used to query an existing import library
3656 to determine the name of the DLL to which it is associated. See the
3657 description of the @option{-I} or @option{--identify} option.
3661 @c man begin OPTIONS dlltool
3663 The command line options have the following meanings:
3667 @item -d @var{filename}
3668 @itemx --input-def @var{filename}
3669 @cindex input .def file
3670 Specifies the name of a @file{.def} file to be read in and processed.
3672 @item -b @var{filename}
3673 @itemx --base-file @var{filename}
3675 Specifies the name of a base file to be read in and processed. The
3676 contents of this file will be added to the relocation section in the
3677 exports file generated by dlltool.
3679 @item -e @var{filename}
3680 @itemx --output-exp @var{filename}
3681 Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.
3683 @item -z @var{filename}
3684 @itemx --output-def @var{filename}
3685 Specifies the name of the @file{.def} file to be created by dlltool.
3687 @item -l @var{filename}
3688 @itemx --output-lib @var{filename}
3689 Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.
3691 @item -y @var{filename}
3692 @itemx --output-delaylib @var{filename}
3693 Specifies the name of the delay-import library file to be created by dlltool.
3695 @item --export-all-symbols
3696 Treat all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object
3697 files as symbols to be exported. There is a small list of symbols which
3698 are not exported by default; see the @option{--no-default-excludes}
3699 option. You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using the
3700 @option{--exclude-symbols} option.
3702 @item --no-export-all-symbols
3703 Only export symbols explicitly listed in an input @file{.def} file or in
3704 @samp{.drectve} sections in the input object files. This is the default
3705 behaviour. The @samp{.drectve} sections are created by @samp{dllexport}
3706 attributes in the source code.
3708 @item --exclude-symbols @var{list}
3709 Do not export the symbols in @var{list}. This is a list of symbol names
3710 separated by comma or colon characters. The symbol names should not
3711 contain a leading underscore. This is only meaningful when
3712 @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3714 @item --no-default-excludes
3715 When @option{--export-all-symbols} is used, it will by default avoid
3716 exporting certain special symbols. The current list of symbols to avoid
3717 exporting is @samp{DllMain@@12}, @samp{DllEntryPoint@@0},
3718 @samp{impure_ptr}. You may use the @option{--no-default-excludes} option
3719 to go ahead and export these special symbols. This is only meaningful
3720 when @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3723 @itemx --as @var{path}
3724 Specifies the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be used
3725 to create the exports file.
3727 @item -f @var{options}
3728 @itemx --as-flags @var{options}
3729 Specifies any specific command line options to be passed to the
3730 assembler when building the exports file. This option will work even if
3731 the @option{-S} option is not used. This option only takes one argument,
3732 and if it occurs more than once on the command line, then later
3733 occurrences will override earlier occurrences. So if it is necessary to
3734 pass multiple options to the assembler they should be enclosed in
3738 @itemx --dll-name @var{name}
3739 Specifies the name to be stored in the @file{.def} file as the name of
3740 the DLL when the @option{-e} option is used. If this option is not
3741 present, then the filename given to the @option{-e} option will be
3742 used as the name of the DLL.
3744 @item -m @var{machine}
3745 @itemx -machine @var{machine}
3746 Specifies the type of machine for which the library file should be
3747 built. @command{dlltool} has a built in default type, depending upon how
3748 it was created, but this option can be used to override that. This is
3749 normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor, when the
3750 contents of the DLL are actually encode using Thumb instructions.
3753 @itemx --add-indirect
3754 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3755 should add a section which allows the exported functions to be
3756 referenced without using the import library. Whatever the hell that
3760 @itemx --add-underscore
3761 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3762 should prepend an underscore to the names of @emph{all} exported symbols.
3764 @item --no-leading-underscore
3765 @item --leading-underscore
3766 Specifies whether standard symbol should be forced to be prefixed, or
3769 @item --add-stdcall-underscore
3770 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3771 should prepend an underscore to the names of exported @emph{stdcall}
3772 functions. Variable names and non-stdcall function names are not modified.
3773 This option is useful when creating GNU-compatible import libs for third
3774 party DLLs that were built with MS-Windows tools.
3778 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3779 should not append the string @samp{@@ <number>}. These numbers are
3780 called ordinal numbers and they represent another way of accessing the
3781 function in a DLL, other than by name.
3784 @itemx --add-stdcall-alias
3785 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3786 should add aliases for stdcall symbols without @samp{@@ <number>}
3787 in addition to the symbols with @samp{@@ <number>}.
