1 \input texinfo @c -*- Texinfo -*-
2 @setfilename binutils.info
3 @c Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
4 @c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13 * Binutils: (binutils). The GNU binary utilities.
14 * ar: (binutils)ar. Create, modify, and extract from archives
15 * nm: (binutils)nm. List symbols from object files
16 * objcopy: (binutils)objcopy. Copy and translate object files
17 * objdump: (binutils)objdump. Display information from object files
18 * ranlib: (binutils)ranlib. Generate index to archive contents
19 * readelf: (binutils)readelf. Display the contents of ELF format files.
20 * size: (binutils)size. List section sizes and total size
21 * strings: (binutils)strings. List printable strings from files
22 * strip: (binutils)strip. Discard symbols
23 * c++filt: (binutils)c++filt. Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols
24 * cxxfilt: (binutils)c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt
25 * addr2line: (binutils)addr2line. Convert addresses to file and line
26 * nlmconv: (binutils)nlmconv. Converts object code into an NLM
27 * windres: (binutils)windres. Manipulate Windows resources
28 * dlltool: (binutils)dlltool. Create files needed to build and use DLLs
34 @c man begin COPYRIGHT
35 Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
36 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
38 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
39 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
40 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
41 with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
42 Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
43 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
47 Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the
48 results, provided the printed document carries a copying permission
49 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
50 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
57 @c This file documents the GNU binary utilities "ar", "ld", "objcopy",
58 @c "objdump", "nm", "size", "strings", "strip", "readelf" and "ranlib".
60 @c Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
61 @c 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
63 @c This text may be freely distributed under the terms of the GNU
64 @c Free Documentation License.
67 @setchapternewpage odd
68 @settitle @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
71 @title The @sc{gnu} Binary Utilities
72 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
73 @subtitle @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
75 @subtitle Version @value{VERSION}
77 @subtitle @value{UPDATED}
78 @author Roland H. Pesch
79 @author Jeffrey M. Osier
80 @author Cygnus Support
84 {\parskip=0pt \hfill Cygnus Support\par \hfill
85 \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par }
88 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
89 Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
90 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
92 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
93 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
94 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
95 with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
96 Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
97 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
106 This brief manual contains documentation for the @sc{gnu} binary
108 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
109 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
111 version @value{VERSION}:
116 Create, modify, and extract from archives
119 List symbols from object files
122 Copy and translate object files
125 Display information from object files
128 Generate index to archive contents
131 Display the contents of ELF format files.
134 List file section sizes and total size
137 List printable strings from files
143 Demangle encoded C++ symbols (on MS-DOS, this program is named
147 Convert addresses into file names and line numbers
150 Convert object code into a Netware Loadable Module
153 Manipulate Windows resources
156 Create the files needed to build and use Dynamic Link Libraries
160 This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
161 Documentation License. A copy of the license is included in the
162 section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
165 * ar:: Create, modify, and extract from archives
166 * nm:: List symbols from object files
167 * objcopy:: Copy and translate object files
168 * objdump:: Display information from object files
169 * ranlib:: Generate index to archive contents
170 * readelf:: Display the contents of ELF format files.
171 * size:: List section sizes and total size
172 * strings:: List printable strings from files
173 * strip:: Discard symbols
174 * c++filt:: Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols
175 * cxxfilt: c++filt. MS-DOS name for c++filt
176 * addr2line:: Convert addresses to file and line
177 * nlmconv:: Converts object code into an NLM
178 * windres:: Manipulate Windows resources
179 * dlltool:: Create files needed to build and use DLLs
180 * Common Options:: Command-line options for all utilities
181 * Selecting The Target System:: How these utilities determine the target.
182 * Reporting Bugs:: Reporting Bugs
183 * GNU Free Documentation License:: GNU Free Documentation License
184 * Binutils Index:: Binutils Index
192 @cindex collections of files
194 @c man title ar create, modify, and extract from archives
197 ar [-]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
198 ar -M [ <mri-script ]
201 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ar
203 The @sc{gnu} @command{ar} program creates, modifies, and extracts from
204 archives. An @dfn{archive} is a single file holding a collection of
205 other files in a structure that makes it possible to retrieve
206 the original individual files (called @dfn{members} of the archive).
208 The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and
209 group are preserved in the archive, and can be restored on
213 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} can maintain archives whose members have names of any
214 length; however, depending on how @command{ar} is configured on your
215 system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed for compatibility
216 with archive formats maintained with other tools. If it exists, the
217 limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16
218 characters (typical of formats related to coff).
221 @command{ar} is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort
222 are most often used as @dfn{libraries} holding commonly needed
226 @command{ar} creates an index to the symbols defined in relocatable
227 object modules in the archive when you specify the modifier @samp{s}.
228 Once created, this index is updated in the archive whenever @command{ar}
229 makes a change to its contents (save for the @samp{q} update operation).
230 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and
231 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
232 their placement in the archive.
234 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index
235 table. If an archive lacks the table, another form of @command{ar} called
236 @command{ranlib} can be used to add just the table.
238 @cindex compatibility, @command{ar}
239 @cindex @command{ar} compatibility
240 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} is designed to be compatible with two different
241 facilities. You can control its activity using command-line options,
242 like the different varieties of @command{ar} on Unix systems; or, if you
243 specify the single command-line option @option{-M}, you can control it
244 with a script supplied via standard input, like the MRI ``librarian''
250 * ar cmdline:: Controlling @command{ar} on the command line
251 * ar scripts:: Controlling @command{ar} with a script
256 @section Controlling @command{ar} on the Command Line
259 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ar
260 ar [@option{-X32_64}] [@option{-}]@var{p}[@var{mod} [@var{relpos}] [@var{count}]] @var{archive} [@var{member}@dots{}]
264 @cindex Unix compatibility, @command{ar}
265 When you use @command{ar} in the Unix style, @command{ar} insists on at least two
266 arguments to execute: one keyletter specifying the @emph{operation}
267 (optionally accompanied by other keyletters specifying
268 @emph{modifiers}), and the archive name to act on.
270 Most operations can also accept further @var{member} arguments,
271 specifying particular files to operate on.
273 @c man begin OPTIONS ar
275 @sc{gnu} @command{ar} allows you to mix the operation code @var{p} and modifier
276 flags @var{mod} in any order, within the first command-line argument.
278 If you wish, you may begin the first command-line argument with a
281 @cindex operations on archive
282 The @var{p} keyletter specifies what operation to execute; it may be
283 any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:
287 @cindex deleting from archive
288 @emph{Delete} modules from the archive. Specify the names of modules to
289 be deleted as @var{member}@dots{}; the archive is untouched if you
290 specify no files to delete.
292 If you specify the @samp{v} modifier, @command{ar} lists each module
296 @cindex moving in archive
297 Use this operation to @emph{move} members in an archive.
299 The ordering of members in an archive can make a difference in how
300 programs are linked using the library, if a symbol is defined in more
303 If no modifiers are used with @code{m}, any members you name in the
304 @var{member} arguments are moved to the @emph{end} of the archive;
305 you can use the @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} modifiers to move them to a
306 specified place instead.
309 @cindex printing from archive
310 @emph{Print} the specified members of the archive, to the standard
311 output file. If the @samp{v} modifier is specified, show the member
312 name before copying its contents to standard output.
314 If you specify no @var{member} arguments, all the files in the archive are
318 @cindex quick append to archive
319 @emph{Quick append}; Historically, add the files @var{member}@dots{} to the end of
320 @var{archive}, without checking for replacement.
322 The modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, and @samp{i} do @emph{not} affect this
323 operation; new members are always placed at the end of the archive.
325 The modifier @samp{v} makes @command{ar} list each file as it is appended.
327 Since the point of this operation is speed, the archive's symbol table
328 index is not updated, even if it already existed; you can use @samp{ar s} or
329 @command{ranlib} explicitly to update the symbol table index.
331 However, too many different systems assume quick append rebuilds the
332 index, so @sc{gnu} @command{ar} implements @samp{q} as a synonym for @samp{r}.
335 @cindex replacement in archive
336 Insert the files @var{member}@dots{} into @var{archive} (with
337 @emph{replacement}). This operation differs from @samp{q} in that any
338 previously existing members are deleted if their names match those being
341 If one of the files named in @var{member}@dots{} does not exist, @command{ar}
342 displays an error message, and leaves undisturbed any existing members
343 of the archive matching that name.
345 By default, new members are added at the end of the file; but you may
346 use one of the modifiers @samp{a}, @samp{b}, or @samp{i} to request
347 placement relative to some existing member.
349 The modifier @samp{v} used with this operation elicits a line of
350 output for each file inserted, along with one of the letters @samp{a} or
351 @samp{r} to indicate whether the file was appended (no old member
352 deleted) or replaced.
355 @cindex contents of archive
356 Display a @emph{table} listing the contents of @var{archive}, or those
357 of the files listed in @var{member}@dots{} that are present in the
358 archive. Normally only the member name is shown; if you also want to
359 see the modes (permissions), timestamp, owner, group, and size, you can
360 request that by also specifying the @samp{v} modifier.
362 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
365 @cindex repeated names in archive
366 @cindex name duplication in archive
367 If there is more than one file with the same name (say, @samp{fie}) in
368 an archive (say @samp{b.a}), @samp{ar t b.a fie} lists only the
369 first instance; to see them all, you must ask for a complete
370 listing---in our example, @samp{ar t b.a}.
371 @c WRS only; per Gumby, this is implementation-dependent, and in a more
372 @c recent case in fact works the other way.
375 @cindex extract from archive
376 @emph{Extract} members (named @var{member}) from the archive. You can
377 use the @samp{v} modifier with this operation, to request that
378 @command{ar} list each name as it extracts it.
380 If you do not specify a @var{member}, all files in the archive
385 A number of modifiers (@var{mod}) may immediately follow the @var{p}
386 keyletter, to specify variations on an operation's behavior:
390 @cindex relative placement in archive
391 Add new files @emph{after} an existing member of the
392 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{a}, the name of an existing archive
393 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
394 @var{archive} specification.
397 Add new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
398 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{b}, the name of an existing archive
399 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
400 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{i}).
403 @cindex creating archives
404 @emph{Create} the archive. The specified @var{archive} is always
405 created if it did not exist, when you request an update. But a warning is
406 issued unless you specify in advance that you expect to create it, by
410 Truncate names in the archive. @sc{gnu} @command{ar} will normally permit file
411 names of any length. This will cause it to create archives which are
412 not compatible with the native @command{ar} program on some systems. If
413 this is a concern, the @samp{f} modifier may be used to truncate file
414 names when putting them in the archive.
417 Insert new files @emph{before} an existing member of the
418 archive. If you use the modifier @samp{i}, the name of an existing archive
419 member must be present as the @var{relpos} argument, before the
420 @var{archive} specification. (same as @samp{b}).
423 This modifier is accepted but not used.
424 @c whaffor ar l modifier??? presumably compat; with
425 @c what???---doc@@cygnus.com, 25jan91
428 Uses the @var{count} parameter. This is used if there are multiple
429 entries in the archive with the same name. Extract or delete instance
430 @var{count} of the given name from the archive.
433 @cindex dates in archive
434 Preserve the @emph{original} dates of members when extracting them. If
435 you do not specify this modifier, files extracted from the archive
436 are stamped with the time of extraction.
439 Use the full path name when matching names in the archive. @sc{gnu}
440 @command{ar} can not create an archive with a full path name (such archives
441 are not POSIX complaint), but other archive creators can. This option
442 will cause @sc{gnu} @command{ar} to match file names using a complete path
443 name, which can be convenient when extracting a single file from an
444 archive created by another tool.
447 @cindex writing archive index
448 Write an object-file index into the archive, or update an existing one,
449 even if no other change is made to the archive. You may use this modifier
450 flag either with any operation, or alone. Running @samp{ar s} on an
451 archive is equivalent to running @samp{ranlib} on it.
454 @cindex not writing archive index
455 Do not generate an archive symbol table. This can speed up building a
456 large library in several steps. The resulting archive can not be used
457 with the linker. In order to build a symbol table, you must omit the
458 @samp{S} modifier on the last execution of @samp{ar}, or you must run
459 @samp{ranlib} on the archive.
462 @cindex updating an archive
463 Normally, @samp{ar r}@dots{} inserts all files
464 listed into the archive. If you would like to insert @emph{only} those
465 of the files you list that are newer than existing members of the same
466 names, use this modifier. The @samp{u} modifier is allowed only for the
467 operation @samp{r} (replace). In particular, the combination @samp{qu} is
468 not allowed, since checking the timestamps would lose any speed
469 advantage from the operation @samp{q}.
472 This modifier requests the @emph{verbose} version of an operation. Many
473 operations display additional information, such as filenames processed,
474 when the modifier @samp{v} is appended.
477 This modifier shows the version number of @command{ar}.
480 @command{ar} ignores an initial option spelt @samp{-X32_64}, for
481 compatibility with AIX. The behaviour produced by this option is the
482 default for @sc{gnu} @command{ar}. @command{ar} does not support any of the other
483 @samp{-X} options; in particular, it does not support @option{-X32}
484 which is the default for AIX @command{ar}.
489 @c man begin SEEALSO ar
490 nm(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
495 @section Controlling @command{ar} with a Script
498 ar -M [ <@var{script} ]
501 @cindex MRI compatibility, @command{ar}
502 @cindex scripts, @command{ar}
503 If you use the single command-line option @samp{-M} with @command{ar}, you
504 can control its operation with a rudimentary command language. This
505 form of @command{ar} operates interactively if standard input is coming
506 directly from a terminal. During interactive use, @command{ar} prompts for
507 input (the prompt is @samp{AR >}), and continues executing even after
508 errors. If you redirect standard input to a script file, no prompts are
509 issued, and @command{ar} abandons execution (with a nonzero exit code)
512 The @command{ar} command language is @emph{not} designed to be equivalent
513 to the command-line options; in fact, it provides somewhat less control
514 over archives. The only purpose of the command language is to ease the
515 transition to @sc{gnu} @command{ar} for developers who already have scripts
516 written for the MRI ``librarian'' program.
518 The syntax for the @command{ar} command language is straightforward:
521 commands are recognized in upper or lower case; for example, @code{LIST}
522 is the same as @code{list}. In the following descriptions, commands are
523 shown in upper case for clarity.
