\input texinfo
@c Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998,
-@c 2000, 2001
+@c 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@setfilename bfdint.info
@item _bfd_get_relocated_section_contents
Read the contents of a section and apply the relocation information.
-This handles both a final link and a relocateable link; in the latter
+This handles both a final link and a relocatable link; in the latter
case, it adjust the relocation information as well. This is called via
@samp{bfd_get_relocated_section_contents}. Most targets implement it by
calling @samp{bfd_generic_get_relocated_section_contents}.
section as the value to store. In the IEEE object file format,
relocations may involve arbitrary expressions.
-When doing a relocateable link, the linker may or may not have to do
+When doing a relocatable link, the linker may or may not have to do
anything with a relocation, depending upon the definition of the
relocation. Simple relocations generally do not require any special
action.
@itemize @bullet
@item
Make sure you clearly understand what the contents of the section should
-look like after assembly, after a relocateable link, and after a final
+look like after assembly, after a relocatable link, and after a final
link. Make sure you clearly understand the operations the linker must
-perform during a relocateable link and during a final link.
+perform during a relocatable link and during a final link.
@item
Write a howto structure for the relocation. The howto structure is
able to handle that. You may need to set the @samp{special_function}
field to handle assembly correctly. Be careful to ensure that any code
you write to handle the assembler will also work correctly when doing a
-relocateable link. For example, see @samp{bfd_elf_generic_reloc}.
+relocatable link. For example, see @samp{bfd_elf_generic_reloc}.
@item
Test the assembler. Consider the cases of relocation against an
required handling to the target specific relocation function. In simple
cases this will just involve a call to @samp{_bfd_final_link_relocate}
or @samp{_bfd_relocate_contents}, depending upon the definition of the
-relocation and whether the link is relocateable or not.
+relocation and whether the link is relocatable or not.
@item
Test the linker. Test the case of a final link. If the relocation can
overflow, use a linker script to force an overflow and make sure the
-error is reported correctly. Test a relocateable link, whether the
-symbol is defined or undefined in the relocateable output. For both the
-final and relocateable link, test the case when the symbol is a common
+error is reported correctly. Test a relocatable link, whether the
+symbol is defined or undefined in the relocatable output. For both the
+final and relocatable link, test the case when the symbol is a common
symbol, when the symbol looked like a common symbol but became a defined
symbol, when the symbol is defined in a different object file, and when
the symbol is defined in the same object file.
doing a link in which the output object file format is S-records.
@item
-Using the linker to generate relocateable output in a different object
+Using the linker to generate relocatable output in a different object
file format is impossible in the general case, so you generally don't
have to worry about that. The GNU linker makes sure to stop that from
happening when an input file in a different format has relocations.
of howto structure was being used by a particular format.
The new howto structure would clearly define the relocation behaviour in
-the case of an assembly, a relocateable link, and a final link. At
+the case of an assembly, a relocatable link, and a final link. At
least one special function would be defined as an escape, and it might
make sense to define more.
files (but not in executables, except when using dynamic linking).
However, this is outweighed by the simplicity of addend handling when
using @samp{Rela} relocations. With @samp{Rel} relocations, the addend
-must be stored in the section contents, which makes relocateable links
+must be stored in the section contents, which makes relocatable links
more complex.
For example, consider C code like @code{i = a[1000];} where @samp{a} is
If you are adding support for a RISC chip which uses two or more
instructions to load an address, then the addend may not fit in a single
instruction, and will have to be somehow split among the instructions.
-This makes linking awkward, particularly when doing a relocateable link
+This makes linking awkward, particularly when doing a relocatable link
in which the addend may have to be updated. It can be done---the MIPS
ELF support does it---but it should be avoided when possible.
information. In simple cases, this is little more than a loop over the
relocations which computes the value of each relocation and calls
@samp{_bfd_final_link_relocate}. The function must check for a
-relocateable link, and in that case normally needs to do nothing other
+relocatable link, and in that case normally needs to do nothing other
than adjust the addend for relocations against a section symbol.
The complex cases generally have to do with dynamic linker support. GOT
projects / deliverable / binutils-gdb.git / blobdiff