1 \input texinfo @c -*- Texinfo -*-
2 @setfilename binutils.info
3 @c Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
12 * Binutils: (binutils). The GNU binary utilities.
13 * ar: (binutils)ar. Create, modify, and extract from archives
14 * nm: (binutils)nm. List symbols from object files
15 * objcopy: (binutils)objcopy. Copy and translate object files
16 * objdump: (binutils)objdump. Display information from object files
17 * ranlib: (binutils)ranlib. Generate index to archive contents
18 * readelf: (binutils)readelf. Display the contents of ELF format files.
19 * size: (binutils)size. List section sizes and total size
20 * strings: (binutils)strings. List printable strings from files
21 * strip: (binutils)strip. Discard symbols
22 * c++filt: (binutils)c++filt. Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols
23 * cxxfilt: (binutils)c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt
24 * addr2line: (binutils)addr2line. Convert addresses to file and line
25 * nlmconv: (binutils)nlmconv. Converts object code into an NLM
26 * windres: (binutils)windres. Manipulate Windows resources
27 * dlltool: (binutils)dlltool. Create files needed to build and use DLLs
33 @c man begin COPYRIGHT
34 Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
35 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
37 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
38 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
39 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
40 with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
41 Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
42 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
46 Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the
47 results, provided the printed document carries a copying permission
48 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
49 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
56 @c This file documents the GNU binary utilities "ar", "ld", "objcopy",
57 @c "objdump", "nm", "size", "strings", "strip", "readelf" and "ranlib".
59 @c Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
60 @c 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
62 @c This text may be freely distributed under the terms of the GNU
63 @c Free Documentation License.
66 @setchapternewpage odd
67 @settitle @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
70 @title The @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
71 @subtitle Version @value{VERSION}
73 @subtitle @value{UPDATED}
74 @author Roland H. Pesch
75 @author Jeffrey M. Osier
76 @author Cygnus Support
80 {\parskip=0pt \hfill Cygnus Support\par \hfill
81 \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par }
84 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
85 Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
86 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
88 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
89 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
90 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
91 with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
92 Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
93 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
101 This brief manual contains documentation for the @sc{gnu} binary
102 utilities (collectively version @value{VERSION}):
107 Create, modify, and extract from archives
110 List symbols from object files
113 Copy and translate object files
116 Display information from object files
119 Generate index to archive contents
122 Display the contents of ELF format files.
125 List file section sizes and total size
128 List printable strings from files
134 Demangle encoded C++ symbols (on MS-DOS, this program is named
138 Convert addresses into file names and line numbers
141 Convert object code into a Netware Loadable Module
144 Manipulate Windows resources
147 Create the files needed to build and use Dynamic Link Libraries
151 This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
152 Documentation License. A copy of the license is included in the
153 section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
156 * ar:: Create, modify, and extract from archives
157 * nm:: List symbols from object files
158 * objcopy:: Copy and translate object files
159 * objdump:: Display information from object files
160 * ranlib:: Generate index to archive contents
161 * readelf:: Display the contents of ELF format files.
162 * size:: List section sizes and total size
163 * strings:: List printable strings from files
164 * strip:: Discard symbols
165 * c++filt:: Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols
166 * cxxfilt: c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt
167 * addr2line:: Convert addresses to file and line
168 * nlmconv:: Converts object code into an NLM
169 * windres:: Manipulate Windows resources
170 * dlltool:: Create files needed to build and use DLLs
171 * Common Options:: Command-line options for all utilities
172 * Selecting The Target System:: How these utilities determine the target.
173 * Reporting Bugs:: Reporting Bugs
174 * GNU Free Documentation License:: GNU Free Documentation License
175 * Binutils Index:: Binutils Index
183 @cindex collections of files
185 @c man title ar create, modify, and extract from archives
188 ar [-]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
189 ar -M [ <mri-script ]
192 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ar
194 The @sc{gnu} @command{ar} program creates, modifies, and extracts from
195 archives. An @dfn{archive} is a single file holding a collection of
196 other files in a structure that makes it possible to retrieve
197 the original individual files (called @dfn{members} of the archive).
199 The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and
200 group are preserved in the archive, and can be restored on
204 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} can maintain archives whose members have names of any
205 length; however, depending on how @command{ar} is configured on your
206 system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed for compatibility
207 with archive formats maintained with other tools. If it exists, the
208 limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16
209 characters (typical of formats related to coff).
212 @command{ar} is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort
213 are most often used as @dfn{libraries} holding commonly needed
217 @command{ar} creates an index to the symbols defined in relocatable
218 object modules in the archive when you specify the modifier @samp{s}.
219 Once created, this index is updated in the archive whenever @command{ar}
220 makes a change to its contents (save for the @samp{q} update operation).
221 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and
222 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
223 their placement in the archive.
225 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index
226 table. If an archive lacks the table, another form of @command{ar} called
227 @command{ranlib} can be used to add just the table.
229 @cindex compatibility, @command{ar}
230 @cindex @command{ar} compatibility
231 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} is designed to be compatible with two different
232 facilities. You can control its activity using command-line options,
233 like the different varieties of @command{ar} on Unix systems; or, if you
234 specify the single command-line option @option{-M}, you can control it
235 with a script supplied via standard input, like the MRI ``librarian''
241 * ar cmdline:: Controlling @command{ar} on the command line
242 * ar scripts:: Controlling @command{ar} with a script
247 @section Controlling @command{ar} on the Command Line
250 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ar
251 ar [@option{-X32_64}] [@option{-}]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
255 @cindex Unix compatibility, @command{ar}
256 When you use @command{ar} in the Unix style, @command{ar} insists on at least two
257 arguments to execute: one keyletter specifying the @emph{operation}
258 (optionally accompanied by other keyletters specifying
259 @emph{modifiers}), and the archive name to act on.
261 Most operations can also accept further @var{member} arguments,
262 specifying particular files to operate on.
264 @c man begin OPTIONS ar
266 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} allows you to mix the operation code @var{p} and modifier
267 flags @var{mod} in any order, within the first command-line argument.
269 If you wish, you may begin the first command-line argument with a
272 @cindex operations on archive
273 The @var{p} keyletter specifies what operation to execute; it may be
274 any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:
278 @cindex deleting from archive
279 @emph{Delete} modules from the archive. Specify the names of modules to
280 be deleted as @var{member}@dots{}; the archive is untouched if you
281 specify no files to delete.
283 If you specify the @samp{v} modifier, @command{ar} lists each module
287 @cindex moving in archive
288 Use this operation to @emph{move} members in an archive.
290 The ordering of members in an archive can make a difference in how
291 programs are linked using the library, if a symbol is defined in more
294 If no modifiers are used with @code{m}, any members you name in the
295 @var{member} arguments are moved to the @emph{end} of the archive;
296 you can use the @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} modifiers to move them to a
297 specified place instead.
300 @cindex printing from archive
301 @emph{Print} the specified members of the archive, to the standard
302 output file. If the @samp{v} modifier is specified, show the member
303 name before copying its contents to standard output.
305 If you specify no @var{member} arguments, all the files in the archive are
309 @cindex quick append to archive
310 @emph{Quick append}; Historically, add the files @var{member}@dots{} to the end of
311 @var{archive}, without checking for replacement.
313 The modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, and @samp{i} do @emph{not} affect this
314 operation; new members are always placed at the end of the archive.
316 The modifier @samp{v} makes @command{ar} list each file as it is appended.
318 Since the point of this operation is speed, the archive's symbol table
319 index is not updated, even if it already existed; you can use @samp{ar s} or
320 @command{ranlib} explicitly to update the symbol table index.
322 However, too many different systems assume quick append rebuilds the
323 index, so @sc{gnu} @command{ar} implements @samp{q} as a synonym for @samp{r}.
326 @cindex replacement in archive
327 Insert the files @var{member}@dots{} into @var{archive} (with
328 @emph{replacement}). This operation differs from @samp{q} in that any
329 previously existing members are deleted if their names match those being
332 If one of the files named in @var{member}@dots{} does not exist, @command{ar}
333 displays an error message, and leaves undisturbed any existing members
334 of the archive matching that name.
336 By default, new members are added at the end of the file; but you may
337 use one of the modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} to request
338 placement relative to some existing member.
340 The modifier @samp{v} used with this operation elicits a line of
341 output for each file inserted, along with one of the letters @samp{a} or
342 @samp{r} to indicate whether the file was appended (no old member
343 deleted) or replaced.
346 @cindex contents of archive
347 Display a @emph{table} listing the contents of @var{archive}, or those
348 of the files listed in @var{member}@dots{} that are present in the
349 archive. Normally only the member name is shown; if you also want to
350 see the modes (permissions), timestamp, owner, group, and size, you can
351 request that by also specifying the @samp{v} modifier.
353 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
356 @cindex repeated names in archive
357 @cindex name duplication in archive
358 If there is more than one file with the same name (say, @samp{fie}) in
359 an archive (say @samp{b.a}), @samp{ar t b.a fie} lists only the
360 first instance; to see them all, you must ask for a complete
361 listing---in our example, @samp{ar t b.a}.
362 @c WRS only; per Gumby, this is implementation-dependent, and in a more
363 @c recent case in fact works the other way.
366 @cindex extract from archive
367 @emph{Extract} members (named @var{member}) from the archive. You can
368 use the @samp{v} modifier with this operation, to request that
369 @command{ar} list each name as it extracts it.
371 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
376 A number of modifiers (@var{mod}) may immediately follow the @var{p}
377 keyletter, to specify variations on an operation's behavior:
381 @cindex relative placement in archive
382 Add new files @emph{after} an existing member of the
383 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{a}, the name of an existing archive
384 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
385 @var{archive} specification.
388 Add new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
389 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{b}, the name of an existing archive
390 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
391 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{i}).
394 @cindex creating archives
395 @emph{Create} the archive. The specified @var{archive} is always
396 created if it did not exist, when you request an update. But a warning is
397 issued unless you specify in advance that you expect to create it, by
401 Truncate names in the archive. @sc{gnu} @command{ar} will normally permit file
402 names of any length. This will cause it to create archives which are
403 not compatible with the native @command{ar} program on some systems. If
404 this is a concern, the @samp{f} modifier may be used to truncate file
405 names when putting them in the archive.
408 Insert new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
409 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{i}, the name of an existing archive
410 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
411 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{b}).
414 This modifier is accepted but not used.
415 @c whaffor ar l modifier??? presumably compat; with
416 @c what???---doc@@cygnus.com, 25jan91
419 Uses the @var{count} parameter. This is used if there are multiple
420 entries in the archive with the same name. Extract or delete instance
421 @var{count} of the given name from the archive.
424 @cindex dates in archive
425 Preserve the @emph{original} dates of members when extracting them. If
426 you do not specify this modifier, files extracted from the archive
427 are stamped with the time of extraction.
430 Use the full path name when matching names in the archive. @sc{gnu}
431 @command{ar} can not create an archive with a full path name (such archives
432 are not POSIX complaint), but other archive creators can. This option
433 will cause @sc{gnu} @command{ar} to match file names using a complete path
434 name, which can be convenient when extracting a single file from an
435 archive created by another tool.
438 @cindex writing archive index
439 Write an object-file index into the archive, or update an existing one,
440 even if no other change is made to the archive. You may use this modifier
441 flag either with any operation, or alone. Running @samp{ar s} on an
442 archive is equivalent to running @samp{ranlib} on it.
445 @cindex not writing archive index
446 Do not generate an archive symbol table. This can speed up building a
447 large library in several steps. The resulting archive can not be used
448 with the linker. In order to build a symbol table, you must omit the
449 @samp{S} modifier on the last execution of @samp{ar}, or you must run
450 @samp{ranlib} on the archive.
453 @cindex updating an archive
454 Normally, @samp{ar r}@dots{} inserts all files
455 listed into the archive. If you would like to insert @emph{only} those
456 of the files you list that are newer than existing members of the same
457 names, use this modifier. The @samp{u} modifier is allowed only for the
458 operation @samp{r} (replace). In particular, the combination @samp{qu} is
459 not allowed, since checking the timestamps would lose any speed
460 advantage from the operation @samp{q}.
463 This modifier requests the @emph{verbose} version of an operation. Many
464 operations display additional information, such as filenames processed,
465 when the modifier @samp{v} is appended.
468 This modifier shows the version number of @command{ar}.
471 @command{ar} ignores an initial option spelt @samp{-X32_64}, for
472 compatibility with AIX. The behaviour produced by this option is the
473 default for @sc{gnu} @command{ar}. @command{ar} does not support any of the other
474 @samp{-X} options; in particular, it does not support @option{-X32}
475 which is the default for AIX @command{ar}.
480 @c man begin SEEALSO ar
481 nm(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
486 @section Controlling @command{ar} with a Script
489 ar -M [ <@var{script} ]
492 @cindex MRI compatibility, @command{ar}
493 @cindex scripts, @command{ar}
494 If you use the single command-line option @samp{-M} with @command{ar}, you
495 can control its operation with a rudimentary command language. This
496 form of @command{ar} operates interactively if standard input is coming
497 directly from a terminal. During interactive use, @command{ar} prompts for
498 input (the prompt is @samp{AR >}), and continues executing even after
499 errors. If you redirect standard input to a script file, no prompts are
500 issued, and @command{ar} abandons execution (with a nonzero exit code)
503 The @command{ar} command language is @emph{not} designed to be equivalent
504 to the command-line options; in fact, it provides somewhat less control
505 over archives. The only purpose of the command language is to ease the
506 transition to @sc{gnu} @command{ar} for developers who already have scripts
507 written for the MRI ``librarian'' program.
