\input texinfo
@setfilename ld.info
-@c Copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
-@c 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Copyright (C) 1991-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@syncodeindex ky cp
@c man begin INCLUDE
@include configdoc.texi
@c Configure for the generation of man pages
@set UsesEnvVars
@set GENERIC
-@set ARC
@set ARM
-@set D10V
-@set D30V
-@set H8/300
-@set H8/500
+@set C6X
+@set H8300
@set HPPA
-@set I370
-@set I80386
-@set I860
@set I960
-@set M32R
@set M68HC11
-@set M680X0
-@set MCORE
+@set M68K
@set MIPS
@set MMIX
@set MSP430
-@set PDP11
-@set PJ
+@set NDS32
+@set NIOSII
@set POWERPC
@set POWERPC64
-@set SH
-@set SPARC
-@set TIC54X
-@set V850
-@set VAX
+@set Renesas
+@set SPU
+@set TICOFF
@set WIN32
@set XTENSA
@end ifset
@c man end
-@ifinfo
-@format
-START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
+@ifnottex
+@dircategory Software development
+@direntry
* Ld: (ld). The GNU linker.
-END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
-@end format
-@end ifinfo
-
-@ifinfo
-This file documents the @sc{gnu} linker LD version @value{VERSION}.
+@end direntry
+@end ifnottex
-Copyright (C) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000,
-2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@copying
+This file documents the @sc{gnu} linker LD
+@ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
+@value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
+@end ifset
+version @value{VERSION}.
-@ignore
+Copyright @copyright{} 1991-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
-under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
+under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
-
-Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
-results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
-notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
-(this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
-
-@end ignore
-@end ifinfo
+@end copying
@iftex
@finalout
@setchapternewpage odd
@titlepage
@title The GNU linker
@sp 1
-@subtitle @code{ld} version 2
+@subtitle @code{ld}
+@ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
+@subtitle @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
+@end ifset
@subtitle Version @value{VERSION}
@author Steve Chamberlain
@author Ian Lance Taylor
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@c man begin COPYRIGHT
-Copyright @copyright{} 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001,
-2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright @copyright{} 1991-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
-under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
+under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the
@end titlepage
@end iftex
+@contents
@c FIXME: Talk about importance of *order* of args, cmds to linker!
@ifnottex
@node Top
@top LD
-This file documents the @sc{gnu} linker ld version @value{VERSION}.
+This file documents the @sc{gnu} linker ld
+@ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
+@value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
+@end ifset
+version @value{VERSION}.
This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU Free
-Documentation License. A copy of the license is included in the
-section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
+Documentation License version 1.3. A copy of the license is included
+in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
@menu
* Overview:: Overview
@ifset ARM
* ARM:: ld and the ARM family
@end ifset
+@ifset M68HC11
+* M68HC11/68HC12:: ld and the Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 families
+@end ifset
@ifset HPPA
* HPPA ELF32:: ld and HPPA 32-bit ELF
@end ifset
-@ifset M68HC11
-* M68HC11/68HC12:: ld and the Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 families
+@ifset M68K
+* M68K:: ld and Motorola 68K family
+@end ifset
+@ifset MIPS
+* MIPS:: ld and MIPS family
@end ifset
@ifset POWERPC
* PowerPC ELF32:: ld and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support
@ifset POWERPC64
* PowerPC64 ELF64:: ld and PowerPC64 64-bit ELF Support
@end ifset
+@ifset SPU
+* SPU ELF:: ld and SPU ELF Support
+@end ifset
@ifset TICOFF
* TI COFF:: ld and the TI COFF
@end ifset
linker script or the one specified by using @samp{-T}). This feature
permits the linker to link against a file which appears to be an object
or an archive, but actually merely defines some symbol values, or uses
-@code{INPUT} or @code{GROUP} to load other objects. Note that
-specifying a script in this way merely augments the main linker script;
-use the @samp{-T} option to replace the default linker script entirely.
-@xref{Scripts}.
+@code{INPUT} or @code{GROUP} to load other objects. Specifying a
+script in this way merely augments the main linker script, with the
+extra commands placed after the main script; use the @samp{-T} option
+to replace the default linker script entirely, but note the effect of
+the @code{INSERT} command. @xref{Scripts}.
For options whose names are a single letter,
option arguments must either follow the option letter without intervening
compiler driver) like this:
@smallexample
- gcc -Wl,--startgroup foo.o bar.o -Wl,--endgroup
+ gcc -Wl,--start-group foo.o bar.o -Wl,--end-group
@end smallexample
This is important, because otherwise the compiler driver program may
-silently drop the linker options, resulting in a bad link.
+silently drop the linker options, resulting in a bad link. Confusion
+may also arise when passing options that require values through a
+driver, as the use of a space between option and argument acts as
+a separator, and causes the driver to pass only the option to the linker
+and the argument to the compiler. In this case, it is simplest to use
+the joined forms of both single- and multiple-letter options, such as:
+
+@smallexample
+ gcc foo.o bar.o -Wl,-eENTRY -Wl,-Map=a.map
+@end smallexample
Here is a table of the generic command line switches accepted by the GNU
linker:
@table @gcctabopt
@include at-file.texi
-@kindex -a@var{keyword}
-@item -a@var{keyword}
+@kindex -a @var{keyword}
+@item -a @var{keyword}
This option is supported for HP/UX compatibility. The @var{keyword}
argument must be one of the strings @samp{archive}, @samp{shared}, or
@samp{default}. @samp{-aarchive} is functionally equivalent to
@samp{-Bstatic}, and the other two keywords are functionally equivalent
to @samp{-Bdynamic}. This option may be used any number of times.
+@kindex --audit @var{AUDITLIB}
+@item --audit @var{AUDITLIB}
+Adds @var{AUDITLIB} to the @code{DT_AUDIT} entry of the dynamic section.
+@var{AUDITLIB} is not checked for existence, nor will it use the DT_SONAME
+specified in the library. If specified multiple times @code{DT_AUDIT}
+will contain a colon separated list of audit interfaces to use. If the linker
+finds an object with an audit entry while searching for shared libraries,
+it will add a corresponding @code{DT_DEPAUDIT} entry in the output file.
+This option is only meaningful on ELF platforms supporting the rtld-audit
+interface.
+
@ifset I960
@cindex architectures
-@kindex -A@var{arch}
-@item -A@var{architecture}
+@kindex -A @var{arch}
+@item -A @var{architecture}
@kindex --architecture=@var{arch}
@itemx --architecture=@var{architecture}
In the current release of @command{ld}, this option is useful only for the
script command @code{FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION} has the same effect.
@xref{Miscellaneous Commands}.
+@kindex --depaudit @var{AUDITLIB}
+@kindex -P @var{AUDITLIB}
+@item --depaudit @var{AUDITLIB}
+@itemx -P @var{AUDITLIB}
+Adds @var{AUDITLIB} to the @code{DT_DEPAUDIT} entry of the dynamic section.
+@var{AUDITLIB} is not checked for existence, nor will it use the DT_SONAME
+specified in the library. If specified multiple times @code{DT_DEPAUDIT}
+will contain a colon separated list of audit interfaces to use. This
+option is only meaningful on ELF platforms supporting the rtld-audit interface.
+The -P option is provided for Solaris compatibility.
+
@cindex entry point, from command line
@kindex -e @var{entry}
@kindex --entry=@var{entry}
@kindex --exclude-libs
@item --exclude-libs @var{lib},@var{lib},...
Specifies a list of archive libraries from which symbols should not be automatically
-exported. The library names may be delimited by commas or colons. Specifying
+exported. The library names may be delimited by commas or colons. Specifying
@code{--exclude-libs ALL} excludes symbols in all archive libraries from
automatic export. This option is available only for the i386 PE targeted
port of the linker and for ELF targeted ports. For i386 PE, symbols
option. For ELF targeted ports, symbols affected by this option will
be treated as hidden.
+@kindex --exclude-modules-for-implib
+@item --exclude-modules-for-implib @var{module},@var{module},...
+Specifies a list of object files or archive members, from which symbols
+should not be automatically exported, but which should be copied wholesale
+into the import library being generated during the link. The module names
+may be delimited by commas or colons, and must match exactly the filenames
+used by @command{ld} to open the files; for archive members, this is simply
+the member name, but for object files the name listed must include and
+match precisely any path used to specify the input file on the linker's
+command-line. This option is available only for the i386 PE targeted port
+of the linker. Symbols explicitly listed in a .def file are still exported,
+regardless of this option.
+
@cindex dynamic symbol table
@kindex -E
@kindex --export-dynamic
+@kindex --no-export-dynamic
@item -E
@itemx --export-dynamic
-When creating a dynamically linked executable, add all symbols to the
-dynamic symbol table. The dynamic symbol table is the set of symbols
-which are visible from dynamic objects at run time.
+@itemx --no-export-dynamic
+When creating a dynamically linked executable, using the @option{-E}
+option or the @option{--export-dynamic} option causes the linker to add
+all symbols to the dynamic symbol table. The dynamic symbol table is the
+set of symbols which are visible from dynamic objects at run time.
-If you do not use this option, the dynamic symbol table will normally
-contain only those symbols which are referenced by some dynamic object
-mentioned in the link.
+If you do not use either of these options (or use the
+@option{--no-export-dynamic} option to restore the default behavior), the
+dynamic symbol table will normally contain only those symbols which are
+referenced by some dynamic object mentioned in the link.
If you use @code{dlopen} to load a dynamic object which needs to refer
back to the symbols defined by the program, rather than some other
be added to the dynamic symbol table if the output format supports it.
See the description of @samp{--dynamic-list}.
+Note that this option is specific to ELF targeted ports. PE targets
+support a similar function to export all symbols from a DLL or EXE; see
+the description of @samp{--export-all-symbols} below.
+
@ifclear SingleFormat
@cindex big-endian objects
@cindex endianness
Link little-endian objects. This affects the default output format.
@end ifclear
-@kindex -f
-@kindex --auxiliary
-@item -f
-@itemx --auxiliary @var{name}
+@kindex -f @var{name}
+@kindex --auxiliary=@var{name}
+@item -f @var{name}
+@itemx --auxiliary=@var{name}
When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_AUXILIARY field
to the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol
table of the shared object should be used as an auxiliary filter on the
This option may be specified more than once. The DT_AUXILIARY entries
will be created in the order in which they appear on the command line.
-@kindex -F
-@kindex --filter
+@kindex -F @var{name}
+@kindex --filter=@var{name}
@item -F @var{name}
-@itemx --filter @var{name}
+@itemx --filter=@var{name}
When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_FILTER field to
the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol table
of the shared object which is being created should be used as a filter
creating an ELF shared object.
@cindex finalization function
-@kindex -fini
-@item -fini @var{name}
+@kindex -fini=@var{name}
+@item -fini=@var{name}
When creating an ELF executable or shared object, call NAME when the
executable or shared object is unloaded, by setting DT_FINI to the
address of the function. By default, the linker uses @code{_fini} as
@item -g
Ignored. Provided for compatibility with other tools.
-@kindex -G
-@kindex --gpsize
+@kindex -G @var{value}
+@kindex --gpsize=@var{value}
@cindex object size
-@item -G@var{value}
+@item -G @var{value}
@itemx --gpsize=@var{value}
Set the maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GP register to
@var{size}. This is only meaningful for object file formats such as
-MIPS ECOFF which supports putting large and small objects into different
+MIPS ELF that support putting large and small objects into different
sections. This is ignored for other object file formats.
@cindex runtime library name
-@kindex -h@var{name}
+@kindex -h @var{name}
@kindex -soname=@var{name}
-@item -h@var{name}
+@item -h @var{name}
@itemx -soname=@var{name}
When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_SONAME field to
the specified name. When an executable is linked with a shared object
Perform an incremental link (same as option @samp{-r}).
@cindex initialization function
-@kindex -init
-@item -init @var{name}
+@kindex -init=@var{name}
+@item -init=@var{name}
When creating an ELF executable or shared object, call NAME when the
executable or shared object is loaded, by setting DT_INIT to the address
of the function. By default, the linker uses @code{_init} as the
function to call.
@cindex archive files, from cmd line
-@kindex -l@var{archive}
-@kindex --library=@var{archive}
-@item -l@var{archive}
-@itemx --library=@var{archive}
-Add archive file @var{archive} to the list of files to link. This
-option may be used any number of times. @command{ld} will search its
-path-list for occurrences of @code{lib@var{archive}.a} for every
-@var{archive} specified.
+@kindex -l @var{namespec}
+@kindex --library=@var{namespec}
+@item -l @var{namespec}
+@itemx --library=@var{namespec}
+Add the archive or object file specified by @var{namespec} to the
+list of files to link. This option may be used any number of times.
+If @var{namespec} is of the form @file{:@var{filename}}, @command{ld}
+will search the library path for a file called @var{filename}, otherwise it
+will search the library path for a file called @file{lib@var{namespec}.a}.
On systems which support shared libraries, @command{ld} may also search for
-libraries with extensions other than @code{.a}. Specifically, on ELF
-and SunOS systems, @command{ld} will search a directory for a library with
-an extension of @code{.so} before searching for one with an extension of
-@code{.a}. By convention, a @code{.so} extension indicates a shared
-library.
+files other than @file{lib@var{namespec}.a}. Specifically, on ELF
+and SunOS systems, @command{ld} will search a directory for a library
+called @file{lib@var{namespec}.so} before searching for one called
+@file{lib@var{namespec}.a}. (By convention, a @code{.so} extension
+indicates a shared library.) Note that this behavior does not apply
+to @file{:@var{filename}}, which always specifies a file called
+@var{filename}.
The linker will search an archive only once, at the location where it is
specified on the command line. If the archive defines a symbol which
@end ifset
@cindex search directory, from cmd line
-@kindex -L@var{dir}
+@kindex -L @var{dir}
@kindex --library-path=@var{dir}
-@item -L@var{searchdir}
+@item -L @var{searchdir}
@itemx --library-path=@var{searchdir}
Add path @var{searchdir} to the list of paths that @command{ld} will search
for archive libraries and @command{ld} control scripts. You may use this
in which they are specified on the command line. Directories specified
on the command line are searched before the default directories. All
@option{-L} options apply to all @option{-l} options, regardless of the
-order in which the options appear.