3790 @itemx --ext-prefix-alias @var{prefix}
3791 Causes @command{dlltool} to create external aliases for all DLL
3792 imports with the specified prefix. The aliases are created for both
3793 external and import symbols with no leading underscore.
3797 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3798 files it should omit the @code{.idata4} section. This is for compatibility
3799 with certain operating systems.
3801 @item --use-nul-prefixed-import-tables
3802 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3803 files it should prefix the @code{.idata4} and @code{.idata5} by zero an
3804 element. This emulates old gnu import library generation of
3805 @code{dlltool}. By default this option is turned off.
3809 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3810 files it should omit the @code{.idata5} section. This is for compatibility
3811 with certain operating systems.
3813 @item -I @var{filename}
3814 @itemx --identify @var{filename}
3815 Specifies that @command{dlltool} should inspect the import library
3816 indicated by @var{filename} and report, on @code{stdout}, the name(s)
3817 of the associated DLL(s). This can be performed in addition to any
3818 other operations indicated by the other options and arguments.
3819 @command{dlltool} fails if the import library does not exist or is not
3820 actually an import library. See also @option{--identify-strict}.
3822 @item --identify-strict
3823 Modifies the behavior of the @option{--identify} option, such
3824 that an error is reported if @var{filename} is associated with
3829 Specifies that @command{dlltool} should mark the objects in the library
3830 file and exports file that it produces as supporting interworking
3831 between ARM and Thumb code.
3835 Makes @command{dlltool} preserve the temporary assembler files it used to
3836 create the exports file. If this option is repeated then dlltool will
3837 also preserve the temporary object files it uses to create the library
3840 @item -t @var{prefix}
3841 @itemx --temp-prefix @var{prefix}
3842 Makes @command{dlltool} use @var{prefix} when constructing the names of
3843 temporary assembler and object files. By default, the temp file prefix
3844 is generated from the pid.
3848 Make dlltool describe what it is doing.
3852 Displays a list of command line options and then exits.
3856 Displays dlltool's version number and then exits.
3863 * def file format:: The format of the dlltool @file{.def} file
3866 @node def file format
3867 @section The format of the @command{dlltool} @file{.def} file
3869 A @file{.def} file contains any number of the following commands:
3873 @item @code{NAME} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3874 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.exe}.
3876 @item @code{LIBRARY} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3877 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.dll}.
3879 @item @code{EXPORTS ( ( (} @var{name1} @code{[ = } @var{name2} @code{] ) | ( } @var{name1} @code{=} @var{module-name} @code{.} @var{external-name} @code{) ) [ == } @var{its_name} @code{]}
3880 @item @code{[} @var{integer} @code{] [ NONAME ] [ CONSTANT ] [ DATA ] [ PRIVATE ] ) *}
3881 Declares @var{name1} as an exported symbol from the DLL, with optional
3882 ordinal number @var{integer}, or declares @var{name1} as an alias
3883 (forward) of the function @var{external-name} in the DLL.
3884 If @var{its_name} is specified, this name is used as string in export table.
3887 @item @code{IMPORTS ( (} @var{internal-name} @code{=} @var{module-name} @code{.} @var{integer} @code{) | [} @var{internal-name} @code{= ]} @var{module-name} @code{.} @var{external-name} @code{) [ == ) @var{its_name} @code{]} *}
3888 Declares that @var{external-name} or the exported function whose
3889 ordinal number is @var{integer} is to be imported from the file
3890 @var{module-name}. If @var{internal-name} is specified then this is
3891 the name that the imported function will be referred to in the body of
3893 If @var{its_name} is specified, this name is used as string in import table.
3895 @item @code{DESCRIPTION} @var{string}
3896 Puts @var{string} into the output @file{.exp} file in the
3897 @code{.rdata} section.
3899 @item @code{STACKSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3900 @item @code{HEAPSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3901 Generates @code{--stack} or @code{--heap}
3902 @var{number-reserve},@var{number-commit} in the output @code{.drectve}
3903 section. The linker will see this and act upon it.
3905 @item @code{CODE} @var{attr} @code{+}
3906 @item @code{DATA} @var{attr} @code{+}
3907 @item @code{SECTIONS (} @var{section-name} @var{attr}@code{ + ) *}
3908 Generates @code{--attr} @var{section-name} @var{attr} in the output
3909 @code{.drectve} section, where @var{attr} is one of @code{READ},
3910 @code{WRITE}, @code{EXECUTE} or @code{SHARED}. The linker will see
3911 this and act upon it.