509 The syntax for the @command{ar} command language is straightforward:
512 commands are recognized in upper or lower case; for example, @code{LIST}
513 is the same as @code{list}. In the following descriptions, commands are
514 shown in upper case for clarity.
517 a single command may appear on each line; it is the first word on the
521 empty lines are allowed, and have no effect.
524 comments are allowed; text after either of the characters @samp{*}
525 or @samp{;} is ignored.
528 Whenever you use a list of names as part of the argument to an @command{ar}
529 command, you can separate the individual names with either commas or
530 blanks. Commas are shown in the explanations below, for clarity.
533 @samp{+} is used as a line continuation character; if @samp{+} appears
534 at the end of a line, the text on the following line is considered part
535 of the current command.
538 Here are the commands you can use in @command{ar} scripts, or when using
539 @command{ar} interactively. Three of them have special significance:
541 @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE} specify a @dfn{current archive}, which is
542 a temporary file required for most of the other commands.
544 @code{SAVE} commits the changes so far specified by the script. Prior
545 to @code{SAVE}, commands affect only the temporary copy of the current
549 @item ADDLIB @var{archive}
550 @itemx ADDLIB @var{archive} (@var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
551 Add all the contents of @var{archive} (or, if specified, each named
552 @var{module} from @var{archive}) to the current archive.
554 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
556 @item ADDMOD @var{member}, @var{member}, @dots{} @var{member}
557 @c FIXME! w/Replacement?? If so, like "ar r @var{archive} @var{names}"
558 @c else like "ar q..."
559 Add each named @var{member} as a module in the current archive.
561 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
564 Discard the contents of the current archive, canceling the effect of
565 any operations since the last @code{SAVE}. May be executed (with no
566 effect) even if no current archive is specified.
568 @item CREATE @var{archive}
569 Creates an archive, and makes it the current archive (required for many
570 other commands). The new archive is created with a temporary name; it
571 is not actually saved as @var{archive} until you use @code{SAVE}.
572 You can overwrite existing archives; similarly, the contents of any
573 existing file named @var{archive} will not be destroyed until @code{SAVE}.
575 @item DELETE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
576 Delete each listed @var{module} from the current archive; equivalent to
577 @samp{ar -d @var{archive} @var{module} @dots{} @var{module}}.
579 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
581 @item DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
582 @itemx DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}) @var{outputfile}
583 List each named @var{module} present in @var{archive}. The separate
584 command @code{VERBOSE} specifies the form of the output: when verbose
585 output is off, output is like that of @samp{ar -t @var{archive}
586 @var{module}@dots{}}. When verbose output is on, the listing is like
587 @samp{ar -tv @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
589 Output normally goes to the standard output stream; however, if you
590 specify @var{outputfile} as a final argument, @command{ar} directs the
594 Exit from @command{ar}, with a @code{0} exit code to indicate successful
595 completion. This command does not save the output file; if you have
596 changed the current archive since the last @code{SAVE} command, those
599 @item EXTRACT @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
600 Extract each named @var{module} from the current archive, writing them
601 into the current directory as separate files. Equivalent to @samp{ar -x
602 @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
604 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
607 @c FIXME Tokens but no commands???
614 Display full contents of the current archive, in ``verbose'' style
615 regardless of the state of @code{VERBOSE}. The effect is like @samp{ar
616 tv @var{archive}}. (This single command is a @sc{gnu} @command{ar}
617 enhancement, rather than present for MRI compatibility.)
619 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
621 @item OPEN @var{archive}
622 Opens an existing archive for use as the current archive (required for
623 many other commands). Any changes as the result of subsequent commands
624 will not actually affect @var{archive} until you next use @code{SAVE}.
626 @item REPLACE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
627 In the current archive, replace each existing @var{module} (named in
628 the @code{REPLACE} arguments) from files in the current working directory.
629 To execute this command without errors, both the file, and the module in
630 the current archive, must exist.
632 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
635 Toggle an internal flag governing the output from @code{DIRECTORY}.
636 When the flag is on, @code{DIRECTORY} output matches output from
637 @samp{ar -tv }@dots{}.
640 Commit your changes to the current archive, and actually save it as a
641 file with the name specified in the last @code{CREATE} or @code{OPEN}
644 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
653 The @sc{gnu} linker @command{ld} is now described in a separate manual.
654 @xref{Top,, Overview,, Using LD: the @sc{gnu} linker}.
662 @c man title nm list symbols from object files
665 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nm
666 nm [@option{-a}|@option{--debug-syms}] [@option{-g}|@option{--extern-only}]
667 [@option{-B}] [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]] [@option{-D}|@option{--dynamic}]
668 [@option{-S}|@option{--print-size}] [@option{-s}|@option{--print-armap}]
669 [@option{-A}|@option{-o}|@option{--print-file-name}][@option{--special-syms}]
670 [@option{-n}|@option{-v}|@option{--numeric-sort}] [@option{-p}|@option{--no-sort}]
671 [@option{-r}|@option{--reverse-sort}] [@option{--size-sort}] [@option{-u}|@option{--undefined-only}]
672 [@option{-t} @var{radix}|@option{--radix=}@var{radix}] [@option{-P}|@option{--portability}]
673 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-f}@var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
674 [@option{--defined-only}] [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}] [@option{--no-demangle}]
675 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}] [@option{-X 32_64}] [@option{--help}] [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
679 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nm
680 @sc{gnu} @command{nm} lists the symbols from object files @var{objfile}@dots{}.
681 If no object files are listed as arguments, @command{nm} assumes the file
684 For each symbol, @command{nm} shows:
688 The symbol value, in the radix selected by options (see below), or
689 hexadecimal by default.
692 The symbol type. At least the following types are used; others are, as
693 well, depending on the object file format. If lowercase, the symbol is
694 local; if uppercase, the symbol is global (external).
696 @c Some more detail on exactly what these symbol types are used for
700 The symbol's value is absolute, and will not be changed by further
704 The symbol is in the uninitialized data section (known as BSS).
707 The symbol is common. Common symbols are uninitialized data. When
708 linking, multiple common symbols may appear with the same name. If the
709 symbol is defined anywhere, the common symbols are treated as undefined
712 For more details on common symbols, see the discussion of
713 --warn-common in @ref{Options,,Linker options,ld.info,The GNU linker}.
717 The symbol is in the initialized data section.
720 The symbol is in an initialized data section for small objects. Some
721 object file formats permit more efficient access to small data objects,
722 such as a global int variable as opposed to a large global array.
725 The symbol is an indirect reference to another symbol. This is a @sc{gnu}
726 extension to the a.out object file format which is rarely used.
729 The symbol is a debugging symbol.
732 The symbol is in a read only data section.
735 The symbol is in an uninitialized data section for small objects.
738 The symbol is in the text (code) section.
741 The symbol is undefined.
744 The symbol is a weak object. When a weak defined symbol is linked with
745 a normal defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
746 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
747 the value of the weak symbol becomes zero with no error.
750 The symbol is a weak symbol that has not been specifically tagged as a
751 weak object symbol. When a weak defined symbol is linked with a normal
752 defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
753 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
754 the value of the symbol is determined in a system-specific manner without
755 error. On some systems, uppercase indicates that a default value has been
760 The symbol is a stabs symbol in an a.out object file. In this case, the
761 next values printed are the stabs other field, the stabs desc field, and
762 the stab type. Stabs symbols are used to hold debugging information.
764 For more information, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs Overview,stabs.info, The
765 ``stabs'' debug format}.
769 The symbol type is unknown, or object file format specific.
778 @c man begin OPTIONS nm
779 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
785 @itemx --print-file-name
786 @cindex input file name
788 @cindex source file name
789 Precede each symbol by the name of the input file (or archive member)
790 in which it was found, rather than identifying the input file once only,
791 before all of its symbols.
795 @cindex debugging symbols
796 Display all symbols, even debugger-only symbols; normally these are not
800 @cindex @command{nm} format
801 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
802 The same as @option{--format=bsd} (for compatibility with the MIPS @command{nm}).
805 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
806 @cindex demangling in nm
807 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
808 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
809 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
810 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
811 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
812 for more information on demangling.
815 Do not demangle low-level symbol names. This is the default.
819 @cindex dynamic symbols
820 Display the dynamic symbols rather than the normal symbols. This is
821 only meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
824 @item -f @var{format}
825 @itemx --format=@var{format}
826 @cindex @command{nm} format
827 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
828 Use the output format @var{format}, which can be @code{bsd},
829 @code{sysv}, or @code{posix}. The default is @code{bsd}.
830 Only the first character of @var{format} is significant; it can be
831 either upper or lower case.
835 @cindex external symbols
836 Display only external symbols.
839 @itemx --line-numbers
840 @cindex symbol line numbers
841 For each symbol, use debugging information to try to find a filename and
842 line number. For a defined symbol, look for the line number of the
843 address of the symbol. For an undefined symbol, look for the line
844 number of a relocation entry which refers to the symbol. If line number
845 information can be found, print it after the other symbol information.
849 @itemx --numeric-sort
850 Sort symbols numerically by their addresses, rather than alphabetically
855 @cindex sorting symbols
856 Do not bother to sort the symbols in any order; print them in the order
861 Use the POSIX.2 standard output format instead of the default format.
862 Equivalent to @samp{-f posix}.
866 Print size, not the value, of defined symbols for the @code{bsd} output format.
870 @cindex symbol index, listing
871 When listing symbols from archive members, include the index: a mapping
872 (stored in the archive by @command{ar} or @command{ranlib}) of which modules
873 contain definitions for which names.
876 @itemx --reverse-sort
877 Reverse the order of the sort (whether numeric or alphabetic); let the
881 Sort symbols by size. The size is computed as the difference between
882 the value of the symbol and the value of the symbol with the next higher
883 value. If the @code{bsd} output format is used the size of the symbol
884 is printed, rather than the value, and @samp{-S} must be used in order
885 both size and value to be printed.
888 Display symbols which have a target-specific special meaning. These
889 symbols are usually used by the target for some special processing and
890 are not normally helpful when included included in the normal symbol
891 lists. For example for ARM targets this option would skip the mapping
892 symbols used to mark transitions between ARM code, THUMB code and
896 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
897 Use @var{radix} as the radix for printing the symbol values. It must be
898 @samp{d} for decimal, @samp{o} for octal, or @samp{x} for hexadecimal.
900 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
901 @cindex object code format
902 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
903 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
906 @itemx --undefined-only
907 @cindex external symbols
908 @cindex undefined symbols
909 Display only undefined symbols (those external to each object file).
912 @cindex external symbols
913 @cindex undefined symbols
914 Display only defined symbols for each object file.
918 Show the version number of @command{nm} and exit.
921 This option is ignored for compatibility with the AIX version of
922 @command{nm}. It takes one parameter which must be the string
923 @option{32_64}. The default mode of AIX @command{nm} corresponds
924 to @option{-X 32}, which is not supported by @sc{gnu} @command{nm}.
927 Show a summary of the options to @command{nm} and exit.
933 @c man begin SEEALSO nm
934 ar(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
941 @c man title objcopy copy and translate object files
944 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objcopy
945 objcopy [@option{-F} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
946 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
947 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
948 [@option{-B} @var{bfdarch}|@option{--binary-architecture=}@var{bfdarch}]
949 [@option{-S}|@option{--strip-all}]
950 [@option{-g}|@option{--strip-debug}]
951 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
952 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname}|@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
953 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
954 [@option{-G} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-global-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
955 [@option{--localize-hidden}]
956 [@option{-L} @var{symbolname}|@option{--localize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
957 [@option{--globalize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
958 [@option{-W} @var{symbolname}|@option{--weaken-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
959 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
960 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}]
961 [@option{-X}|@option{--discard-locals}]
962 [@option{-b} @var{byte}|@option{--byte=}@var{byte}]
963 [@option{-i} @var{interleave}|@option{--interleave=}@var{interleave}]
964 [@option{-j} @var{sectionname}|@option{--only-section=}@var{sectionname}]
965 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname}|@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
966 [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
967 [@option{--debugging}]
968 [@option{--gap-fill=}@var{val}]
969 [@option{--pad-to=}@var{address}]
970 [@option{--set-start=}@var{val}]
971 [@option{--adjust-start=}@var{incr}]
972 [@option{--change-addresses=}@var{incr}]
973 [@option{--change-section-address} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
974 [@option{--change-section-lma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
975 [@option{--change-section-vma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
976 [@option{--change-warnings}] [@option{--no-change-warnings}]
977 [@option{--set-section-flags} @var{section}=@var{flags}]
978 [@option{--add-section} @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}]
979 [@option{--rename-section} @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]]
980 [@option{--change-leading-char}] [@option{--remove-leading-char}]
981 [@option{--srec-len=}@var{ival}] [@option{--srec-forceS3}]
982 [@option{--redefine-sym} @var{old}=@var{new}]
983 [@option{--redefine-syms=}@var{filename}]
985 [@option{--keep-symbols=}@var{filename}]
986 [@option{--strip-symbols=}@var{filename}]
987 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbols=}@var{filename}]
988 [@option{--keep-global-symbols=}@var{filename}]
989 [@option{--localize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
990 [@option{--globalize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
991 [@option{--weaken-symbols=}@var{filename}]
992 [@option{--alt-machine-code=}@var{index}]
993 [@option{--prefix-symbols=}@var{string}]
994 [@option{--prefix-sections=}@var{string}]
995 [@option{--prefix-alloc-sections=}@var{string}]
996 [@option{--add-gnu-debuglink=}@var{path-to-file}]
997 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
998 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
999 [@option{--extract-symbol}]
1000 [@option{--writable-text}]
1001 [@option{--readonly-text}]
1004 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
1005 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1006 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
1007 @var{infile} [@var{outfile}]
1011 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objcopy
1012 The @sc{gnu} @command{objcopy} utility copies the contents of an object
1013 file to another. @command{objcopy} uses the @sc{gnu} @sc{bfd} Library to
1014 read and write the object files. It can write the destination object
1015 file in a format different from that of the source object file. The
1016 exact behavior of @command{objcopy} is controlled by command-line options.