+order in which the options appear. @option{-L} options do not affect
+how @command{ld} searches for a linker script unless @option{-T}
+option is specified.
If @var{searchdir} begins with @code{=}, then the @code{=} will be replaced
-by the @dfn{sysroot prefix}, a path specified when the linker is configured.
+by the @dfn{sysroot prefix}, controlled by the @samp{--sysroot} option, or
+specified when the linker is configured.
@ifset UsesEnvVars
The default set of paths searched (without being specified with
@cindex emulation
@kindex -m @var{emulation}
-@item -m@var{emulation}
+@item -m @var{emulation}
Emulate the @var{emulation} linker. You can list the available
emulations with the @samp{--verbose} or @samp{-V} options.
@kindex --nmagic
@item -n
@itemx --nmagic
-Turn off page alignment of sections, and mark the output as
-@code{NMAGIC} if possible.
+Turn off page alignment of sections, and disable linking against shared
+libraries. If the output format supports Unix style magic numbers,
+mark the output as @code{NMAGIC}.
@kindex -N
@kindex --omagic
@item -O @var{level}
If @var{level} is a numeric values greater than zero @command{ld} optimizes
the output. This might take significantly longer and therefore probably
-should only be enabled for the final binary.
+should only be enabled for the final binary. At the moment this
+option only affects ELF shared library generation. Future releases of
+the linker may make more use of this option. Also currently there is
+no difference in the linker's behaviour for different non-zero values
+of this option. Again this may change with future releases.
+
+@kindex --push-state
+@cindex push state governing input file handling
+@item --push-state
+The @option{--push-state} allows to preserve the current state of the
+flags which govern the input file handling so that they can all be
+restored with one corresponding @option{--pop-state} option.
+
+The option which are covered are: @option{-Bdynamic}, @option{-Bstatic},
+@option{-dn}, @option{-dy}, @option{-call_shared}, @option{-non_shared},
+@option{-static}, @option{-N}, @option{-n}, @option{--whole-archive},
+@option{--no-whole-archive}, @option{-r}, @option{-Ur},
+@option{--copy-dt-needed-entries}, @option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries},
+@option{--as-needed}, @option{--no-as-needed}, and @option{-a}.
+
+One target for this option are specifications for @file{pkg-config}. When
+used with the @option{--libs} option all possibly needed libraries are
+listed and then possibly linked with all the time. It is better to return
+something as follows:
+
+@smallexample
+-Wl,--push-state,--as-needed -libone -libtwo -Wl,--pop-state
+@end smallexample
+
+@kindex --pop-state
+@cindex pop state governing input file handling
+Undoes the effect of --push-state, restores the previous values of the
+flags governing input file handling.
@kindex -q
@kindex --emit-relocs
different option arguments to enter additional undefined symbols. This
option is equivalent to the @code{EXTERN} linker script command.
+If this option is being used to force additional modules to be pulled
+into the link, and if it is an error for the symbol to remain
+undefined, then the option @option{--require-defined} should be used
+instead.
+
+@kindex --require-defined=@var{symbol}
+@cindex symbols, require defined
+@cindex defined symbol
+@item --require-defined=@var{symbol}
+Require that @var{symbol} is defined in the output file. This option
+is the same as option @option{--undefined} except that if @var{symbol}
+is not defined in the output file then the linker will issue an error
+and exit. The same effect can be achieved in a linker script by using
+@code{EXTERN}, @code{ASSERT} and @code{DEFINED} together. This option
+can be used multiple times to require additional symbols.
+
@kindex -Ur
@cindex constructors
@item -Ur
be added to. Use @samp{-Ur} only for the last partial link, and
@samp{-r} for the others.
+@kindex --orphan-handling=@var{MODE}
+@cindex orphan sections
+@cindex sections, orphan
+@item --orphan-handling=@var{MODE}
+Control how orphan sections are handled. An orphan section is one not
+specifically mentioned in a linker script. @xref{Orphan Sections}.
+
+@var{MODE} can have any of the following values:
+
+@table @code
+@item place
+Orphan sections are placed into a suitable output section following
+the strategy described in @ref{Orphan Sections}. The option
+@samp{--unique} also effects how sections are placed.
+
+@item discard
+All orphan sections are discarded, by placing them in the
+@samp{/DISCARD/} section (@pxref{Output Section Discarding}).
+
+@item warn
+The linker will place the orphan section as for @code{place} and also
+issue a warning.
+
+@item error
+The linker will exit with an error if any orphan section is found.
+@end table
+
+The default if @samp{--orphan-handling} is not given is @code{place}.
+
@kindex --unique[=@var{SECTION}]
@item --unique[=@var{SECTION}]
Creates a separate output section for every input section matching
Combines multiple reloc sections and sorts them to make dynamic symbol
lookup caching possible.
+@item common
+Generate common symbols with the STT_COMMON type druing a relocatable
+link.
+
@item defs
Disallows undefined symbols in object files. Undefined symbols in
shared libraries are still allowed.
@item execstack
Marks the object as requiring executable stack.
+@item global
+This option is only meaningful when building a shared object. It makes
+the symbols defined by this shared object available for symbol resolution
+of subsequently loaded libraries.
+
@item initfirst
This option is only meaningful when building a shared object.
It marks the object so that its runtime initialization will occur
@item nocombreloc
Disables multiple reloc sections combining.
+@item nocommon
+Generate common symbols with the STT_OBJECT type druing a relocatable
+link.
+
@item nocopyreloc
-Disables production of copy relocs.
+Disable linker generated .dynbss variables used in place of variables
+defined in shared libraries. May result in dynamic text relocations.
@item nodefaultlib
Marks the object that the search for dependencies of this object will
@item noexecstack
Marks the object as not requiring executable stack.
+@item text
+Treat DT_TEXTREL in shared object as error.
+
+@item notext
+Don't treat DT_TEXTREL in shared object as error.
+
+@item textoff
+Don't treat DT_TEXTREL in shared object as error.
+
@item norelro
Don't create an ELF @code{PT_GNU_RELRO} segment header in the object.
@item common-page-size=@var{value}
Set the emulation common page size to @var{value}.
+@item stack-size=@var{value}
+Specify a stack size for in an ELF @code{PT_GNU_STACK} segment.
+Specifying zero will override any default non-zero sized
+@code{PT_GNU_STACK} segment creation.
+
+@item bndplt
+Always generate BND prefix in PLT entries. Supported for Linux/x86_64.
+
+@item noextern-protected-data
+Don't treat protected data symbol as external when building shared
+library. This option overrides linker backend default. It can be used
+to workaround incorrect relocations against protected data symbols
+generated by compiler. Updates on protected data symbols by another
+module aren't visible to the resulting shared library. Supported for
+i386 and x86-64.
+
+@item nodynamic-undefined-weak
+Don't treat undefined weak symbols as dynamic when building executable.
+This option overrides linker backend default. It can be used to avoid
+dynamic relocations against undefined weak symbols in executable.
+Supported for i386 and x86-64.
+
+@item noreloc-overflow
+Disable relocation overflow check. This can be used to disable
+relocation overflow check if there will be no dynamic relocation
+overflow at run-time. Supported for x86_64.
+
+@item call-nop=prefix-addr
+@itemx call-nop=prefix-nop
+@itemx call-nop=suffix-nop
+@itemx call-nop=prefix-@var{byte}
+@itemx call-nop=suffix-@var{byte}
+Specify the 1-byte @code{NOP} padding when transforming indirect call
+to a locally defined function, foo, via its GOT slot.
+@option{call-nop=prefix-addr} generates @code{0x67 call foo}.
+@option{call-nop=prefix-nop} generates @code{0x90 call foo}.
+@option{call-nop=suffix-nop} generates @code{call foo 0x90}.
+@option{call-nop=prefix-@var{byte}} generates @code{@var{byte} call foo}.
+@option{call-nop=suffix-@var{byte}} generates @code{call foo @var{byte}}.
+Supported for i386 and x86_64.
+
@end table
Other keywords are ignored for Solaris compatibility.
@item --as-needed
@itemx --no-as-needed
This option affects ELF DT_NEEDED tags for dynamic libraries mentioned
-on the command line after the @option{--as-needed} option. Normally,
+on the command line after the @option{--as-needed} option. Normally
the linker will add a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library mentioned
on the command line, regardless of whether the library is actually
-needed. @option{--as-needed} causes DT_NEEDED tags to only be emitted
-for libraries that satisfy some symbol reference from regular objects
-which is undefined at the point that the library was linked.
-@option{--no-as-needed} restores the default behaviour.
+needed or not. @option{--as-needed} causes a DT_NEEDED tag to only be
+emitted for a library that @emph{at that point in the link} satisfies a
+non-weak undefined symbol reference from a regular object file or, if
+the library is not found in the DT_NEEDED lists of other needed libraries, a
+non-weak undefined symbol reference from another needed dynamic library.
+Object files or libraries appearing on the command line @emph{after}
+the library in question do not affect whether the library is seen as
+needed. This is similar to the rules for extraction of object files
+from archives. @option{--no-as-needed} restores the default behaviour.
@kindex --add-needed
@kindex --no-add-needed
@item --add-needed
@itemx --no-add-needed
-This option affects the treatment of dynamic libraries from ELF
-DT_NEEDED tags in dynamic libraries mentioned on the command line after
-the @option{--no-add-needed} option. Normally, the linker will add
-a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library from DT_NEEDED tags.
-@option{--no-add-needed} causes DT_NEEDED tags will never be emitted
-for those libraries from DT_NEEDED tags. @option{--add-needed} restores
-the default behaviour.
+These two options have been deprecated because of the similarity of
+their names to the @option{--as-needed} and @option{--no-as-needed}
+options. They have been replaced by @option{--copy-dt-needed-entries}
+and @option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries}.
@kindex -assert @var{keyword}
@item -assert @var{keyword}
When creating a shared library, bind references to global symbols to the
definition within the shared library, if any. Normally, it is possible
for a program linked against a shared library to override the definition
-within the shared library. This option is only meaningful on ELF
-platforms which support shared libraries.
+within the shared library. This option can also be used with the
+@option{--export-dynamic} option, when creating a position independent
+executable, to bind references to global symbols to the definition within
+the executable. This option is only meaningful on ELF platforms which
+support shared libraries and position independent executables.
@kindex -Bsymbolic-functions
@item -Bsymbolic-functions
When creating a shared library, bind references to global function
-symbols to the definition within the shared library, if any.
+symbols to the definition within the shared library, if any.
+This option can also be used with the @option{--export-dynamic} option,
+when creating a position independent executable, to bind references
+to global function symbols to the definition within the executable.
This option is only meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared
-libraries.
+libraries and position independent executables.
@kindex --dynamic-list=@var{dynamic-list-file}
@item --dynamic-list=@var{dynamic-list-file}
suitable error messages. The linker does know about, and does make
allowances for sections in overlays. The default behaviour can be
restored by using the command line switch @option{--check-sections}.
+Section overlap is not usually checked for relocatable links. You can
+force checking in that case by using the @option{--check-sections}
+option.
+
+@kindex --copy-dt-needed-entries
+@kindex --no-copy-dt-needed-entries
+@item --copy-dt-needed-entries
+@itemx --no-copy-dt-needed-entries
+This option affects the treatment of dynamic libraries referred to
+by DT_NEEDED tags @emph{inside} ELF dynamic libraries mentioned on the
+command line. Normally the linker won't add a DT_NEEDED tag to the
+output binary for each library mentioned in a DT_NEEDED tag in an
+input dynamic library. With @option{--copy-dt-needed-entries}
+specified on the command line however any dynamic libraries that
+follow it will have their DT_NEEDED entries added. The default
+behaviour can be restored with @option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries}.
+
+This option also has an effect on the resolution of symbols in dynamic
+libraries. With @option{--copy-dt-needed-entries} dynamic libraries
+mentioned on the command line will be recursively searched, following
+their DT_NEEDED tags to other libraries, in order to resolve symbols
+required by the output binary. With the default setting however
+the searching of dynamic libraries that follow it will stop with the
+dynamic library itself. No DT_NEEDED links will be traversed to resolve
+symbols.
@cindex cross reference table
@kindex --cref
easily processed by a script if necessary. The symbols are printed out,
sorted by name. For each symbol, a list of file names is given. If the
symbol is defined, the first file listed is the location of the
-definition. The remaining files contain references to the symbol.
+definition. If the symbol is defined as a common value then any files
+where this happens appear next. Finally any files that reference the
+symbol are listed.
@cindex common allocation
@kindex --no-define-common
paths for runtime symbol resolution.
@cindex symbols, from command line
-@kindex --defsym @var{symbol}=@var{exp}
-@item --defsym @var{symbol}=@var{expression}
+@kindex --defsym=@var{symbol}=@var{exp}
+@item --defsym=@var{symbol}=@var{expression}
Create a global symbol in the output file, containing the absolute
address given by @var{expression}. You may use this option as many
times as necessary to define multiple symbols in the command line. A
context: you may give a hexadecimal constant or the name of an existing
symbol, or use @code{+} and @code{-} to add or subtract hexadecimal
constants or symbols. If you need more elaborate expressions, consider
-using the linker command language from a script (@pxref{Assignments,,
-Assignment: Symbol Definitions}). @emph{Note:} there should be no white
-space between @var{symbol}, the equals sign (``@key{=}''), and
-@var{expression}.
+using the linker command language from a script (@pxref{Assignments}).
+@emph{Note:} there should be no white space between @var{symbol}, the
+equals sign (``@key{=}''), and @var{expression}.