3916 @c man begin SEEALSO dlltool
3917 The Info pages for @file{binutils}.
3924 @cindex ELF file information
3927 @c man title readelf Displays information about ELF files.
3930 @c man begin SYNOPSIS readelf
3931 readelf [@option{-a}|@option{--all}]
3932 [@option{-h}|@option{--file-header}]
3933 [@option{-l}|@option{--program-headers}|@option{--segments}]
3934 [@option{-S}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--sections}]
3935 [@option{-g}|@option{--section-groups}]
3936 [@option{-t}|@option{--section-details}]
3937 [@option{-e}|@option{--headers}]
3938 [@option{-s}|@option{--syms}|@option{--symbols}]
3939 [@option{--dyn-syms}]
3940 [@option{-n}|@option{--notes}]
3941 [@option{-r}|@option{--relocs}]
3942 [@option{-u}|@option{--unwind}]
3943 [@option{-d}|@option{--dynamic}]
3944 [@option{-V}|@option{--version-info}]
3945 [@option{-A}|@option{--arch-specific}]
3946 [@option{-D}|@option{--use-dynamic}]
3947 [@option{-x} <number or name>|@option{--hex-dump=}<number or name>]
3948 [@option{-p} <number or name>|@option{--string-dump=}<number or name>]
3949 [@option{-R} <number or name>|@option{--relocated-dump=}<number or name>]
3950 [@option{-c}|@option{--archive-index}]
3951 [@option{-w[lLiaprmfFsoRt]}|
3952 @option{--debug-dump}[=rawline,=decodedline,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges,=pubtypes,=trace_info,=trace_abbrev,=trace_aranges]]
3953 [@option{-I}|@option{--histogram}]
3954 [@option{-v}|@option{--version}]
3955 [@option{-W}|@option{--wide}]
3956 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
3957 @var{elffile}@dots{}
3961 @c man begin DESCRIPTION readelf
3963 @command{readelf} displays information about one or more ELF format object
3964 files. The options control what particular information to display.
3966 @var{elffile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. 32-bit and
3967 64-bit ELF files are supported, as are archives containing ELF files.
3969 This program performs a similar function to @command{objdump} but it
3970 goes into more detail and it exists independently of the @sc{bfd}
3971 library, so if there is a bug in @sc{bfd} then readelf will not be
3976 @c man begin OPTIONS readelf
3978 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
3979 equivalent. At least one option besides @samp{-v} or @samp{-H} must be
3985 Equivalent to specifying @option{--file-header},
3986 @option{--program-headers}, @option{--sections}, @option{--symbols},
3987 @option{--relocs}, @option{--dynamic}, @option{--notes} and
3988 @option{--version-info}.
3991 @itemx --file-header
3992 @cindex ELF file header information
3993 Displays the information contained in the ELF header at the start of the
3997 @itemx --program-headers
3999 @cindex ELF program header information
4000 @cindex ELF segment information
4001 Displays the information contained in the file's segment headers, if it
4006 @itemx --section-headers
4007 @cindex ELF section information
4008 Displays the information contained in the file's section headers, if it
4012 @itemx --section-groups
4013 @cindex ELF section group information
4014 Displays the information contained in the file's section groups, if it
4018 @itemx --section-details
4019 @cindex ELF section information
4020 Displays the detailed section information. Implies @option{-S}.
4025 @cindex ELF symbol table information
4026 Displays the entries in symbol table section of the file, if it has one.
4029 @cindex ELF dynamic symbol table information
4030 Displays the entries in dynamic symbol table section of the file, if it
4035 Display all the headers in the file. Equivalent to @option{-h -l -S}.
4040 Displays the contents of the NOTE segments and/or sections, if any.
4044 @cindex ELF reloc information
4045 Displays the contents of the file's relocation section, if it has one.
4049 @cindex unwind information
4050 Displays the contents of the file's unwind section, if it has one. Only
4051 the unwind sections for IA64 ELF files, as well as ARM unwind tables
4052 (@code{.ARM.exidx} / @code{.ARM.extab}) are currently supported.
4056 @cindex ELF dynamic section information
4057 Displays the contents of the file's dynamic section, if it has one.
4060 @itemx --version-info
4061 @cindex ELF version sections informations
4062 Displays the contents of the version sections in the file, it they
4066 @itemx --arch-specific
4067 Displays architecture-specific information in the file, if there
4071 @itemx --use-dynamic
4072 When displaying symbols, this option makes @command{readelf} use the
4073 symbol hash tables in the file's dynamic section, rather than the
4074 symbol table sections.