526 a single command may appear on each line; it is the first word on the
530 empty lines are allowed, and have no effect.
533 comments are allowed; text after either of the characters @samp{*}
534 or @samp{;} is ignored.
537 Whenever you use a list of names as part of the argument to an @command{ar}
538 command, you can separate the individual names with either commas or
539 blanks. Commas are shown in the explanations below, for clarity.
542 @samp{+} is used as a line continuation character; if @samp{+} appears
543 at the end of a line, the text on the following line is considered part
544 of the current command.
547 Here are the commands you can use in @command{ar} scripts, or when using
548 @command{ar} interactively. Three of them have special significance:
550 @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE} specify a @dfn{current archive}, which is
551 a temporary file required for most of the other commands.
553 @code{SAVE} commits the changes so far specified by the script. Prior
554 to @code{SAVE}, commands affect only the temporary copy of the current
558 @item ADDLIB @var{archive}
559 @itemx ADDLIB @var{archive} (@var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
560 Add all the contents of @var{archive} (or, if specified, each named
561 @var{module} from @var{archive}) to the current archive.
563 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
565 @item ADDMOD @var{member}, @var{member}, @dots{} @var{member}
566 @c FIXME! w/Replacement?? If so, like "ar r @var{archive} @var{names}"
567 @c else like "ar q..."
568 Add each named @var{member} as a module in the current archive.
570 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
573 Discard the contents of the current archive, canceling the effect of
574 any operations since the last @code{SAVE}. May be executed (with no
575 effect) even if no current archive is specified.
577 @item CREATE @var{archive}
578 Creates an archive, and makes it the current archive (required for many
579 other commands). The new archive is created with a temporary name; it
580 is not actually saved as @var{archive} until you use @code{SAVE}.
581 You can overwrite existing archives; similarly, the contents of any
582 existing file named @var{archive} will not be destroyed until @code{SAVE}.
584 @item DELETE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
585 Delete each listed @var{module} from the current archive; equivalent to
586 @samp{ar -d @var{archive} @var{module} @dots{} @var{module}}.
588 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
590 @item DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module})
591 @itemx DIRECTORY @var{archive} (@var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}) @var{outputfile}
592 List each named @var{module} present in @var{archive}. The separate
593 command @code{VERBOSE} specifies the form of the output: when verbose
594 output is off, output is like that of @samp{ar -t @var{archive}
595 @var{module}@dots{}}. When verbose output is on, the listing is like
596 @samp{ar -tv @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
598 Output normally goes to the standard output stream; however, if you
599 specify @var{outputfile} as a final argument, @command{ar} directs the
603 Exit from @command{ar}, with a @code{0} exit code to indicate successful
604 completion. This command does not save the output file; if you have
605 changed the current archive since the last @code{SAVE} command, those
608 @item EXTRACT @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
609 Extract each named @var{module} from the current archive, writing them
610 into the current directory as separate files. Equivalent to @samp{ar -x
611 @var{archive} @var{module}@dots{}}.
613 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
616 @c FIXME Tokens but no commands???
623 Display full contents of the current archive, in ``verbose'' style
624 regardless of the state of @code{VERBOSE}. The effect is like @samp{ar
625 tv @var{archive}}. (This single command is a @sc{gnu} @command{ar}
626 enhancement, rather than present for MRI compatibility.)
628 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
630 @item OPEN @var{archive}
631 Opens an existing archive for use as the current archive (required for
632 many other commands). Any changes as the result of subsequent commands
633 will not actually affect @var{archive} until you next use @code{SAVE}.
635 @item REPLACE @var{module}, @var{module}, @dots{} @var{module}
636 In the current archive, replace each existing @var{module} (named in
637 the @code{REPLACE} arguments) from files in the current working directory.
638 To execute this command without errors, both the file, and the module in
639 the current archive, must exist.
641 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
644 Toggle an internal flag governing the output from @code{DIRECTORY}.
645 When the flag is on, @code{DIRECTORY} output matches output from
646 @samp{ar -tv }@dots{}.
649 Commit your changes to the current archive, and actually save it as a
650 file with the name specified in the last @code{CREATE} or @code{OPEN}
653 Requires prior use of @code{OPEN} or @code{CREATE}.
662 The @sc{gnu} linker @command{ld} is now described in a separate manual.
663 @xref{Top,, Overview,, Using LD: the @sc{gnu} linker}.
671 @c man title nm list symbols from object files
674 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nm
675 nm [@option{-a}|@option{--debug-syms}] [@option{-g}|@option{--extern-only}]
676 [@option{-B}] [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]] [@option{-D}|@option{--dynamic}]
677 [@option{-S}|@option{--print-size}] [@option{-s}|@option{--print-armap}]
678 [@option{-A}|@option{-o}|@option{--print-file-name}][@option{--special-syms}]
679 [@option{-n}|@option{-v}|@option{--numeric-sort}] [@option{-p}|@option{--no-sort}]
680 [@option{-r}|@option{--reverse-sort}] [@option{--size-sort}] [@option{-u}|@option{--undefined-only}]
681 [@option{-t} @var{radix}|@option{--radix=}@var{radix}] [@option{-P}|@option{--portability}]
682 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-f}@var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
683 [@option{--defined-only}] [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}] [@option{--no-demangle}]
684 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}] [@option{-X 32_64}] [@option{--help}] [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
688 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nm
689 @sc{gnu} @command{nm} lists the symbols from object files @var{objfile}@dots{}.
690 If no object files are listed as arguments, @command{nm} assumes the file
693 For each symbol, @command{nm} shows:
697 The symbol value, in the radix selected by options (see below), or
698 hexadecimal by default.
701 The symbol type. At least the following types are used; others are, as
702 well, depending on the object file format. If lowercase, the symbol is
703 local; if uppercase, the symbol is global (external).
705 @c Some more detail on exactly what these symbol types are used for
709 The symbol's value is absolute, and will not be changed by further
713 The symbol is in the uninitialized data section (known as BSS).
716 The symbol is common. Common symbols are uninitialized data. When
717 linking, multiple common symbols may appear with the same name. If the
718 symbol is defined anywhere, the common symbols are treated as undefined
721 For more details on common symbols, see the discussion of
722 --warn-common in @ref{Options,,Linker options,ld.info,The GNU linker}.
726 The symbol is in the initialized data section.
729 The symbol is in an initialized data section for small objects. Some
730 object file formats permit more efficient access to small data objects,
731 such as a global int variable as opposed to a large global array.
734 The symbol is an indirect reference to another symbol. This is a @sc{gnu}
735 extension to the a.out object file format which is rarely used.
738 The symbol is a debugging symbol.
741 The symbol is in a read only data section.
744 The symbol is in an uninitialized data section for small objects.
747 The symbol is in the text (code) section.
750 The symbol is undefined.
753 The symbol is a weak object. When a weak defined symbol is linked with
754 a normal defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
755 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
756 the value of the weak symbol becomes zero with no error.
759 The symbol is a weak symbol that has not been specifically tagged as a
760 weak object symbol. When a weak defined symbol is linked with a normal
761 defined symbol, the normal defined symbol is used with no error.
762 When a weak undefined symbol is linked and the symbol is not defined,
763 the value of the symbol is determined in a system-specific manner without
764 error. On some systems, uppercase indicates that a default value has been
769 The symbol is a stabs symbol in an a.out object file. In this case, the
770 next values printed are the stabs other field, the stabs desc field, and
771 the stab type. Stabs symbols are used to hold debugging information.
773 For more information, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs Overview,stabs.info, The
774 ``stabs'' debug format}.
778 The symbol type is unknown, or object file format specific.
787 @c man begin OPTIONS nm
788 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
794 @itemx --print-file-name
795 @cindex input file name
797 @cindex source file name
798 Precede each symbol by the name of the input file (or archive member)
799 in which it was found, rather than identifying the input file once only,
800 before all of its symbols.
804 @cindex debugging symbols
805 Display all symbols, even debugger-only symbols; normally these are not
809 @cindex @command{nm} format
810 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
811 The same as @option{--format=bsd} (for compatibility with the MIPS @command{nm}).
814 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
815 @cindex demangling in nm
816 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
817 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
818 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
819 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
820 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
821 for more information on demangling.
824 Do not demangle low-level symbol names. This is the default.
828 @cindex dynamic symbols
829 Display the dynamic symbols rather than the normal symbols. This is
830 only meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
833 @item -f @var{format}
834 @itemx --format=@var{format}
835 @cindex @command{nm} format
836 @cindex @command{nm} compatibility
837 Use the output format @var{format}, which can be @code{bsd},
838 @code{sysv}, or @code{posix}. The default is @code{bsd}.
839 Only the first character of @var{format} is significant; it can be
840 either upper or lower case.
844 @cindex external symbols
845 Display only external symbols.
848 @itemx --line-numbers
849 @cindex symbol line numbers
850 For each symbol, use debugging information to try to find a filename and
851 line number. For a defined symbol, look for the line number of the
852 address of the symbol. For an undefined symbol, look for the line
853 number of a relocation entry which refers to the symbol. If line number
854 information can be found, print it after the other symbol information.
858 @itemx --numeric-sort
859 Sort symbols numerically by their addresses, rather than alphabetically
864 @cindex sorting symbols
865 Do not bother to sort the symbols in any order; print them in the order
870 Use the POSIX.2 standard output format instead of the default format.
871 Equivalent to @samp{-f posix}.
875 Print size, not the value, of defined symbols for the @code{bsd} output format.
879 @cindex symbol index, listing
880 When listing symbols from archive members, include the index: a mapping
881 (stored in the archive by @command{ar} or @command{ranlib}) of which modules
882 contain definitions for which names.
885 @itemx --reverse-sort
886 Reverse the order of the sort (whether numeric or alphabetic); let the
890 Sort symbols by size. The size is computed as the difference between
891 the value of the symbol and the value of the symbol with the next higher
892 value. If the @code{bsd} output format is used the size of the symbol
893 is printed, rather than the value, and @samp{-S} must be used in order
894 both size and value to be printed.
897 Display symbols which have a target-specific special meaning. These
898 symbols are usually used by the target for some special processing and
899 are not normally helpful when included included in the normal symbol
900 lists. For example for ARM targets this option would skip the mapping
901 symbols used to mark transitions between ARM code, THUMB code and
905 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
906 Use @var{radix} as the radix for printing the symbol values. It must be
907 @samp{d} for decimal, @samp{o} for octal, or @samp{x} for hexadecimal.
909 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
910 @cindex object code format
911 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
912 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
915 @itemx --undefined-only
916 @cindex external symbols
917 @cindex undefined symbols
918 Display only undefined symbols (those external to each object file).
921 @cindex external symbols
922 @cindex undefined symbols
923 Display only defined symbols for each object file.
927 Show the version number of @command{nm} and exit.
930 This option is ignored for compatibility with the AIX version of
931 @command{nm}. It takes one parameter which must be the string
932 @option{32_64}. The default mode of AIX @command{nm} corresponds
933 to @option{-X 32}, which is not supported by @sc{gnu} @command{nm}.
936 Show a summary of the options to @command{nm} and exit.
942 @c man begin SEEALSO nm
943 ar(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
950 @c man title objcopy copy and translate object files
953 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objcopy
954 objcopy [@option{-F} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
955 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
956 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
957 [@option{-B} @var{bfdarch}|@option{--binary-architecture=}@var{bfdarch}]
958 [@option{-S}|@option{--strip-all}]
959 [@option{-g}|@option{--strip-debug}]
960 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
961 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname}|@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
962 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
963 [@option{-G} @var{symbolname}|@option{--keep-global-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
964 [@option{--localize-hidden}]
965 [@option{-L} @var{symbolname}|@option{--localize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
966 [@option{--globalize-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
967 [@option{-W} @var{symbolname}|@option{--weaken-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
968 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
969 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}]
970 [@option{-X}|@option{--discard-locals}]
971 [@option{-b} @var{byte}|@option{--byte=}@var{byte}]
972 [@option{-i} @var{interleave}|@option{--interleave=}@var{interleave}]
973 [@option{-j} @var{sectionname}|@option{--only-section=}@var{sectionname}]
974 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname}|@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
975 [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
976 [@option{--debugging}]
977 [@option{--gap-fill=}@var{val}]
978 [@option{--pad-to=}@var{address}]
979 [@option{--set-start=}@var{val}]
980 [@option{--adjust-start=}@var{incr}]
981 [@option{--change-addresses=}@var{incr}]
982 [@option{--change-section-address} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
983 [@option{--change-section-lma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
984 [@option{--change-section-vma} @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}]
985 [@option{--change-warnings}] [@option{--no-change-warnings}]
986 [@option{--set-section-flags} @var{section}=@var{flags}]
987 [@option{--add-section} @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}]
988 [@option{--rename-section} @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]]
989 [@option{--change-leading-char}] [@option{--remove-leading-char}]
990 [@option{--reverse-bytes=}@var{num}]
991 [@option{--srec-len=}@var{ival}] [@option{--srec-forceS3}]
992 [@option{--redefine-sym} @var{old}=@var{new}]
993 [@option{--redefine-syms=}@var{filename}]
995 [@option{--keep-symbols=}@var{filename}]
996 [@option{--strip-symbols=}@var{filename}]
997 [@option{--strip-unneeded-symbols=}@var{filename}]
998 [@option{--keep-global-symbols=}@var{filename}]
999 [@option{--localize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1000 [@option{--globalize-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1001 [@option{--weaken-symbols=}@var{filename}]
1002 [@option{--alt-machine-code=}@var{index}]
1003 [@option{--prefix-symbols=}@var{string}]
1004 [@option{--prefix-sections=}@var{string}]
1005 [@option{--prefix-alloc-sections=}@var{string}]
1006 [@option{--add-gnu-debuglink=}@var{path-to-file}]
1007 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
1008 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
1009 [@option{--extract-symbol}]
1010 [@option{--writable-text}]
1011 [@option{--readonly-text}]
1014 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
1015 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1016 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
1017 @var{infile} [@var{outfile}]
1021 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objcopy
1022 The @sc{gnu} @command{objcopy} utility copies the contents of an object
1023 file to another. @command{objcopy} uses the @sc{gnu} @sc{bfd} Library to
1024 read and write the object files. It can write the destination object
1025 file in a format different from that of the source object file. The
1026 exact behavior of @command{objcopy} is controlled by command-line options.