1017 Note that @command{objcopy} should be able to copy a fully linked file
1018 between any two formats. However, copying a relocatable object file
1019 between any two formats may not work as expected.
1021 @command{objcopy} creates temporary files to do its translations and
1022 deletes them afterward. @command{objcopy} uses @sc{bfd} to do all its
1023 translation work; it has access to all the formats described in @sc{bfd}
1024 and thus is able to recognize most formats without being told
1025 explicitly. @xref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}.
1027 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate S-records by using an output
1028 target of @samp{srec} (e.g., use @samp{-O srec}).
1030 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate a raw binary file by using an
1031 output target of @samp{binary} (e.g., use @option{-O binary}). When
1032 @command{objcopy} generates a raw binary file, it will essentially produce
1033 a memory dump of the contents of the input object file. All symbols and
1034 relocation information will be discarded. The memory dump will start at
1035 the load address of the lowest section copied into the output file.
1037 When generating an S-record or a raw binary file, it may be helpful to
1038 use @option{-S} to remove sections containing debugging information. In
1039 some cases @option{-R} will be useful to remove sections which contain
1040 information that is not needed by the binary file.
1042 Note---@command{objcopy} is not able to change the endianness of its input
1043 files. If the input format has an endianness (some formats do not),
1044 @command{objcopy} can only copy the inputs into file formats that have the
1045 same endianness or which have no endianness (e.g., @samp{srec}).
1049 @c man begin OPTIONS objcopy
1053 @itemx @var{outfile}
1054 The input and output files, respectively.
1055 If you do not specify @var{outfile}, @command{objcopy} creates a
1056 temporary file and destructively renames the result with
1057 the name of @var{infile}.
1059 @item -I @var{bfdname}
1060 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
1061 Consider the source file's object format to be @var{bfdname}, rather than
1062 attempting to deduce it. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1064 @item -O @var{bfdname}
1065 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
1066 Write the output file using the object format @var{bfdname}.
1067 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1069 @item -F @var{bfdname}
1070 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1071 Use @var{bfdname} as the object format for both the input and the output
1072 file; i.e., simply transfer data from source to destination with no
1073 translation. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1075 @item -B @var{bfdarch}
1076 @itemx --binary-architecture=@var{bfdarch}
1077 Useful when transforming a raw binary input file into an object file.
1078 In this case the output architecture can be set to @var{bfdarch}. This
1079 option will be ignored if the input file has a known @var{bfdarch}. You
1080 can access this binary data inside a program by referencing the special
1081 symbols that are created by the conversion process. These symbols are
1082 called _binary_@var{objfile}_start, _binary_@var{objfile}_end and
1083 _binary_@var{objfile}_size. e.g. you can transform a picture file into
1084 an object file and then access it in your code using these symbols.
1086 @item -j @var{sectionname}
1087 @itemx --only-section=@var{sectionname}
1088 Copy only the named section from the input file to the output file.
1089 This option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1090 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1092 @item -R @var{sectionname}
1093 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
1094 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
1095 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1096 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1100 Do not copy relocation and symbol information from the source file.
1103 @itemx --strip-debug
1104 Do not copy debugging symbols or sections from the source file.
1106 @item --strip-unneeded
1107 Strip all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
1109 @item -K @var{symbolname}
1110 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1111 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
1112 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
1114 @item -N @var{symbolname}
1115 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1116 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option
1117 may be given more than once.
1119 @item --strip-unneeded-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1120 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file unless it is needed
1121 by a relocation. This option may be given more than once.
1123 @item -G @var{symbolname}
1124 @itemx --keep-global-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1125 Keep only symbol @var{symbolname} global. Make all other symbols local
1126 to the file, so that they are not visible externally. This option may
1127 be given more than once.
1129 @item --localize-hidden
1130 In an ELF object, mark all symbols that have hidden or internal visibility
1131 as local. This option applies on top of symbol-specific localization options
1132 such as @option{-L}.
1134 @item -L @var{symbolname}
1135 @itemx --localize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1136 Make symbol @var{symbolname} local to the file, so that it is not
1137 visible externally. This option may be given more than once.
1139 @item -W @var{symbolname}
1140 @itemx --weaken-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1141 Make symbol @var{symbolname} weak. This option may be given more than once.
1143 @item --globalize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1144 Give symbol @var{symbolname} global scoping so that it is visible
1145 outside of the file in which it is defined. This option may be given
1150 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
1151 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
1152 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
1153 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
1154 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
1161 would cause objcopy to weaken all symbols that start with ``fo''
1162 except for the symbol ``foo''.
1165 @itemx --discard-all
1166 Do not copy non-global symbols from the source file.
1167 @c FIXME any reason to prefer "non-global" to "local" here?
1170 @itemx --discard-locals
1171 Do not copy compiler-generated local symbols.
1172 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
1175 @itemx --byte=@var{byte}
1176 Keep only every @var{byte}th byte of the input file (header data is not
1177 affected). @var{byte} can be in the range from 0 to @var{interleave}-1,
1178 where @var{interleave} is given by the @option{-i} or @option{--interleave}
1179 option, or the default of 4. This option is useful for creating files
1180 to program @sc{rom}. It is typically used with an @code{srec} output
1183 @item -i @var{interleave}
1184 @itemx --interleave=@var{interleave}
1185 Only copy one out of every @var{interleave} bytes. Select which byte to
1186 copy with the @option{-b} or @option{--byte} option. The default is 4.
1187 @command{objcopy} ignores this option if you do not specify either @option{-b} or
1191 @itemx --preserve-dates
1192 Set the access and modification dates of the output file to be the same
1193 as those of the input file.
1196 Convert debugging information, if possible. This is not the default
1197 because only certain debugging formats are supported, and the
1198 conversion process can be time consuming.
1200 @item --gap-fill @var{val}
1201 Fill gaps between sections with @var{val}. This operation applies to
1202 the @emph{load address} (LMA) of the sections. It is done by increasing
1203 the size of the section with the lower address, and filling in the extra
1204 space created with @var{val}.
1206 @item --pad-to @var{address}
1207 Pad the output file up to the load address @var{address}. This is
1208 done by increasing the size of the last section. The extra space is
1209 filled in with the value specified by @option{--gap-fill} (default zero).
1211 @item --set-start @var{val}
1212 Set the start address of the new file to @var{val}. Not all object file
1213 formats support setting the start address.
1215 @item --change-start @var{incr}
1216 @itemx --adjust-start @var{incr}
1217 @cindex changing start address
1218 Change the start address by adding @var{incr}. Not all object file
1219 formats support setting the start address.
1221 @item --change-addresses @var{incr}
1222 @itemx --adjust-vma @var{incr}
1223 @cindex changing object addresses
1224 Change the VMA and LMA addresses of all sections, as well as the start
1225 address, by adding @var{incr}. Some object file formats do not permit
1226 section addresses to be changed arbitrarily. Note that this does not
1227 relocate the sections; if the program expects sections to be loaded at a
1228 certain address, and this option is used to change the sections such
1229 that they are loaded at a different address, the program may fail.
1231 @item --change-section-address @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1232 @itemx --adjust-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1233 @cindex changing section address
1234 Set or change both the VMA address and the LMA address of the named
1235 @var{section}. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1236 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1237 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1238 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning will
1239 be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1241 @item --change-section-lma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1242 @cindex changing section LMA
1243 Set or change the LMA address of the named @var{section}. The LMA
1244 address is the address where the section will be loaded into memory at
1245 program load time. Normally this is the same as the VMA address, which
1246 is the address of the section at program run time, but on some systems,
1247 especially those where a program is held in ROM, the two can be
1248 different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1249 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1250 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1251 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning
1252 will be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1254 @item --change-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1255 @cindex changing section VMA
1256 Set or change the VMA address of the named @var{section}. The VMA
1257 address is the address where the section will be located once the
1258 program has started executing. Normally this is the same as the LMA
1259 address, which is the address where the section will be loaded into
1260 memory, but on some systems, especially those where a program is held in
1261 ROM, the two can be different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address
1262 is set to @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted
1263 from the section address. See the comments under
1264 @option{--change-addresses}, above. If @var{section} does not exist in
1265 the input file, a warning will be issued, unless
1266 @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1268 @item --change-warnings
1269 @itemx --adjust-warnings
1270 If @option{--change-section-address} or @option{--change-section-lma} or
1271 @option{--change-section-vma} is used, and the named section does not
1272 exist, issue a warning. This is the default.
1274 @item --no-change-warnings
1275 @itemx --no-adjust-warnings
1276 Do not issue a warning if @option{--change-section-address} or
1277 @option{--adjust-section-lma} or @option{--adjust-section-vma} is used, even
1278 if the named section does not exist.
1280 @item --set-section-flags @var{section}=@var{flags}
1281 Set the flags for the named section. The @var{flags} argument is a
1282 comma separated string of flag names. The recognized names are
1283 @samp{alloc}, @samp{contents}, @samp{load}, @samp{noload},
1284 @samp{readonly}, @samp{code}, @samp{data}, @samp{rom}, @samp{share}, and
1285 @samp{debug}. You can set the @samp{contents} flag for a section which
1286 does not have contents, but it is not meaningful to clear the
1287 @samp{contents} flag of a section which does have contents--just remove
1288 the section instead. Not all flags are meaningful for all object file
1291 @item --add-section @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}
1292 Add a new section named @var{sectionname} while copying the file. The
1293 contents of the new section are taken from the file @var{filename}. The
1294 size of the section will be the size of the file. This option only
1295 works on file formats which can support sections with arbitrary names.
1297 @item --rename-section @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]
1298 Rename a section from @var{oldname} to @var{newname}, optionally
1299 changing the section's flags to @var{flags} in the process. This has
1300 the advantage over usng a linker script to perform the rename in that
1301 the output stays as an object file and does not become a linked
1304 This option is particularly helpful when the input format is binary,
1305 since this will always create a section called .data. If for example,
1306 you wanted instead to create a section called .rodata containing binary
1307 data you could use the following command line to achieve it:
1310 objcopy -I binary -O <output_format> -B <architecture> \
1311 --rename-section .data=.rodata,alloc,load,readonly,data,contents \
1312 <input_binary_file> <output_object_file>
1315 @item --change-leading-char
1316 Some object file formats use special characters at the start of
1317 symbols. The most common such character is underscore, which compilers
1318 often add before every symbol. This option tells @command{objcopy} to
1319 change the leading character of every symbol when it converts between
1320 object file formats. If the object file formats use the same leading
1321 character, this option has no effect. Otherwise, it will add a
1322 character, or remove a character, or change a character, as
1325 @item --remove-leading-char
1326 If the first character of a global symbol is a special symbol leading
1327 character used by the object file format, remove the character. The
1328 most common symbol leading character is underscore. This option will
1329 remove a leading underscore from all global symbols. This can be useful
1330 if you want to link together objects of different file formats with
1331 different conventions for symbol names. This is different from
1332 @option{--change-leading-char} because it always changes the symbol name
1333 when appropriate, regardless of the object file format of the output
1336 @item --srec-len=@var{ival}
1337 Meaningful only for srec output. Set the maximum length of the Srecords
1338 being produced to @var{ival}. This length covers both address, data and
1341 @item --srec-forceS3
1342 Meaningful only for srec output. Avoid generation of S1/S2 records,
1343 creating S3-only record format.
1345 @item --redefine-sym @var{old}=@var{new}
1346 Change the name of a symbol @var{old}, to @var{new}. This can be useful
1347 when one is trying link two things together for which you have no
1348 source, and there are name collisions.
1350 @item --redefine-syms=@var{filename}
1351 Apply @option{--redefine-sym} to each symbol pair "@var{old} @var{new}"
1352 listed in the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file,
1353 with one symbol pair per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1354 character. This option may be given more than once.
1357 Change all global symbols in the file to be weak. This can be useful
1358 when building an object which will be linked against other objects using
1359 the @option{-R} option to the linker. This option is only effective when
1360 using an object file format which supports weak symbols.
1362 @item --keep-symbols=@var{filename}
1363 Apply @option{--keep-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1364 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1365 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1366 This option may be given more than once.
1368 @item --strip-symbols=@var{filename}
1369 Apply @option{--strip-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1370 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1371 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1372 This option may be given more than once.
1374 @item --strip-unneeded-symbols=@var{filename}
1375 Apply @option{--strip-unneeded-symbol} option to each symbol listed in
1376 the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1377 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1378 character. This option may be given more than once.
1380 @item --keep-global-symbols=@var{filename}
1381 Apply @option{--keep-global-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the
1382 file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1383 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1384 character. This option may be given more than once.