4076 @item -x <number or name>
4077 @itemx --hex-dump=<number or name>
4078 Displays the contents of the indicated section as a hexadecimal bytes.
4079 A number identifies a particular section by index in the section table;
4080 any other string identifies all sections with that name in the object file.
4082 @item -R <number or name>
4083 @itemx --relocated-dump=<number or name>
4084 Displays the contents of the indicated section as a hexadecimal
4085 bytes. A number identifies a particular section by index in the
4086 section table; any other string identifies all sections with that name
4087 in the object file. The contents of the section will be relocated
4088 before they are displayed.
4090 @item -p <number or name>
4091 @itemx --string-dump=<number or name>
4092 Displays the contents of the indicated section as printable strings.
4093 A number identifies a particular section by index in the section table;
4094 any other string identifies all sections with that name in the object file.
4097 @itemx --archive-index
4098 @cindex Archive file symbol index information
4099 Displays the file symbol index infomation contained in the header part
4100 of binary archives. Performs the same function as the @option{t}
4101 command to @command{ar}, but without using the BFD library. @xref{ar}.
4103 @item -w[lLiaprmfFsoRt]
4104 @itemx --debug-dump[=rawline,=decodedline,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges,=pubtypes,=trace_info,=trace_abbrev,=trace_aranges]
4105 Displays the contents of the debug sections in the file, if any are
4106 present. If one of the optional letters or words follows the switch
4107 then only data found in those specific sections will be dumped.
4109 Note that there is no single letter option to display the content of
4112 Note: the @option{=decodedline} option will display the interpreted
4113 contents of a .debug_line section whereas the @option{=rawline} option
4114 dumps the contents in a raw format.
4116 Note: the @option{=frames-interp} option will display the interpreted
4117 contents of a .debug_frame section whereas the @option{=frames} option
4118 dumps the contents in a raw format.
4122 Display a histogram of bucket list lengths when displaying the contents
4123 of the symbol tables.
4127 Display the version number of readelf.
4131 Don't break output lines to fit into 80 columns. By default
4132 @command{readelf} breaks section header and segment listing lines for
4133 64-bit ELF files, so that they fit into 80 columns. This option causes
4134 @command{readelf} to print each section header resp. each segment one a
4135 single line, which is far more readable on terminals wider than 80 columns.
4139 Display the command line options understood by @command{readelf}.
4146 @c man begin SEEALSO readelf
4147 objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
4154 @cindex Update ELF header
4157 @c man title elfedit Update the ELF header of ELF files.
4160 @c man begin SYNOPSIS elfedit
4161 elfedit [@option{--input-mach=}@var{machine}]
4162 [@option{--input-type=}@var{type}]
4163 [@option{--input-osabi=}@var{osbi}]
4164 @option{--output-mach=}@var{machine}
4165 @option{--output-type=}@var{type}
4166 @option{--output-osabi=}@var{osbi}
4167 [@option{-v}|@option{--version}]
4168 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}]
4169 @var{elffile}@dots{}
4173 @c man begin DESCRIPTION elfedit
4175 @command{elfedit} updates the ELF header of ELF files which have
4176 the matching ELF machine and file types. The options control how and
4177 which fields in the ELF header should be updated.
4179 @var{elffile}@dots{} are the ELF files to be updated. 32-bit and
4180 64-bit ELF files are supported, as are archives containing ELF files.
4183 @c man begin OPTIONS elfedit
4185 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
4186 equivalent. At least one of the @option{--output-mach},
4187 @option{--output-type} and @option{--output-osabi} options must be given.
4191 @itemx --input-mach=@var{machine}
4192 Set the matching input ELF machine type to @var{machine}. If
4193 @option{--input-mach} isn't specified, it will match any ELF
4196 The supported ELF machine types are, @var{L1OM} and @var{x86-64}.
4198 @itemx --output-mach=@var{machine}
4199 Change the ELF machine type in the ELF header to @var{machine}. The
4200 supported ELF machine types are the same as @option{--input-mach}.
4202 @itemx --input-type=@var{type}
4203 Set the matching input ELF file type to @var{type}. If
4204 @option{--input-type} isn't specified, it will match any ELF file types.
4206 The supported ELF file types are, @var{rel}, @var{exec} and @var{dyn}.
4208 @itemx --output-type=@var{type}
4209 Change the ELF file type in the ELF header to @var{type}. The
4210 supported ELF types are the same as @option{--input-type}.