1027 Note that @command{objcopy} should be able to copy a fully linked file
1028 between any two formats. However, copying a relocatable object file
1029 between any two formats may not work as expected.
1031 @command{objcopy} creates temporary files to do its translations and
1032 deletes them afterward. @command{objcopy} uses @sc{bfd} to do all its
1033 translation work; it has access to all the formats described in @sc{bfd}
1034 and thus is able to recognize most formats without being told
1035 explicitly. @xref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}.
1037 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate S-records by using an output
1038 target of @samp{srec} (e.g., use @samp{-O srec}).
1040 @command{objcopy} can be used to generate a raw binary file by using an
1041 output target of @samp{binary} (e.g., use @option{-O binary}). When
1042 @command{objcopy} generates a raw binary file, it will essentially produce
1043 a memory dump of the contents of the input object file. All symbols and
1044 relocation information will be discarded. The memory dump will start at
1045 the load address of the lowest section copied into the output file.
1047 When generating an S-record or a raw binary file, it may be helpful to
1048 use @option{-S} to remove sections containing debugging information. In
1049 some cases @option{-R} will be useful to remove sections which contain
1050 information that is not needed by the binary file.
1052 Note---@command{objcopy} is not able to change the endianness of its input
1053 files. If the input format has an endianness (some formats do not),
1054 @command{objcopy} can only copy the inputs into file formats that have the
1055 same endianness or which have no endianness (e.g., @samp{srec}).
1056 (However, see the @option{--reverse-bytes} option.)
1060 @c man begin OPTIONS objcopy
1064 @itemx @var{outfile}
1065 The input and output files, respectively.
1066 If you do not specify @var{outfile}, @command{objcopy} creates a
1067 temporary file and destructively renames the result with
1068 the name of @var{infile}.
1070 @item -I @var{bfdname}
1071 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
1072 Consider the source file's object format to be @var{bfdname}, rather than
1073 attempting to deduce it. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1075 @item -O @var{bfdname}
1076 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
1077 Write the output file using the object format @var{bfdname}.
1078 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1080 @item -F @var{bfdname}
1081 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1082 Use @var{bfdname} as the object format for both the input and the output
1083 file; i.e., simply transfer data from source to destination with no
1084 translation. @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1086 @item -B @var{bfdarch}
1087 @itemx --binary-architecture=@var{bfdarch}
1088 Useful when transforming a raw binary input file into an object file.
1089 In this case the output architecture can be set to @var{bfdarch}. This
1090 option will be ignored if the input file has a known @var{bfdarch}. You
1091 can access this binary data inside a program by referencing the special
1092 symbols that are created by the conversion process. These symbols are
1093 called _binary_@var{objfile}_start, _binary_@var{objfile}_end and
1094 _binary_@var{objfile}_size. e.g. you can transform a picture file into
1095 an object file and then access it in your code using these symbols.
1097 @item -j @var{sectionname}
1098 @itemx --only-section=@var{sectionname}
1099 Copy only the named section from the input file to the output file.
1100 This option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1101 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1103 @item -R @var{sectionname}
1104 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
1105 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
1106 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
1107 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
1111 Do not copy relocation and symbol information from the source file.
1114 @itemx --strip-debug
1115 Do not copy debugging symbols or sections from the source file.
1117 @item --strip-unneeded
1118 Strip all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
1120 @item -K @var{symbolname}
1121 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1122 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
1123 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
1125 @item -N @var{symbolname}
1126 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1127 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option
1128 may be given more than once.
1130 @item --strip-unneeded-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1131 Do not copy symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file unless it is needed
1132 by a relocation. This option may be given more than once.
1134 @item -G @var{symbolname}
1135 @itemx --keep-global-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1136 Keep only symbol @var{symbolname} global. Make all other symbols local
1137 to the file, so that they are not visible externally. This option may
1138 be given more than once.
1140 @item --localize-hidden
1141 In an ELF object, mark all symbols that have hidden or internal visibility
1142 as local. This option applies on top of symbol-specific localization options
1143 such as @option{-L}.
1145 @item -L @var{symbolname}
1146 @itemx --localize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1147 Make symbol @var{symbolname} local to the file, so that it is not
1148 visible externally. This option may be given more than once.
1150 @item -W @var{symbolname}
1151 @itemx --weaken-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1152 Make symbol @var{symbolname} weak. This option may be given more than once.
1154 @item --globalize-symbol=@var{symbolname}
1155 Give symbol @var{symbolname} global scoping so that it is visible
1156 outside of the file in which it is defined. This option may be given
1161 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
1162 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
1163 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
1164 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
1165 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
1172 would cause objcopy to weaken all symbols that start with ``fo''
1173 except for the symbol ``foo''.
1176 @itemx --discard-all
1177 Do not copy non-global symbols from the source file.
1178 @c FIXME any reason to prefer "non-global" to "local" here?
1181 @itemx --discard-locals
1182 Do not copy compiler-generated local symbols.
1183 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
1186 @itemx --byte=@var{byte}
1187 Keep only every @var{byte}th byte of the input file (header data is not
1188 affected). @var{byte} can be in the range from 0 to @var{interleave}-1,
1189 where @var{interleave} is given by the @option{-i} or @option{--interleave}
1190 option, or the default of 4. This option is useful for creating files
1191 to program @sc{rom}. It is typically used with an @code{srec} output
1194 @item -i @var{interleave}
1195 @itemx --interleave=@var{interleave}
1196 Only copy one out of every @var{interleave} bytes. Select which byte to
1197 copy with the @option{-b} or @option{--byte} option. The default is 4.
1198 @command{objcopy} ignores this option if you do not specify either @option{-b} or
1202 @itemx --preserve-dates
1203 Set the access and modification dates of the output file to be the same
1204 as those of the input file.
1207 Convert debugging information, if possible. This is not the default
1208 because only certain debugging formats are supported, and the
1209 conversion process can be time consuming.
1211 @item --gap-fill @var{val}
1212 Fill gaps between sections with @var{val}. This operation applies to
1213 the @emph{load address} (LMA) of the sections. It is done by increasing
1214 the size of the section with the lower address, and filling in the extra
1215 space created with @var{val}.
1217 @item --pad-to @var{address}
1218 Pad the output file up to the load address @var{address}. This is
1219 done by increasing the size of the last section. The extra space is
1220 filled in with the value specified by @option{--gap-fill} (default zero).
1222 @item --set-start @var{val}
1223 Set the start address of the new file to @var{val}. Not all object file
1224 formats support setting the start address.
1226 @item --change-start @var{incr}
1227 @itemx --adjust-start @var{incr}
1228 @cindex changing start address
1229 Change the start address by adding @var{incr}. Not all object file
1230 formats support setting the start address.
1232 @item --change-addresses @var{incr}
1233 @itemx --adjust-vma @var{incr}
1234 @cindex changing object addresses
1235 Change the VMA and LMA addresses of all sections, as well as the start
1236 address, by adding @var{incr}. Some object file formats do not permit
1237 section addresses to be changed arbitrarily. Note that this does not
1238 relocate the sections; if the program expects sections to be loaded at a
1239 certain address, and this option is used to change the sections such
1240 that they are loaded at a different address, the program may fail.
1242 @item --change-section-address @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1243 @itemx --adjust-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1244 @cindex changing section address
1245 Set or change both the VMA address and the LMA address of the named
1246 @var{section}. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1247 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1248 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1249 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning will
1250 be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1252 @item --change-section-lma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1253 @cindex changing section LMA
1254 Set or change the LMA address of the named @var{section}. The LMA
1255 address is the address where the section will be loaded into memory at
1256 program load time. Normally this is the same as the VMA address, which
1257 is the address of the section at program run time, but on some systems,
1258 especially those where a program is held in ROM, the two can be
1259 different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address is set to
1260 @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted from the
1261 section address. See the comments under @option{--change-addresses},
1262 above. If @var{section} does not exist in the input file, a warning
1263 will be issued, unless @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1265 @item --change-section-vma @var{section}@{=,+,-@}@var{val}
1266 @cindex changing section VMA
1267 Set or change the VMA address of the named @var{section}. The VMA
1268 address is the address where the section will be located once the
1269 program has started executing. Normally this is the same as the LMA
1270 address, which is the address where the section will be loaded into
1271 memory, but on some systems, especially those where a program is held in
1272 ROM, the two can be different. If @samp{=} is used, the section address
1273 is set to @var{val}. Otherwise, @var{val} is added to or subtracted
1274 from the section address. See the comments under
1275 @option{--change-addresses}, above. If @var{section} does not exist in
1276 the input file, a warning will be issued, unless
1277 @option{--no-change-warnings} is used.
1279 @item --change-warnings
1280 @itemx --adjust-warnings
1281 If @option{--change-section-address} or @option{--change-section-lma} or
1282 @option{--change-section-vma} is used, and the named section does not
1283 exist, issue a warning. This is the default.
1285 @item --no-change-warnings
1286 @itemx --no-adjust-warnings
1287 Do not issue a warning if @option{--change-section-address} or
1288 @option{--adjust-section-lma} or @option{--adjust-section-vma} is used, even
1289 if the named section does not exist.
1291 @item --set-section-flags @var{section}=@var{flags}
1292 Set the flags for the named section. The @var{flags} argument is a
1293 comma separated string of flag names. The recognized names are
1294 @samp{alloc}, @samp{contents}, @samp{load}, @samp{noload},
1295 @samp{readonly}, @samp{code}, @samp{data}, @samp{rom}, @samp{share}, and
1296 @samp{debug}. You can set the @samp{contents} flag for a section which
1297 does not have contents, but it is not meaningful to clear the
1298 @samp{contents} flag of a section which does have contents--just remove
1299 the section instead. Not all flags are meaningful for all object file
1302 @item --add-section @var{sectionname}=@var{filename}
1303 Add a new section named @var{sectionname} while copying the file. The
1304 contents of the new section are taken from the file @var{filename}. The
1305 size of the section will be the size of the file. This option only
1306 works on file formats which can support sections with arbitrary names.
1308 @item --rename-section @var{oldname}=@var{newname}[,@var{flags}]
1309 Rename a section from @var{oldname} to @var{newname}, optionally
1310 changing the section's flags to @var{flags} in the process. This has
1311 the advantage over usng a linker script to perform the rename in that
1312 the output stays as an object file and does not become a linked
1315 This option is particularly helpful when the input format is binary,
1316 since this will always create a section called .data. If for example,
1317 you wanted instead to create a section called .rodata containing binary
1318 data you could use the following command line to achieve it:
1321 objcopy -I binary -O <output_format> -B <architecture> \
1322 --rename-section .data=.rodata,alloc,load,readonly,data,contents \
1323 <input_binary_file> <output_object_file>
1326 @item --change-leading-char
1327 Some object file formats use special characters at the start of
1328 symbols. The most common such character is underscore, which compilers
1329 often add before every symbol. This option tells @command{objcopy} to
1330 change the leading character of every symbol when it converts between
1331 object file formats. If the object file formats use the same leading
1332 character, this option has no effect. Otherwise, it will add a
1333 character, or remove a character, or change a character, as
1336 @item --remove-leading-char
1337 If the first character of a global symbol is a special symbol leading
1338 character used by the object file format, remove the character. The
1339 most common symbol leading character is underscore. This option will
1340 remove a leading underscore from all global symbols. This can be useful
1341 if you want to link together objects of different file formats with
1342 different conventions for symbol names. This is different from
1343 @option{--change-leading-char} because it always changes the symbol name
1344 when appropriate, regardless of the object file format of the output
1347 @item --reverse-bytes=@var{num}
1348 Reverse the bytes in a section with output contents. A section length must
1349 be evenly divisible by the value given in order for the swap to be able to
1350 take place. Reversing takes place before the interleaving is performed.
1352 This option is used typically in generating ROM images for problematic
1353 target systems. For example, on some target boards, the 32-bit words
1354 fetched from 8-bit ROMs are re-assembled in little-endian byte order
1355 regardless of the CPU byte order. Depending on the programming model, the
1356 endianness of the ROM may need to be modified.
1358 Consider a simple file with a section containing the following eight
1359 bytes: @code{12345678}.
1361 Using @samp{--reverse-bytes=2} for the above example, the bytes in the
1362 output file would be ordered @code{21436587}.
1364 Using @samp{--reverse-bytes=4} for the above example, the bytes in the
1365 output file would be ordered @code{43218765}.
1367 By using @samp{--reverse-bytes=2} for the above example, followed by
1368 @samp{--reverse-bytes=4} on the output file, the bytes in the second
1369 output file would be ordered @code{34127856}.
1371 @item --srec-len=@var{ival}
1372 Meaningful only for srec output. Set the maximum length of the Srecords
1373 being produced to @var{ival}. This length covers both address, data and
1376 @item --srec-forceS3
1377 Meaningful only for srec output. Avoid generation of S1/S2 records,
1378 creating S3-only record format.
1380 @item --redefine-sym @var{old}=@var{new}
1381 Change the name of a symbol @var{old}, to @var{new}. This can be useful
1382 when one is trying link two things together for which you have no
1383 source, and there are name collisions.
1385 @item --redefine-syms=@var{filename}
1386 Apply @option{--redefine-sym} to each symbol pair "@var{old} @var{new}"
1387 listed in the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file,
1388 with one symbol pair per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1389 character. This option may be given more than once.
1392 Change all global symbols in the file to be weak. This can be useful
1393 when building an object which will be linked against other objects using
1394 the @option{-R} option to the linker. This option is only effective when
1395 using an object file format which supports weak symbols.
1397 @item --keep-symbols=@var{filename}
1398 Apply @option{--keep-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1399 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1400 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1401 This option may be given more than once.
1403 @item --strip-symbols=@var{filename}
1404 Apply @option{--strip-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1405 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1406 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1407 This option may be given more than once.
1409 @item --strip-unneeded-symbols=@var{filename}
1410 Apply @option{--strip-unneeded-symbol} option to each symbol listed in
1411 the file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1412 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1413 character. This option may be given more than once.
1415 @item --keep-global-symbols=@var{filename}
1416 Apply @option{--keep-global-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the
1417 file @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
1418 symbol name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash
1419 character. This option may be given more than once.