@cindex demangling, from command line
@kindex --demangle[=@var{style}]
@cindex dynamic linker, from command line
@kindex -I@var{file}
-@kindex --dynamic-linker @var{file}
-@item --dynamic-linker @var{file}
+@kindex --dynamic-linker=@var{file}
+@item -I@var{file}
+@itemx --dynamic-linker=@var{file}
Set the name of the dynamic linker. This is only meaningful when
generating dynamically linked ELF executables. The default dynamic
linker is normally correct; don't use this unless you know what you are
doing.
+@kindex --no-dynamic-linker
+@item --no-dynamic-linker
+When producing an executable file, omit the request for a dynamic
+linker to be used at load-time. This is only meaningful for ELF
+executables that contain dynamic relocations, and usually requires
+entry point code that is capable of processing these relocations.
@kindex --fatal-warnings
+@kindex --no-fatal-warnings
@item --fatal-warnings
-Treat all warnings as errors.
+@itemx --no-fatal-warnings
+Treat all warnings as errors. The default behaviour can be restored
+with the option @option{--no-fatal-warnings}.
@kindex --force-exe-suffix
@item --force-exe-suffix
@item --gc-sections
@itemx --no-gc-sections
Enable garbage collection of unused input sections. It is ignored on
-targets that do not support this option. This option is not compatible
-with @samp{-r} or @samp{--emit-relocs}. The default behaviour (of not
+targets that do not support this option. The default behaviour (of not
performing this garbage collection) can be restored by specifying
-@samp{--no-gc-sections} on the command line.
+@samp{--no-gc-sections} on the command line. Note that garbage
+collection for COFF and PE format targets is supported, but the
+implementation is currently considered to be experimental.
+
+@samp{--gc-sections} decides which input sections are used by
+examining symbols and relocations. The section containing the entry
+symbol and all sections containing symbols undefined on the
+command-line will be kept, as will sections containing symbols
+referenced by dynamic objects. Note that when building shared
+libraries, the linker must assume that any visible symbol is
+referenced. Once this initial set of sections has been determined,
+the linker recursively marks as used any section referenced by their
+relocations. See @samp{--entry} and @samp{--undefined}.
+
+This option can be set when doing a partial link (enabled with option
+@samp{-r}). In this case the root of symbols kept must be explicitly
+specified either by an @samp{--entry} or @samp{--undefined} option or by
+a @code{ENTRY} command in the linker script.
@kindex --print-gc-sections
@kindex --no-print-gc-sections
be restored by specifying @samp{--no-print-gc-sections} on the command
line.
+@kindex --print-output-format
+@cindex output format
+@item --print-output-format
+Print the name of the default output format (perhaps influenced by
+other command-line options). This is the string that would appear
+in an @code{OUTPUT_FORMAT} linker script command (@pxref{File Commands}).
+
+@kindex --print-memory-usage
+@cindex memory usage
+@item --print-memory-usage
+Print used size, total size and used size of memory regions created with
+the @ref{MEMORY} command. This is useful on embedded targets to have a
+quick view of amount of free memory. The format of the output has one
+headline and one line per region. It is both human readable and easily
+parsable by tools. Here is an example of an output:
+
+@smallexample
+Memory region Used Size Region Size %age Used
+ ROM: 256 KB 1 MB 25.00%
+ RAM: 32 B 2 GB 0.00%
+@end smallexample
+
@cindex help
@cindex usage
@kindex --help
@item --target-help
Print a summary of all target specific options on the standard output and exit.
-@kindex -Map
-@item -Map @var{mapfile}
+@kindex -Map=@var{mapfile}
+@item -Map=@var{mapfile}
Print a link map to the file @var{mapfile}. See the description of the
@option{-M} option, above.
@kindex --no-allow-shlib-undefined
@item --allow-shlib-undefined
@itemx --no-allow-shlib-undefined
-Allows (the default) or disallows undefined symbols in shared libraries.
+Allows or disallows undefined symbols in shared libraries.
This switch is similar to @option{--no-undefined} except that it
determines the behaviour when the undefined symbols are in a
shared library rather than a regular object file. It does not affect
how undefined symbols in regular object files are handled.
-The reason that @option{--allow-shlib-undefined} is the default is that
-the shared library being specified at link time may not be the same as
-the one that is available at load time, so the symbols might actually be
-resolvable at load time. Plus there are some systems, (eg BeOS) where
-undefined symbols in shared libraries is normal. (The kernel patches
-them at load time to select which function is most appropriate
-for the current architecture. This is used for example to dynamically
-select an appropriate memset function). Apparently it is also normal
-for HPPA shared libraries to have undefined symbols.
+The default behaviour is to report errors for any undefined symbols
+referenced in shared libraries if the linker is being used to create
+an executable, but to allow them if the linker is being used to create
+a shared library.
+
+The reasons for allowing undefined symbol references in shared
+libraries specified at link time are that:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+A shared library specified at link time may not be the same as the one
+that is available at load time, so the symbol might actually be
+resolvable at load time.
+@item
+There are some operating systems, eg BeOS and HPPA, where undefined
+symbols in shared libraries are normal.
+
+The BeOS kernel for example patches shared libraries at load time to
+select whichever function is most appropriate for the current
+architecture. This is used, for example, to dynamically select an
+appropriate memset function.
+@end itemize
@kindex --no-undefined-version
@item --no-undefined-version
have taken some special action that ensures that the linker errors are
inappropriate.
+@kindex --no-warn-search-mismatch
+@item --no-warn-search-mismatch
+Normally @command{ld} will give a warning if it finds an incompatible
+library during a library search. This option silences the warning.
+
@kindex --no-whole-archive
@item --no-whole-archive
Turn off the effect of the @option{--whole-archive} option for subsequent
(including linker scripts specified on the command line) are ignored.
@ifclear SingleFormat
-@kindex --oformat
-@item --oformat @var{output-format}
+@kindex --oformat=@var{output-format}
+@item --oformat=@var{output-format}
@command{ld} may be configured to support more than one kind of object
file. If your @command{ld} is configured this way, you can use the
@samp{--oformat} option to specify the binary format for the output
this option overrides it. @xref{BFD}.
@end ifclear
+@kindex --out-implib
+@item --out-implib @var{file}
+Create an import library in @var{file} corresponding to the executable
+the linker is generating (eg. a DLL or ELF program). This import
+library (which should be called @code{*.dll.a} or @code{*.a} for DLLs)
+may be used to link clients against the generated executable; this
+behaviour makes it possible to skip a separate import library creation
+step (eg. @code{dlltool} for DLLs). This option is only available for
+the i386 PE and ELF targetted ports of the linker.
+
@kindex -pie
@kindex --pic-executable
@item -pie
@kindex --relax
@cindex synthesizing linker
@cindex relaxing addressing modes
+@cindex --no-relax
@item --relax
+@itemx --no-relax
An option with machine dependent effects.
@ifset GENERIC
This option is only supported on a few targets.
@ifset M68HC11
@xref{M68HC11/68HC12,,@command{ld} and the 68HC11 and 68HC12}.
@end ifset
+@ifset NIOSII
+@xref{Nios II,,@command{ld} and the Altera Nios II}.
+@end ifset
@ifset POWERPC
@xref{PowerPC ELF32,,@command{ld} and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support}.
@end ifset
-On some platforms, the @samp{--relax} option performs global
-optimizations that become possible when the linker resolves addressing
-in the program, such as relaxing address modes and synthesizing new
-instructions in the output object file.
+On some platforms the @samp{--relax} option performs target specific,
+global optimizations that become possible when the linker resolves
+addressing in the program, such as relaxing address modes,
+synthesizing new instructions, selecting shorter version of current
+instructions, and combining constant values.
On some platforms these link time global optimizations may make symbolic
debugging of the resulting executable impossible.
@ifset GENERIC
-This is known to be
-the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300 family of processors.
+This is known to be the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300
+family of processors.
@end ifset
@ifset GENERIC
but ignored.
@end ifset
+On platforms where @samp{--relax} is accepted the option
+@samp{--no-relax} can be used to disable the feature.
+
@cindex retaining specified symbols
@cindex stripping all but some symbols
@cindex symbols, retaining selectively
-@item --retain-symbols-file @var{filename}
+@kindex --retain-symbols-file=@var{filename}
+@item --retain-symbols-file=@var{filename}
Retain @emph{only} the symbols listed in the file @var{filename},
discarding all others. @var{filename} is simply a flat file, with one
symbol name per line. This option is especially useful in environments
line. It overrides @samp{-s} and @samp{-S}.
@ifset GENERIC
-@item -rpath @var{dir}
+@item -rpath=@var{dir}
@cindex runtime library search path
-@kindex -rpath
+@kindex -rpath=@var{dir}
Add a directory to the runtime library search path. This is used when
linking an ELF executable with shared objects. All @option{-rpath}
arguments are concatenated and passed to the runtime linker, which uses
@code{LD_RUN_PATH} will be used if it is defined.
The @option{-rpath} option may also be used on SunOS. By default, on
-SunOS, the linker will form a runtime search patch out of all the
+SunOS, the linker will form a runtime search path out of all the
@option{-L} options it is given. If a @option{-rpath} option is used, the
runtime search path will be formed exclusively using the @option{-rpath}
options, ignoring the @option{-L} options. This can be useful when using
@ifset GENERIC
@cindex link-time runtime library search path
-@kindex -rpath-link
-@item -rpath-link @var{DIR}
+@kindex -rpath-link=@var{dir}
+@item -rpath-link=@var{dir}
When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another. This
happens when an @code{ld -shared} link includes a shared library as one
of the input files.
by native linkers and cross linkers which have been configured with
the @option{--with-sysroot} option.
@item
-On an ELF system, if the @option{-rpath} and @code{rpath-link} options
-were not used, search the contents of the environment variable
-@code{LD_RUN_PATH}. It is for the native linker only.
+On an ELF system, for native linkers, if the @option{-rpath} and
+@option{-rpath-link} options were not used, search the contents of the
+environment variable @code{LD_RUN_PATH}.
@item
On SunOS, if the @option{-rpath} option was not used, search any
directories specified using @option{-L} options.
@item
-For a native linker, the contents of the environment variable
-@code{LD_LIBRARY_PATH}.
+For a native linker, search the contents of the environment
+variable @code{LD_LIBRARY_PATH}.
@item
For a native ELF linker, the directories in @code{DT_RUNPATH} or
@code{DT_RPATH} of a shared library are searched for shared
shared library if the @option{-e} option is not used and there are
undefined symbols in the link.
-@item --sort-common
@kindex --sort-common
-This option tells @command{ld} to sort the common symbols by size when it
-places them in the appropriate output sections. First come all the one
-byte symbols, then all the two byte, then all the four byte, and then
-everything else. This is to prevent gaps between symbols due to
-alignment constraints.
-
-@kindex --sort-section name
-@item --sort-section name
+@item --sort-common
+@itemx --sort-common=ascending
+@itemx --sort-common=descending
+This option tells @command{ld} to sort the common symbols by alignment in
+ascending or descending order when it places them in the appropriate output
+sections. The symbol alignments considered are sixteen-byte or larger,
+eight-byte, four-byte, two-byte, and one-byte. This is to prevent gaps
+between symbols due to alignment constraints. If no sorting order is
+specified, then descending order is assumed.
+
+@kindex --sort-section=name
+@item --sort-section=name
This option will apply @code{SORT_BY_NAME} to all wildcard section
patterns in the linker script.
-@kindex --sort-section alignment
-@item --sort-section alignment
+@kindex --sort-section=alignment
+@item --sort-section=alignment
This option will apply @code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} to all wildcard section
patterns in the linker script.
@kindex --split-by-file
-@item --split-by-file [@var{size}]
+@item --split-by-file[=@var{size}]
Similar to @option{--split-by-reloc} but creates a new output section for
each input file when @var{size} is reached. @var{size} defaults to a
size of 1 if not given.
@kindex --split-by-reloc
-@item --split-by-reloc [@var{count}]
+@item --split-by-reloc[=@var{count}]
Tries to creates extra sections in the output file so that no single
output section in the file contains more than @var{count} relocations.
This is useful when generating huge relocatable files for downloading into
Compute and display statistics about the operation of the linker, such
as execution time and memory usage.
-@kindex --sysroot
+@kindex --sysroot=@var{directory}
@item --sysroot=@var{directory}
Use @var{directory} as the location of the sysroot, overriding the
configure-time default. This option is only supported by linkers
trouble). The @samp{--traditional-format} switch tells @command{ld} to not
combine duplicate entries.
-@kindex --section-start @var{sectionname}=@var{org}
-@item --section-start @var{sectionname}=@var{org}
+@kindex --section-start=@var{sectionname}=@var{org}
+@item --section-start=@var{sectionname}=@var{org}
Locate a section in the output file at the absolute
address given by @var{org}. You may use this option as many
times as necessary to locate multiple sections in the command
should be no white space between @var{sectionname}, the equals
sign (``@key{=}''), and @var{org}.
-@kindex -Tbss @var{org}
-@kindex -Tdata @var{org}
-@kindex -Ttext @var{org}
+@kindex -Tbss=@var{org}
+@kindex -Tdata=@var{org}
+@kindex -Ttext=@var{org}
@cindex segment origins, cmd line
-@item -Tbss @var{org}
-@itemx -Tdata @var{org}
-@itemx -Ttext @var{org}
-Same as --section-start, with @code{.bss}, @code{.data} or
+@item -Tbss=@var{org}
+@itemx -Tdata=@var{org}
+@itemx -Ttext=@var{org}
+Same as @option{--section-start}, with @code{.bss}, @code{.data} or
@code{.text} as the @var{sectionname}.
+@kindex -Ttext-segment=@var{org}
+@item -Ttext-segment=@var{org}
+@cindex text segment origin, cmd line
+When creating an ELF executable, it will set the address of the first
+byte of the text segment.
+
+@kindex -Trodata-segment=@var{org}
+@item -Trodata-segment=@var{org}
+@cindex rodata segment origin, cmd line
+When creating an ELF executable or shared object for a target where
+the read-only data is in its own segment separate from the executable
+text, it will set the address of the first byte of the read-only data segment.
