projects / deliverable / binutils-gdb.git / blame
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1 | This is the GNU linker. It is distributed with other "binary |
| 2 | utilities" which should be in ../binutils. See ../binutils/README for | |
| 3 | more general notes, including where to send bug reports. | |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | There are many features of the linker: | |
| 6 | ||
| 7 | * The linker uses a Binary File Descriptor library (../bfd) | |
| 8 | that it uses to read and write object files. This helps | |
| 9 | insulate the linker itself from the format of object files. | |
| 10 | ||
| 11 | * The linker supports a number of different object file | |
| 12 | formats. It can even handle multiple formats at once: | |
| 13 | Read two input formats and write a third. | |
| 14 | ||
| 15 | * The linker can be configured for cross-linking. | |
| 16 | ||
| 17 | * The linker supports a control language. | |
| 18 | ||
| 19 | * There is a user manual (ld.texinfo), as well as the | |
| 20 | beginnings of an internals manual (ldint.texinfo). | |
| 21 | ||
| 22 | Installation | |
| 23 | ============ | |
| 24 | ||
| 25 | See ../binutils/README. | |
| 26 | ||
| 27 | If you want to make a cross-linker, you may want to specify | |
| 28 | a different search path of -lfoo libraries than the default. | |
| 29 | You can do this by setting the LIB_PATH variable in ./Makefile. | |
| 30 | ||
| 31 | To build just the linker, make the target all-ld from the top level | |
| 32 | directory (one directory above this one). | |
| 33 | ||
| 34 | Porting to a new target | |
| 35 | ======================= | |
| 36 | ||
| 37 | See the ldint.texinfo manual. | |
| 38 | ||
| 39 | Reporting bugs etc | |
| 40 | =========================== | |
| 41 | ||
| 42 | See ../binutils/README. | |
| 43 | ||
| 44 | Known problems | |
| 45 | ============== | |
| 46 | ||
| 47 | The Solaris linker normally exports all dynamic symbols from an | |
| 48 | executable. The GNU linker does not do this by default. This is | |
| 49 | because the GNU linker tries to present the same interface for all | |
| 50 | similar targets (in this case, all native ELF targets). This does not | |
| 51 | matter for normal programs, but it can make a difference for programs | |
| 52 | which try to dlopen an executable, such as PERL or Tcl. You can make | |
| 53 | the GNU linker export all dynamic symbols with the -E or | |
| 54 | --export-dynamic command line option. | |
| 55 | ||
| 56 | HP/UX 9.01 has a shell bug that causes the linker scripts to be | |
| 57 | generated incorrectly. The symptom of this appears to be "fatal error | |
| 58 | - scanner input buffer overflow" error messages. There are various | |
| 59 | workarounds to this: | |
| 60 | * Build and install bash, and build with "make SHELL=bash". | |
| 61 | * Update to a version of HP/UX with a working shell (e.g., 9.05). | |
| 62 | * Replace "(. ${srcdir}/scripttempl/${SCRIPT_NAME}.sc)" in | |
| 63 | genscripts.sh with "sh ${srcdir}..." (no parens) and make sure the | |
| 64 | emulparams script used exports any shell variables it sets. |