1421 @item --localize-symbols=@var{filename}
1422 Apply @option{--localize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1423 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1424 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1425 This option may be given more than once.
1427 @item --globalize-symbols=@var{filename}
1428 Apply @option{--globalize-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1429 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1430 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1431 This option may be given more than once.
1433 @item --weaken-symbols=@var{filename}
1434 Apply @option{--weaken-symbol} option to each symbol listed in the file
1435 @var{filename}. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one symbol
1436 name per line. Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.
1437 This option may be given more than once.
1439 @item --alt-machine-code=@var{index}
1440 If the output architecture has alternate machine codes, use the
1441 @var{index}th code instead of the default one. This is useful in case
1442 a machine is assigned an official code and the tool-chain adopts the
1443 new code, but other applications still depend on the original code
1444 being used. For ELF based architectures if the @var{index}
1445 alternative does not exist then the value is treated as an absolute
1446 number to be stored in the e_machine field of the ELF header.
1448 @item --writable-text
1449 Mark the output text as writable. This option isn't meaningful for all
1450 object file formats.
1452 @item --readonly-text
1453 Make the output text write protected. This option isn't meaningful for all
1454 object file formats.
1457 Mark the output file as demand paged. This option isn't meaningful for all
1458 object file formats.
1461 Mark the output file as impure. This option isn't meaningful for all
1462 object file formats.
1464 @item --prefix-symbols=@var{string}
1465 Prefix all symbols in the output file with @var{string}.
1467 @item --prefix-sections=@var{string}
1468 Prefix all section names in the output file with @var{string}.
1470 @item --prefix-alloc-sections=@var{string}
1471 Prefix all the names of all allocated sections in the output file with
1474 @item --add-gnu-debuglink=@var{path-to-file}
1475 Creates a .gnu_debuglink section which contains a reference to @var{path-to-file}
1476 and adds it to the output file.
1478 @item --keep-file-symbols
1479 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
1480 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
1481 which would otherwise get stripped.
1483 @item --only-keep-debug
1484 Strip a file, removing contents of any sections that would not be
1485 stripped by @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections
1488 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
1489 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
1490 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
1491 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
1492 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
1493 to create these files is as follows:
1496 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
1498 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
1499 create a file containing the debugging info.
1500 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
1501 stripped executable.
1502 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
1503 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
1506 Note - the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
1507 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
1508 optional. You could instead do this:
1511 @item Link the executable as normal.
1512 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
1513 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo}
1514 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
1517 i.e., the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
1518 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
1519 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
1521 Note - this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
1522 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
1523 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
1524 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
1525 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
1528 @item --extract-symbol
1529 Keep the file's section flags and symbols but remove all section data.
1530 Specifically, the option:
1533 @item sets the virtual and load addresses of every section to zero;
1534 @item removes the contents of all sections;
1535 @item sets the size of every section to zero; and
1536 @item sets the file's start address to zero.
1539 This option is used to build a @file{.sym} file for a VxWorks kernel.
1540 It can also be a useful way of reducing the size of a @option{--just-symbols}
1545 Show the version number of @command{objcopy}.
1549 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
1550 archives, @samp{objcopy -V} lists all members of the archive.
1553 Show a summary of the options to @command{objcopy}.
1556 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
1562 @c man begin SEEALSO objcopy
1563 ld(1), objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
1570 @cindex object file information
1573 @c man title objdump display information from object files.
1576 @c man begin SYNOPSIS objdump
1577 objdump [@option{-a}|@option{--archive-headers}]
1578 [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=@var{bfdname}}]
1579 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}] ]
1580 [@option{-d}|@option{--disassemble}]
1581 [@option{-D}|@option{--disassemble-all}]
1582 [@option{-z}|@option{--disassemble-zeroes}]
1583 [@option{-EB}|@option{-EL}|@option{--endian=}@{big | little @}]
1584 [@option{-f}|@option{--file-headers}]
1585 [@option{--file-start-context}]
1586 [@option{-g}|@option{--debugging}]
1587 [@option{-e}|@option{--debugging-tags}]
1588 [@option{-h}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--headers}]
1589 [@option{-i}|@option{--info}]
1590 [@option{-j} @var{section}|@option{--section=}@var{section}]
1591 [@option{-l}|@option{--line-numbers}]
1592 [@option{-S}|@option{--source}]
1593 [@option{-m} @var{machine}|@option{--architecture=}@var{machine}]
1594 [@option{-M} @var{options}|@option{--disassembler-options=}@var{options}]
1595 [@option{-p}|@option{--private-headers}]
1596 [@option{-r}|@option{--reloc}]
1597 [@option{-R}|@option{--dynamic-reloc}]
1598 [@option{-s}|@option{--full-contents}]
1599 [@option{-W}|@option{--dwarf}]
1600 [@option{-G}|@option{--stabs}]
1601 [@option{-t}|@option{--syms}]
1602 [@option{-T}|@option{--dynamic-syms}]
1603 [@option{-x}|@option{--all-headers}]
1604 [@option{-w}|@option{--wide}]
1605 [@option{--start-address=}@var{address}]
1606 [@option{--stop-address=}@var{address}]
1607 [@option{--prefix-addresses}]
1608 [@option{--[no-]show-raw-insn}]
1609 [@option{--adjust-vma=}@var{offset}]
1610 [@option{--special-syms}]
1611 [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
1612 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
1613 @var{objfile}@dots{}
1617 @c man begin DESCRIPTION objdump
1619 @command{objdump} displays information about one or more object files.
1620 The options control what particular information to display. This
1621 information is mostly useful to programmers who are working on the
1622 compilation tools, as opposed to programmers who just want their
1623 program to compile and work.
1625 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. When you
1626 specify archives, @command{objdump} shows information on each of the member
1631 @c man begin OPTIONS objdump
1633 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
1634 equivalent. At least one option from the list
1635 @option{-a,-d,-D,-e,-f,-g,-G,-h,-H,-p,-r,-R,-s,-S,-t,-T,-V,-x} must be given.
1639 @itemx --archive-header
1640 @cindex archive headers
1641 If any of the @var{objfile} files are archives, display the archive
1642 header information (in a format similar to @samp{ls -l}). Besides the
1643 information you could list with @samp{ar tv}, @samp{objdump -a} shows
1644 the object file format of each archive member.
1646 @item --adjust-vma=@var{offset}
1647 @cindex section addresses in objdump
1648 @cindex VMA in objdump
1649 When dumping information, first add @var{offset} to all the section
1650 addresses. This is useful if the section addresses do not correspond to
1651 the symbol table, which can happen when putting sections at particular
1652 addresses when using a format which can not represent section addresses,
1655 @item -b @var{bfdname}
1656 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
1657 @cindex object code format
1658 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
1659 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @var{objdump} can
1660 automatically recognize many formats.
1664 objdump -b oasys -m vax -h fu.o
1667 displays summary information from the section headers (@option{-h}) of
1668 @file{fu.o}, which is explicitly identified (@option{-m}) as a VAX object
1669 file in the format produced by Oasys compilers. You can list the
1670 formats available with the @option{-i} option.
1671 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
1674 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
1675 @cindex demangling in objdump
1676 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
1677 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
1678 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
1679 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
1680 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
1681 for more information on demangling.
1685 Display debugging information. This attempts to parse debugging
1686 information stored in the file and print it out using a C like syntax.
1687 Only certain types of debugging information have been implemented.
1688 Some other types are supported by @command{readelf -w}.
1692 @itemx --debugging-tags
1693 Like @option{-g}, but the information is generated in a format compatible
1697 @itemx --disassemble
1698 @cindex disassembling object code
1699 @cindex machine instructions
1700 Display the assembler mnemonics for the machine instructions from
1701 @var{objfile}. This option only disassembles those sections which are
1702 expected to contain instructions.
1705 @itemx --disassemble-all
1706 Like @option{-d}, but disassemble the contents of all sections, not just
1707 those expected to contain instructions.
1709 @item --prefix-addresses
1710 When disassembling, print the complete address on each line. This is
1711 the older disassembly format.
1715 @itemx --endian=@{big|little@}
1717 @cindex disassembly endianness
1718 Specify the endianness of the object files. This only affects
1719 disassembly. This can be useful when disassembling a file format which
1720 does not describe endianness information, such as S-records.
1723 @itemx --file-headers
1724 @cindex object file header
1725 Display summary information from the overall header of
1726 each of the @var{objfile} files.
1728 @item --file-start-context
1729 @cindex source code context
1730 Specify that when displaying interlisted source code/disassembly
1731 (assumes @option{-S}) from a file that has not yet been displayed, extend the
1732 context to the start of the file.
1735 @itemx --section-headers
1737 @cindex section headers
1738 Display summary information from the section headers of the
1741 File segments may be relocated to nonstandard addresses, for example by
1742 using the @option{-Ttext}, @option{-Tdata}, or @option{-Tbss} options to
1743 @command{ld}. However, some object file formats, such as a.out, do not
1744 store the starting address of the file segments. In those situations,
1745 although @command{ld} relocates the sections correctly, using @samp{objdump
1746 -h} to list the file section headers cannot show the correct addresses.
1747 Instead, it shows the usual addresses, which are implicit for the
1752 Print a summary of the options to @command{objdump} and exit.
1756 @cindex architectures available
1757 @cindex object formats available
1758 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available
1759 for specification with @option{-b} or @option{-m}.
1762 @itemx --section=@var{name}
1763 @cindex section information
1764 Display information only for section @var{name}.
1767 @itemx --line-numbers
1768 @cindex source filenames for object files
1769 Label the display (using debugging information) with the filename and
1770 source line numbers corresponding to the object code or relocs shown.
1771 Only useful with @option{-d}, @option{-D}, or @option{-r}.
1773 @item -m @var{machine}
1774 @itemx --architecture=@var{machine}
1775 @cindex architecture
1776 @cindex disassembly architecture
1777 Specify the architecture to use when disassembling object files. This
1778 can be useful when disassembling object files which do not describe
1779 architecture information, such as S-records. You can list the available
1780 architectures with the @option{-i} option.
1782 @item -M @var{options}
1783 @itemx --disassembler-options=@var{options}
1784 Pass target specific information to the disassembler. Only supported on
1785 some targets. If it is necessary to specify more than one
1786 disassembler option then multiple @option{-M} options can be used or
1787 can be placed together into a comma separated list.
1789 If the target is an ARM architecture then this switch can be used to
1790 select which register name set is used during disassembler. Specifying
1791 @option{-M reg-names-std} (the default) will select the register names as
1792 used in ARM's instruction set documentation, but with register 13 called
1793 'sp', register 14 called 'lr' and register 15 called 'pc'. Specifying
1794 @option{-M reg-names-apcs} will select the name set used by the ARM
1795 Procedure Call Standard, whilst specifying @option{-M reg-names-raw} will
1796 just use @samp{r} followed by the register number.
1798 There are also two variants on the APCS register naming scheme enabled
1799 by @option{-M reg-names-atpcs} and @option{-M reg-names-special-atpcs} which
1800 use the ARM/Thumb Procedure Call Standard naming conventions. (Either
1801 with the normal register names or the special register names).
1803 This option can also be used for ARM architectures to force the
1804 disassembler to interpret all instructions as Thumb instructions by
1805 using the switch @option{--disassembler-options=force-thumb}. This can be
1806 useful when attempting to disassemble thumb code produced by other
1809 For the x86, some of the options duplicate functions of the @option{-m}
1810 switch, but allow finer grained control. Multiple selections from the
1811 following may be specified as a comma separated string.
1812 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} and @option{i8086} select disassembly for
1813 the given architecture. @option{intel} and @option{att} select between
1814 intel syntax mode and AT&T syntax mode. @option{addr64}, @option{addr32},
1815 @option{addr16}, @option{data32} and @option{data16} specify the default
1816 address size and operand size. These four options will be overridden if
1817 @option{x86-64}, @option{i386} or @option{i8086} appear later in the
1818 option string. Lastly, @option{suffix}, when in AT&T mode,
1819 instructs the disassembler to print a mnemonic suffix even when the
1820 suffix could be inferred by the operands.
1822 For PPC, @option{booke}, @option{booke32} and @option{booke64} select
1823 disassembly of BookE instructions. @option{32} and @option{64} select
1824 PowerPC and PowerPC64 disassembly, respectively. @option{e300} selects
1825 disassembly for the e300 family. @option{440} selects disassembly for
1828 For MIPS, this option controls the printing of instruction mnemonic
1829 names and register names in disassembled instructions. Multiple
1830 selections from the following may be specified as a comma separated
1831 string, and invalid options are ignored:
1835 Print the 'raw' instruction mnemonic instead of some pseudo
1836 instruction mnemonic. I.e., print 'daddu' or 'or' instead of 'move',
1837 'sll' instead of 'nop', etc.
1839 @item gpr-names=@var{ABI}
1840 Print GPR (general-purpose register) names as appropriate
1841 for the specified ABI. By default, GPR names are selected according to
1842 the ABI of the binary being disassembled.
1844 @item fpr-names=@var{ABI}
1845 Print FPR (floating-point register) names as
1846 appropriate for the specified ABI. By default, FPR numbers are printed
1849 @item cp0-names=@var{ARCH}
1850 Print CP0 (system control coprocessor; coprocessor 0) register names
1851 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
1852 @var{ARCH}. By default, CP0 register names are selected according to
1853 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
1855 @item hwr-names=@var{ARCH}
1856 Print HWR (hardware register, used by the @code{rdhwr} instruction) names
1857 as appropriate for the CPU or architecture specified by
1858 @var{ARCH}. By default, HWR names are selected according to
1859 the architecture and CPU of the binary being disassembled.
1861 @item reg-names=@var{ABI}
1862 Print GPR and FPR names as appropriate for the selected ABI.
1864 @item reg-names=@var{ARCH}
1865 Print CPU-specific register names (CP0 register and HWR names)
1866 as appropriate for the selected CPU or architecture.
1869 For any of the options listed above, @var{ABI} or
1870 @var{ARCH} may be specified as @samp{numeric} to have numbers printed
1871 rather than names, for the selected types of registers.
1872 You can list the available values of @var{ABI} and @var{ARCH} using
1873 the @option{--help} option.