1386 @item --localize-symbols=@var{filename}
1387 Apply @option{--localize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1388 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1389 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1390 This option may be given more than once.
1392 @item --globalize-symbols=@var{filename}
1393 Apply @option{--globalize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1394 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1395 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1396 This option may be given more than once.
1398 @item --weaken-symbols=@var{filename}
1399 Apply @option{--weaken-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1400 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1401 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1402 This option may be given more than once.
1404 @item --alt-machine-code=@var{index}
1405 If the output architecture has alternate machine codes, use the
1406 @var{index}th code instead of the default one. This is useful in case
1407 a machine is assigned an official code and the tool-chain adopts the
1408 new code, but other applications still depend on the original code
1409 being used. For ELF based architectures if the @var{index}
1410 alternative does not exist then the value is treated as an absolute
1411 number to be stored in the e_machine field of the ELF header.
1413 @item --writable-text
1414 Mark the output text as writable. This option isn't meaningful for all
1415 object file formats.
1417 @item --readonly-text
1418 Make the output text write protected. This option isn't meaningful for all
1419 object file formats.
1422 Mark the output file as demand paged. This option isn't meaningful for all
1423 object file formats.
1426 Mark the output file as impure. This option isn't meaningful for all
1427 object file formats.
1429 @item --prefix-symbols=@var{string}
1430 Prefix all symbols in the output file with @var{string}.
1432 @item --prefix-sections=@var{string}
1433 Prefix all section names in the output file with @var{string}.
1435 @item --prefix-alloc-sections=@var{string}
1436 Prefix all the names of all allocated sections in the output file with
1439 @item --add-gnu-debuglink=@var{path-to-file}
1440 Creates a .gnu_debuglink section which contains a reference to @var{path-to-file}
1441 and adds it to the output file.
1443 @item --keep-file-symbols
1444 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
1445 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
1446 which would otherwise get stripped.
1448 @item --only-keep-debug
1449 Strip a file, removing contents of any sections that would not be
1450 stripped by @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections
1453 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
1454 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
1455 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
1456 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
1457 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
1458 to create these files is as follows:
1461 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
1463 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
1464 create a file containing the debugging info.
1465 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
1466 stripped executable.
1467 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
1468 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
1471 Note - the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
1472 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
1473 optional. You could instead do this:
1476 @item Link the executable as normal.
1477 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
1478 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo}
1479 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
1482 i.e., the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
1483 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
1484 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
1486 Note - this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
1487 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
1488 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
1489 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
1490 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
1493 @item --extract-symbol
1494 Keep the file's section flags and symbols but remove all section data.
1495 Specifically, the option:
1498 @item sets the virtual and load addresses of every section to zero;
1499 @item removes the contents of all sections;
1500 @item sets the size of every section to zero; and
1501 @item sets the file's start address to zero.
1504 This option is used to build a @file{.sym} file for a VxWorks kernel.
1505 It can also be a useful way of reducing the size of a @option{--just-symbols}
1510 Show the version number of @command{objcopy}.
1514 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
1515 archives, @samp{objcopy -V} lists all members of the archive.
1518 Show a summary of the options to @command{objcopy}.
1521 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
1527 @c man begin SEEALSO objcopy
1528 ld(1), objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
1535 @cindex object file information
1538 @c man title objdump display information from object files.
1541 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objdump
1542 objdump [@option{-a}|@option{--archive-headers}]
1543 [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=@var{bfdname}}]
1544 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}] ]
1545 [@option{-d}|@option{--disassemble}]
1546 [@option{-D}|@option{--disassemble-all}]
1547 [@option{-z}|@option{--disassemble-zeroes}]
1548 [@option{-EB}|@option{-EL}|@option{--endian=}@{big | little @}]
1549 [@option{-f}|@option{--file-headers}]
1550 [@option{--file-start-context}]
1551 [@option{-g}|@option{--debugging}]
1552 [@option{-e}|@option{--debugging-tags}]
1553 [@option{-h}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--headers}]
1554 [@option{-i}|@option{--info}]
1555 [@option{-j} @var{section}|@option{--section=}@var{section}]
1556 [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}]
1557 [@option{-S}|@option{--source}]
1558 [@option{-m} @var{machine}|@option{--architecture=}@var{machine}]
1559 [@option{-M} @var{options}|@option{--disassembler-options=}@var{options}]
1560 [@option{-p}|@option{--private-headers}]
1561 [@option{-r}|@option{--reloc}]
1562 [@option{-R}|@option{--dynamic-reloc}]
1563 [@option{-s}|@option{--full-contents}]
1564 [@option{-W}|@option{--dwarf}]
1565 [@option{-G}|@option{--stabs}]
1566 [@option{-t}|@option{--syms}]
1567 [@option{-T}|@option{--dynamic-syms}]
1568 [@option{-x}|@option{--all-headers}]
1569 [@option{-w}|@option{--wide}]
1570 [@option{--start-address=}@var{address}]
1571 [@option{--stop-address=}@var{address}]
1572 [@option{--prefix-addresses}]
1573 [@option{--[no-]show-raw-insn}]
1574 [@option{--adjust-vma=}@var{offset}]
1575 [@option{--special-syms}]
1576 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1577 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
1578 @var{objfile}@dots{}
1582 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objdump
1584 @command{objdump} displays information about one or more object files.
1585 The options control what particular information to display. This
1586 information is mostly useful to programmers who are working on the
1587 compilation tools, as opposed to programmers who just want their
1588 program to compile and work.
1590 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. When you
1591 specify archives, @command{objdump} shows information on each of the member
1596 @c man begin OPTIONS objdump
1598 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
1599 equivalent. At least one option from the list
1600 @option{-a,-d,-D,-e,-f,-g,-G,-h,-H,-p,-r,-R,-s,-S,-t,-T,-V,-x} must be given.
1604 @itemx --archive-header
1605 @cindex archive headers
1606 If any of the @var{objfile} files are archives, display the archive
1607 header information (in a format similar to @samp{ls -l}). Besides the
1608 information you could list with @samp{ar tv}, @samp{objdump -a} shows
1609 the object file format of each archive member.
1611 @item --adjust-vma=@var{offset}
1612 @cindex section addresses in objdump
1613 @cindex VMA in objdump
1614 When dumping information, first add @var{offset} to all the section
1615 addresses. This is useful if the section addresses do not correspond to
1616 the symbol table, which can happen when putting sections at particular
1617 addresses when using a format which can not represent section addresses,
1620 @item -b @var{bfdname}
1621 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1622 @cindex object code format
1623 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
1624 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @var{objdump} can
1625 automatically recognize many formats.
1629 objdump -b oasys -m vax -h fu.o
1632 displays summary information from the section headers (@option{-h}) of
1633 @file{fu.o}, which is explicitly identified (@option{-m}) as a VAX object
1634 file in the format produced by Oasys compilers. You can list the
1635 formats available with the @option{-i} option.
1636 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1639 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
1640 @cindex demangling in objdump
1641 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
1642 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
1643 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
1644 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
1645 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
1646 for more information on demangling.
1650 Display debugging information. This attempts to parse debugging
1651 information stored in the file and print it out using a C like syntax.
1652 Only certain types of debugging information have been implemented.
1653 Some other types are supported by @command{readelf -w}.
1657 @itemx --debugging-tags
1658 Like @option{-g}, but the information is generated in a format compatible
1662 @itemx --disassemble
1663 @cindex disassembling object code
1664 @cindex machine instructions
1665 Display the assembler mnemonics for the machine instructions from
1666 @var{objfile}. This option only disassembles those sections which are
1667 expected to contain instructions.
1670 @itemx --disassemble-all
1671 Like @option{-d}, but disassemble the contents of all sections, not just
1672 those expected to contain instructions.
1674 @item --prefix-addresses
1675 When disassembling, print the complete address on each line. This is
1676 the older disassembly format.
1680 @itemx --endian=@{big|little@}
1682 @cindex disassembly endianness
1683 Specify the endianness of the object files. This only affects
1684 disassembly. This can be useful when disassembling a file format which
1685 does not describe endianness information, such as S-records.
1688 @itemx --file-headers
1689 @cindex object file header
1690 Display summary information from the overall header of
1691 each of the @var{objfile} files.
1693 @item --file-start-context
1694 @cindex source code context
1695 Specify that when displaying interlisted source code/disassembly
1696 (assumes @option{-S}) from a file that has not yet been displayed, extend the
1697 context to the start of the file.
1700 @itemx --section-headers
1702 @cindex section headers
1703 Display summary information from the section headers of the
1706 File segments may be relocated to nonstandard addresses, for example by
1707 using the @option{-Ttext}, @option{-Tdata}, or @option{-Tbss} options to
1708 @command{ld}. However, some object file formats, such as a.out, do not
1709 store the starting address of the file segments. In those situations,
1710 although @command{ld} relocates the sections correctly, using @samp{objdump
1711 -h} to list the file section headers cannot show the correct addresses.
1712 Instead, it shows the usual addresses, which are implicit for the
1717 Print a summary of the options to @command{objdump} and exit.
1721 @cindex architectures available
1722 @cindex object formats available
1723 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available
1724 for specification with @option{-b} or @option{-m}.
1727 @itemx --section=@var{name}
1728 @cindex section information
1729 Display information only for section @var{name}.
1732 @itemx --line-numbers
1733 @cindex source filenames for object files
1734 Label the display (using debugging information) with the filename and
1735 source line numbers corresponding to the object code or relocs shown.
1736 Only useful with @option{-d}, @option{-D}, or @option{-r}.
1738 @item -m @var{machine}
1739 @itemx --architecture=@var{machine}
1740 @cindex architecture
1741 @cindex disassembly architecture
1742 Specify the architecture to use when disassembling object files. This
1743 can be useful when disassembling object files which do not describe
1744 architecture information, such as S-records. You can list the available
1745 architectures with the @option{-i} option.
1747 @item -M @var{options}
1748 @itemx --disassembler-options=@var{options}
1749 Pass target specific information to the disassembler. Only supported on
1750 some targets. If it is necessary to specify more than one
1751 disassembler option then multiple @option{-M} options can be used or
1752 can be placed together into a comma separated list.
1754 If the target is an ARM architecture then this switch can be used to
1755 select which register name set is used during disassembler. Specifying
1756 @option{-M reg-names-std} (the default) will select the register names as
1757 used in ARM's instruction set documentation, but with register 13 called
1758 'sp', register 14 called 'lr' and register 15 called 'pc'. Specifying
1759 @option{-M reg-names-apcs} will select the name set used by the ARM
1760 Procedure Call Standard, whilst specifying @option{-M reg-names-raw} will
1761 just use @samp{r} followed by the register number.
1763 There are also two variants on the APCS register naming scheme enabled
1764 by @option{-M reg-names-atpcs} and @option{-M reg-names-special-atpcs} which
1765 use the ARM/Thumb Procedure Call Standard naming conventions. (Either
1766 with the normal register names or the special register names).
1768 This option can also be used for ARM architectures to force the
1769 disassembler to interpret all instructions as Thumb instructions by
1770 using the switch @option{--disassembler-options=force-thumb}. This can be
1771 useful when attempting to disassemble thumb code produced by other
1774 For the x86, some of the options duplicate functions of the @option{-m}
1775 switch, but allow finer grained control. Multiple selections from the
1776 following may be specified as a comma separated string.
1777 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} and @option{i8086} select disassembly for
1778 the given architecture. @option{intel} and @option{att} select between
1779 intel syntax mode and AT&T syntax mode. @option{addr64}, @option{addr32},
1780 @option{addr16}, @option{data32} and @option{data16} specify the default
1781 address size and operand size. These four options will be overridden if
1782 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} or @option{i8086} appear later in the
1783 option string. Lastly, @option{suffix}, when in AT&T mode,
1784 instructs the disassembler to print a mnemonic suffix even when the
1785 suffix could be inferred by the operands.
1787 For PPC, @option{booke}, @option{booke32} and @option{booke64} select
1788 disassembly of BookE instructions. @option{32} and @option{64} select
1789 PowerPC and PowerPC64 disassembly, respectively. @option{e300} selects
1790 disassembly for the e300 family. @option{440} selects disassembly for
1793 For MIPS, this option controls the printing of instruction mnemonic
1794 names and register names in disassembled instructions. Multiple
1795 selections from the following may be specified as a comma separated
1796 string, and invalid options are ignored:
1800 Print the 'raw' instruction mnemonic instead of some pseudo
1801 instruction mnemonic. I.e., print 'daddu' or 'or' instead of 'move',
1802 'sll' instead of 'nop', etc.
1804 @item gpr-names=@var{ABI}
1805 Print GPR (general-purpose register) names as appropriate
1806 for the specified ABI. By default, GPR names are selected according to
1807 the ABI of the binary being disassembled.
1809 @item fpr-names=@var{ABI}
1810 Print FPR (floating-point register) names as
1811 appropriate for the specified ABI. By default, FPR numbers are printed
1814 @item cp0-names=@var{ARCH}
1815 Print CP0 (system control coprocessor; coprocessor 0) register names
1816 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
1817 @var{ARCH}. By default, CP0 register names are selected according to
1818 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
1820 @item hwr-names=@var{ARCH}
1821 Print HWR (hardware register, used by the @code{rdhwr} instruction) names
1822 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
1823 @var{ARCH}. By default, HWR names are selected according to
1824 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
1826 @item reg-names=@var{ABI}
1827 Print GPR and FPR names as appropriate for the selected ABI.
1829 @item reg-names=@var{ARCH}
1830 Print CPU-specific register names (CP0 register and HWR names)
1831 as appropriate for the selected CPU or architecture.