4212 @itemx --input-osabi=@var{osabi}
4213 Set the matching input ELF file OSABI to @var{osbi}. If
4214 @option{--input-osabi} isn't specified, it will match any ELF OSABIs.
4216 The supported ELF OSABIs are, @var{none}, @var{HPUX}, @var{NetBSD},
4217 @var{Linux}, @var{Hurd}, @var{Solaris}, @var{AIX}, @var{Irix},
4218 @var{FreeBSD}, @var{TRU64}, @var{Modesto}, @var{OpenBSD}, @var{OpenVMS},
4219 @var{NSK}, @var{AROS} and @var{FenixOS}.
4221 @itemx --output-osabi=@var{osabi}
4222 Change the ELF OSABI in the ELF header to @var{type}. The
4223 supported ELF OSABI are the same as @option{--input-osabi}.
4227 Display the version number of @command{elfedit}.
4231 Display the command line options understood by @command{elfedit}.
4238 @c man begin SEEALSO elfedit
4239 readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
4243 @node Common Options
4244 @chapter Common Options
4246 The following command-line options are supported by all of the
4247 programs described in this manual.
4249 @c man begin OPTIONS
4251 @include at-file.texi
4255 Display the command-line options supported by the program.
4258 Display the version number of the program.
4260 @c man begin OPTIONS
4264 @node Selecting the Target System
4265 @chapter Selecting the Target System
4267 You can specify two aspects of the target system to the @sc{gnu}
4268 binary file utilities, each in several ways:
4278 In the following summaries, the lists of ways to specify values are in
4279 order of decreasing precedence. The ways listed first override those
4282 The commands to list valid values only list the values for which the
4283 programs you are running were configured. If they were configured with
4284 @option{--enable-targets=all}, the commands list most of the available
4285 values, but a few are left out; not all targets can be configured in at
4286 once because some of them can only be configured @dfn{native} (on hosts
4287 with the same type as the target system).
4290 * Target Selection::
4291 * Architecture Selection::
4294 @node Target Selection
4295 @section Target Selection
4297 A @dfn{target} is an object file format. A given target may be
4298 supported for multiple architectures (@pxref{Architecture Selection}).
4299 A target selection may also have variations for different operating
4300 systems or architectures.
4302 The command to list valid target values is @samp{objdump -i}
4303 (the first column of output contains the relevant information).
4305 Some sample values are: @samp{a.out-hp300bsd}, @samp{ecoff-littlemips},
4306 @samp{a.out-sunos-big}.
4308 You can also specify a target using a configuration triplet. This is
4309 the same sort of name that is passed to @file{configure} to specify a
4310 target. When you use a configuration triplet as an argument, it must be
4311 fully canonicalized. You can see the canonical version of a triplet by
4312 running the shell script @file{config.sub} which is included with the
4315 Some sample configuration triplets are: @samp{m68k-hp-bsd},
4316 @samp{mips-dec-ultrix}, @samp{sparc-sun-sunos}.
4318 @subheading @command{objdump} Target
4324 command line option: @option{-b} or @option{--target}
4327 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
4330 deduced from the input file
4333 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target
4339 command line options: @option{-I} or @option{--input-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
4342 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
4345 deduced from the input file
4348 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Output Target
4354 command line options: @option{-O} or @option{--output-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
4357 the input target (see ``@command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target'' above)
4360 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
4363 deduced from the input file
4366 @subheading @command{nm}, @command{size}, and @command{strings} Target
4372 command line option: @option{--target}
4375 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
4378 deduced from the input file
4381 @node Architecture Selection
4382 @section Architecture Selection
4384 An @dfn{architecture} is a type of @sc{cpu} on which an object file is
4385 to run. Its name may contain a colon, separating the name of the
4386 processor family from the name of the particular @sc{cpu}.
4388 The command to list valid architecture values is @samp{objdump -i} (the
4389 second column contains the relevant information).
4391 Sample values: @samp{m68k:68020}, @samp{mips:3000}, @samp{sparc}.
4393 @subheading @command{objdump} Architecture
4399 command line option: @option{-m} or @option{--architecture}
4402 deduced from the input file
4405 @subheading @command{objcopy}, @command{nm}, @command{size}, @command{strings} Architecture
4411 deduced from the input file
4414 @node Reporting Bugs
4415 @chapter Reporting Bugs
4417 @cindex reporting bugs
4419 Your bug reports play an essential role in making the binary utilities
4422 Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or
4423 it may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is
4424 to help the entire community by making the next version of the binary
4425 utilities work better. Bug reports are your contribution to their
4428 In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
4429 information that enables us to fix the bug.