1875 For VAX, you can specify function entry addresses with @option{-M
1876 entry:0xf00ba}. You can use this multiple times to properly
1877 disassemble VAX binary files that don't contain symbol tables (like
1878 ROM dumps). In these cases, the function entry mask would otherwise
1879 be decoded as VAX instructions, which would probably lead the rest
1880 of the function being wrongly disassembled.
1883 @itemx --private-headers
1884 Print information that is specific to the object file format. The exact
1885 information printed depends upon the object file format. For some
1886 object file formats, no additional information is printed.
1890 @cindex relocation entries, in object file
1891 Print the relocation entries of the file. If used with @option{-d} or
1892 @option{-D}, the relocations are printed interspersed with the
1896 @itemx --dynamic-reloc
1897 @cindex dynamic relocation entries, in object file
1898 Print the dynamic relocation entries of the file. This is only
1899 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
1903 @itemx --full-contents
1904 @cindex sections, full contents
1905 @cindex object file sections
1906 Display the full contents of any sections requested. By default all
1907 non-empty sections are displayed.
1911 @cindex source disassembly
1912 @cindex disassembly, with source
1913 Display source code intermixed with disassembly, if possible. Implies
1916 @item --show-raw-insn
1917 When disassembling instructions, print the instruction in hex as well as
1918 in symbolic form. This is the default except when
1919 @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
1921 @item --no-show-raw-insn
1922 When disassembling instructions, do not print the instruction bytes.
1923 This is the default when @option{--prefix-addresses} is used.
1928 @cindex debug symbols
1929 Displays the contents of the DWARF debug sections in the file, if any
1936 @cindex debug symbols
1937 @cindex ELF object file format
1938 Display the full contents of any sections requested. Display the
1939 contents of the .stab and .stab.index and .stab.excl sections from an
1940 ELF file. This is only useful on systems (such as Solaris 2.0) in which
1941 @code{.stab} debugging symbol-table entries are carried in an ELF
1942 section. In most other file formats, debugging symbol-table entries are
1943 interleaved with linkage symbols, and are visible in the @option{--syms}
1946 For more information on stabs symbols, see @ref{Top,Stabs,Stabs
1947 Overview,stabs.info, The ``stabs'' debug format}.
1950 @item --start-address=@var{address}
1951 @cindex start-address
1952 Start displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
1953 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
1955 @item --stop-address=@var{address}
1956 @cindex stop-address
1957 Stop displaying data at the specified address. This affects the output
1958 of the @option{-d}, @option{-r} and @option{-s} options.
1962 @cindex symbol table entries, printing
1963 Print the symbol table entries of the file.
1964 This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm} program.
1967 @itemx --dynamic-syms
1968 @cindex dynamic symbol table entries, printing
1969 Print the dynamic symbol table entries of the file. This is only
1970 meaningful for dynamic objects, such as certain types of shared
1971 libraries. This is similar to the information provided by the @samp{nm}
1972 program when given the @option{-D} (@option{--dynamic}) option.
1974 @item --special-syms
1975 When displaying symbols include those which the target considers to be
1976 special in some way and which would not normally be of interest to the
1981 Print the version number of @command{objdump} and exit.
1984 @itemx --all-headers
1985 @cindex all header information, object file
1986 @cindex header information, all
1987 Display all available header information, including the symbol table and
1988 relocation entries. Using @option{-x} is equivalent to specifying all of
1989 @option{-a -f -h -p -r -t}.
1993 @cindex wide output, printing
1994 Format some lines for output devices that have more than 80 columns.
1995 Also do not truncate symbol names when they are displayed.
1998 @itemx --disassemble-zeroes
1999 Normally the disassembly output will skip blocks of zeroes. This
2000 option directs the disassembler to disassemble those blocks, just like
2007 @c man begin SEEALSO objdump
2008 nm(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2016 @cindex archive contents
2017 @cindex symbol index
2019 @c man title ranlib generate index to archive.
2022 @c man begin SYNOPSIS ranlib
2023 ranlib [@option{-vV}] @var{archive}
2027 @c man begin DESCRIPTION ranlib
2029 @command{ranlib} generates an index to the contents of an archive and
2030 stores it in the archive. The index lists each symbol defined by a
2031 member of an archive that is a relocatable object file.
2033 You may use @samp{nm -s} or @samp{nm --print-armap} to list this index.
2035 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library and
2036 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
2037 their placement in the archive.
2039 The @sc{gnu} @command{ranlib} program is another form of @sc{gnu} @command{ar}; running
2040 @command{ranlib} is completely equivalent to executing @samp{ar -s}.
2045 @c man begin OPTIONS ranlib
2051 Show the version number of @command{ranlib}.
2057 @c man begin SEEALSO ranlib
2058 ar(1), nm(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2066 @cindex section sizes
2068 @c man title size list section sizes and total size.
2071 @c man begin SYNOPSIS size
2072 size [@option{-A}|@option{-B}|@option{--format=}@var{compatibility}]
2074 [@option{-d}|@option{-o}|@option{-x}|@option{--radix=}@var{number}]
2075 [@option{-t}|@option{--totals}]
2076 [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2077 [@var{objfile}@dots{}]
2081 @c man begin DESCRIPTION size
2083 The @sc{gnu} @command{size} utility lists the section sizes---and the total
2084 size---for each of the object or archive files @var{objfile} in its
2085 argument list. By default, one line of output is generated for each
2086 object file or each module in an archive.
2088 @var{objfile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined.
2089 If none are specified, the file @code{a.out} will be used.
2093 @c man begin OPTIONS size
2095 The command line options have the following meanings:
2100 @itemx --format=@var{compatibility}
2101 @cindex @command{size} display format
2102 Using one of these options, you can choose whether the output from @sc{gnu}
2103 @command{size} resembles output from System V @command{size} (using @option{-A},
2104 or @option{--format=sysv}), or Berkeley @command{size} (using @option{-B}, or
2105 @option{--format=berkeley}). The default is the one-line format similar to
2107 @c Bonus for doc-source readers: you can also say --format=strange (or
2108 @c anything else that starts with 's') for sysv, and --format=boring (or
2109 @c anything else that starts with 'b') for Berkeley.
2111 Here is an example of the Berkeley (default) format of output from
2114 $ size --format=Berkeley ranlib size
2115 text data bss dec hex filename
2116 294880 81920 11592 388392 5ed28 ranlib
2117 294880 81920 11888 388688 5ee50 size
2121 This is the same data, but displayed closer to System V conventions:
2124 $ size --format=SysV ranlib size
2142 Show a summary of acceptable arguments and options.
2147 @itemx --radix=@var{number}
2148 @cindex @command{size} number format
2149 @cindex radix for section sizes
2150 Using one of these options, you can control whether the size of each
2151 section is given in decimal (@option{-d}, or @option{--radix=10}); octal
2152 (@option{-o}, or @option{--radix=8}); or hexadecimal (@option{-x}, or
2153 @option{--radix=16}). In @option{--radix=@var{number}}, only the three
2154 values (8, 10, 16) are supported. The total size is always given in two
2155 radices; decimal and hexadecimal for @option{-d} or @option{-x} output, or
2156 octal and hexadecimal if you're using @option{-o}.
2160 Show totals of all objects listed (Berkeley format listing mode only).
2162 @item --target=@var{bfdname}
2163 @cindex object code format
2164 Specify that the object-code format for @var{objfile} is
2165 @var{bfdname}. This option may not be necessary; @command{size} can
2166 automatically recognize many formats.
2167 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2171 Display the version number of @command{size}.
2177 @c man begin SEEALSO size
2178 ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2185 @cindex listings strings
2186 @cindex printing strings
2187 @cindex strings, printing
2189 @c man title strings print the strings of printable characters in files.
2192 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strings
2193 strings [@option{-afov}] [@option{-}@var{min-len}]
2194 [@option{-n} @var{min-len}] [@option{--bytes=}@var{min-len}]
2195 [@option{-t} @var{radix}] [@option{--radix=}@var{radix}]
2196 [@option{-e} @var{encoding}] [@option{--encoding=}@var{encoding}]
2197 [@option{-}] [@option{--all}] [@option{--print-file-name}]
2198 [@option{-T} @var{bfdname}] [@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2199 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] @var{file}@dots{}
2203 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strings
2205 For each @var{file} given, @sc{gnu} @command{strings} prints the printable
2206 character sequences that are at least 4 characters long (or the number
2207 given with the options below) and are followed by an unprintable
2208 character. By default, it only prints the strings from the initialized
2209 and loaded sections of object files; for other types of files, it prints
2210 the strings from the whole file.
2212 @command{strings} is mainly useful for determining the contents of non-text
2217 @c man begin OPTIONS strings
2223 Do not scan only the initialized and loaded sections of object files;
2224 scan the whole files.
2227 @itemx --print-file-name
2228 Print the name of the file before each string.
2231 Print a summary of the program usage on the standard output and exit.
2233 @item -@var{min-len}
2234 @itemx -n @var{min-len}
2235 @itemx --bytes=@var{min-len}
2236 Print sequences of characters that are at least @var{min-len} characters
2237 long, instead of the default 4.
2240 Like @samp{-t o}. Some other versions of @command{strings} have @option{-o}
2241 act like @samp{-t d} instead. Since we can not be compatible with both
2242 ways, we simply chose one.
2244 @item -t @var{radix}
2245 @itemx --radix=@var{radix}
2246 Print the offset within the file before each string. The single
2247 character argument specifies the radix of the offset---@samp{o} for
2248 octal, @samp{x} for hexadecimal, or @samp{d} for decimal.
2250 @item -e @var{encoding}
2251 @itemx --encoding=@var{encoding}
2252 Select the character encoding of the strings that are to be found.
2253 Possible values for @var{encoding} are: @samp{s} = single-7-bit-byte
2254 characters (ASCII, ISO 8859, etc., default), @samp{S} =
2255 single-8-bit-byte characters, @samp{b} = 16-bit bigendian, @samp{l} =
2256 16-bit littleendian, @samp{B} = 32-bit bigendian, @samp{L} = 32-bit
2257 littleendian. Useful for finding wide character strings.
2259 @item -T @var{bfdname}
2260 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2261 @cindex object code format
2262 Specify an object code format other than your system's default format.
2263 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2267 Print the program version number on the standard output and exit.
2273 @c man begin SEEALSO strings
2274 ar(1), nm(1), objdump(1), ranlib(1), readelf(1)
2275 and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2283 @cindex removing symbols
2284 @cindex discarding symbols
2285 @cindex symbols, discarding
2287 @c man title strip Discard symbols from object files.
2290 @c man begin SYNOPSIS strip
2291 strip [@option{-F} @var{bfdname} |@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2292 [@option{-I} @var{bfdname} |@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2293 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname} |@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2294 [@option{-s}|@option{--strip-all}]
2295 [@option{-S}|@option{-g}|@option{-d}|@option{--strip-debug}]
2296 [@option{-K} @var{symbolname} |@option{--keep-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2297 [@option{-N} @var{symbolname} |@option{--strip-symbol=}@var{symbolname}]
2298 [@option{-w}|@option{--wildcard}]
2299 [@option{-x}|@option{--discard-all}] [@option{-X} |@option{--discard-locals}]
2300 [@option{-R} @var{sectionname} |@option{--remove-section=}@var{sectionname}]
2301 [@option{-o} @var{file}] [@option{-p}|@option{--preserve-dates}]
2302 [@option{--keep-file-symbols}]
2303 [@option{--only-keep-debug}]
2304 [@option{-v} |@option{--verbose}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2305 [@option{--help}] [@option{--info}]
2306 @var{objfile}@dots{}
2310 @c man begin DESCRIPTION strip
2312 @sc{gnu} @command{strip} discards all symbols from object files
2313 @var{objfile}. The list of object files may include archives.
2314 At least one object file must be given.
2316 @command{strip} modifies the files named in its argument,
2317 rather than writing modified copies under different names.
2321 @c man begin OPTIONS strip
2324 @item -F @var{bfdname}
2325 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2326 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2327 code format @var{bfdname}, and rewrite it in the same format.
2328 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2331 Show a summary of the options to @command{strip} and exit.
2334 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats available.
2336 @item -I @var{bfdname}
2337 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
2338 Treat the original @var{objfile} as a file with the object
2339 code format @var{bfdname}.
2340 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2342 @item -O @var{bfdname}
2343 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
2344 Replace @var{objfile} with a file in the output format @var{bfdname}.
2345 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2347 @item -R @var{sectionname}
2348 @itemx --remove-section=@var{sectionname}
2349 Remove any section named @var{sectionname} from the output file. This
2350 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
2351 inappropriately may make the output file unusable.
2360 @itemx --strip-debug
2361 Remove debugging symbols only.
2363 @item --strip-unneeded
2364 Remove all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
2366 @item -K @var{symbolname}
2367 @itemx --keep-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2368 When stripping symbols, keep symbol @var{symbolname} even if it would
2369 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
2371 @item -N @var{symbolname}
2372 @itemx --strip-symbol=@var{symbolname}
2373 Remove symbol @var{symbolname} from the source file. This option may be
2374 given more than once, and may be combined with strip options other than
2378 Put the stripped output in @var{file}, rather than replacing the
2379 existing file. When this argument is used, only one @var{objfile}
2380 argument may be specified.
2383 @itemx --preserve-dates
2384 Preserve the access and modification dates of the file.
2388 Permit regular expressions in @var{symbolname}s used in other command
2389 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\) and
2390 square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the symbol
2391 name. If the first character of the symbol name is the exclamation
2392 point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for that symbol.
2399 would cause strip to only keep symbols that start with the letters
2400 ``fo'', but to discard the symbol ``foo''.
2403 @itemx --discard-all
2404 Remove non-global symbols.
2407 @itemx --discard-locals
2408 Remove compiler-generated local symbols.
2409 (These usually start with @samp{L} or @samp{.}.)
2411 @item --keep-file-symbols
2412 When stripping a file, perhaps with @option{--strip-debug} or
2413 @option{--strip-unneeded}, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
2414 which would otherwise get stripped.
2416 @item --only-keep-debug
2417 Strip a file, removing any sections that would be stripped by
2418 @option{--strip-debug} and leaving the debugging sections.
2420 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
2421 @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} to create a two part executable. One a
2422 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
2423 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is only
2424 needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested procedure
2425 to create these files is as follows:
2428 @item Link the executable as normal. Assuming that is is called
2430 @item Run @code{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg} to
2431 create a file containing the debugging info.