1834 For any of the options listed above, @var{ABI} or
1835 @var{ARCH} may be specified as @samp{numeric} to have numbers printed
1836 rather than names, for the selected types of registers.
1837 You can list the available values of @var{ABI} and @var{ARCH} using
1838 the @option{--help} option.
1840 For VAX, you can specify function entry addresses with @option{-M
1841 entry:0xf00ba}. You can use this multiple times to properly
1842 disassemble VAX binary files that don't contain symbol tables (like
1843 ROM dumps). In these cases, the function entry mask would otherwise
1844 be decoded as VAX instructions, which would probably lead the rest
1845 of the function being wrongly disassembled.
1848 @itemx --private-headers
1849 Print information that is specific to the object file format. The exact
1850 information printed depends upon the object file format. For some
1851 object file formats, no additional information is printed.
1855 @cindex relocation entries, in object file
1856 Print the relocation entries of the file. If used with @option{-d} or
1857 @option{-D}, the relocations are printed interspersed with the
1861 @itemx --dynamic-reloc
1862 @cindex dynamic relocation entries, in object file
1863 Print the dynamic relocation entries of the file. This is only
1864 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
1868 @itemx --full-contents
1869 @cindex sections, full contents
1870 @cindex object file sections
1871 Display the full contents of any sections requested. By default all
1872 non-empty sections are displayed.
1876 @cindex source disassembly
1877 @cindex disassembly, with source
1878 Display source code intermixed with disassembly, if possible. Implies
1881 @item --show-raw-insn
1882 When disassembling instructions, print the instruction in hex as well as
1883 in symbolic form. This is the default except when
1884 @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
1886 @item --no-show-raw-insn
1887 When disassembling instructions, do not print the instruction bytes.
1888 This is the default when @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
1893 @cindex debug symbols
1894 Displays the contents of the DWARF debug sections in the file, if any
1901 @cindex debug symbols
1902 @cindex ELF object file format
1903 Display the full contents of any sections requested. Display the
1904 contents of the .stab and .stab.index and .stab.excl sections from an
1905 ELF file. This is only useful on systems (such as Solaris 2.0) in which
1906 @code{.stab} debugging symbol-table entries are carried in an ELF
1907 section. In most other file formats, debugging symbol-table entries are
1908 interleaved with linkage symbols, and are visible in the @option{--syms}
1911 For more information on stabs symbols, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs
1912 Overview,stabs.info, The ``stabs'' debug format}.
1915 @item --start-address=@var{address}
1916 @cindex start-address
1917 Start displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
1918 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
1920 @item --stop-address=@var{address}
1921 @cindex stop-address
1922 Stop displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
1923 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
1927 @cindex symbol table entries, printing
1928 Print the symbol table entries of the file.
1929 This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm} program.
1932 @itemx --dynamic-syms
1933 @cindex dynamic symbol table entries, printing
1934 Print the dynamic symbol table entries of the file. This is only
1935 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
1936 libraries. This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm}
1937 program when given the @option{-D} (@option{--dynamic}) option.
1939 @item --special-syms
1940 When displaying symbols include those which the target considers to be
1941 special in some way and which would not normally be of interest to the
1946 Print the version number of @command{objdump} and exit.
1949 @itemx --all-headers
1950 @cindex all header information, object file
1951 @cindex header information, all
1952 Display all available header information, including the symbol table and
1953 relocation entries. Using @option{-x} is equivalent to specifying all of
1954 @option{-a -f -h -p -r -t}.
1958 @cindex wide output, printing
1959 Format some lines for output devices that have more than 80 columns.
1960 Also do not truncate symbol names when they are displayed.
1963 @itemx --disassemble-zeroes
1964 Normally the disassembly output will skip blocks of zeroes. This
1965 option directs the disassembler to disassemble those blocks, just like
1972 @c man begin SEEALSO objdump
1973 nm(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
1981 @cindex archive contents
1982 @cindex symbol index
1984 @c man title ranlib generate index to archive.
1987 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ranlib
1988 ranlib [@option{-vV}] @var{archive}
1992 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ranlib
1994 @command{ranlib} generates an index to the contents of an archive and
1995 stores it in the archive. The index lists each symbol defined by a
1996 member of an archive that is a relocatable object file.
1998 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index.
2000 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library and
2001 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
2002 their placement in the archive.
2004 The @sc{gnu} @command{ranlib} program is another form of @sc{gnu} @command{ar}; running
2005 @command{ranlib} is completely equivalent to executing @samp{ar -s}.
2010 @c man begin OPTIONS ranlib
2016 Show the version number of @command{ranlib}.
2022 @c man begin SEEALSO ranlib
2023 ar(1), nm(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2031 @cindex section sizes
2033 @c man title size list section sizes and total size.
2036 @c man begin SYNOPSIS size
2037 size [@option{-A}|@option{-B}|@option{--format=}@var{compatibility}]
2039 [@option{-d}|@option{-o}|@option{-x}|@option{--radix=}@var{number}]
2040 [@option{-t}|@option{--totals}]
2041 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2042 [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
2046 @c man begin DESCRIPTION size
2048 The @sc{gnu} @command{size} utility lists the section sizes---and the total
2049 size---for each of the object or archive files @var{objfile} in its
2050 argument list. By default, one line of output is generated for each
2051 object file or each module in an archive.
2053 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined.
2054 If none are specified, the file @code{a.out} will be used.
2058 @c man begin OPTIONS size
2060 The command line options have the following meanings:
2065 @itemx --format=@var{compatibility}
2066 @cindex @command{size} display format
2067 Using one of these options, you can choose whether the output from @sc{gnu}
2068 @command{size} resembles output from System V @command{size} (using @option{-A},
2069 or @option{--format=sysv}), or Berkeley @command{size} (using @option{-B}, or
2070 @option{--format=berkeley}). The default is the one-line format similar to
2072 @c Bonus for doc-source readers: you can also say --format=strange (or
2073 @c anything else that starts with 's') for sysv, and --format=boring (or
2074 @c anything else that starts with 'b') for Berkeley.
2076 Here is an example of the Berkeley (default) format of output from
2079 $ size --format=Berkeley ranlib size
2080 text data bss dec hex filename
2081 294880 81920 11592 388392 5ed28 ranlib
2082 294880 81920 11888 388688 5ee50 size
2086 This is the same data, but displayed closer to System V conventions:
2089 $ size --format=SysV ranlib size
2107 Show a summary of acceptable arguments and options.
2112 @itemx --radix=@var{number}
2113 @cindex @command{size} number format
2114 @cindex radix for section sizes
2115 Using one of these options, you can control whether the size of each
2116 section is given in decimal (@option{-d}, or @option{--radix=10}); octal
2117 (@option{-o}, or @option{--radix=8}); or hexadecimal (@option{-x}, or
2118 @option{--radix=16}). In @option{--radix=@var{number}}, only the three
2119 values (8, 10, 16) are supported. The total size is always given in two
2120 radices; decimal and hexadecimal for @option{-d} or @option{-x} output, or
2121 octal and hexadecimal if you're using @option{-o}.
2125 Show totals of all objects listed (Berkeley format listing mode only).
2127 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
2128 @cindex object code format
2129 Specify that the object-code format for @var{objfile} is
2130 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @command{size} can
2131 automatically recognize many formats.
2132 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2136 Display the version number of @command{size}.
2142 @c man begin SEEALSO size
2143 ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2150 @cindex listings strings
2151 @cindex printing strings
2152 @cindex strings, printing
2154 @c man title strings print the strings of printable characters in files.
2157 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strings
2158 strings [@option{-afov}] [@option{-}@var{min-len}]
2159 [@option{-n} @var{min-len}] [@option{--bytes=}@var{min-len}]
2160 [@option{-t} @var{radix}] [@option{--radix=}@var{radix}]
2161 [@option{-e} @var{encoding}] [@option{--encoding=}@var{encoding}]
2162 [@option{-}] [@option{--all}] [@option{--print-file-name}]
2163 [@option{-T} @var{bfdname}] [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2164 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] @var{file}@dots{}
2168 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strings
2170 For each @var{file} given, @sc{gnu} @command{strings} prints the printable
2171 character sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number
2172 given with the options below) and are followed by an unprintable
2173 character. By default, it only prints the strings from the initialized
2174 and loaded sections of object files; for other types of files, it prints
2175 the strings from the whole file.
2177 @command{strings} is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text
2182 @c man begin OPTIONS strings
2188 Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files;
2189 scan the whole files.
2192 @itemx --print-file-name
2193 Print the name of the file before each string.
2196 Print a summary of the program usage on the standard output and exit.
2198 @item -@var{min-len}
2199 @itemx -n @var{min-len}
2200 @itemx --bytes=@var{min-len}
2201 Print sequences of characters that are at least @var{min-len} characters
2202 long, instead of the default 4.
2205 Like @samp{-t o}. Some other versions of @command{strings} have @option{-o}
2206 act like @samp{-t d} instead. Since we can not be compatible with both
2207 ways, we simply chose one.
2209 @item -t @var{radix}
2210 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
2211 Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
2212 character argument specifies the radix of the offset---@samp{o} for
2213 octal, @samp{x} for hexadecimal, or @samp{d} for decimal.
2215 @item -e @var{encoding}
2216 @itemx --encoding=@var{encoding}
2217 Select the character encoding of the strings that are to be found.
2218 Possible values for @var{encoding} are: @samp{s} = single-7-bit-byte
2219 characters (ASCII, ISO 8859, etc., default), @samp{S} =
2220 single-8-bit-byte characters, @samp{b} = 16-bit bigendian, @samp{l} =
2221 16-bit littleendian, @samp{B} = 32-bit bigendian, @samp{L} = 32-bit
2222 littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings.
2224 @item -T @var{bfdname}
2225 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2226 @cindex object code format
2227 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
2228 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2232 Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.
2238 @c man begin SEEALSO strings
2239 ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1)
2240 and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2248 @cindex removing symbols
2249 @cindex discarding symbols
2250 @cindex symbols, discarding
2252 @c man title strip Discard symbols from object files.
2255 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strip
2256 strip [@option{-F} @var{bfdname} |@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2257 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname} |@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2258 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname} |@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2259 [@option{-s}|@option{--strip-all}]
2260 [@option{-S}|@option{-g}|@option{-d}|@option{--strip-debug}]
2261 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname} |@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2262 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname} |@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2263 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
2264 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}] [@option{-X} |@option{--discard-locals}]
2265 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname} |@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
2266 [@option{-o} @var{file}] [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
2267 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
2268 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
2269 [@option{-v} |@option{--verbose}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2270 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
2271 @var{objfile}@dots{}
2275 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strip
2277 @sc{gnu} @command{strip} discards all symbols from object files
2278 @var{objfile}. The list of object files may include archives.
2279 At least one object file must be given.
2281 @command{strip} modifies the files named in its argument,
2282 rather than writing modified copies under different names.
2286 @c man begin OPTIONS strip
2289 @item -F @var{bfdname}
2290 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2291 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2292 code format @var{bfdname}, and rewrite it in the same format.
2293 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2296 Show a summary of the options to @command{strip} and exit.
2299 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
2301 @item -I @var{bfdname}
2302 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
2303 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2304 code format @var{bfdname}.
2305 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2307 @item -O @var{bfdname}
2308 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
2309 Replace @var{objfile} with a file in the output format @var{bfdname}.
2310 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2312 @item -R @var{sectionname}
2313 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
2314 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
2315 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
2316 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
2325 @itemx --strip-debug
2326 Remove debugging symbols only.
2328 @item --strip-unneeded
2329 Remove all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
2331 @item -K @var{symbolname}
2332 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2333 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
2334 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
2336 @item -N @var{symbolname}
2337 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2338 Remove symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option may be
2339 given more than once, and may be combined with strip options other than
2343 Put the stripped output in @var{file}, rather than replacing the
2344 existing file. When this argument is used, only one @var{objfile}
2345 argument may be specified.
2348 @itemx --preserve-dates
2349 Preserve the access and modification dates of the file.
2353 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
2354 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
2355 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
2356 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
2357 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
2364 would cause strip to only keep symbols that start with the letters
2365 ``fo'', but to discard the symbol ``foo''.
2368 @itemx --discard-all
2369 Remove non-global symbols.
2372 @itemx --discard-locals
2373 Remove compiler-generated local symbols.
2374 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
2376 @item --keep-file-symbols
2377 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
2378 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
2379 which would otherwise get stripped.
2381 @item --only-keep-debug
2382 Strip a file, removing any sections that would be stripped by
2383 @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections.
2385 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
2386 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
2387 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
2388 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
2389 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
2390 to create these files is as follows:
2393 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
2395 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
2396 create a file containing the debugging info.
2397 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
2398 stripped executable.
2399 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
2400 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
2403 Note - the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
2404 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
2405 optional. You could instead do this:
2408 @item Link the executable as normal.
2409 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
2410 @item Run @code{strip --strip-debug foo}
2411 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
2414 ie the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
2415 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
2416 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
2418 Note - this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
2419 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
2420 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
2421 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
2422 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
2427 Show the version number for @command{strip}.
2431 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
2432 archives, @samp{strip -v} lists all members of the archive.