+
+@kindex -Tldata-segment=@var{org}
+@item -Tldata-segment=@var{org}
+@cindex ldata segment origin, cmd line
+When creating an ELF executable or shared object for x86-64 medium memory
+model, it will set the address of the first byte of the ldata segment.
+
@kindex --unresolved-symbols
@item --unresolved-symbols=@var{method}
Determine how to handle unresolved symbols. There are four possible
unresolved symbol but the option @option{--warn-unresolved-symbols}
can change this to a warning.
-@kindex --verbose
-@cindex verbose
+@kindex --verbose[=@var{NUMBER}]
+@cindex verbose[=@var{NUMBER}]
@item --dll-verbose
-@itemx --verbose
+@itemx --verbose[=@var{NUMBER}]
Display the version number for @command{ld} and list the linker emulations
supported. Display which input files can and cannot be opened. Display
-the linker script being used by the linker.
+the linker script being used by the linker. If the optional @var{NUMBER}
+argument > 1, plugin symbol status will also be displayed.
@kindex --version-script=@var{version-scriptfile}
@cindex version script, symbol versions
-@itemx --version-script=@var{version-scriptfile}
+@item --version-script=@var{version-scriptfile}
Specify the name of a version script to the linker. This is typically
used when creating shared libraries to specify additional information
about the version hierarchy for the library being created. This option
-is only meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.
-@xref{VERSION}.
+is only fully supported on ELF platforms which support shared libraries;
+see @ref{VERSION}. It is partially supported on PE platforms, which can
+use version scripts to filter symbol visibility in auto-export mode: any
+symbols marked @samp{local} in the version script will not be exported.
+@xref{WIN32}.
@kindex --warn-common
@cindex warnings, on combining symbols
@cindex combining symbols, warnings on
@item --warn-common
Warn when a common symbol is combined with another common symbol or with
-a symbol definition. Unix linkers allow this somewhat sloppy practise,
+a symbol definition. Unix linkers allow this somewhat sloppy practice,
but linkers on some other operating systems do not. This option allows
you to find potential problems from combining global symbols.
-Unfortunately, some C libraries use this practise, so you may get some
+Unfortunately, some C libraries use this practice, so you may get some
warnings about symbols in the libraries as well as in your programs.
There are three kinds of global symbols, illustrated here by C examples:
@item --warn-shared-textrel
Warn if the linker adds a DT_TEXTREL to a shared object.
+@kindex --warn-alternate-em
+@item --warn-alternate-em
+Warn if an object has alternate ELF machine code.
+
@kindex --warn-unresolved-symbols
@item --warn-unresolved-symbols
If the linker is going to report an unresolved symbol (see the option
list of archives, because gcc will add its own list of archives to
your link and you may not want this flag to affect those as well.
-@kindex --wrap
-@item --wrap @var{symbol}
+@kindex --wrap=@var{symbol}
+@item --wrap=@var{symbol}
Use a wrapper function for @var{symbol}. Any undefined reference to
@var{symbol} will be resolved to @code{__wrap_@var{symbol}}. Any
undefined reference to @code{__real_@var{symbol}} will be resolved to
call before the linker has a chance to wrap it to @code{malloc}.
@kindex --eh-frame-hdr
+@kindex --no-eh-frame-hdr
@item --eh-frame-hdr
-Request creation of @code{.eh_frame_hdr} section and ELF
-@code{PT_GNU_EH_FRAME} segment header.
+@itemx --no-eh-frame-hdr
+Request (@option{--eh-frame-hdr}) or suppress
+(@option{--no-eh-frame-hdr}) the creation of @code{.eh_frame_hdr}
+section and ELF @code{PT_GNU_EH_FRAME} segment header.
+
+@kindex --ld-generated-unwind-info
+@item --no-ld-generated-unwind-info
+Request creation of @code{.eh_frame} unwind info for linker
+generated code sections like PLT. This option is on by default
+if linker generated unwind info is supported.
@kindex --enable-new-dtags
@kindex --disable-new-dtags
@itemx --disable-new-dtags
This linker can create the new dynamic tags in ELF. But the older ELF
systems may not understand them. If you specify
-@option{--enable-new-dtags}, the dynamic tags will be created as needed.
+@option{--enable-new-dtags}, the new dynamic tags will be created as needed
+and older dynamic tags will be omitted.
If you specify @option{--disable-new-dtags}, no new dynamic tags will be
created. By default, the new dynamic tags are not created. Note that
those options are only available for ELF systems.
the classic ELF @code{.hash} and new style GNU @code{.gnu.hash}
hash tables. The default is @code{sysv}.
+@kindex --compress-debug-sections=none
+@kindex --compress-debug-sections=zlib
+@kindex --compress-debug-sections=zlib-gnu
+@kindex --compress-debug-sections=zlib-gabi
+@item --compress-debug-sections=none
+@itemx --compress-debug-sections=zlib
+@itemx --compress-debug-sections=zlib-gnu
+@itemx --compress-debug-sections=zlib-gabi
+On ELF platforms , these options control how DWARF debug sections are
+compressed using zlib. @option{--compress-debug-sections=none} doesn't
+compress DWARF debug sections.
+@option{--compress-debug-sections=zlib-gnu} compresses DWARF debug
+sections and rename debug section names to begin with @samp{.zdebug}
+instead of @samp{.debug}. @option{--compress-debug-sections=zlib}
+and @option{--compress-debug-sections=zlib-gabi}
+compress DWARF debug sections with SHF_COMPRESSED from the ELF ABI.
+The default behaviour varies depending upon the target involved and
+the configure options used to build the toolchain. The default can be
+determined by examing the output from the linker's @option{--help} option.
+
@kindex --reduce-memory-overheads
@item --reduce-memory-overheads
This option reduces memory requirements at ld runtime, at the expense of
The @option{--reduce-memory-overheads} switch may be also be used to
enable other tradeoffs in future versions of the linker.
+@kindex --build-id
+@kindex --build-id=@var{style}
+@item --build-id
+@itemx --build-id=@var{style}
+Request the creation of a @code{.note.gnu.build-id} ELF note section
+or a @code{.buildid} COFF section. The contents of the note are
+unique bits identifying this linked file. @var{style} can be
+@code{uuid} to use 128 random bits, @code{sha1} to use a 160-bit
+@sc{SHA1} hash on the normative parts of the output contents,
+@code{md5} to use a 128-bit @sc{MD5} hash on the normative parts of
+the output contents, or @code{0x@var{hexstring}} to use a chosen bit
+string specified as an even number of hexadecimal digits (@code{-} and
+@code{:} characters between digit pairs are ignored). If @var{style}
+is omitted, @code{sha1} is used.
+
+The @code{md5} and @code{sha1} styles produces an identifier
+that is always the same in an identical output file, but will be
+unique among all nonidentical output files. It is not intended
+to be compared as a checksum for the file's contents. A linked
+file may be changed later by other tools, but the build ID bit
+string identifying the original linked file does not change.
+
+Passing @code{none} for @var{style} disables the setting from any
+@code{--build-id} options earlier on the command line.
@end table
@c man end
file.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
+@kindex --enable-long-section-names
+@kindex --disable-long-section-names
+@item --enable-long-section-names
+@itemx --disable-long-section-names
+The PE variants of the COFF object format add an extension that permits
+the use of section names longer than eight characters, the normal limit
+for COFF. By default, these names are only allowed in object files, as
+fully-linked executable images do not carry the COFF string table required
+to support the longer names. As a GNU extension, it is possible to
+allow their use in executable images as well, or to (probably pointlessly!)
+disallow it in object files, by using these two options. Executable images
+generated with these long section names are slightly non-standard, carrying
+as they do a string table, and may generate confusing output when examined
+with non-GNU PE-aware tools, such as file viewers and dumpers. However,
+GDB relies on the use of PE long section names to find Dwarf-2 debug
+information sections in an executable image at runtime, and so if neither
+option is specified on the command-line, @command{ld} will enable long
+section names, overriding the default and technically correct behaviour,
+when it finds the presence of debug information while linking an executable
+image and not stripping symbols.
+[This option is valid for all PE targeted ports of the linker]
+
@kindex --enable-stdcall-fixup
@kindex --disable-stdcall-fixup
@item --enable-stdcall-fixup
mismatches are considered to be errors.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
+@kindex --leading-underscore
+@kindex --no-leading-underscore
+@item --leading-underscore
+@itemx --no-leading-underscore
+For most targets default symbol-prefix is an underscore and is defined
+in target's description. By this option it is possible to
+disable/enable the default underscore symbol-prefix.
+
@cindex DLLs, creating
@kindex --export-all-symbols
@item --export-all-symbols
exported. The symbol names may be delimited by commas or colons.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
+@kindex --exclude-all-symbols
+@item --exclude-all-symbols
+Specifies no symbols should be automatically exported.
+[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
+
@kindex --file-alignment
@item --file-alignment
Specify the file alignment. Sections in the file will always begin at
@kindex --heap
@item --heap @var{reserve}
@itemx --heap @var{reserve},@var{commit}
-Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) to be
-used as heap for this program. The default is 1Mb reserved, 4K
+Specify the number of bytes of memory to reserve (and optionally commit)
+to be used as heap for this program. The default is 1MB reserved, 4K
committed.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
section of the BOOT.INI. Otherwise, this bit has no effect.
[This option is specific to PE targeted ports of the linker]
+@kindex --disable-large-address-aware
+@item --disable-large-address-aware
+Reverts the effect of a previous @samp{--large-address-aware} option.
+This is useful if @samp{--large-address-aware} is always set by the compiler
+driver (e.g. Cygwin gcc) and the executable does not support virtual
+addresses greater than 2 gigabytes.
+[This option is specific to PE targeted ports of the linker]
+
@kindex --major-image-version
@item --major-image-version @var{value}
Sets the major number of the ``image version''. Defaults to 1.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
@cindex DLLs, creating
-@kindex --out-implib
-@item --out-implib @var{file}
-The linker will create the file @var{file} which will contain an
-import lib corresponding to the DLL the linker is generating. This
-import lib (which should be called @code{*.dll.a} or @code{*.a}
-may be used to link clients against the generated DLL; this behaviour
-makes it possible to skip a separate @code{dlltool} import library
-creation step.
-[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
-
@kindex --enable-auto-image-base
@item --enable-auto-image-base
-Automatically choose the image base for DLLs, unless one is specified
-using the @code{--image-base} argument. By using a hash generated
-from the dllname to create unique image bases for each DLL, in-memory
-collisions and relocations which can delay program execution are
-avoided.
+@itemx --enable-auto-image-base=@var{value}
+Automatically choose the image base for DLLs, optionally starting with base
+@var{value}, unless one is specified using the @code{--image-base} argument.
+By using a hash generated from the dllname to create unique image bases
+for each DLL, in-memory collisions and relocations which can delay program
+execution are avoided.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
@kindex --disable-auto-image-base
to be made writable. This does not conform to the PE-COFF format
specification published by Microsoft.
+Note - use of the 'auto-import' extension will also cause read only
+data which would normally be placed into the .rdata section to be
+placed into the .data section instead. This is in order to work
+around a problem with consts that is described here:
+http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2004-09/msg01101.html
+
Using 'auto-import' generally will 'just work' -- but sometimes you may
see this message:
This message occurs when some (sub)expression accesses an address
ultimately given by the sum of two constants (Win32 import tables only
-allow one). Instances where this may occur include accesses to member
-fields of struct variables imported from a DLL, as well as using a
-constant index into an array variable imported from a DLL. Any
+allow one). Instances where this may occur include accesses to member
+fields of struct variables imported from a DLL, as well as using a
+constant index into an array variable imported from a DLL. Any
multiword variable (arrays, structs, long long, etc) may trigger
this error condition. However, regardless of the exact data type
of the offending exported variable, ld will always detect it, issue
of adjusting references in your client code for runtime environment, so
this method works only when runtime environment supports this feature.
-A second solution is to force one of the 'constants' to be a variable --
-that is, unknown and un-optimizable at compile time. For arrays,
-there are two possibilities: a) make the indexee (the array's address)
+A second solution is to force one of the 'constants' to be a variable --
+that is, unknown and un-optimizable at compile time. For arrays,
+there are two possibilities: a) make the indexee (the array's address)
a variable, or b) make the 'constant' index a variable. Thus:
@example
extern type extern_array[];
-extern_array[1] -->
+extern_array[1] -->
@{ volatile type *t=extern_array; t[1] @}
@end example
@example
extern type extern_array[];
-extern_array[1] -->
+extern_array[1] -->
@{ volatile int t=1; extern_array[t] @}
@end example
-For structs (and most other multiword data types) the only option
+For structs (and most other multiword data types) the only option
is to make the struct itself (or the long long, or the ...) variable:
@example
extern struct s extern_struct;
-extern_struct.field -->
+extern_struct.field -->
@{ volatile struct s *t=&extern_struct; t->field @}
@end example
@end example
A third method of dealing with this difficulty is to abandon
-'auto-import' for the offending symbol and mark it with
-@code{__declspec(dllimport)}. However, in practise that
+'auto-import' for the offending symbol and mark it with
+@code{__declspec(dllimport)}. However, in practice that
requires using compile-time #defines to indicate whether you are
-building a DLL, building client code that will link to the DLL, or
-merely building/linking to a static library. In making the choice
-between the various methods of resolving the 'direct address with
+building a DLL, building client code that will link to the DLL, or
+merely building/linking to a static library. In making the choice
+between the various methods of resolving the 'direct address with
constant offset' problem, you should consider typical real-world usage:
Original:
@}
@end example
-A fourth way to avoid this problem is to re-code your
+A fourth way to avoid this problem is to re-code your
library to use a functional interface rather than a data interface
for the offending variables (e.g. set_foo() and get_foo() accessor
functions).
@kindex --disable-auto-import
@item --disable-auto-import
-Do not attempt to do sophisticated linking of @code{_symbol} to
+Do not attempt to do sophisticated linking of @code{_symbol} to
@code{__imp__symbol} for DATA imports from DLLs.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
If your code contains expressions described in --enable-auto-import section,
that is, DATA imports from DLL with non-zero offset, this switch will create
a vector of 'runtime pseudo relocations' which can be used by runtime
-environment to adjust references to such data in your client code.