2432 @item Run @code{objcopy --strip-debug foo} to create a
2433 stripped executable.
2434 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo}
2435 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped executable.
2438 Note - the choice of @code{.dbg} as an extension for the debug info
2439 file is arbitrary. Also the @code{--only-keep-debug} step is
2440 optional. You could instead do this:
2443 @item Link the executable as normal.
2444 @item Copy @code{foo} to @code{foo.full}
2445 @item Run @code{strip --strip-debug foo}
2446 @item Run @code{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo}
2449 ie the file pointed to by the @option{--add-gnu-debuglink} can be the
2450 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
2451 @option{--only-keep-debug} switch.
2453 Note - this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files. It
2454 does not make sense to use it on object files where the debugging
2455 information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink feature
2456 currently only supports the presence of one filename containing
2457 debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-per-object-file
2462 Show the version number for @command{strip}.
2466 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
2467 archives, @samp{strip -v} lists all members of the archive.
2473 @c man begin SEEALSO strip
2474 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2478 @node c++filt, addr2line, strip, Top
2482 @cindex demangling C++ symbols
2484 @c man title cxxfilt Demangle C++ and Java symbols.
2487 @c man begin SYNOPSIS cxxfilt
2488 c++filt [@option{-_}|@option{--strip-underscores}]
2489 [@option{-n}|@option{--no-strip-underscores}]
2490 [@option{-p}|@option{--no-params}]
2491 [@option{-t}|@option{--types}]
2492 [@option{-i}|@option{--no-verbose}]
2493 [@option{-s} @var{format}|@option{--format=}@var{format}]
2494 [@option{--help}] [@option{--version}] [@var{symbol}@dots{}]
2498 @c man begin DESCRIPTION cxxfilt
2501 The C++ and Java languages provide function overloading, which means
2502 that you can write many functions with the same name, providing that
2503 each function takes parameters of different types. In order to be
2504 able to distinguish these similarly named functions C++ and Java
2505 encode them into a low-level assembler name which uniquely identifies
2506 each different version. This process is known as @dfn{mangling}. The
2508 @footnote{MS-DOS does not allow @kbd{+} characters in file names, so on
2509 MS-DOS this program is named @command{CXXFILT}.}
2510 program does the inverse mapping: it decodes (@dfn{demangles}) low-level
2511 names into user-level names so that they can be read.
2513 Every alphanumeric word (consisting of letters, digits, underscores,
2514 dollars, or periods) seen in the input is a potential mangled name.
2515 If the name decodes into a C++ name, the C++ name replaces the
2516 low-level name in the output, otherwise the original word is output.
2517 In this way you can pass an entire assembler source file, containing
2518 mangled names, through @command{c++filt} and see the same source file
2519 containing demangled names.
2521 You can also use @command{c++filt} to decipher individual symbols by
2522 passing them on the command line:
2525 c++filt @var{symbol}
2528 If no @var{symbol} arguments are given, @command{c++filt} reads symbol
2529 names from the standard input instead. All the results are printed on
2530 the standard output. The difference between reading names from the
2531 command line versus reading names from the standard input is that
2532 command line arguments are expected to be just mangled names and no
2533 checking is performed to separate them from surrounding text. Thus
2540 will work and demangle the name to ``f()'' whereas:
2546 will not work. (Note the extra comma at the end of the mangled
2547 name which makes it invalid). This command however will work:
2550 echo _Z1fv, | c++filt -n
2553 and will display ``f(),'' ie the demangled name followed by a
2554 trailing comma. This behaviour is because when the names are read
2555 from the standard input it is expected that they might be part of an
2556 assembler source file where there might be extra, extraneous
2557 characters trailing after a mangled name. eg:
2560 .type _Z1fv, @@function
2565 @c man begin OPTIONS cxxfilt
2569 @itemx --strip-underscores
2570 On some systems, both the C and C++ compilers put an underscore in front
2571 of every name. For example, the C name @code{foo} gets the low-level
2572 name @code{_foo}. This option removes the initial underscore. Whether
2573 @command{c++filt} removes the underscore by default is target dependent.
2577 Prints demangled names using Java syntax. The default is to use C++
2581 @itemx --no-strip-underscores
2582 Do not remove the initial underscore.
2586 When demangling the name of a function, do not display the types of
2587 the function's parameters.
2591 Attempt to demangle types as well as function names. This is disabled
2592 by default since mangled types are normally only used internally in
2593 the compiler, and they can be confused with non-mangled names. eg
2594 a function called ``a'' treated as a mangled type name would be
2595 demangled to ``signed char''.
2599 Do not include implementation details (if any) in the demangled
2602 @item -s @var{format}
2603 @itemx --format=@var{format}
2604 @command{c++filt} can decode various methods of mangling, used by
2605 different compilers. The argument to this option selects which
2610 Automatic selection based on executable (the default method)
2612 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++)
2614 the one used by the Lucid compiler (lcc)
2616 the one specified by the C++ Annotated Reference Manual
2618 the one used by the HP compiler (aCC)
2620 the one used by the EDG compiler
2622 the one used by the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler (g++) with the V3 ABI.
2624 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Java compiler (gcj)
2626 the one used by the @sc{gnu} Ada compiler (GNAT).
2630 Print a summary of the options to @command{c++filt} and exit.
2633 Print the version number of @command{c++filt} and exit.
2639 @c man begin SEEALSO cxxfilt
2640 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2645 @emph{Warning:} @command{c++filt} is a new utility, and the details of its
2646 user interface are subject to change in future releases. In particular,
2647 a command-line option may be required in the future to decode a name
2648 passed as an argument on the command line; in other words,
2651 c++filt @var{symbol}
2655 may in a future release become
2658 c++filt @var{option} @var{symbol}
2666 @cindex address to file name and line number
2668 @c man title addr2line convert addresses into file names and line numbers.
2671 @c man begin SYNOPSIS addr2line
2672 addr2line [@option{-b} @var{bfdname}|@option{--target=}@var{bfdname}]
2673 [@option{-C}|@option{--demangle}[=@var{style}]]
2674 [@option{-e} @var{filename}|@option{--exe=}@var{filename}]
2675 [@option{-f}|@option{--functions}] [@option{-s}|@option{--basename}]
2676 [@option{-i}|@option{--inlines}]
2677 [@option{-j}|@option{--section=}@var{name}]
2678 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2683 @c man begin DESCRIPTION addr2line
2685 @command{addr2line} translates addresses into file names and line numbers.
2686 Given an address in an executable or an offset in a section of a relocatable
2687 object, it uses the debugging information to figure out which file name and
2688 line number are associated with it.
2690 The executable or relocatable object to use is specified with the @option{-e}
2691 option. The default is the file @file{a.out}. The section in the relocatable
2692 object to use is specified with the @option{-j} option.
2694 @command{addr2line} has two modes of operation.
2696 In the first, hexadecimal addresses are specified on the command line,
2697 and @command{addr2line} displays the file name and line number for each
2700 In the second, @command{addr2line} reads hexadecimal addresses from
2701 standard input, and prints the file name and line number for each
2702 address on standard output. In this mode, @command{addr2line} may be used
2703 in a pipe to convert dynamically chosen addresses.
2705 The format of the output is @samp{FILENAME:LINENO}. The file name and
2706 line number for each address is printed on a separate line. If the
2707 @command{-f} option is used, then each @samp{FILENAME:LINENO} line is
2708 preceded by a @samp{FUNCTIONNAME} line which is the name of the function
2709 containing the address.
2711 If the file name or function name can not be determined,
2712 @command{addr2line} will print two question marks in their place. If the
2713 line number can not be determined, @command{addr2line} will print 0.
2717 @c man begin OPTIONS addr2line
2719 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
2723 @item -b @var{bfdname}
2724 @itemx --target=@var{bfdname}
2725 @cindex object code format
2726 Specify that the object-code format for the object files is
2730 @itemx --demangle[=@var{style}]
2731 @cindex demangling in objdump
2732 Decode (@dfn{demangle}) low-level symbol names into user-level names.
2733 Besides removing any initial underscore prepended by the system, this
2734 makes C++ function names readable. Different compilers have different
2735 mangling styles. The optional demangling style argument can be used to
2736 choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler. @xref{c++filt},
2737 for more information on demangling.
2739 @item -e @var{filename}
2740 @itemx --exe=@var{filename}
2741 Specify the name of the executable for which addresses should be
2742 translated. The default file is @file{a.out}.
2746 Display function names as well as file and line number information.
2750 Display only the base of each file name.
2754 If the address belongs to a function that was inlined, the source
2755 information for all enclosing scopes back to the first non-inlined
2756 function will also be printed. For example, if @code{main} inlines
2757 @code{callee1} which inlines @code{callee2}, and address is from
2758 @code{callee2}, the source information for @code{callee1} and @code{main}
2759 will also be printed.
2763 Read offsets relative to the specified section instead of absolute addresses.
2769 @c man begin SEEALSO addr2line
2770 Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2777 @command{nlmconv} converts a relocatable object file into a NetWare
2781 @command{nlmconv} currently works with @samp{i386} object
2782 files in @code{coff}, @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format, and @sc{SPARC}
2783 object files in @sc{elf}, or @code{a.out} format@footnote{
2784 @command{nlmconv} should work with any @samp{i386} or @sc{sparc} object
2785 format in the Binary File Descriptor library. It has only been tested
2786 with the above formats.}.
2790 @emph{Warning:} @command{nlmconv} is not always built as part of the binary
2791 utilities, since it is only useful for NLM targets.
2794 @c man title nlmconv converts object code into an NLM.
2797 @c man begin SYNOPSIS nlmconv
2798 nlmconv [@option{-I} @var{bfdname}|@option{--input-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2799 [@option{-O} @var{bfdname}|@option{--output-target=}@var{bfdname}]
2800 [@option{-T} @var{headerfile}|@option{--header-file=}@var{headerfile}]
2801 [@option{-d}|@option{--debug}] [@option{-l} @var{linker}|@option{--linker=}@var{linker}]
2802 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
2803 @var{infile} @var{outfile}
2807 @c man begin DESCRIPTION nlmconv
2809 @command{nlmconv} converts the relocatable @samp{i386} object file
2810 @var{infile} into the NetWare Loadable Module @var{outfile}, optionally
2811 reading @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions
2812 on writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see the
2813 @samp{linkers} section, @samp{NLMLINK} in particular, of the @cite{NLM
2814 Development and Tools Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software
2815 Developer's Kit (``NLM SDK''), available from Novell, Inc.
2816 @command{nlmconv} uses the @sc{gnu} Binary File Descriptor library to read
2819 see @ref{BFD,,BFD,ld.info,Using LD}, for more information.
2822 @command{nlmconv} can perform a link step. In other words, you can list
2823 more than one object file for input if you list them in the definitions
2824 file (rather than simply specifying one input file on the command line).
2825 In this case, @command{nlmconv} calls the linker for you.
2829 @c man begin OPTIONS nlmconv
2832 @item -I @var{bfdname}
2833 @itemx --input-target=@var{bfdname}
2834 Object format of the input file. @command{nlmconv} can usually determine
2835 the format of a given file (so no default is necessary).
2836 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2838 @item -O @var{bfdname}
2839 @itemx --output-target=@var{bfdname}
2840 Object format of the output file. @command{nlmconv} infers the output
2841 format based on the input format, e.g. for a @samp{i386} input file the
2842 output format is @samp{nlm32-i386}.
2843 @xref{Target Selection}, for more information.
2845 @item -T @var{headerfile}
2846 @itemx --header-file=@var{headerfile}
2847 Reads @var{headerfile} for NLM header information. For instructions on
2848 writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see@ see the
2849 @samp{linkers} section, of the @cite{NLM Development and Tools
2850 Overview}, which is part of the NLM Software Developer's Kit, available
2855 Displays (on standard error) the linker command line used by @command{nlmconv}.
2857 @item -l @var{linker}
2858 @itemx --linker=@var{linker}
2859 Use @var{linker} for any linking. @var{linker} can be an absolute or a
2864 Prints a usage summary.
2868 Prints the version number for @command{nlmconv}.
2874 @c man begin SEEALSO nlmconv
2875 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
2882 @command{windres} may be used to manipulate Windows resources.
2885 @emph{Warning:} @command{windres} is not always built as part of the binary
2886 utilities, since it is only useful for Windows targets.
2889 @c man title windres manipulate Windows resources.
2892 @c man begin SYNOPSIS windres
2893 windres [options] [input-file] [output-file]
2897 @c man begin DESCRIPTION windres
2899 @command{windres} reads resources from an input file and copies them into
2900 an output file. Either file may be in one of three formats:
2904 A text format read by the Resource Compiler.
2907 A binary format generated by the Resource Compiler.
2910 A COFF object or executable.
2913 The exact description of these different formats is available in
2914 documentation from Microsoft.
2916 When @command{windres} converts from the @code{rc} format to the @code{res}
2917 format, it is acting like the Windows Resource Compiler. When
2918 @command{windres} converts from the @code{res} format to the @code{coff}
2919 format, it is acting like the Windows @code{CVTRES} program.
2921 When @command{windres} generates an @code{rc} file, the output is similar
2922 but not identical to the format expected for the input. When an input
2923 @code{rc} file refers to an external filename, an output @code{rc} file
2924 will instead include the file contents.
2926 If the input or output format is not specified, @command{windres} will
2927 guess based on the file name, or, for the input file, the file contents.
2928 A file with an extension of @file{.rc} will be treated as an @code{rc}
2929 file, a file with an extension of @file{.res} will be treated as a
2930 @code{res} file, and a file with an extension of @file{.o} or
2931 @file{.exe} will be treated as a @code{coff} file.
2933 If no output file is specified, @command{windres} will print the resources
2934 in @code{rc} format to standard output.
2936 The normal use is for you to write an @code{rc} file, use @command{windres}
2937 to convert it to a COFF object file, and then link the COFF file into
2938 your application. This will make the resources described in the
2939 @code{rc} file available to Windows.