2438 @c man begin SEEALSO strip
2439 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2443 @node c++filt, addr2line, strip, Top
2447 @cindex demangling C++ symbols
2449 @c man title cxxfilt Demangle C++ and Java symbols.
2452 @c man begin SYNOPSIS cxxfilt
2453 c++filt [@option{-_}|@option{--strip-underscores}]
2454 [@option{-n}|@option{--no-strip-underscores}]
2455 [@option{-p}|@option{--no-params}]
2456 [@option{-t}|@option{--types}]
2457 [@option{-i}|@option{--no-verbose}]
2458 [@option{-s} @var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
2459 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] [@var{symbol}@dots{}]
2463 @c man begin DESCRIPTION cxxfilt
2466 The C++ and Java languages provide function overloading, which means
2467 that you can write many functions with the same name, providing that
2468 each function takes parameters of different types. In order to be
2469 able to distinguish these similarly named functions C++ and Java
2470 encode them into a low-level assembler name which uniquely identifies
2471 each different version. This process is known as @dfn{mangling}. The
2473 @footnote{MS-DOS does not allow @kbd{+} characters in file names, so on
2474 MS-DOS this program is named @command{CXXFILT}.}
2475 program does the inverse mapping: it decodes (@dfn{demangles}) low-level
2476 names into user-level names so that they can be read.
2478 Every alphanumeric word (consisting of letters, digits, underscores,
2479 dollars, or periods) seen in the input is a potential mangled name.
2480 If the name decodes into a C++ name, the C++ name replaces the
2481 low-level name in the output, otherwise the original word is output.
2482 In this way you can pass an entire assembler source file, containing
2483 mangled names, through @command{c++filt} and see the same source file
2484 containing demangled names.
2486 You can also use @command{c++filt} to decipher individual symbols by
2487 passing them on the command line:
2490 c++filt @var{symbol}
2493 If no @var{symbol} arguments are given, @command{c++filt} reads symbol
2494 names from the standard input instead. All the results are printed on
2495 the standard output. The difference between reading names from the
2496 command line versus reading names from the standard input is that
2497 command line arguments are expected to be just mangled names and no
2498 checking is performed to separate them from surrounding text. Thus
2505 will work and demangle the name to ``f()'' whereas:
2511 will not work. (Note the extra comma at the end of the mangled
2512 name which makes it invalid). This command however will work:
2515 echo _Z1fv, | c++filt -n
2518 and will display ``f(),'' ie the demangled name followed by a
2519 trailing comma. This behaviour is because when the names are read
2520 from the standard input it is expected that they might be part of an
2521 assembler source file where there might be extra, extraneous
2522 characters trailing after a mangled name. eg:
2525 .type _Z1fv, @@function
2530 @c man begin OPTIONS cxxfilt
2534 @itemx --strip-underscores
2535 On some systems, both the C and C++ compilers put an underscore in front
2536 of every name. For example, the C name @code{foo} gets the low-level
2537 name @code{_foo}. This option removes the initial underscore. Whether
2538 @command{c++filt} removes the underscore by default is target dependent.
2542 Prints demangled names using Java syntax. The default is to use C++
2546 @itemx --no-strip-underscores
2547 Do not remove the initial underscore.
2551 When demangling the name of a function, do not display the types of
2552 the function's parameters.
2556 Attempt to demangle types as well as function names. This is disabled
2557 by default since mangled types are normally only used internally in
2558 the compiler, and they can be confused with non-mangled names. eg
2559 a function called ``a'' treated as a mangled type name would be
2560 demangled to ``signed char''.
2564 Do not include implementation details (if any) in the demangled
2567 @item -s @var{format}
2568 @itemx --format=@var{format}
2569 @command{c++filt} can decode various methods of mangling, used by
2570 different compilers. The argument to this option selects which
2575 Automatic selection based on executable (the default method)
2577 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++)
2579 the one used by the Lucid compiler (lcc)
2581 the one specified by the C++ Annotated Reference Manual
2583 the one used by the HP compiler (aCC)
2585 the one used by the EDG compiler
2587 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++) with the V3 ABI.
2589 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Java compiler (gcj)
2591 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Ada compiler (GNAT).
2595 Print a summary of the options to @command{c++filt} and exit.
2598 Print the version number of @command{c++filt} and exit.
2604 @c man begin SEEALSO cxxfilt
2605 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2610 @emph{Warning:} @command{c++filt} is a new utility, and the details of its
2611 user interface are subject to change in future releases. In particular,
2612 a command-line option may be required in the future to decode a name
2613 passed as an argument on the command line; in other words,
2616 c++filt @var{symbol}
2620 may in a future release become
2623 c++filt @var{option} @var{symbol}
2631 @cindex address to file name and line number
2633 @c man title addr2line convert addresses into file names and line numbers.
2636 @c man begin SYNOPSIS addr2line
2637 addr2line [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2638 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]]
2639 [@option{-e} @var{filename}|@option{--exe=}@var{filename}]
2640 [@option{-f}|@option{--functions}] [@option{-s}|@option{--basename}]
2641 [@option{-i}|@option{--inlines}]
2642 [@option{-j}|@option{--section=}@var{name}]
2643 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2648 @c man begin DESCRIPTION addr2line
2650 @command{addr2line} translates addresses into file names and line numbers.
2651 Given an address in an executable or an offset in a section of a relocatable
2652 object, it uses the debugging information to figure out which file name and
2653 line number are associated with it.
2655 The executable or relocatable object to use is specified with the @option{-e}
2656 option. The default is the file @file{a.out}. The section in the relocatable
2657 object to use is specified with the @option{-j} option.
2659 @command{addr2line} has two modes of operation.
2661 In the first, hexadecimal addresses are specified on the command line,
2662 and @command{addr2line} displays the file name and line number for each
2665 In the second, @command{addr2line} reads hexadecimal addresses from
2666 standard input, and prints the file name and line number for each
2667 address on standard output. In this mode, @command{addr2line} may be used
2668 in a pipe to convert dynamically chosen addresses.
2670 The format of the output is @samp{FILENAME:LINENO}. The file name and
2671 line number for each address is printed on a separate line. If the
2672 @command{-f} option is used, then each @samp{FILENAME:LINENO} line is
2673 preceded by a @samp{FUNCTIONNAME} line which is the name of the function
2674 containing the address.
2676 If the file name or function name can not be determined,
2677 @command{addr2line} will print two question marks in their place. If the
2678 line number can not be determined, @command{addr2line} will print 0.
2682 @c man begin OPTIONS addr2line
2684 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
2688 @item -b @var{bfdname}
2689 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2690 @cindex object code format
2691 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
2695 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
2696 @cindex demangling in objdump
2697 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
2698 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
2699 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
2700 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
2701 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
2702 for more information on demangling.
2704 @item -e @var{filename}
2705 @itemx --exe=@var{filename}
2706 Specify the name of the executable for which addresses should be
2707 translated. The default file is @file{a.out}.
2711 Display function names as well as file and line number information.
2715 Display only the base of each file name.
2719 If the address belongs to a function that was inlined, the source
2720 information for all enclosing scopes back to the first non-inlined
2721 function will also be printed. For example, if @code{main} inlines
2722 @code{callee1} which inlines @code{callee2}, and address is from
2723 @code{callee2}, the source information for @code{callee1} and @code{main}
2724 will also be printed.
2728 Read offsets relative to the specified section instead of absolute addresses.
2734 @c man begin SEEALSO addr2line
2735 Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2742 @command{nlmconv} converts a relocatable object file into a NetWare
2746 @command{nlmconv} currently works with @samp{i386} object
2747 files in @code{coff}, @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format, and @sc{SPARC}
2748 object files in @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format@footnote{
2749 @command{nlmconv} should work with any @samp{i386} or @sc{sparc} object
2750 format in the Binary File Descriptor library. It has only been tested
2751 with the above formats.}.
2755 @emph{Warning:} @command{nlmconv} is not always built as part of the binary
2756 utilities, since it is only useful for NLM targets.
2759 @c man title nlmconv converts object code into an NLM.
2762 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nlmconv
2763 nlmconv [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2764 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2765 [@option{-T} @var{headerfile}|@option{--header-file=}@var{headerfile}]
2766 [@option{-d}|@option{--debug}] [@option{-l} @var{linker}|@option{--linker=}@var{linker}]
2767 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2768 @var{infile} @var{outfile}
2772 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nlmconv
2774 @command{nlmconv} converts the relocatable @samp{i386} object file
2775 @var{infile} into the NetWare Loadable Module @var{outfile}, optionally
2776 reading @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions
2777 on writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see the
2778 @samp{linkers} section, @samp{NLMLINK} in particular, of the @cite{NLM
2779 Development and Tools Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software
2780 Developer's Kit (``NLM SDK''), available from Novell, Inc.
2781 @command{nlmconv} uses the @sc{gnu} Binary File Descriptor library to read
2784 see @ref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}, for more information.
2787 @command{nlmconv} can perform a link step. In other words, you can list
2788 more than one object file for input if you list them in the definitions
2789 file (rather than simply specifying one input file on the command line).
2790 In this case, @command{nlmconv} calls the linker for you.
2794 @c man begin OPTIONS nlmconv
2797 @item -I @var{bfdname}
2798 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
2799 Object format of the input file. @command{nlmconv} can usually determine
2800 the format of a given file (so no default is necessary).
2801 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2803 @item -O @var{bfdname}
2804 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
2805 Object format of the output file. @command{nlmconv} infers the output
2806 format based on the input format, e.g. for a @samp{i386} input file the
2807 output format is @samp{nlm32-i386}.
2808 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2810 @item -T @var{headerfile}
2811 @itemx --header-file=@var{headerfile}
2812 Reads @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions on
2813 writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see@ see the
2814 @samp{linkers} section, of the @cite{NLM Development and Tools
2815 Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software Developer's Kit, available
2820 Displays (on standard error) the linker command line used by @command{nlmconv}.
2822 @item -l @var{linker}
2823 @itemx --linker=@var{linker}
2824 Use @var{linker} for any linking. @var{linker} can be an absolute or a
2829 Prints a usage summary.
2833 Prints the version number for @command{nlmconv}.
2839 @c man begin SEEALSO nlmconv
2840 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2847 @command{windres} may be used to manipulate Windows resources.
2850 @emph{Warning:} @command{windres} is not always built as part of the binary
2851 utilities, since it is only useful for Windows targets.
2854 @c man title windres manipulate Windows resources.
2857 @c man begin SYNOPSIS windres
2858 windres [options] [input-file] [output-file]
2862 @c man begin DESCRIPTION windres
2864 @command{windres} reads resources from an input file and copies them into
2865 an output file. Either file may be in one of three formats:
2869 A text format read by the Resource Compiler.
2872 A binary format generated by the Resource Compiler.
2875 A COFF object or executable.
2878 The exact description of these different formats is available in
2879 documentation from Microsoft.
2881 When @command{windres} converts from the @code{rc} format to the @code{res}
2882 format, it is acting like the Windows Resource Compiler. When
2883 @command{windres} converts from the @code{res} format to the @code{coff}
2884 format, it is acting like the Windows @code{CVTRES} program.
2886 When @command{windres} generates an @code{rc} file, the output is similar
2887 but not identical to the format expected for the input. When an input
2888 @code{rc} file refers to an external filename, an output @code{rc} file
2889 will instead include the file contents.
2891 If the input or output format is not specified, @command{windres} will
2892 guess based on the file name, or, for the input file, the file contents.
2893 A file with an extension of @file{.rc} will be treated as an @code{rc}
2894 file, a file with an extension of @file{.res} will be treated as a
2895 @code{res} file, and a file with an extension of @file{.o} or
2896 @file{.exe} will be treated as a @code{coff} file.
2898 If no output file is specified, @command{windres} will print the resources
2899 in @code{rc} format to standard output.
2901 The normal use is for you to write an @code{rc} file, use @command{windres}
2902 to convert it to a COFF object file, and then link the COFF file into
2903 your application. This will make the resources described in the
2904 @code{rc} file available to Windows.
2908 @c man begin OPTIONS windres
2911 @item -i @var{filename}
2912 @itemx --input @var{filename}
2913 The name of the input file. If this option is not used, then
2914 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument as the input file
2915 name. If there are no non-option arguments, then @command{windres} will
2916 read from standard input. @command{windres} can not read a COFF file from
2919 @item -o @var{filename}
2920 @itemx --output @var{filename}
2921 The name of the output file. If this option is not used, then
2922 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument, after any used
2923 for the input file name, as the output file name. If there is no
2924 non-option argument, then @command{windres} will write to standard output.
2925 @command{windres} can not write a COFF file to standard output. Note,
2926 for compatibility with @command{rc} the option @option{-fo} is also
2927 accepted, but its use is not recommended.
2929 @item -J @var{format}
2930 @itemx --input-format @var{format}
2931 The input format to read. @var{format} may be @samp{res}, @samp{rc}, or
2932 @samp{coff}. If no input format is specified, @command{windres} will
2933 guess, as described above.
2935 @item -O @var{format}
2936 @itemx --output-format @var{format}
2937 The output format to generate. @var{format} may be @samp{res},
2938 @samp{rc}, or @samp{coff}. If no output format is specified,
2939 @command{windres} will guess, as described above.