+environment to adjust references to such data in your client code.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
@kindex --disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc
@item --disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc
Do not create pseudo relocations for non-zero offset DATA imports from
-DLLs. This is the default.
+DLLs.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
@kindex --enable-extra-pe-debug
@kindex --stack
@item --stack @var{reserve}
@itemx --stack @var{reserve},@var{commit}
-Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) to be
-used as stack for this program. The default is 2Mb reserved, 4K
+Specify the number of bytes of memory to reserve (and optionally commit)
+to be used as stack for this program. The default is 2MB reserved, 4K
committed.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
@var{which}.
[This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]
+The following options set flags in the @code{DllCharacteristics} field
+of the PE file header:
+[These options are specific to PE targeted ports of the linker]
+
+@kindex --high-entropy-va
+@item --high-entropy-va
+Image is compatible with 64-bit address space layout randomization
+(ASLR).
+
+@kindex --dynamicbase
+@item --dynamicbase
+The image base address may be relocated using address space layout
+randomization (ASLR). This feature was introduced with MS Windows
+Vista for i386 PE targets.
+
+@kindex --forceinteg
+@item --forceinteg
+Code integrity checks are enforced.
+
+@kindex --nxcompat
+@item --nxcompat
+The image is compatible with the Data Execution Prevention.
+This feature was introduced with MS Windows XP SP2 for i386 PE targets.
+
+@kindex --no-isolation
+@item --no-isolation
+Although the image understands isolation, do not isolate the image.
+
+@kindex --no-seh
+@item --no-seh
+The image does not use SEH. No SE handler may be called from
+this image.
+
+@kindex --no-bind
+@item --no-bind
+Do not bind this image.
+
+@kindex --wdmdriver
+@item --wdmdriver
+The driver uses the MS Windows Driver Model.
+
+@kindex --tsaware
+@item --tsaware
+The image is Terminal Server aware.
+
+@kindex --insert-timestamp
+@item --insert-timestamp
+@itemx --no-insert-timestamp
+Insert a real timestamp into the image. This is the default behaviour
+as it matches legacy code and it means that the image will work with
+other, proprietary tools. The problem with this default is that it
+will result in slightly different images being produced each time the
+same sources are linked. The option @option{--no-insert-timestamp}
+can be used to insert a zero value for the timestamp, this ensuring
+that binaries produced from identical sources will compare
+identically.
+@end table
+
+@c man end
+
+@ifset C6X
+@subsection Options specific to C6X uClinux targets
+
+@c man begin OPTIONS
+
+The C6X uClinux target uses a binary format called DSBT to support shared
+libraries. Each shared library in the system needs to have a unique index;
+all executables use an index of 0.
+
+@table @gcctabopt
+
+@kindex --dsbt-size
+@item --dsbt-size @var{size}
+This option sets the number of entries in the DSBT of the current executable
+or shared library to @var{size}. The default is to create a table with 64
+entries.
+
+@kindex --dsbt-index
+@item --dsbt-index @var{index}
+This option sets the DSBT index of the current executable or shared library
+to @var{index}. The default is 0, which is appropriate for generating
+executables. If a shared library is generated with a DSBT index of 0, the
+@code{R_C6000_DSBT_INDEX} relocs are copied into the output file.
+
+@kindex --no-merge-exidx-entries
+The @samp{--no-merge-exidx-entries} switch disables the merging of adjacent
+exidx entries in frame unwind info.
+
@end table
@c man end
+@end ifset
@ifset M68HC11
@subsection Options specific to Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 targets
@c man end
@end ifset
+@ifset M68K
+@subsection Options specific to Motorola 68K target
+
+@c man begin OPTIONS
+
+The following options are supported to control handling of GOT generation
+when linking for 68K targets.
+
+@table @gcctabopt
+
+@kindex --got
+@item --got=@var{type}
+This option tells the linker which GOT generation scheme to use.
+@var{type} should be one of @samp{single}, @samp{negative},
+@samp{multigot} or @samp{target}. For more information refer to the
+Info entry for @file{ld}.
+
+@end table
+
+@c man end
+@end ifset
+
+@ifset MIPS
+@subsection Options specific to MIPS targets
+
+@c man begin OPTIONS
+
+The following options are supported to control microMIPS instruction
+generation when linking for MIPS targets.
+
+@table @gcctabopt
+
+@kindex --insn32
+@item --insn32
+@kindex --no-insn32
+@itemx --no-insn32
+These options control the choice of microMIPS instructions used in code
+generated by the linker, such as that in the PLT or lazy binding stubs,
+or in relaxation. If @samp{--insn32} is used, then the linker only uses
+32-bit instruction encodings. By default or if @samp{--no-insn32} is
+used, all instruction encodings are used, including 16-bit ones where
+possible.
+
+@end table
+
+@c man end
+@end ifset
+
@ifset UsesEnvVars
@node Environment
@section Environment Variables
Each section in an object file has a name and a size. Most sections
also have an associated block of data, known as the @dfn{section
-contents}. A section may be marked as @dfn{loadable}, which mean that
+contents}. A section may be marked as @dfn{loadable}, which means that
the contents should be loaded into memory when the output file is run.
A section with no contents may be @dfn{allocatable}, which means that an
area in memory should be set aside, but nothing in particular should be
* Format Commands:: Commands dealing with object file formats
@end ifclear
+* REGION_ALIAS:: Assign alias names to memory regions
* Miscellaneous Commands:: Other linker script commands
@end menu
@item
the @code{ENTRY(@var{symbol})} command in a linker script;
@item
-the value of the symbol @code{start}, if defined;
+the value of a target specific symbol, if it is defined; For many
+targets this is @code{start}, but PE and BeOS based systems for example
+check a list of possible entry symbols, matching the first one found.
@item
the address of the first byte of the @samp{.text} section, if present;
@item
with the @option{-L} option. You can nest calls to @code{INCLUDE} up to
10 levels deep.
+You can place @code{INCLUDE} directives at the top level, in @code{MEMORY} or
+@code{SECTIONS} commands, or in output section descriptions.
+
@item INPUT(@var{file}, @var{file}, @dots{})
@itemx INPUT(@var{file} @var{file} @dots{})
@kindex INPUT(@var{files})
located inside the @dfn{sysroot prefix}, the filename will be looked
for in the @dfn{sysroot prefix}. Otherwise, the linker will try to
open the file in the current directory. If it is not found, the
-linker will search through the archive library search path. See the
+linker will search through the archive library search path.
+The @dfn{sysroot prefix} can also be forced by specifying @code{=}
+as the first character in the filename path. See also the
description of @samp{-L} in @ref{Options,,Command Line Options}.
If you use @samp{INPUT (-l@var{file})}, @command{ld} will transform the
@end table
@end ifclear
+@node REGION_ALIAS
+@subsection Assign alias names to memory regions
+@kindex REGION_ALIAS(@var{alias}, @var{region})
+@cindex region alias
+@cindex region names
+
+Alias names can be added to existing memory regions created with the
+@ref{MEMORY} command. Each name corresponds to at most one memory region.
+
+@smallexample
+REGION_ALIAS(@var{alias}, @var{region})
+@end smallexample
+
+The @code{REGION_ALIAS} function creates an alias name @var{alias} for the
+memory region @var{region}. This allows a flexible mapping of output sections
+to memory regions. An example follows.
+
+Suppose we have an application for embedded systems which come with various
+memory storage devices. All have a general purpose, volatile memory @code{RAM}
+that allows code execution or data storage. Some may have a read-only,
+non-volatile memory @code{ROM} that allows code execution and read-only data
+access. The last variant is a read-only, non-volatile memory @code{ROM2} with
+read-only data access and no code execution capability. We have four output
+sections:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+@code{.text} program code;
+@item
+@code{.rodata} read-only data;
+@item
+@code{.data} read-write initialized data;
+@item
+@code{.bss} read-write zero initialized data.
+@end itemize
+
+The goal is to provide a linker command file that contains a system independent
+part defining the output sections and a system dependent part mapping the
+output sections to the memory regions available on the system. Our embedded
+systems come with three different memory setups @code{A}, @code{B} and
+@code{C}:
+@multitable @columnfractions .25 .25 .25 .25
+@item Section @tab Variant A @tab Variant B @tab Variant C
+@item .text @tab RAM @tab ROM @tab ROM
+@item .rodata @tab RAM @tab ROM @tab ROM2
+@item .data @tab RAM @tab RAM/ROM @tab RAM/ROM2
+@item .bss @tab RAM @tab RAM @tab RAM
+@end multitable
+The notation @code{RAM/ROM} or @code{RAM/ROM2} means that this section is
+loaded into region @code{ROM} or @code{ROM2} respectively. Please note that
+the load address of the @code{.data} section starts in all three variants at
+the end of the @code{.rodata} section.
+
+The base linker script that deals with the output sections follows. It
+includes the system dependent @code{linkcmds.memory} file that describes the
+memory layout:
+@smallexample
+INCLUDE linkcmds.memory
+
+SECTIONS
+ @{
+ .text :
+ @{
+ *(.text)
+ @} > REGION_TEXT
+ .rodata :
+ @{
+ *(.rodata)
+ rodata_end = .;
+ @} > REGION_RODATA
+ .data : AT (rodata_end)
+ @{
+ data_start = .;
+ *(.data)
+ @} > REGION_DATA
+ data_size = SIZEOF(.data);
+ data_load_start = LOADADDR(.data);
+ .bss :
+ @{
+ *(.bss)
+ @} > REGION_BSS
+ @}
+@end smallexample
+
+Now we need three different @code{linkcmds.memory} files to define memory
+regions and alias names. The content of @code{linkcmds.memory} for the three
+variants @code{A}, @code{B} and @code{C}:
+@table @code
+@item A
+Here everything goes into the @code{RAM}.
+@smallexample
+MEMORY
+ @{
+ RAM : ORIGIN = 0, LENGTH = 4M
+ @}
+
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_TEXT", RAM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_RODATA", RAM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_DATA", RAM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_BSS", RAM);
+@end smallexample
+@item B
+Program code and read-only data go into the @code{ROM}. Read-write data goes
+into the @code{RAM}. An image of the initialized data is loaded into the
+@code{ROM} and will be copied during system start into the @code{RAM}.
+@smallexample
+MEMORY
+ @{
+ ROM : ORIGIN = 0, LENGTH = 3M
+ RAM : ORIGIN = 0x10000000, LENGTH = 1M
+ @}
+
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_TEXT", ROM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_RODATA", ROM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_DATA", RAM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_BSS", RAM);
+@end smallexample
+@item C
+Program code goes into the @code{ROM}. Read-only data goes into the
+@code{ROM2}. Read-write data goes into the @code{RAM}. An image of the
+initialized data is loaded into the @code{ROM2} and will be copied during
+system start into the @code{RAM}.
+@smallexample
+MEMORY
+ @{
+ ROM : ORIGIN = 0, LENGTH = 2M
+ ROM2 : ORIGIN = 0x10000000, LENGTH = 1M
+ RAM : ORIGIN = 0x20000000, LENGTH = 1M
+ @}
+
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_TEXT", ROM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_RODATA", ROM2);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_DATA", RAM);
+REGION_ALIAS("REGION_BSS", RAM);
+@end smallexample
+@end table
+
+It is possible to write a common system initialization routine to copy the
+@code{.data} section from @code{ROM} or @code{ROM2} into the @code{RAM} if
+necessary:
+@smallexample
+#include <string.h>
+
+extern char data_start [];
+extern char data_size [];
+extern char data_load_start [];
+
+void copy_data(void)
+@{
+ if (data_start != data_load_start)
+ @{
+ memcpy(data_start, data_load_start, (size_t) data_size);
+ @}
+@}
+@end smallexample
+
@node Miscellaneous Commands
@subsection Other Linker Script Commands
There are a few other linker scripts commands.
Ensure that @var{exp} is non-zero. If it is zero, then exit the linker
with an error code, and print @var{message}.
+Note that assertions are checked before the final stages of linking
+take place. This means that expressions involving symbols PROVIDEd
+inside section definitions will fail if the user has not set values
+for those symbols. The only exception to this rule is PROVIDEd
+symbols that just reference dot. Thus an assertion like this:
+
+@smallexample
+ .stack :
+ @{
+ PROVIDE (__stack = .);
+ PROVIDE (__stack_size = 0x100);
+ ASSERT ((__stack > (_end + __stack_size)), "Error: No room left for the stack");
+ @}
+@end smallexample
+
+will fail if @code{__stack_size} is not defined elsewhere. Symbols
+PROVIDEd outside of section definitions are evaluated earlier, so they
+can be used inside ASSERTions. Thus:
+
+@smallexample
+ PROVIDE (__stack_size = 0x100);
+ .stack :
+ @{
+ PROVIDE (__stack = .);
+ ASSERT ((__stack > (_end + __stack_size)), "Error: No room left for the stack");
+ @}
+@end smallexample
+
+will work.
+
@item EXTERN(@var{symbol} @var{symbol} @dots{})
@kindex EXTERN
@cindex undefined symbol in linker script
command-line option: to make @code{ld} omit the assignment of addresses
to common symbols even for a non-relocatable output file.
+@item INSERT [ AFTER | BEFORE ] @var{output_section}
+@kindex INSERT
+@cindex insert user script into default script
+This command is typically used in a script specified by @samp{-T} to
+augment the default @code{SECTIONS} with, for example, overlays. It
+inserts all prior linker script statements after (or before)
+@var{output_section}, and also causes @samp{-T} to not override the
+default linker script. The exact insertion point is as for orphan
+sections. @xref{Location Counter}. The insertion happens after the
+linker has mapped input sections to output sections. Prior to the
+insertion, since @samp{-T} scripts are parsed before the default
+linker script, statements in the @samp{-T} script occur before the
+default linker script statements in the internal linker representation
+of the script. In particular, input section assignments will be made
+to @samp{-T} output sections before those in the default script. Here
+is an example of how a @samp{-T} script using @code{INSERT} might look:
+
+@smallexample
+SECTIONS
+@{
+ OVERLAY :
+ @{
+ .ov1 @{ ov1*(.text) @}
+ .ov2 @{ ov2*(.text) @}
+ @}
+@}
+INSERT AFTER .text;
+@end smallexample
+
@item NOCROSSREFS(@var{section} @var{section} @dots{})
@kindex NOCROSSREFS(@var{sections})
@cindex cross references
@code{NOCROSSREFS} command uses output section names, not input section
names.