2943 @c man begin OPTIONS windres
2946 @item -i @var{filename}
2947 @itemx --input @var{filename}
2948 The name of the input file. If this option is not used, then
2949 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument as the input file
2950 name. If there are no non-option arguments, then @command{windres} will
2951 read from standard input. @command{windres} can not read a COFF file from
2954 @item -o @var{filename}
2955 @itemx --output @var{filename}
2956 The name of the output file. If this option is not used, then
2957 @command{windres} will use the first non-option argument, after any used
2958 for the input file name, as the output file name. If there is no
2959 non-option argument, then @command{windres} will write to standard output.
2960 @command{windres} can not write a COFF file to standard output. Note,
2961 for compatibility with @command{rc} the option @option{-fo} is also
2962 accepted, but its use is not recommended.
2964 @item -J @var{format}
2965 @itemx --input-format @var{format}
2966 The input format to read. @var{format} may be @samp{res}, @samp{rc}, or
2967 @samp{coff}. If no input format is specified, @command{windres} will
2968 guess, as described above.
2970 @item -O @var{format}
2971 @itemx --output-format @var{format}
2972 The output format to generate. @var{format} may be @samp{res},
2973 @samp{rc}, or @samp{coff}. If no output format is specified,
2974 @command{windres} will guess, as described above.
2976 @item -F @var{target}
2977 @itemx --target @var{target}
2978 Specify the BFD format to use for a COFF file as input or output. This
2979 is a BFD target name; you can use the @option{--help} option to see a list
2980 of supported targets. Normally @command{windres} will use the default
2981 format, which is the first one listed by the @option{--help} option.
2983 @ref{Target Selection}.
2986 @item --preprocessor @var{program}
2987 When @command{windres} reads an @code{rc} file, it runs it through the C
2988 preprocessor first. This option may be used to specify the preprocessor
2989 to use, including any leading arguments. The default preprocessor
2990 argument is @code{gcc -E -xc-header -DRC_INVOKED}.
2992 @item -I @var{directory}
2993 @itemx --include-dir @var{directory}
2994 Specify an include directory to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
2995 @command{windres} will pass this to the preprocessor as an @option{-I}
2996 option. @command{windres} will also search this directory when looking for
2997 files named in the @code{rc} file. If the argument passed to this command
2998 matches any of the supported @var{formats} (as described in the @option{-J}
2999 option), it will issue a deprecation warning, and behave just like the
3000 @option{-J} option. New programs should not use this behaviour. If a
3001 directory happens to match a @var{format}, simple prefix it with @samp{./}
3002 to disable the backward compatibility.
3004 @item -D @var{target}
3005 @itemx --define @var{sym}[=@var{val}]
3006 Specify a @option{-D} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
3009 @item -U @var{target}
3010 @itemx --undefine @var{sym}
3011 Specify a @option{-U} option to pass to the preprocessor when reading an
3015 Ignored for compatibility with rc.
3018 Enable verbose mode. This tells you what the preprocessor is if you
3022 @item --language @var{val}
3023 Specify the default language to use when reading an @code{rc} file.
3024 @var{val} should be a hexadecimal language code. The low eight bits are
3025 the language, and the high eight bits are the sublanguage.
3027 @item --use-temp-file
3028 Use a temporary file to instead of using popen to read the output of
3029 the preprocessor. Use this option if the popen implementation is buggy
3030 on the host (eg., certain non-English language versions of Windows 95 and
3031 Windows 98 are known to have buggy popen where the output will instead
3034 @item --no-use-temp-file
3035 Use popen, not a temporary file, to read the output of the preprocessor.
3036 This is the default behaviour.
3040 Prints a usage summary.
3044 Prints the version number for @command{windres}.
3047 If @command{windres} is compiled with @code{YYDEBUG} defined as @code{1},
3048 this will turn on parser debugging.
3054 @c man begin SEEALSO windres
3055 the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3064 @command{dlltool} is used to create the files needed to create dynamic
3065 link libraries (DLLs) on systems which understand PE format image
3066 files such as Windows. A DLL contains an export table which contains
3067 information that the runtime loader needs to resolve references from a
3068 referencing program.
3070 The export table is generated by this program by reading in a
3071 @file{.def} file or scanning the @file{.a} and @file{.o} files which
3072 will be in the DLL. A @file{.o} file can contain information in
3073 special @samp{.drectve} sections with export information.
3076 @emph{Note:} @command{dlltool} is not always built as part of the
3077 binary utilities, since it is only useful for those targets which
3081 @c man title dlltool Create files needed to build and use DLLs.
3084 @c man begin SYNOPSIS dlltool
3085 dlltool [@option{-d}|@option{--input-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3086 [@option{-b}|@option{--base-file} @var{base-file-name}]
3087 [@option{-e}|@option{--output-exp} @var{exports-file-name}]
3088 [@option{-z}|@option{--output-def} @var{def-file-name}]
3089 [@option{-l}|@option{--output-lib} @var{library-file-name}]
3090 [@option{--export-all-symbols}] [@option{--no-export-all-symbols}]
3091 [@option{--exclude-symbols} @var{list}]
3092 [@option{--no-default-excludes}]
3093 [@option{-S}|@option{--as} @var{path-to-assembler}] [@option{-f}|@option{--as-flags} @var{options}]
3094 [@option{-D}|@option{--dllname} @var{name}] [@option{-m}|@option{--machine} @var{machine}]
3095 [@option{-a}|@option{--add-indirect}]
3096 [@option{-U}|@option{--add-underscore}] [@option{--add-stdcall-underscore}]
3097 [@option{-k}|@option{--kill-at}] [@option{-A}|@option{--add-stdcall-alias}]
3098 [@option{-p}|@option{--ext-prefix-alias} @var{prefix}]
3099 [@option{-x}|@option{--no-idata4}] [@option{-c}|@option{--no-idata5}] [@option{-i}|@option{--interwork}]
3100 [@option{-n}|@option{--nodelete}] [@option{-t}|@option{--temp-prefix} @var{prefix}]
3101 [@option{-v}|@option{--verbose}]
3102 [@option{-h}|@option{--help}] [@option{-V}|@option{--version}]
3103 [object-file @dots{}]
3107 @c man begin DESCRIPTION dlltool
3109 @command{dlltool} reads its inputs, which can come from the @option{-d} and
3110 @option{-b} options as well as object files specified on the command
3111 line. It then processes these inputs and if the @option{-e} option has
3112 been specified it creates a exports file. If the @option{-l} option
3113 has been specified it creates a library file and if the @option{-z} option
3114 has been specified it creates a def file. Any or all of the @option{-e},
3115 @option{-l} and @option{-z} options can be present in one invocation of
3118 When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary
3119 to have three other files. @command{dlltool} can help with the creation of
3122 The first file is a @file{.def} file which specifies which functions are
3123 exported from the DLL, which functions the DLL imports, and so on. This
3124 is a text file and can be created by hand, or @command{dlltool} can be used
3125 to create it using the @option{-z} option. In this case @command{dlltool}
3126 will scan the object files specified on its command line looking for
3127 those functions which have been specially marked as being exported and
3128 put entries for them in the @file{.def} file it creates.
3130 In order to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to
3131 have an @option{-export:<name_of_function>} entry in the @samp{.drectve}
3132 section of the object file. This can be done in C by using the
3136 asm (".section .drectve");
3137 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");
3139 int my_func (void) @{ @dots{} @}
3142 The second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file. This file
3143 is linked with the object files that make up the body of the DLL and it
3144 handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world. This is a
3145 binary file and it can be created by giving the @option{-e} option to
3146 @command{dlltool} when it is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3148 The third file needed for DLL creation is the library file that programs
3149 will link with in order to access the functions in the DLL. This file
3150 can be created by giving the @option{-l} option to dlltool when it
3151 is creating or reading in a @file{.def} file.
3153 @command{dlltool} builds the library file by hand, but it builds the
3154 exports file by creating temporary files containing assembler statements
3155 and then assembling these. The @option{-S} command line option can be
3156 used to specify the path to the assembler that dlltool will use,
3157 and the @option{-f} option can be used to pass specific flags to that
3158 assembler. The @option{-n} can be used to prevent dlltool from deleting
3159 these temporary assembler files when it is done, and if @option{-n} is
3160 specified twice then this will prevent dlltool from deleting the
3161 temporary object files it used to build the library.
3163 Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file @samp{dll.c} and
3164 also creating a program (from an object file called @samp{program.o})
3169 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
3170 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
3171 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program
3176 @c man begin OPTIONS dlltool
3178 The command line options have the following meanings:
3182 @item -d @var{filename}
3183 @itemx --input-def @var{filename}
3184 @cindex input .def file
3185 Specifies the name of a @file{.def} file to be read in and processed.
3187 @item -b @var{filename}
3188 @itemx --base-file @var{filename}
3190 Specifies the name of a base file to be read in and processed. The
3191 contents of this file will be added to the relocation section in the
3192 exports file generated by dlltool.
3194 @item -e @var{filename}
3195 @itemx --output-exp @var{filename}
3196 Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.
3198 @item -z @var{filename}
3199 @itemx --output-def @var{filename}
3200 Specifies the name of the @file{.def} file to be created by dlltool.
3202 @item -l @var{filename}
3203 @itemx --output-lib @var{filename}
3204 Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.
3206 @item --export-all-symbols
3207 Treat all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object
3208 files as symbols to be exported. There is a small list of symbols which
3209 are not exported by default; see the @option{--no-default-excludes}
3210 option. You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using the
3211 @option{--exclude-symbols} option.
3213 @item --no-export-all-symbols
3214 Only export symbols explicitly listed in an input @file{.def} file or in
3215 @samp{.drectve} sections in the input object files. This is the default
3216 behaviour. The @samp{.drectve} sections are created by @samp{dllexport}
3217 attributes in the source code.
3219 @item --exclude-symbols @var{list}
3220 Do not export the symbols in @var{list}. This is a list of symbol names
3221 separated by comma or colon characters. The symbol names should not
3222 contain a leading underscore. This is only meaningful when
3223 @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3225 @item --no-default-excludes
3226 When @option{--export-all-symbols} is used, it will by default avoid
3227 exporting certain special symbols. The current list of symbols to avoid
3228 exporting is @samp{DllMain@@12}, @samp{DllEntryPoint@@0},
3229 @samp{impure_ptr}. You may use the @option{--no-default-excludes} option
3230 to go ahead and export these special symbols. This is only meaningful
3231 when @option{--export-all-symbols} is used.
3234 @itemx --as @var{path}
3235 Specifies the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be used
3236 to create the exports file.
3238 @item -f @var{options}
3239 @itemx --as-flags @var{options}
3240 Specifies any specific command line options to be passed to the
3241 assembler when building the exports file. This option will work even if
3242 the @option{-S} option is not used. This option only takes one argument,
3243 and if it occurs more than once on the command line, then later
3244 occurrences will override earlier occurrences. So if it is necessary to
3245 pass multiple options to the assembler they should be enclosed in
3249 @itemx --dll-name @var{name}
3250 Specifies the name to be stored in the @file{.def} file as the name of
3251 the DLL when the @option{-e} option is used. If this option is not
3252 present, then the filename given to the @option{-e} option will be
3253 used as the name of the DLL.
3255 @item -m @var{machine}
3256 @itemx -machine @var{machine}
3257 Specifies the type of machine for which the library file should be
3258 built. @command{dlltool} has a built in default type, depending upon how
3259 it was created, but this option can be used to override that. This is
3260 normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor, when the
3261 contents of the DLL are actually encode using Thumb instructions.
3264 @itemx --add-indirect
3265 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3266 should add a section which allows the exported functions to be
3267 referenced without using the import library. Whatever the hell that
3271 @itemx --add-underscore
3272 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3273 should prepend an underscore to the names of @emph{all} exported symbols.
3275 @item --add-stdcall-underscore
3276 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3277 should prepend an underscore to the names of exported @emph{stdcall}
3278 functions. Variable names and non-stdcall function names are not modified.
3279 This option is useful when creating GNU-compatible import libs for third
3280 party DLLs that were built with MS-Windows tools.
3284 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3285 should not append the string @samp{@@ <number>}. These numbers are
3286 called ordinal numbers and they represent another way of accessing the
3287 function in a DLL, other than by name.
3290 @itemx --add-stdcall-alias
3291 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports file it
3292 should add aliases for stdcall symbols without @samp{@@ <number>}
3293 in addition to the symbols with @samp{@@ <number>}.
3296 @itemx --ext-prefix-alias @var{prefix}
3297 Causes @command{dlltool} to create external aliases for all DLL
3298 imports with the specified prefix. The aliases are created for both
3299 external and import symbols with no leading underscore.
3303 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3304 files it should omit the @code{.idata4} section. This is for compatibility
3305 with certain operating systems.
3309 Specifies that when @command{dlltool} is creating the exports and library
3310 files it should omit the @code{.idata5} section. This is for compatibility
3311 with certain operating systems.
3315 Specifies that @command{dlltool} should mark the objects in the library
3316 file and exports file that it produces as supporting interworking
3317 between ARM and Thumb code.
3321 Makes @command{dlltool} preserve the temporary assembler files it used to
3322 create the exports file. If this option is repeated then dlltool will
3323 also preserve the temporary object files it uses to create the library
3326 @item -t @var{prefix}
3327 @itemx --temp-prefix @var{prefix}
3328 Makes @command{dlltool} use @var{prefix} when constructing the names of
3329 temporary assembler and object files. By default, the temp file prefix
3330 is generated from the pid.
3334 Make dlltool describe what it is doing.
3338 Displays a list of command line options and then exits.
3342 Displays dlltool's version number and then exits.
3349 * def file format:: The format of the dlltool @file{.def} file
3352 @node def file format
3353 @section The format of the @command{dlltool} @file{.def} file
3355 A @file{.def} file contains any number of the following commands:
3359 @item @code{NAME} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3360 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.exe}.
3362 @item @code{LIBRARY} @var{name} @code{[ ,} @var{base} @code{]}
3363 The result is going to be named @var{name}@code{.dll}.
3365 @item @code{EXPORTS ( ( (} @var{name1} @code{[ = } @var{name2} @code{] ) | ( } @var{name1} @code{=} @var{module-name} @code{.} @var{external-name} @code{) )}
3366 @item @code{[} @var{integer} @code{] [ NONAME ] [ CONSTANT ] [ DATA ] [ PRIVATE ] ) *}
3367 Declares @var{name1} as an exported symbol from the DLL, with optional
3368 ordinal number @var{integer}, or declares @var{name1} as an alias
3369 (forward) of the function @var{external-name} in the DLL
3372 @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{) ) *}
3373 Declares that @var{external-name} or the exported function whose
3374 ordinal number is @var{integer} is to be imported from the file
3375 @var{module-name}. If @var{internal-name} is specified then this is
3376 the name that the imported function will be referred to in the body of
3379 @item @code{DESCRIPTION} @var{string}
3380 Puts @var{string} into the output @file{.exp} file in the
3381 @code{.rdata} section.