2941 @item -F @var{target}
2942 @itemx --target @var{target}
2943 Specify the BFD format to use for a COFF file as input or output. This
2944 is a BFD target name; you can use the @option{--help} option to see a list
2945 of supported targets. Normally @command{windres} will use the default
2946 format, which is the first one listed by the @option{--help} option.
2948 @ref{Target Selection}.
2951 @item --preprocessor @var{program}
2952 When @command{windres} reads an @code{rc} file, it runs it through the C
2953 preprocessor first. This option may be used to specify the preprocessor
2954 to use, including any leading arguments. The default preprocessor
2955 argument is @code{gcc -E -xc-header -DRC_INVOKED}.
2957 @item -I @var{directory}
2958 @itemx --include-dir @var{directory}
2959 Specify an include directory to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
2960 @command{windres} will pass this to the preprocessor as an @option{-I}
2961 option. @command{windres} will also search this directory when looking for
2962 files named in the @code{rc} file. If the argument passed to this command
2963 matches any of the supported @var{formats} (as described in the @option{-J}
2964 option), it will issue a deprecation warning, and behave just like the
2965 @option{-J} option. New programs should not use this behaviour. If a
2966 directory happens to match a @var{format}, simple prefix it with @samp{./}
2967 to disable the backward compatibility.
2969 @item -D @var{target}
2970 @itemx --define @var{sym}[=@var{val}]
2971 Specify a @option{-D} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
2974 @item -U @var{target}
2975 @itemx --undefine @var{sym}
2976 Specify a @option{-U} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
2980 Ignored for compatibility with rc.
2983 Enable verbose mode. This tells you what the preprocessor is if you
2987 @item --language @var{val}
2988 Specify the default language to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
2989 @var{val} should be a hexadecimal language code. The low eight bits are
2990 the language, and the high eight bits are the sublanguage.
2992 @item --use-temp-file
2993 Use a temporary file to instead of using popen to read the output of
2994 the preprocessor. Use this option if the popen implementation is buggy
2995 on the host (eg., certain non-English language versions of Windows 95 and
2996 Windows 98 are known to have buggy popen where the output will instead
2999 @item --no-use-temp-file
3000 Use popen, not a temporary file, to read the output of the preprocessor.
3001 This is the default behaviour.
3005 Prints a usage summary.
3009 Prints the version number for @command{windres}.
3012 If @command{windres} is compiled with @code{YYDEBUG} defined as @code{1},
3013 this will turn on parser debugging.
3019 @c man begin SEEALSO windres
3020 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3029 @command{dlltool} is used to create the files needed to create dynamic
3030 link libraries (DLLs) on systems which understand PE format image
3031 files such as Windows. A DLL contains an export table which contains
3032 information that the runtime loader needs to resolve references from a
3033 referencing program.
3035 The export table is generated by this program by reading in a
3036 @file{.def} file or scanning the @file{.a} and @file{.o} files which
3037 will be in the DLL. A @file{.o} file can contain information in
3038 special @samp{.drectve} sections with export information.
3041 @emph{Note:} @command{dlltool} is not always built as part of the
3042 binary utilities, since it is only useful for those targets which
3046 @c man title dlltool Create files needed to build and use DLLs.
3049 @c man begin SYNOPSIS dlltool
3050 dlltool [@option{-d}|@option{--input-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3051 [@option{-b}|@option{--base-file} @var{base-file-name}]
3052 [@option{-e}|@option{--output-exp} @var{exports-file-name}]
3053 [@option{-z}|@option{--output-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3054 [@option{-l}|@option{--output-lib} @var{library-file-name}]
3055 [@option{--export-all-symbols}] [@option{--no-export-all-symbols}]
3056 [@option{--exclude-symbols} @var{list}]
3057 [@option{--no-default-excludes}]
3058 [@option{-S}|@option{--as} @var{path-to-assembler}] [@option{-f}|@option{--as-flags} @var{options}]
3059 [@option{-D}|@option{--dllname} @var{name}] [@option{-m}|@option{--machine} @var{machine}]
3060 [@option{-a}|@option{--add-indirect}]
3061 [@option{-U}|@option{--add-underscore}] [@option{--add-stdcall-underscore}]
3062 [@option{-k}|@option{--kill-at}] [@option{-A}|@option{--add-stdcall-alias}]
3063 [@option{-p}|@option{--ext-prefix-alias} @var{prefix}]
3064 [@option{-x}|@option{--no-idata4}] [@option{-c}|@option{--no-idata5}] [@option{-i}|@option{--interwork}]
3065 [@option{-n}|@option{--nodelete}] [@option{-t}|@option{--temp-prefix} @var{prefix}]
3066 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
3067 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
3068 [object-file @dots{}]
3072 @c man begin DESCRIPTION dlltool
3074 @command{dlltool} reads its inputs, which can come from the @option{-d} and
3075 @option{-b} options as well as object files specified on the command
3076 line. It then processes these inputs and if the @option{-e} option has
3077 been specified it creates a exports file. If the @option{-l} option
3078 has been specified it creates a library file and if the @option{-z} option
3079 has been specified it creates a def file. Any or all of the @option{-e},
3080 @option{-l} and @option{-z} options can be present in one invocation of
3083 When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary
3084 to have three other files. @command{dlltool} can help with the creation of
3087 The first file is a @file{.def} file which specifies which functions are
3088 exported from the DLL, which functions the DLL imports, and so on. This
3089 is a text file and can be created by hand, or @command{dlltool} can be used
3090 to create it using the @option{-z} option. In this case @command{dlltool}
3091 will scan the object files specified on its command line looking for
3092 those functions which have been specially marked as being exported and
3093 put entries for them in the @file{.def} file it creates.
3095 In order to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to
3096 have an @option{-export:<name_of_function>} entry in the @samp{.drectve}
3097 section of the object file. This can be done in C by using the
3101 asm (".section .drectve");
3102 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");
3104 int my_func (void) @{ @dots{} @}
3107 The second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file. This file
3108 is linked with the object files that make up the body of the DLL and it
3109 handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world. This is a
3110 binary file and it can be created by giving the @option{-e} option to
3111 @command{dlltool} when it is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3113 The third file needed for DLL creation is the library file that programs
3114 will link with in order to access the functions in the DLL. This file
3115 can be created by giving the @option{-l} option to dlltool when it
3116 is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3118 @command{dlltool} builds the library file by hand, but it builds the
3119 exports file by creating temporary files containing assembler statements
3120 and then assembling these. The @option{-S} command line option can be
3121 used to specify the path to the assembler that dlltool will use,
3122 and the @option{-f} option can be used to pass specific flags to that
3123 assembler. The @option{-n} can be used to prevent dlltool from deleting
3124 these temporary assembler files when it is done, and if @option{-n} is
3125 specified twice then this will prevent dlltool from deleting the
3126 temporary object files it used to build the library.
3128 Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file @samp{dll.c} and
3129 also creating a program (from an object file called @samp{program.o})
3134 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
3135 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
3136 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program
3141 @c man begin OPTIONS dlltool
3143 The command line options have the following meanings:
3147 @item -d @var{filename}
3148 @itemx --input-def @var{filename}
3149 @cindex input .def file
3150 Specifies the name of a @file{.def} file to be read in and processed.
3152 @item -b @var{filename}
3153 @itemx --base-file @var{filename}
3155 Specifies the name of a base file to be read in and processed. The
3156 contents of this file will be added to the relocation section in the
3157 exports file generated by dlltool.
3159 @item -e @var{filename}
3160 @itemx --output-exp @var{filename}
3161 Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.
3163 @item -z @var{filename}
3164 @itemx --output-def @var{filename}
3165 Specifies the name of the @file{.def} file to be created by dlltool.
3167 @item -l @var{filename}
3168 @itemx --output-lib @var{filename}
3169 Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.
3171 @item --export-all-symbols
3172 Treat all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object
3173 files as symbols to be exported. There is a small list of symbols which
3174 are not exported by default; see the @option{--no-default-excludes}
3175 option. You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using the
3176 @option{--exclude-symbols} option.
3178 @item --no-export-all-symbols
3179 Only export symbols explicitly listed in an input @file{.def} file or in
3180 @samp{.drectve} sections in the input object files. This is the default
3181 behaviour. The @samp{.drectve} sections are created by @samp{dllexport}
3182 attributes in the source code.
3184 @item --exclude-symbols @var{list}
3185 Do not export the symbols in @var{list}. This is a list of symbol names
3186 separated by comma or colon characters. The symbol names should not
3187 contain a leading underscore. This is only meaningful when
3188 @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3190 @item --no-default-excludes
3191 When @option{--export-all-symbols} is used, it will by default avoid
3192 exporting certain special symbols. The current list of symbols to avoid
3193 exporting is @samp{DllMain@@12}, @samp{DllEntryPoint@@0},
3194 @samp{impure_ptr}. You may use the @option{--no-default-excludes} option
3195 to go ahead and export these special symbols. This is only meaningful
3196 when @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3199 @itemx --as @var{path}
3200 Specifies the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be used
3201 to create the exports file.
3203 @item -f @var{options}
3204 @itemx --as-flags @var{options}
3205 Specifies any specific command line options to be passed to the
3206 assembler when building the exports file. This option will work even if
3207 the @option{-S} option is not used. This option only takes one argument,
3208 and if it occurs more than once on the command line, then later
3209 occurrences will override earlier occurrences. So if it is necessary to
3210 pass multiple options to the assembler they should be enclosed in
3214 @itemx --dll-name @var{name}
3215 Specifies the name to be stored in the @file{.def} file as the name of
3216 the DLL when the @option{-e} option is used. If this option is not
3217 present, then the filename given to the @option{-e} option will be
3218 used as the name of the DLL.
3220 @item -m @var{machine}
3221 @itemx -machine @var{machine}
3222 Specifies the type of machine for which the library file should be
3223 built. @command{dlltool} has a built in default type, depending upon how
3224 it was created, but this option can be used to override that. This is
3225 normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor, when the
3226 contents of the DLL are actually encode using Thumb instructions.
3229 @itemx --add-indirect
3230 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3231 should add a section which allows the exported functions to be
3232 referenced without using the import library. Whatever the hell that
3236 @itemx --add-underscore
3237 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3238 should prepend an underscore to the names of @emph{all} exported symbols.
3240 @item --add-stdcall-underscore
3241 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3242 should prepend an underscore to the names of exported @emph{stdcall}
3243 functions. Variable names and non-stdcall function names are not modified.
3244 This option is useful when creating GNU-compatible import libs for third
3245 party DLLs that were built with MS-Windows tools.
3249 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3250 should not append the string @samp{@@ <number>}. These numbers are
3251 called ordinal numbers and they represent another way of accessing the
3252 function in a DLL, other than by name.
3255 @itemx --add-stdcall-alias
3256 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3257 should add aliases for stdcall symbols without @samp{@@ <number>}
3258 in addition to the symbols with @samp{@@ <number>}.
3261 @itemx --ext-prefix-alias @var{prefix}
3262 Causes @command{dlltool} to create external aliases for all DLL
3263 imports with the specified prefix. The aliases are created for both
3264 external and import symbols with no leading underscore.
3268 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3269 files it should omit the @code{.idata4} section. This is for compatibility
3270 with certain operating systems.
3274 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3275 files it should omit the @code{.idata5} section. This is for compatibility
3276 with certain operating systems.
3280 Specifies that @command{dlltool} should mark the objects in the library
3281 file and exports file that it produces as supporting interworking
3282 between ARM and Thumb code.
3286 Makes @command{dlltool} preserve the temporary assembler files it used to
3287 create the exports file. If this option is repeated then dlltool will
3288 also preserve the temporary object files it uses to create the library
3291 @item -t @var{prefix}
3292 @itemx --temp-prefix @var{prefix}
3293 Makes @command{dlltool} use @var{prefix} when constructing the names of
3294 temporary assembler and object files. By default, the temp file prefix
3295 is generated from the pid.
3299 Make dlltool describe what it is doing.
3303 Displays a list of command line options and then exits.
3307 Displays dlltool's version number and then exits.
3314 * def file format:: The format of the dlltool @file{.def} file
3317 @node def file format
3318 @section The format of the @command{dlltool} @file{.def} file
3320 A @file{.def} file contains any number of the following commands:
3324 @item @code{NAME} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3325 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.exe}.
3327 @item @code{LIBRARY} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3328 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.dll}.
3330 @item @code{EXPORTS ( ( (} @var{name1} @code{[ = } @var{name2} @code{] ) | ( } @var{name1} @code{=} @var{module-name} @code{.} @var{external-name} @code{) )}
3331 @item @code{[} @var{integer} @code{] [ NONAME ] [ CONSTANT ] [ DATA ] [ PRIVATE ] ) *}
3332 Declares @var{name1} as an exported symbol from the DLL, with optional
3333 ordinal number @var{integer}, or declares @var{name1} as an alias
3334 (forward) of the function @var{external-name} in the DLL
3337 @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{) ) *}
3338 Declares that @var{external-name} or the exported function whose
3339 ordinal number is @var{integer} is to be imported from the file
3340 @var{module-name}. If @var{internal-name} is specified then this is
3341 the name that the imported function will be referred to in the body of
3344 @item @code{DESCRIPTION} @var{string}
3345 Puts @var{string} into the output @file{.exp} file in the
3346 @code{.rdata} section.
3348 @item @code{STACKSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3349 @item @code{HEAPSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3350 Generates @code{--stack} or @code{--heap}
3351 @var{number-reserve},@var{number-commit} in the output @code{.drectve}
3352 section. The linker will see this and act upon it.