+@item NOCROSSREFS_TO(@var{tosection} @var{fromsection} @dots{})
+@kindex NOCROSSREFS_TO(@var{tosection} @var{fromsections})
+@cindex cross references
+This command may be used to tell @command{ld} to issue an error about any
+references to one section from a list of other sections.
+
+The @code{NOCROSSREFS} command is useful when ensuring that two or more
+output sections are entirely independent but there are situations where
+a one-way dependency is needed. For example, in a multi-core application
+there may be shared code that can be called from each core but for safety
+must never call back.
+
+The @code{NOCROSSREFS_TO} command takes a list of output section names.
+The first section can not be referenced from any of the other sections.
+If @command{ld} detects any references to the first section from any of
+the other sections, it reports an error and returns a non-zero exit
+status. Note that the @code{NOCROSSREFS_TO} command uses output section
+names, not input section names.
+
@ifclear SingleFormat
@item OUTPUT_ARCH(@var{bfdarch})
@kindex OUTPUT_ARCH(@var{bfdarch})
architecture of an object file by using the @code{objdump} program with
the @samp{-f} option.
@end ifclear
+
+@item LD_FEATURE(@var{string})
+@kindex LD_FEATURE(@var{string})
+This command may be used to modify @command{ld} behavior. If
+@var{string} is @code{"SANE_EXPR"} then absolute symbols and numbers
+in a script are simply treated as numbers everywhere.
+@xref{Expression Section}.
@end table
@node Assignments
@menu
* Simple Assignments:: Simple Assignments
+* HIDDEN:: HIDDEN
* PROVIDE:: PROVIDE
* PROVIDE_HIDDEN:: PROVIDE_HIDDEN
* Source Code Reference:: How to use a linker script defined symbol in source code
defined as the address following the @samp{.text} output section aligned
upward to a 4 byte boundary.
+@node HIDDEN
+@subsection HIDDEN
+@cindex HIDDEN
+For ELF targeted ports, define a symbol that will be hidden and won't be
+exported. The syntax is @code{HIDDEN(@var{symbol} = @var{expression})}.
+
+Here is the example from @ref{Simple Assignments}, rewritten to use
+@code{HIDDEN}:
+
+@smallexample
+HIDDEN(floating_point = 0);
+SECTIONS
+@{
+ .text :
+ @{
+ *(.text)
+ HIDDEN(_etext = .);
+ @}
+ HIDDEN(_bdata = (. + 3) & ~ 3);
+ .data : @{ *(.data) @}
+@}
+@end smallexample
+@noindent
+In this case none of the three symbols will be visible outside this module.
+
@node PROVIDE
@subsection PROVIDE
@cindex PROVIDE
int foo = 1000;
@end smallexample
-creates a entry called @samp{foo} in the symbol table. This entry
+creates an entry called @samp{foo} in the symbol table. This entry
holds the address of an @samp{int} sized block of memory where the
number 1000 is initially stored.
int * a = & foo;
@end smallexample
-looks up the symbol @samp{foo} in the symbol table, gets it address
+looks up the symbol @samp{foo} in the symbol table, gets its address
and then copies this address into the block of memory associated with
the variable @samp{a}.
@smallexample
@group
start_of_ROM = .ROM;
- end_of_ROM = .ROM + sizeof (.ROM) - 1;
+ end_of_ROM = .ROM + sizeof (.ROM);
start_of_FLASH = .FLASH;
@end group
@end smallexample
@smallexample
@group
extern char start_of_ROM, end_of_ROM, start_of_FLASH;
-
+
memcpy (& start_of_FLASH, & start_of_ROM, & end_of_ROM - & start_of_ROM);
@end group
@end smallexample
Note the use of the @samp{&} operators. These are correct.
+Alternatively the symbols can be treated as the names of vectors or
+arrays and then the code will again work as expected:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+ extern char start_of_ROM[], end_of_ROM[], start_of_FLASH[];
+
+ memcpy (start_of_FLASH, start_of_ROM, end_of_ROM - start_of_ROM);
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+Note how using this method does not require the use of @samp{&}
+operators.
@node SECTIONS
@section SECTIONS Command
@smallexample
@group
@var{section} [@var{address}] [(@var{type})] :
- [AT(@var{lma})] [ALIGN(@var{section_align})] [SUBALIGN(@var{subsection_align})]
+ [AT(@var{lma})]
+ [ALIGN(@var{section_align}) | ALIGN_WITH_INPUT]
+ [SUBALIGN(@var{subsection_align})]
+ [@var{constraint}]
@{
@var{output-section-command}
@var{output-section-command}
@dots{}
- @} [>@var{region}] [AT>@var{lma_region}] [:@var{phdr} :@var{phdr} @dots{}] [=@var{fillexp}]
+ @} [>@var{region}] [AT>@var{lma_region}] [:@var{phdr} :@var{phdr} @dots{}] [=@var{fillexp}] [,]
@end group
@end smallexample
The whitespace around @var{section} is required, so that the section
name is unambiguous. The colon and the curly braces are also required.
+The comma at the end may be required if a @var{fillexp} is used and
+the next @var{sections-command} looks like a continuation of the expression.
The line breaks and other white space are optional.
Each @var{output-section-command} may be one of the following:
@cindex address, section
@cindex section address
The @var{address} is an expression for the VMA (the virtual memory
-address) of the output section. If you do not provide @var{address},
-the linker will set it based on @var{region} if present, or otherwise
-based on the current value of the location counter.
-
-If you provide @var{address}, the address of the output section will be
-set to precisely that. If you provide neither @var{address} nor
-@var{region}, then the address of the output section will be set to the
-current value of the location counter aligned to the alignment
-requirements of the output section. The alignment requirement of the
-output section is the strictest alignment of any input section contained
-within the output section.
-
-For example,
+address) of the output section. This address is optional, but if it
+is provided then the output address will be set exactly as specified.
+
+If the output address is not specified then one will be chosen for the
+section, based on the heuristic below. This address will be adjusted
+to fit the alignment requirement of the output section. The
+alignment requirement is the strictest alignment of any input section
+contained within the output section.
+
+The output section address heuristic is as follows:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+If an output memory @var{region} is set for the section then it
+is added to this region and its address will be the next free address
+in that region.
+
+@item
+If the MEMORY command has been used to create a list of memory
+regions then the first region which has attributes compatible with the
+section is selected to contain it. The section's output address will
+be the next free address in that region; @ref{MEMORY}.
+
+@item
+If no memory regions were specified, or none match the section then
+the output address will be based on the current value of the location
+counter.
+@end itemize
+
+@noindent
+For example:
+
@smallexample
.text . : @{ *(.text) @}
@end smallexample
+
@noindent
and
+
@smallexample
.text : @{ *(.text) @}
@end smallexample
+
@noindent
are subtly different. The first will set the address of the
@samp{.text} output section to the current value of the location
counter. The second will set it to the current value of the location
-counter aligned to the strictest alignment of a @samp{.text} input
-section.
+counter aligned to the strictest alignment of any of the @samp{.text}
+input sections.
The @var{address} may be an arbitrary expression; @ref{Expressions}.
For example, if you want to align the section on a 0x10 byte boundary,
aligned upward to the specified value.
Specifying @var{address} for a section will change the value of the
-location counter.
+location counter, provided that the section is non-empty. (Empty
+sections are ignored).
@node Input Section
@subsection Input Section Description
match all files except the ones specified in the EXCLUDE_FILE list. For
example:
@smallexample
-(*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *otherfile.o) .ctors))
+*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *otherfile.o) .ctors)
@end smallexample
will cause all .ctors sections from all files except @file{crtend.o} and
@file{otherfile.o} to be included.
data.o(.data)
@end smallexample
+To refine the sections that are included based on the section flags
+of an input section, INPUT_SECTION_FLAGS may be used.
+
+Here is a simple example for using Section header flags for ELF sections:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+SECTIONS @{
+ .text : @{ INPUT_SECTION_FLAGS (SHF_MERGE & SHF_STRINGS) *(.text) @}
+ .text2 : @{ INPUT_SECTION_FLAGS (!SHF_WRITE) *(.text) @}
+@}
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+In this example, the output section @samp{.text} will be comprised of any
+input section matching the name *(.text) whose section header flags
+@code{SHF_MERGE} and @code{SHF_STRINGS} are set. The output section
+@samp{.text2} will be comprised of any input section matching the name *(.text)
+whose section header flag @code{SHF_WRITE} is clear.
+
+You can also specify files within archives by writing a pattern
+matching the archive, a colon, then the pattern matching the file,
+with no whitespace around the colon.
+
+@table @samp
+@item archive:file
+matches file within archive
+@item archive:
+matches the whole archive
+@item :file
+matches file but not one in an archive
+@end table
+
+Either one or both of @samp{archive} and @samp{file} can contain shell
+wildcards. On DOS based file systems, the linker will assume that a
+single letter followed by a colon is a drive specifier, so
+@samp{c:myfile.o} is a simple file specification, not @samp{myfile.o}
+within an archive called @samp{c}. @samp{archive:file} filespecs may
+also be used within an @code{EXCLUDE_FILE} list, but may not appear in
+other linker script contexts. For instance, you cannot extract a file
+from an archive by using @samp{archive:file} in an @code{INPUT}
+command.
+
If you use a file name without a list of sections, then all sections in
the input file will be included in the output section. This is not
commonly done, but it may by useful on occasion. For example:
data.o
@end smallexample
-When you use a file name which does not contain any wild card
+When you use a file name which is not an @samp{archive:file} specifier
+and does not contain any wild card
characters, the linker will first see if you also specified the file
name on the linker command line or in an @code{INPUT} command. If you
did not, the linker will attempt to open the file as an input file, as
@cindex SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT
@code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} is very similar to @code{SORT_BY_NAME}. The
difference is @code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} will sort sections into
-ascending order by alignment before placing them in the output file.
+descending order by alignment before placing them in the output file.
+Larger alignments are placed before smaller alignments in order to
+reduce the amount of padding necessary.
+
+@cindex SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY
+@code{SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY} is very similar to @code{SORT_BY_NAME}. The
+difference is @code{SORT_BY_INIT_PRIORITY} will sort sections into
+ascending order by numerical value of the GCC init_priority attribute
+encoded in the section name before placing them in the output file.
@cindex SORT
@code{SORT} is an alias for @code{SORT_BY_NAME}.
@enumerate
@item
@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (@code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} (wildcard section pattern)).
-It will sort the input sections by name first, then by alignment if 2
+It will sort the input sections by name first, then by alignment if two
sections have the same name.
@item
@code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} (@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (wildcard section pattern)).
-It will sort the input sections by alignment first, then by name if 2
+It will sort the input sections by alignment first, then by name if two
sections have the same alignment.
@item
-@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (wildcard section pattern)) is
+@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (@code{SORT_BY_NAME} (wildcard section pattern)) is
treated the same as @code{SORT_BY_NAME} (wildcard section pattern).
@item
@code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} (@code{SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT} (wildcard section pattern))
If the section sorting command in linker script is nested, the
command line option will be ignored.
+@cindex SORT_NONE
+@code{SORT_NONE} disables section sorting by ignoring the command line
+section sorting option.
+
If you ever get confused about where input sections are going, use the
@samp{-M} linker option to generate a map file. The map file shows
precisely how input sections are mapped to output sections.
@cindex discarding sections
@cindex sections, discarding
@cindex removing sections
-The linker will not create output sections with no contents. This is
-for convenience when referring to input sections that may or may not
-be present in any of the input files. For example:
+The linker will not normally create output sections with no contents.
+This is for convenience when referring to input sections that may or
+may not be present in any of the input files. For example:
@smallexample
.foo : @{ *(.foo) @}
@end smallexample
will only create a @samp{.foo} section in the output file if there is a
@samp{.foo} section in at least one input file, and if the input
sections are not all empty. Other link script directives that allocate
-space in an output section will also create the output section.
+space in an output section will also create the output section. So
+too will assignments to dot even if the assignment does not create
+space, except for @samp{. = 0}, @samp{. = . + 0}, @samp{. = sym},
+@samp{. = . + sym} and @samp{. = ALIGN (. != 0, expr, 1)} when
+@samp{sym} is an absolute symbol of value 0 defined in the script.
+This allows you to force output of an empty section with @samp{. = .}.
The linker will ignore address assignments (@pxref{Output Section Address})
on discarded output sections, except when the linker script defines
@cindex output section attributes
We showed above that the full description of an output section looked
like this:
+
@smallexample
@group
@var{section} [@var{address}] [(@var{type})] :
- [AT(@var{lma})] [ALIGN(@var{section_align})] [SUBALIGN(@var{subsection_align})]
+ [AT(@var{lma})]
+ [ALIGN(@var{section_align})]
+ [SUBALIGN(@var{subsection_align})]
+ [@var{constraint}]
@{
@var{output-section-command}
@var{output-section-command}
@} [>@var{region}] [AT>@var{lma_region}] [:@var{phdr} :@var{phdr} @dots{}] [=@var{fillexp}]
@end group
@end smallexample
+
We've already described @var{section}, @var{address}, and
@var{output-section-command}. In this section we will describe the
remaining section attributes.
* Output Section LMA:: Output section LMA
* Forced Output Alignment:: Forced Output Alignment
* Forced Input Alignment:: Forced Input Alignment
+* Output Section Constraint:: Output section constraint
* Output Section Region:: Output section region
* Output Section Phdr:: Output section phdr
* Output Section Fill:: Output section fill
the input sections which map into it. You can override this by using
the section type. For example, in the script sample below, the
@samp{ROM} section is addressed at memory location @samp{0} and does not
-need to be loaded when the program is run. The contents of the
-@samp{ROM} section will appear in the linker output file as usual.