4432 * Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?
4433 * Bug Reporting:: How to report bugs
4437 @section Have You Found a Bug?
4438 @cindex bug criteria
4440 If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
4443 @cindex fatal signal
4446 If a binary utility gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is
4447 a bug. Reliable utilities never crash.
4449 @cindex error on valid input
4451 If a binary utility produces an error message for valid input, that is a
4455 If you are an experienced user of binary utilities, your suggestions for
4456 improvement are welcome in any case.
4460 @section How to Report Bugs
4462 @cindex bugs, reporting
4464 A number of companies and individuals offer support for @sc{gnu}
4465 products. If you obtained the binary utilities from a support
4466 organization, we recommend you contact that organization first.
4468 You can find contact information for many support companies and
4469 individuals in the file @file{etc/SERVICE} in the @sc{gnu} Emacs
4473 In any event, we also recommend that you send bug reports for the binary
4474 utilities to @value{BUGURL}.
4477 The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
4478 @strong{report all the facts}. If you are not sure whether to state a
4479 fact or leave it out, state it!
4481 Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
4482 problem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might
4483 assume that the name of a file you use in an example does not matter.
4484 Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is
4485 a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location where
4486 that pathname is stored in memory; perhaps, if the pathname were
4487 different, the contents of that location would fool the utility into
4488 doing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give a
4489 specific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do,
4490 and the most helpful.
4492 Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the bug if
4493 it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reports on the assumption
4494 that the bug has not been reported previously.
4496 Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a
4497 bell?'' This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless. We
4498 respond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate.
4499 You might as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.
4501 To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
4505 The version of the utility. Each utility announces it if you start it
4506 with the @option{--version} argument.
4508 Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
4509 the bug in the current version of the binary utilities.
4512 Any patches you may have applied to the source, including any patches
4513 made to the @code{BFD} library.
4516 The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
4520 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the utilities---e.g.
4524 The command arguments you gave the utility to observe the bug. To
4525 guarantee you will not omit something important, list them all. A copy
4526 of the Makefile (or the output from make) is sufficient.
4528 If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
4529 and then we might not encounter the bug.
4532 A complete input file, or set of input files, that will reproduce the
4533 bug. If the utility is reading an object file or files, then it is
4534 generally most helpful to send the actual object files.
4536 If the source files were produced exclusively using @sc{gnu} programs
4537 (e.g., @command{gcc}, @command{gas}, and/or the @sc{gnu} @command{ld}), then it
4538 may be OK to send the source files rather than the object files. In
4539 this case, be sure to say exactly what version of @command{gcc}, or
4540 whatever, was used to produce the object files. Also say how
4541 @command{gcc}, or whatever, was configured.
4544 A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
4545 incorrect. For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
4547 Of course, if the bug is that the utility gets a fatal signal, then we
4548 will certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might
4549 not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us
4550 a chance to make a mistake.
4552 Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
4553 say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as your
4554 copy of the utility is out of sync, or you have encountered a bug in
4555 the C library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might
4556 crash and ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when
4557 ours fails to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for
4558 us. If you had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able
4559 to draw any conclusion from our observations.
4562 If you wish to suggest changes to the source, send us context diffs, as
4563 generated by @command{diff} with the @option{-u}, @option{-c}, or @option{-p}
4564 option. Always send diffs from the old file to the new file. If you
4565 wish to discuss something in the @command{ld} source, refer to it by
4566 context, not by line number.
4568 The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
4569 sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
4572 Here are some things that are not necessary:
4576 A description of the envelope of the bug.
4578 Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
4579 which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
4580 changes will not affect it.
4582 This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we
4583 will find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger
4584 with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples.
4585 We recommend that you save your time for something else.
4587 Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report @emph{instead}
4588 of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the
4589 output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
4590 less time, and so on.
4592 However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
4593 report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
4596 A patch for the bug.
4598 A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
4599 the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
4600 a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
4601 to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
4603 Sometimes with programs as complicated as the binary utilities it is
4604 very hard to construct an example that will make the program follow a
4605 certain path through the code. If you do not send us the example, we
4606 will not be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that
4609 And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
4610 patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
4611 help us to understand.
4614 A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
4616 Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
4617 things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
4620 @node GNU Free Documentation License
4621 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
4625 @node Binutils Index
4626 @unnumbered Binutils Index