3383 @item @code{STACKSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3384 @item @code{HEAPSIZE} @var{number-reserve} @code{[, } @var{number-commit} @code{]}
3385 Generates @code{--stack} or @code{--heap}
3386 @var{number-reserve},@var{number-commit} in the output @code{.drectve}
3387 section. The linker will see this and act upon it.
3389 @item @code{CODE} @var{attr} @code{+}
3390 @item @code{DATA} @var{attr} @code{+}
3391 @item @code{SECTIONS (} @var{section-name} @var{attr}@code{ + ) *}
3392 Generates @code{--attr} @var{section-name} @var{attr} in the output
3393 @code{.drectve} section, where @var{attr} is one of @code{READ},
3394 @code{WRITE}, @code{EXECUTE} or @code{SHARED}. The linker will see
3395 this and act upon it.
3400 @c man begin SEEALSO dlltool
3401 The Info pages for @file{binutils}.
3408 @cindex ELF file information
3411 @c man title readelf Displays information about ELF files.
3414 @c man begin SYNOPSIS readelf
3415 readelf [@option{-a}|@option{--all}]
3416 [@option{-h}|@option{--file-header}]
3417 [@option{-l}|@option{--program-headers}|@option{--segments}]
3418 [@option{-S}|@option{--section-headers}|@option{--sections}]
3419 [@option{-g}|@option{--section-groups}]
3420 [@option{-t}|@option{--section-details}]
3421 [@option{-e}|@option{--headers}]
3422 [@option{-s}|@option{--syms}|@option{--symbols}]
3423 [@option{-n}|@option{--notes}]
3424 [@option{-r}|@option{--relocs}]
3425 [@option{-u}|@option{--unwind}]
3426 [@option{-d}|@option{--dynamic}]
3427 [@option{-V}|@option{--version-info}]
3428 [@option{-A}|@option{--arch-specific}]
3429 [@option{-D}|@option{--use-dynamic}]
3430 [@option{-x} <number or name>|@option{--hex-dump=}<number or name>]
3431 [@option{-w[liaprmfFsoR]}|
3432 @option{--debug-dump}[=line,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges]]
3433 [@option{-I}|@option{-histogram}]
3434 [@option{-v}|@option{--version}]
3435 [@option{-W}|@option{--wide}]
3436 [@option{-H}|@option{--help}]
3437 @var{elffile}@dots{}
3441 @c man begin DESCRIPTION readelf
3443 @command{readelf} displays information about one or more ELF format object
3444 files. The options control what particular information to display.
3446 @var{elffile}@dots{} are the object files to be examined. 32-bit and
3447 64-bit ELF files are supported, as are archives containing ELF files.
3449 This program performs a similar function to @command{objdump} but it
3450 goes into more detail and it exists independently of the @sc{bfd}
3451 library, so if there is a bug in @sc{bfd} then readelf will not be
3456 @c man begin OPTIONS readelf
3458 The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are
3459 equivalent. At least one option besides @samp{-v} or @samp{-H} must be
3465 Equivalent to specifying @option{--file-header},
3466 @option{--program-headers}, @option{--sections}, @option{--symbols},
3467 @option{--relocs}, @option{--dynamic}, @option{--notes} and
3468 @option{--version-info}.
3471 @itemx --file-header
3472 @cindex ELF file header information
3473 Displays the information contained in the ELF header at the start of the
3477 @itemx --program-headers
3479 @cindex ELF program header information
3480 @cindex ELF segment information
3481 Displays the information contained in the file's segment headers, if it
3486 @itemx --section-headers
3487 @cindex ELF section information
3488 Displays the information contained in the file's section headers, if it
3492 @itemx --section-groups
3493 @cindex ELF section group information
3494 Displays the information contained in the file's section groups, if it
3498 @itemx --section-details
3499 @cindex ELF section information
3500 Displays the detailed section information. Implies @option{-S}.
3505 @cindex ELF symbol table information
3506 Displays the entries in symbol table section of the file, if it has one.
3510 Display all the headers in the file. Equivalent to @option{-h -l -S}.
3515 Displays the contents of the NOTE segments and/or sections, if any.
3519 @cindex ELF reloc information
3520 Displays the contents of the file's relocation section, if it has one.
3524 @cindex unwind information
3525 Displays the contents of the file's unwind section, if it has one. Only
3526 the unwind sections for IA64 ELF files are currently supported.
3530 @cindex ELF dynamic section information
3531 Displays the contents of the file's dynamic section, if it has one.
3534 @itemx --version-info
3535 @cindex ELF version sections informations
3536 Displays the contents of the version sections in the file, it they
3540 @itemx --arch-specific
3541 Displays architecture-specific information in the file, if there
3545 @itemx --use-dynamic
3546 When displaying symbols, this option makes @command{readelf} use the
3547 symbol table in the file's dynamic section, rather than the one in the
3550 @item -x <number or name>
3551 @itemx --hex-dump=<number or name>
3552 Displays the contents of the indicated section as a hexadecimal dump.
3553 A number identifies a particular section by index in the section table;
3554 any other string identifies all sections with that name in the object file.
3556 @item -w[liaprmfFsoR]
3557 @itemx --debug-dump[=line,=info,=abbrev,=pubnames,=aranges,=macro,=frames,=frames-interp,=str,=loc,=Ranges]
3558 Displays the contents of the debug sections in the file, if any are
3559 present. If one of the optional letters or words follows the switch
3560 then only data found in those specific sections will be dumped.
3564 Display a histogram of bucket list lengths when displaying the contents
3565 of the symbol tables.
3569 Display the version number of readelf.
3573 Don't break output lines to fit into 80 columns. By default
3574 @command{readelf} breaks section header and segment listing lines for
3575 64-bit ELF files, so that they fit into 80 columns. This option causes
3576 @command{readelf} to print each section header resp. each segment one a
3577 single line, which is far more readable on terminals wider than 80 columns.
3581 Display the command line options understood by @command{readelf}.
3588 @c man begin SEEALSO readelf
3589 objdump(1), and the Info entries for @file{binutils}.
3593 @node Common Options
3594 @chapter Common Options
3596 The following command-line options are supported by all of the
3597 programs described in this manual.
3599 @c man begin OPTIONS
3601 @include at-file.texi
3605 Display the command-line options supported by the program.
3608 Display the version number of the program.
3610 @c man begin OPTIONS
3614 @node Selecting The Target System
3615 @chapter Selecting the Target System
3617 You can specify two aspects of the target system to the @sc{gnu}
3618 binary file utilities, each in several ways:
3628 In the following summaries, the lists of ways to specify values are in
3629 order of decreasing precedence. The ways listed first override those
3632 The commands to list valid values only list the values for which the
3633 programs you are running were configured. If they were configured with
3634 @option{--enable-targets=all}, the commands list most of the available
3635 values, but a few are left out; not all targets can be configured in at
3636 once because some of them can only be configured @dfn{native} (on hosts
3637 with the same type as the target system).
3640 * Target Selection::
3641 * Architecture Selection::
3644 @node Target Selection
3645 @section Target Selection
3647 A @dfn{target} is an object file format. A given target may be
3648 supported for multiple architectures (@pxref{Architecture Selection}).
3649 A target selection may also have variations for different operating
3650 systems or architectures.
3652 The command to list valid target values is @samp{objdump -i}
3653 (the first column of output contains the relevant information).
3655 Some sample values are: @samp{a.out-hp300bsd}, @samp{ecoff-littlemips},
3656 @samp{a.out-sunos-big}.
3658 You can also specify a target using a configuration triplet. This is
3659 the same sort of name that is passed to @file{configure} to specify a
3660 target. When you use a configuration triplet as an argument, it must be
3661 fully canonicalized. You can see the canonical version of a triplet by
3662 running the shell script @file{config.sub} which is included with the
3665 Some sample configuration triplets are: @samp{m68k-hp-bsd},
3666 @samp{mips-dec-ultrix}, @samp{sparc-sun-sunos}.
3668 @subheading @command{objdump} Target
3674 command line option: @option{-b} or @option{--target}
3677 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3680 deduced from the input file
3683 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target
3689 command line options: @option{-I} or @option{--input-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
3692 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3695 deduced from the input file
3698 @subheading @command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Output Target
3704 command line options: @option{-O} or @option{--output-target}, or @option{-F} or @option{--target}
3707 the input target (see ``@command{objcopy} and @command{strip} Input Target'' above)
3710 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3713 deduced from the input file
3716 @subheading @command{nm}, @command{size}, and @command{strings} Target
3722 command line option: @option{--target}
3725 environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}
3728 deduced from the input file
3731 @node Architecture Selection
3732 @section Architecture Selection
3734 An @dfn{architecture} is a type of @sc{cpu} on which an object file is
3735 to run. Its name may contain a colon, separating the name of the
3736 processor family from the name of the particular @sc{cpu}.
3738 The command to list valid architecture values is @samp{objdump -i} (the
3739 second column contains the relevant information).
3741 Sample values: @samp{m68k:68020}, @samp{mips:3000}, @samp{sparc}.
3743 @subheading @command{objdump} Architecture
3749 command line option: @option{-m} or @option{--architecture}
3752 deduced from the input file
3755 @subheading @command{objcopy}, @command{nm}, @command{size}, @command{strings} Architecture
3761 deduced from the input file
3764 @node Reporting Bugs
3765 @chapter Reporting Bugs
3767 @cindex reporting bugs
3769 Your bug reports play an essential role in making the binary utilities
3772 Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or
3773 it may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is
3774 to help the entire community by making the next version of the binary
3775 utilities work better. Bug reports are your contribution to their
3778 In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
3779 information that enables us to fix the bug.
3782 * Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?
3783 * Bug Reporting:: How to report bugs
3787 @section Have You Found a Bug?
3788 @cindex bug criteria
3790 If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
3793 @cindex fatal signal
3796 If a binary utility gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is
3797 a bug. Reliable utilities never crash.
3799 @cindex error on valid input
3801 If a binary utility produces an error message for valid input, that is a
3805 If you are an experienced user of binary utilities, your suggestions for
3806 improvement are welcome in any case.
3810 @section How to Report Bugs
3812 @cindex bugs, reporting
3814 A number of companies and individuals offer support for @sc{gnu}
3815 products. If you obtained the binary utilities from a support
3816 organization, we recommend you contact that organization first.
3818 You can find contact information for many support companies and
3819 individuals in the file @file{etc/SERVICE} in the @sc{gnu} Emacs
3823 In any event, we also recommend that you send bug reports for the binary
3824 utilities to @value{BUGURL}.
3827 The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
3828 @strong{report all the facts}. If you are not sure whether to state a
3829 fact or leave it out, state it!
3831 Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
3832 problem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might
3833 assume that the name of a file you use in an example does not matter.
3834 Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is
3835 a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location where
3836 that pathname is stored in memory; perhaps, if the pathname were
3837 different, the contents of that location would fool the utility into
3838 doing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give a
3839 specific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do,
3840 and the most helpful.
3842 Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the bug if
3843 it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reports on the assumption
3844 that the bug has not been reported previously.
3846 Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a
3847 bell?'' This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless. We
3848 respond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate.
3849 You might as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.
3851 To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
3855 The version of the utility. Each utility announces it if you start it
3856 with the @option{--version} argument.
3858 Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
3859 the bug in the current version of the binary utilities.
3862 Any patches you may have applied to the source, including any patches
3863 made to the @code{BFD} library.
3866 The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
3870 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the utilities---e.g.
3874 The command arguments you gave the utility to observe the bug. To
3875 guarantee you will not omit something important, list them all. A copy
3876 of the Makefile (or the output from make) is sufficient.
3878 If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
3879 and then we might not encounter the bug.
3882 A complete input file, or set of input files, that will reproduce the
3883 bug. If the utility is reading an object file or files, then it is
3884 generally most helpful to send the actual object files.
3886 If the source files were produced exclusively using @sc{gnu} programs
3887 (e.g., @command{gcc}, @command{gas}, and/or the @sc{gnu} @command{ld}), then it
3888 may be OK to send the source files rather than the object files. In
3889 this case, be sure to say exactly what version of @command{gcc}, or
3890 whatever, was used to produce the object files. Also say how
3891 @command{gcc}, or whatever, was configured.
3894 A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
3895 incorrect. For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
3897 Of course, if the bug is that the utility gets a fatal signal, then we
3898 will certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might
3899 not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us
3900 a chance to make a mistake.
3902 Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
3903 say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as your
3904 copy of the utility is out of sync, or you have encountered a bug in
3905 the C library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might
3906 crash and ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when
3907 ours fails to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for
3908 us. If you had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able
3909 to draw any conclusion from our observations.
3912 If you wish to suggest changes to the source, send us context diffs, as
3913 generated by @command{diff} with the @option{-u}, @option{-c}, or @option{-p}
3914 option. Always send diffs from the old file to the new file. If you
3915 wish to discuss something in the @command{ld} source, refer to it by
3916 context, not by line number.
3918 The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
3919 sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
3922 Here are some things that are not necessary:
3926 A description of the envelope of the bug.
3928 Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
3929 which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
3930 changes will not affect it.
3932 This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we
3933 will find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger
3934 with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples.
3935 We recommend that you save your time for something else.
3937 Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report @emph{instead}
3938 of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the
3939 output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
3940 less time, and so on.
3942 However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
3943 report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
3946 A patch for the bug.
3948 A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
3949 the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
3950 a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
3951 to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
3953 Sometimes with programs as complicated as the binary utilities it is
3954 very hard to construct an example that will make the program follow a
3955 certain path through the code. If you do not send us the example, we
3956 will not be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that
3959 And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
3960 patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
3961 help us to understand.
3964 A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
3966 Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
3967 things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
3972 @node Binutils Index
3973 @unnumbered Binutils Index