+need to be loaded when the program is run.
@smallexample
@group
SECTIONS @{
@cindex load address
@cindex section load address
Every section has a virtual address (VMA) and a load address (LMA); see
-@ref{Basic Script Concepts}. The address expression which may appear in
-an output section description sets the VMA (@pxref{Output Section
-Address}).
-
-The expression @var{lma} that follows the @code{AT} keyword specifies
-the load address of the section.
+@ref{Basic Script Concepts}. The virtual address is specified by the
+@pxref{Output Section Address} described earlier. The load address is
+specified by the @code{AT} or @code{AT>} keywords. Specifying a load
+address is optional.
-Alternatively, with @samp{AT>@var{lma_region}} expression, you may
-specify a memory region for the section's load address. @xref{MEMORY}.
-Note that if the section has not had a VMA assigned to it then the
-linker will use the @var{lma_region} as the VMA region as well.
+The @code{AT} keyword takes an expression as an argument. This
+specifies the exact load address of the section. The @code{AT>} keyword
+takes the name of a memory region as an argument. @xref{MEMORY}. The
+load address of the section is set to the next free address in the
+region, aligned to the section's alignment requirements.
If neither @code{AT} nor @code{AT>} is specified for an allocatable
-section, the linker will set the LMA such that the difference between
-VMA and LMA for the section is the same as the preceding output
-section in the same region. If there is no preceding output section
-or the section is not allocatable, the linker will set the LMA equal
-to the VMA.
-@xref{Output Section Region}.
+section, the linker will use the following heuristic to determine the
+load address:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+If the section has a specific VMA address, then this is used as
+the LMA address as well.
+
+@item
+If the section is not allocatable then its LMA is set to its VMA.
+
+@item
+Otherwise if a memory region can be found that is compatible
+with the current section, and this region contains at least one
+section, then the LMA is set so the difference between the
+VMA and LMA is the same as the difference between the VMA and LMA of
+the last section in the located region.
+
+@item
+If no memory regions have been declared then a default region
+that covers the entire address space is used in the previous step.
+
+@item
+If no suitable region could be found, or there was no previous
+section then the LMA is set equal to the VMA.
+@end itemize
@cindex ROM initialized data
@cindex initialized data in ROM
char *src = &_etext;
char *dst = &_data;
-/* ROM has data at end of text; copy it. */
-while (dst < &_edata) @{
+/* ROM has data at end of text; copy it. */
+while (dst < &_edata)
*dst++ = *src++;
-@}
-/* Zero bss */
+/* Zero bss. */
for (dst = &_bstart; dst< &_bend; dst++)
*dst = 0;
@end group
@kindex ALIGN(@var{section_align})
@cindex forcing output section alignment
@cindex output section alignment
-You can increase an output section's alignment by using ALIGN.
+You can increase an output section's alignment by using ALIGN. As an
+alternative you can enforce that the difference between the VMA and LMA remains
+intact throughout this output section with the ALIGN_WITH_INPUT attribute.
@node Forced Input Alignment
@subsubsection Forced Input Alignment
SUBALIGN. The value specified overrides any alignment given by input
sections, whether larger or smaller.
+@node Output Section Constraint
+@subsubsection Output Section Constraint
+@kindex ONLY_IF_RO
+@kindex ONLY_IF_RW
+@cindex constraints on output sections
+You can specify that an output section should only be created if all
+of its input sections are read-only or all of its input sections are
+read-write by using the keyword @code{ONLY_IF_RO} and
+@code{ONLY_IF_RW} respectively.
+
@node Output Section Region
@subsubsection Output Section Region
@kindex >@var{region}
@dots{}
@} [:@var{phdr}@dots{}] [=@var{fill}]
@dots{}
- @} [>@var{region}] [:@var{phdr}@dots{}] [=@var{fill}]
+ @} [>@var{region}] [:@var{phdr}@dots{}] [=@var{fill}] [,]
@end group
@end smallexample
Everything is optional except @code{OVERLAY} (a keyword), and each
section must have a name (@var{secname1} and @var{secname2} above). The
section definitions within the @code{OVERLAY} construct are identical to
-those within the general @code{SECTIONS} contruct (@pxref{SECTIONS}),
+those within the general @code{SECTIONS} construct (@pxref{SECTIONS}),
except that no addresses and no memory regions may be defined for
sections within an @code{OVERLAY}.
+The comma at the end may be required if a @var{fill} is used and
+the next @var{sections-command} looks like a continuation of the expression.
+
The sections are all defined with the same starting address. The load
addresses of the sections are arranged such that they are consecutive in
memory starting at the load address used for the @code{OVERLAY} as a
and defaults to the start address; the start address is also optional,
and defaults to the current value of the location counter).
-If the @code{NOCROSSREFS} keyword is used, and there any references
-among the sections, the linker will report an error. Since the sections
-all run at the same address, it normally does not make sense for one
-section to refer directly to another. @xref{Miscellaneous Commands,
-NOCROSSREFS}.
+If the @code{NOCROSSREFS} keyword is used, and there are any
+references among the sections, the linker will report an error. Since
+the sections all run at the same address, it normally does not make
+sense for one section to refer directly to another.
+@xref{Miscellaneous Commands, NOCROSSREFS}.
For each section within the @code{OVERLAY}, the linker automatically
-defines two symbols. The symbol @code{__load_start_@var{secname}} is
+provides two symbols. The symbol @code{__load_start_@var{secname}} is
defined as the starting load address of the section. The symbol
@code{__load_stop_@var{secname}} is defined as the final load address of
the section. Any characters within @var{secname} which are not legal
This will define both @samp{.text0} and @samp{.text1} to start at
address 0x1000. @samp{.text0} will be loaded at address 0x4000, and
@samp{.text1} will be loaded immediately after @samp{.text0}. The
-following symbols will be defined: @code{__load_start_text0},
+following symbols will be defined if referenced: @code{__load_start_text0},
@code{__load_stop_text0}, @code{__load_start_text1},
@code{__load_stop_text1}.
@smallexample
@group
.text0 0x1000 : AT (0x4000) @{ o1/*.o(.text) @}
- __load_start_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0);
- __load_stop_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0) + SIZEOF (.text0);
+ PROVIDE (__load_start_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0));
+ PROVIDE (__load_stop_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0) + SIZEOF (.text0));
.text1 0x1000 : AT (0x4000 + SIZEOF (.text0)) @{ o2/*.o(.text) @}
- __load_start_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1);
- __load_stop_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1) + SIZEOF (.text1);
+ PROVIDE (__load_start_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1));
+ PROVIDE (__load_stop_text1 = LOADADDR (.text1) + SIZEOF (.text1));
. = 0x1000 + MAX (SIZEOF (.text0), SIZEOF (.text1));
@end group
@end smallexample
regions that become too full. The linker will not shuffle sections
around to fit into the available regions.
-A linker script may contain at most one use of the @code{MEMORY}
-command. However, you can define as many blocks of memory within it as
-you wish. The syntax is:
+A linker script may contain many uses of the @code{MEMORY} command,
+however, all memory blocks defined are treated as if they were
+specified inside a single @code{MEMORY} command. The syntax for
+@code{MEMORY} is:
@smallexample
@group
MEMORY
region. The region name has no meaning outside of the linker script.
Region names are stored in a separate name space, and will not conflict
with symbol names, file names, or section names. Each memory region
-must have a distinct name.
+must have a distinct name within the @code{MEMORY} command. However you can
+add later alias names to existing memory regions with the @ref{REGION_ALIAS}
+command.
@cindex memory region attributes
The @var{attr} string is an optional list of attributes that specify
@item L
Same as @samp{I}
@item !
-Invert the sense of any of the preceding attributes
+Invert the sense of any of the attributes that follow
@end table
If a unmapped section matches any of the listed attributes other than
region, the linker will issue an error message.
It is possible to access the origin and length of a memory in an
-expression via the @code{ORIGIN(@var{memory})} and
+expression via the @code{ORIGIN(@var{memory})} and
@code{LENGTH(@var{memory})} functions:
@smallexample
@group
- _fstack = ORIGIN(ram) + LENGTH(ram) - 4;
+ _fstack = ORIGIN(ram) + LENGTH(ram) - 4;
@end group
@end smallexample
of the linker script. It is not put into the output file. Program
header names are stored in a separate name space, and will not conflict
with symbol names, file names, or section names. Each program header
-must have a distinct name.
+must have a distinct name. The headers are processed in order and it
+is usual for them to map to sections in ascending load address order.
Certain program header types describe segments of memory which the
system loader will load from the file. In the linker script, you
@kindex FILEHDR
@kindex PHDRS
-You may use the @code{FILEHDR} and @code{PHDRS} keywords appear after
+You may use the @code{FILEHDR} and @code{PHDRS} keywords after
the program header type to further describe the contents of the segment.
The @code{FILEHDR} keyword means that the segment should include the ELF
file header. The @code{PHDRS} keyword means that the segment should
-include the ELF program headers themselves.
+include the ELF program headers themselves. If applied to a loadable
+segment (@code{PT_LOAD}), all prior loadable segments must have one of
+these keywords.
The @var{type} may be one of the following. The numbers indicate the
value of the keyword.
VERS_2.0 @{
bar1; bar2;
- extern "C++" @{
+ extern "C++" @{
ns::*;
- "int f(int, double)";
- @}
+ "f(int, double)";
+ @};
@} VERS_1.2;
@end smallexample
specifically bound to a version node, it will effectively bind it to an
unspecified base version of the library. You can bind all otherwise
unspecified symbols to a given version node by using @samp{global: *;}
-somewhere in the version script.
+somewhere in the version script. Note that it's slightly crazy to use
+wildcards in a global spec except on the last version node. Global
+wildcards elsewhere run the risk of accidentally adding symbols to the
+set exported for an old version. That's wrong since older versions
+ought to have a fixed set of symbols.
The names of the version nodes have no specific meaning other than what
they might suggest to the person reading them. The @samp{2.0} version
VERSION extern "lang" @{ version-script-commands @}
@end smallexample
-The supported @samp{lang}s are @samp{C}, @samp{C++}, and @samp{Java}.
+The supported @samp{lang}s are @samp{C}, @samp{C++}, and @samp{Java}.
The linker will iterate over the list of symbols at the link time and
demangle them according to @samp{lang} before matching them to the
-patterns specified in @samp{version-script-commands}.
+patterns specified in @samp{version-script-commands}. The default
+@samp{lang} is @samp{C}.
Demangled names may contains spaces and other special characters. As
described above, you can use a glob pattern to match demangled names,
@menu
* Constants:: Constants
+* Symbolic Constants:: Symbolic constants
* Symbols:: Symbol Names
* Orphan Sections:: Orphan Sections
* Location Counter:: The Location Counter
As in C, the linker considers an integer beginning with @samp{0} to be
octal, and an integer beginning with @samp{0x} or @samp{0X} to be
-hexadecimal. The linker considers other integers to be decimal.
+hexadecimal. Alternatively the linker accepts suffixes of @samp{h} or
+@samp{H} for hexadecimal, @samp{o} or @samp{O} for octal, @samp{b} or
+@samp{B} for binary and @samp{d} or @samp{D} for decimal. Any integer
+value without a prefix or a suffix is considered to be decimal.
@cindex scaled integers
@cindex K and M integer suffixes
${\rm 1024}$ or ${\rm 1024}^2$
@end tex
@c END TEXI2ROFF-KILL
-respectively. For example, the following all refer to the same quantity:
+respectively. For example, the following
+all refer to the same quantity:
+
@smallexample
_fourk_1 = 4K;
_fourk_2 = 4096;
_fourk_3 = 0x1000;
+_fourk_4 = 10000o;
@end smallexample
+Note - the @code{K} and @code{M} suffixes cannot be used in
+conjunction with the base suffixes mentioned above.
+
+@node Symbolic Constants
+@subsection Symbolic Constants
+@cindex symbolic constants
+@kindex CONSTANT
+It is possible to refer to target specific constants via the use of
+the @code{CONSTANT(@var{name})} operator, where @var{name} is one of:
+
+@table @code
+@item MAXPAGESIZE
+@kindex MAXPAGESIZE
+The target's maximum page size.
+
+@item COMMONPAGESIZE
+@kindex COMMONPAGESIZE
+The target's default page size.
+@end table
+
+So for example:
+
+@smallexample
+ .text ALIGN (CONSTANT (MAXPAGESIZE)) : @{ *(.text) @}
+@end smallexample
+
+will create a text section aligned to the largest page boundary
+supported by the target.
+
@node Symbols
@subsection Symbol Names
@cindex symbol names
For ELF targets, the attribute of the section includes section type as
well as section flag.
+The command line options @samp{--orphan-handling} and @samp{--unique}
+(@pxref{Options,,Command Line Options}) can be used to control which
+output sections an orphan is placed in.
+
+If an orphaned section's name is representable as a C identifier then
+the linker will automatically @pxref{PROVIDE} two symbols:
+__start_SECNAME and __stop_SECNAME, where SECNAME is the name of the
+section. These indicate the start address and end address of the
+orphaned section respectively. Note: most section names are not
+representable as C identifiers because they contain a @samp{.}
+character.
+
@node Location Counter
@subsection The Location Counter
@kindex .
@cindex absolute and relocatable symbols
@cindex relocatable and absolute symbols
@cindex symbols, relocatable and absolute
-When the linker evaluates an expression, the result is either absolute
-or relative to some section. A relative expression is expressed as a
-fixed offset from the base of a section.
+Addresses and symbols may be section relative, or absolute. A section
+relative symbol is relocatable. If you request relocatable output
+using the @samp{-r} option, a further link operation may change the
+value of a section relative symbol. On the other hand, an absolute
+symbol will retain the same value throughout any further link
+operations.