3354 @item @code{CODE} @var{attr} @code{+}
3355 @item @code{DATA} @var{attr} @code{+}
3356 @item @code{SECTIONS (} @var{section-name} @var{attr}@code{ + ) *}
3357 Generates @code{--attr} @var{section-name} @var{attr} in the output
3358 @code{.drectve} section, where @var{attr} is one of @code{READ},
3359 @code{WRITE}, @code{EXECUTE} or @code{SHARED}. The linker will see
3360 this and act upon it.
3365 @c man begin SEEALSO dlltool
3366 The Info pages for @file{binutils}.
3373 @cindex ELF file information
3376 @c man title readelf Displays information about ELF files.
3379 @c man begin SYNOPSIS readelf
3380 readelf [@option{-a}|@option{--all}]
3381 [@option{-h}|@option{--file-header}]
3382 [@option{-l}|@option{--program-headers}|@option{--segments}]
3383 [@option{-S}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--sections}]
3384 [@option{-g}|@option{--section-groups}]
3385 [@option{-t}|@option{--section-details}]
3386 [@option{-e}|@option{--headers}]
3387 [@option{-s}|@option{--syms}|@option{--symbols}]
3388 [@option{-n}|@option{--notes}]
3389 [@option{-r}|@option{--relocs}]
3390 [@option{-u}|@option{--unwind}]
3391 [@option{-d}|@option{--dynamic}]
3392 [@option{-V}|@option{--version-info}]
3393 [@option{-A}|@option{--arch-specific}]
3394 [@option{-D}|@option{--use-dynamic}]
3395 [@option{-x} <number or name>|@option{--hex-dump=}<number or name>]
3396 [@option{-w[liaprmfFsoR]}|
3397 @option{--debug-dump}[=line,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges]]
3398 [@option{-I}|@option{-histogram}]
3399 [@option{-v}|@option{--version}]
3400 [@option{-W}|@option{--wide}]
3401 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
3402 @var{elffile}@dots{}
3406 @c man begin DESCRIPTION readelf
3408 @command{readelf} displays information about one or more ELF format object
3409 files. The options control what particular information to display.
3411 @var{elffile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. 32-bit and
3412 64-bit ELF files are supported, as are archives containing ELF files.
3414 This program performs a similar function to @command{objdump} but it
3415 goes into more detail and it exists independently of the @sc{bfd}
3416 library, so if there is a bug in @sc{bfd} then readelf will not be
3421 @c man begin OPTIONS readelf
3423 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
3424 equivalent. At least one option besides @samp{-v} or @samp{-H} must be
3430 Equivalent to specifying @option{--file-header},
3431 @option{--program-headers}, @option{--sections}, @option{--symbols},
3432 @option{--relocs}, @option{--dynamic}, @option{--notes} and
3433 @option{--version-info}.
3436 @itemx --file-header
3437 @cindex ELF file header information
3438 Displays the information contained in the ELF header at the start of the
3442 @itemx --program-headers
3444 @cindex ELF program header information
3445 @cindex ELF segment information
3446 Displays the information contained in the file's segment headers, if it
3451 @itemx --section-headers
3452 @cindex ELF section information
3453 Displays the information contained in the file's section headers, if it
3457 @itemx --section-groups
3458 @cindex ELF section group information
3459 Displays the information contained in the file's section groups, if it
3463 @itemx --section-details
3464 @cindex ELF section information
3465 Displays the detailed section information. Implies @option{-S}.
3470 @cindex ELF symbol table information
3471 Displays the entries in symbol table section of the file, if it has one.
3475 Display all the headers in the file. Equivalent to @option{-h -l -S}.
3480 Displays the contents of the NOTE segments and/or sections, if any.
3484 @cindex ELF reloc information
3485 Displays the contents of the file's relocation section, if it has one.
3489 @cindex unwind information
3490 Displays the contents of the file's unwind section, if it has one. Only
3491 the unwind sections for IA64 ELF files are currently supported.
3495 @cindex ELF dynamic section information
3496 Displays the contents of the file's dynamic section, if it has one.
3499 @itemx --version-info
3500 @cindex ELF version sections informations
3501 Displays the contents of the version sections in the file, it they
3505 @itemx --arch-specific
3506 Displays architecture-specific information in the file, if there
3510 @itemx --use-dynamic
3511 When displaying symbols, this option makes @command{readelf} use the
3512 symbol table in the file's dynamic section, rather than the one in the
3515 @item -x <number or name>
3516 @itemx --hex-dump=<number or name>
3517 Displays the contents of the indicated section as a hexadecimal dump.
3518 A number identifies a particular section by index in the section table;
3519 any other string identifies all sections with that name in the object file.
3521 @item -w[liaprmfFsoR]
3522 @itemx --debug-dump[=line,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges]
3523 Displays the contents of the debug sections in the file, if any are
3524 present. If one of the optional letters or words follows the switch
3525 then only data found in those specific sections will be dumped.
3529 Display a histogram of bucket list lengths when displaying the contents
3530 of the symbol tables.
3534 Display the version number of readelf.
3538 Don't break output lines to fit into 80 columns. By default
3539 @command{readelf} breaks section header and segment listing lines for
3540 64-bit ELF files, so that they fit into 80 columns. This option causes
3541 @command{readelf} to print each section header resp. each segment one a
3542 single line, which is far more readable on terminals wider than 80 columns.
3546 Display the command line options understood by @command{readelf}.
3553 @c man begin SEEALSO readelf
3554 objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3558 @node Common Options
3559 @chapter Common Options
3561 The following command-line options are supported by all of the
3562 programs described in this manual.
3564 @c man begin OPTIONS
3566 @include at-file.texi
3570 Display the command-line options supported by the program.
3573 Display the version number of the program.
3575 @c man begin OPTIONS
3579 @node Selecting The Target System
3580 @chapter Selecting the Target System
3582 You can specify two aspects of the target system to the @sc{gnu}
3583 binary file utilities, each in several ways:
3593 In the following summaries, the lists of ways to specify values are in
3594 order of decreasing precedence. The ways listed first override those
3597 The commands to list valid values only list the values for which the
3598 programs you are running were configured. If they were configured with
3599 @option{--enable-targets=all}, the commands list most of the available
3600 values, but a few are left out; not all targets can be configured in at
3601 once because some of them can only be configured @dfn{native} (on hosts
3602 with the same type as the target system).
3605 * Target Selection::
3606 * Architecture Selection::
3609 @node Target Selection
3610 @section Target Selection
3612 A @dfn{target} is an object file format. A given target may be
3613 supported for multiple architectures (@pxref{Architecture Selection}).
3614 A target selection may also have variations for different operating
3615 systems or architectures.
3617 The command to list valid target values is @samp{objdump -i}
3618 (the first column of output contains the relevant information).
3620 Some sample values are: @samp{a.out-hp300bsd}, @samp{ecoff-littlemips},
3621 @samp{a.out-sunos-big}.
3623 You can also specify a target using a configuration triplet. This is
3624 the same sort of name that is passed to @file{configure} to specify a
3625 target. When you use a configuration triplet as an argument, it must be
3626 fully canonicalized. You can see the canonical version of a triplet by
3627 running the shell script @file{config.sub} which is included with the
3630 Some sample configuration triplets are: @samp{m68k-hp-bsd},
3631 @samp{mips-dec-ultrix}, @samp{sparc-sun-sunos}.
3633 @subheading @command{objdump} Target
3639 command line option: @option{-b} or @option{--target}
3642 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3645 deduced from the input file
3648 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target
3654 command line options: @option{-I} or @option{--input-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
3657 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3660 deduced from the input file
3663 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Output Target
3669 command line options: @option{-O} or @option{--output-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
3672 the input target (see ``@command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target'' above)
3675 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3678 deduced from the input file
3681 @subheading @command{nm}, @command{size}, and @command{strings} Target
3687 command line option: @option{--target}
3690 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3693 deduced from the input file
3696 @node Architecture Selection
3697 @section Architecture Selection
3699 An @dfn{architecture} is a type of @sc{cpu} on which an object file is
3700 to run. Its name may contain a colon, separating the name of the
3701 processor family from the name of the particular @sc{cpu}.
3703 The command to list valid architecture values is @samp{objdump -i} (the
3704 second column contains the relevant information).
3706 Sample values: @samp{m68k:68020}, @samp{mips:3000}, @samp{sparc}.
3708 @subheading @command{objdump} Architecture
3714 command line option: @option{-m} or @option{--architecture}
3717 deduced from the input file
3720 @subheading @command{objcopy}, @command{nm}, @command{size}, @command{strings} Architecture
3726 deduced from the input file
3729 @node Reporting Bugs
3730 @chapter Reporting Bugs
3732 @cindex reporting bugs
3734 Your bug reports play an essential role in making the binary utilities
3737 Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or
3738 it may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is
3739 to help the entire community by making the next version of the binary
3740 utilities work better. Bug reports are your contribution to their
3743 In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
3744 information that enables us to fix the bug.
3747 * Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?
3748 * Bug Reporting:: How to report bugs
3752 @section Have You Found a Bug?
3753 @cindex bug criteria
3755 If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
3758 @cindex fatal signal
3761 If a binary utility gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is
3762 a bug. Reliable utilities never crash.
3764 @cindex error on valid input
3766 If a binary utility produces an error message for valid input, that is a
3770 If you are an experienced user of binary utilities, your suggestions for
3771 improvement are welcome in any case.
3775 @section How to Report Bugs
3777 @cindex bugs, reporting
3779 A number of companies and individuals offer support for @sc{gnu}
3780 products. If you obtained the binary utilities from a support
3781 organization, we recommend you contact that organization first.
3783 You can find contact information for many support companies and
3784 individuals in the file @file{etc/SERVICE} in the @sc{gnu} Emacs
3787 In any event, we also recommend that you send bug reports for the binary
3788 utilities to @samp{bug-binutils@@gnu.org}.
3790 The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
3791 @strong{report all the facts}. If you are not sure whether to state a
3792 fact or leave it out, state it!
3794 Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
3795 problem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might
3796 assume that the name of a file you use in an example does not matter.
3797 Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is
3798 a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location where
3799 that pathname is stored in memory; perhaps, if the pathname were
3800 different, the contents of that location would fool the utility into
3801 doing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give a
3802 specific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do,
3803 and the most helpful.
3805 Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the bug if
3806 it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reports on the assumption
3807 that the bug has not been reported previously.
3809 Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a
3810 bell?'' This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless. We
3811 respond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate.
3812 You might as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.
3814 To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
3818 The version of the utility. Each utility announces it if you start it
3819 with the @option{--version} argument.
3821 Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
3822 the bug in the current version of the binary utilities.
3825 Any patches you may have applied to the source, including any patches
3826 made to the @code{BFD} library.
3829 The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
3833 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the utilities---e.g.
3837 The command arguments you gave the utility to observe the bug. To
3838 guarantee you will not omit something important, list them all. A copy
3839 of the Makefile (or the output from make) is sufficient.
3841 If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
3842 and then we might not encounter the bug.
3845 A complete input file, or set of input files, that will reproduce the
3846 bug. If the utility is reading an object file or files, then it is
3847 generally most helpful to send the actual object files, uuencoded if
3848 necessary to get them through the mail system. Note that
3849 @samp{bug-binutils@@gnu.org} is a mailing list, so you should avoid
3850 sending very large files to it. Making the files available for
3851 anonymous FTP is OK.
3853 If the source files were produced exclusively using @sc{gnu} programs
3854 (e.g., @command{gcc}, @command{gas}, and/or the @sc{gnu} @command{ld}), then it
3855 may be OK to send the source files rather than the object files. In
3856 this case, be sure to say exactly what version of @command{gcc}, or
3857 whatever, was used to produce the object files. Also say how
3858 @command{gcc}, or whatever, was configured.
3861 A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
3862 incorrect. For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
3864 Of course, if the bug is that the utility gets a fatal signal, then we
3865 will certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might
3866 not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us
3867 a chance to make a mistake.
3869 Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
3870 say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as your
3871 copy of the utility is out of sync, or you have encountered a bug in
3872 the C library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might
3873 crash and ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when
3874 ours fails to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for
3875 us. If you had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able
3876 to draw any conclusion from our observations.
3879 If you wish to suggest changes to the source, send us context diffs, as
3880 generated by @command{diff} with the @option{-u}, @option{-c}, or @option{-p}
3881 option. Always send diffs from the old file to the new file. If you
3882 wish to discuss something in the @command{ld} source, refer to it by
3883 context, not by line number.
3885 The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
3886 sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
3889 Here are some things that are not necessary:
3893 A description of the envelope of the bug.
3895 Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
3896 which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
3897 changes will not affect it.
3899 This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we
3900 will find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger
3901 with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples.
3902 We recommend that you save your time for something else.
3904 Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report @emph{instead}
3905 of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the
3906 output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
3907 less time, and so on.
3909 However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
3910 report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
3913 A patch for the bug.
3915 A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
3916 the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
3917 a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
3918 to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
3920 Sometimes with programs as complicated as the binary utilities it is
3921 very hard to construct an example that will make the program follow a
3922 certain path through the code. If you do not send us the example, we
3923 will not be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that
3926 And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
3927 patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
3928 help us to understand.
3931 A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
3933 Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
3934 things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
3939 @node Binutils Index
3940 @unnumbered Binutils Index