+
+Some terms in linker expressions are addresses. This is true of
+section relative symbols and for builtin functions that return an
+address, such as @code{ADDR}, @code{LOADADDR}, @code{ORIGIN} and
+@code{SEGMENT_START}. Other terms are simply numbers, or are builtin
+functions that return a non-address value, such as @code{LENGTH}.
+One complication is that unless you set @code{LD_FEATURE ("SANE_EXPR")}
+(@pxref{Miscellaneous Commands}), numbers and absolute symbols are treated
+differently depending on their location, for compatibility with older
+versions of @code{ld}. Expressions appearing outside an output
+section definition treat all numbers as absolute addresses.
+Expressions appearing inside an output section definition treat
+absolute symbols as numbers. If @code{LD_FEATURE ("SANE_EXPR")} is
+given, then absolute symbols and numbers are simply treated as numbers
+everywhere.
+
+In the following simple example,
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+SECTIONS
+ @{
+ . = 0x100;
+ __executable_start = 0x100;
+ .data :
+ @{
+ . = 0x10;
+ __data_start = 0x10;
+ *(.data)
+ @}
+ @dots{}
+ @}
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+both @code{.} and @code{__executable_start} are set to the absolute
+address 0x100 in the first two assignments, then both @code{.} and
+@code{__data_start} are set to 0x10 relative to the @code{.data}
+section in the second two assignments.
-The position of the expression within the linker script determines
-whether it is absolute or relative. An expression which appears within
-an output section definition is relative to the base of the output
-section. An expression which appears elsewhere will be absolute.
+For expressions involving numbers, relative addresses and absolute
+addresses, ld follows these rules to evaluate terms:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Unary operations on an absolute address or number, and binary
+operations on two absolute addresses or two numbers, or between one
+absolute address and a number, apply the operator to the value(s).
+@item
+Unary operations on a relative address, and binary operations on two
+relative addresses in the same section or between one relative address
+and a number, apply the operator to the offset part of the address(es).
+@item
+Other binary operations, that is, between two relative addresses not
+in the same section, or between a relative address and an absolute
+address, first convert any non-absolute term to an absolute address
+before applying the operator.
+@end itemize
-A symbol set to a relative expression will be relocatable if you request
-relocatable output using the @samp{-r} option. That means that a
-further link operation may change the value of the symbol. The symbol's
-section will be the section of the relative expression.
+The result section of each sub-expression is as follows:
-A symbol set to an absolute expression will retain the same value
-through any further link operation. The symbol will be absolute, and
-will not have any particular associated section.
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+An operation involving only numbers results in a number.
+@item
+The result of comparisons, @samp{&&} and @samp{||} is also a number.
+@item
+The result of other binary arithmetic and logical operations on two
+relative addresses in the same section or two absolute addresses
+(after above conversions) is also a number.
+@item
+The result of other operations on relative addresses or one
+relative address and a number, is a relative address in the same
+section as the relative operand(s).
+@item
+The result of other operations on absolute addresses (after above
+conversions) is an absolute address.
+@end itemize
You can use the builtin function @code{ABSOLUTE} to force an expression
to be absolute when it would otherwise be relative. For example, to
If @samp{ABSOLUTE} were not used, @samp{_edata} would be relative to the
@samp{.data} section.
+Using @code{LOADADDR} also forces an expression absolute, since this
+particular builtin function returns an absolute address.
+
@node Builtin Functions
@subsection Builtin Functions
@cindex functions in expressions
@item ADDR(@var{section})
@kindex ADDR(@var{section})
@cindex section address in expression
-Return the absolute address (the VMA) of the named @var{section}. Your
+Return the address (VMA) of the named @var{section}. Your
script must previously have defined the location of that section. In
-the following example, @code{symbol_1} and @code{symbol_2} are assigned
-identical values:
+the following example, @code{start_of_output_1}, @code{symbol_1} and
+@code{symbol_2} are assigned equivalent values, except that
+@code{symbol_1} will be relative to the @code{.output1} section while
+the other two will be absolute:
@smallexample
@group
SECTIONS @{ @dots{}
doesn't change the value of the location counter---it just does
arithmetic on it. The two operand @code{ALIGN} allows an arbitrary
expression to be aligned upwards (@code{ALIGN(@var{align})} is
-equivalent to @code{ALIGN(., @var{align})}).
+equivalent to @code{ALIGN(ABSOLUTE(.), @var{align})}).
Here is an example which aligns the output @code{.data} section to the
next @code{0x2000} byte boundary after the preceding section and sets a
The builtin function @code{NEXT} is closely related to @code{ALIGN}.
+@item ALIGNOF(@var{section})
+@kindex ALIGNOF(@var{section})
+@cindex section alignment
+Return the alignment in bytes of the named @var{section}, if that section has
+been allocated. If the section has not been allocated when this is
+evaluated, the linker will report an error. In the following example,
+the alignment of the @code{.output} section is stored as the first
+value in that section.
+@smallexample
+@group
+SECTIONS@{ @dots{}
+ .output @{
+ LONG (ALIGNOF (.output))
+ @dots{}
+ @}
+@dots{} @}
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
@item BLOCK(@var{exp})
@kindex BLOCK(@var{exp})
This is a synonym for @code{ALIGN}, for compatibility with older linker
@end smallexample
or
@smallexample
-(ALIGN(@var{maxpagesize}) + (. & (@var{maxpagesize} - @var{commonpagesize})))
+(ALIGN(@var{maxpagesize})
+ + ((. + @var{commonpagesize} - 1) & (@var{maxpagesize} - @var{commonpagesize})))
@end smallexample
@noindent
depending on whether the latter uses fewer @var{commonpagesize} sized pages
@item DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(@var{offset}, @var{exp})
@kindex DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(@var{offset}, @var{exp})
This defines the end of the @code{PT_GNU_RELRO} segment when
-@samp{-z relro} option is used. Second argument is returned.
+@samp{-z relro} option is used.
When @samp{-z relro} option is not present, @code{DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END}
does nothing, otherwise @code{DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN} is padded so that
@var{exp} + @var{offset} is aligned to the most commonly used page
boundary for particular target. If present in the linker script,
it must always come in between @code{DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN} and
-@code{DATA_SEGMENT_END}.
+@code{DATA_SEGMENT_END}. Evaluates to the second argument plus any
+padding needed at the end of the @code{PT_GNU_RELRO} segment due to
+section alignment.
@smallexample
. = DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(24, .);
@item LOADADDR(@var{section})
@kindex LOADADDR(@var{section})
@cindex section load address in expression
-Return the absolute LMA of the named @var{section}. This is normally
-the same as @code{ADDR}, but it may be different if the @code{AT}
-attribute is used in the output section definition (@pxref{Output
+Return the absolute LMA of the named @var{section}. (@pxref{Output
Section LMA}).
+@item LOG2CEIL(@var{exp})
+@kindex LOG2CEIL(@var{exp})
+Return the binary logarithm of @var{exp} rounded towards infinity.
+@code{LOG2CEIL(0)} returns 0.
+
@kindex MAX
@item MAX(@var{exp1}, @var{exp2})
Returns the maximum of @var{exp1} and @var{exp2}.
@item SEGMENT_START(@var{segment}, @var{default})
@kindex SEGMENT_START(@var{segment}, @var{default})
Return the base address of the named @var{segment}. If an explicit
-value has been given for this segment (with a command-line @samp{-T}
-option) that value will be returned; otherwise the value will be
-@var{default}. At present, the @samp{-T} command-line option can only
-be used to set the base address for the ``text'', ``data'', and
-``bss'' sections, but you use @code{SEGMENT_START} with any segment
+value has already been given for this segment (with a command-line
+@samp{-T} option) then that value will be returned otherwise the value
+will be @var{default}. At present, the @samp{-T} command-line option
+can only be used to set the base address for the ``text'', ``data'', and
+``bss'' sections, but you can use @code{SEGMENT_START} with any segment
name.
@item SIZEOF(@var{section})
@ifset I960
* i960:: @command{ld} and the Intel 960 family
@end ifset
+@ifset M68HC11
+* M68HC11/68HC12:: @code{ld} and the Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 families
+@end ifset
@ifset ARM
* ARM:: @command{ld} and the ARM family
@end ifset
@ifset HPPA
* HPPA ELF32:: @command{ld} and HPPA 32-bit ELF
@end ifset
+@ifset M68K
+* M68K:: @command{ld} and the Motorola 68K family
+@end ifset
+@ifset MIPS
+* MIPS:: @command{ld} and the MIPS family
+@end ifset
@ifset MMIX
* MMIX:: @command{ld} and MMIX
@end ifset
@ifset MSP430
* MSP430:: @command{ld} and MSP430
@end ifset
-@ifset M68HC11
-* M68HC11/68HC12:: @code{ld} and the Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 families
+@ifset NDS32
+* NDS32:: @command{ld} and NDS32
+@end ifset
+@ifset NIOSII
+* Nios II:: @command{ld} and the Altera Nios II
@end ifset
@ifset POWERPC
* PowerPC ELF32:: @command{ld} and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support
@ifset POWERPC64
* PowerPC64 ELF64:: @command{ld} and PowerPC64 64-bit ELF Support
@end ifset
+@ifset SPU
+* SPU ELF:: @command{ld} and SPU ELF Support
+@end ifset
@ifset TICOFF
* TI COFF:: @command{ld} and TI COFF
@end ifset
@cindex synthesizing on H8/300
@item synthesizing instructions
-@c FIXME: specifically mov.b, or any mov instructions really?
+@c FIXME: specifically mov.b, or any mov instructions really? -> mov.b only, at least on H8, H8H, H8S
@command{ld} finds all @code{mov.b} instructions which use the
sixteen-bit absolute address form, but refer to the top
page of memory, and changes them to use the eight-bit address form.
@samp{mov.b @code{@@}@var{aa}:8} whenever the address @var{aa} is in the
top page of memory).
+@command{ld} finds all @code{mov} instructions which use the register
+indirect with 32-bit displacement addressing mode, but use a small
+displacement inside 16-bit displacement range, and changes them to use
+the 16-bit displacement form. (That is: the linker turns @samp{mov.b
+@code{@@}@var{d}:32,ERx} into @samp{mov.b @code{@@}@var{d}:16,ERx}
+whenever the displacement @var{d} is in the 16 bit signed integer
+range. Only implemented in ELF-format ld).
+
@item bit manipulation instructions
-@command{ld} finds all bit manipulation instructions like @code{band, bclr,
+@command{ld} finds all bit manipulation instructions like @code{band, bclr,
biand, bild, bior, bist, bixor, bld, bnot, bor, bset, bst, btst, bxor}
-which use 32 bit and 16 bit absolute address form, but refer to the top
+which use 32 bit and 16 bit absolute address form, but refer to the top
page of memory, and changes them to use the 8 bit address form.
(That is: the linker turns @samp{bset #xx:3,@code{@@}@var{aa}:32} into
-@samp{bset #xx:3,@code{@@}@var{aa}:8} whenever the address @var{aa} is in
+@samp{bset #xx:3,@code{@@}@var{aa}:8} whenever the address @var{aa} is in
the top page of memory).
@item system control instructions
-@command{ld} finds all @code{ldc.w, stc.w} instructions which use the
-32 bit absolute address form, but refer to the top page of memory, and
+@command{ld} finds all @code{ldc.w, stc.w} instructions which use the
+32 bit absolute address form, but refer to the top page of memory, and
changes them to use 16 bit address form.
(That is: the linker turns @samp{ldc.w @code{@@}@var{aa}:32,ccr} into
-@samp{ldc.w @code{@@}@var{aa}:16,ccr} whenever the address @var{aa} is in
+@samp{ldc.w @code{@@}@var{aa}:16,ccr} whenever the address @var{aa} is in
the top page of memory).
@end table
@cindex trampoline generation on M68HC12
For 68HC11 and 68HC12, @command{ld} can generate trampoline code to
call a far function using a normal @code{jsr} instruction. The linker
-will also change the relocation to some far function to use the
+will also change the relocation to some far function to use the
trampoline address instead of the function address. This is typically the
case when a pointer to a function is taken. The pointer will in fact
point to the function trampoline.
-@cindex PIC_VENEER
-@kindex --pic-veneer
-The @samp{--pic-veneer} switch makes the linker use PIC sequences for
-ARM/Thumb interworking veneers, even if the rest of the binary
-is not PIC. This avoids problems on uClinux targets where
-@samp{--emit-relocs} is used to generate relocatable binaries.
-
@ifclear GENERIC
@lowersections
@end ifclear
branched to using a BX instruction, and the program will start
executing in Thumb mode straight away.
+@cindex PE import table prefixing
+@kindex --use-nul-prefixed-import-tables
+The @samp{--use-nul-prefixed-import-tables} switch is specifying, that
+the import tables idata4 and idata5 have to be generated with a zero
+element prefix for import libraries. This is the old style to generate
+import tables. By default this option is turned off.
+
@cindex BE8
@kindex --be8
The @samp{--be8} switch instructs @command{ld} to generate BE8 format
-executables. This option is only valid when linking big-endian objects.
-The resulting image will contain big-endian data and little-endian code.
+executables. This option is only valid when linking big-endian
+objects - ie ones which have been assembled with the @option{-EB}
+option. The resulting image will contain big-endian data and
+little-endian code.
@cindex TARGET1
@kindex --target1-rel
In the former case, the switch should not be used, and @samp{R_ARM_V4BX}
relocations are ignored.
+@cindex FIX_V4BX_INTERWORKING
+@kindex --fix-v4bx-interworking
+Replace @code{BX rM} instructions identified by @samp{R_ARM_V4BX}
+relocations with a branch to the following veneer:
+
+@smallexample
+TST rM, #1
+MOVEQ PC, rM
+BX Rn
+@end smallexample
+
+This allows generation of libraries/applications that work on ARMv4 cores
+and are still interworking safe. Note that the above veneer clobbers the
+condition flags, so may cause incorrect program behavior in rare cases.
+
@cindex USE_BLX
@kindex --use-blx
The @samp{--use-blx} switch enables the linker to use ARM/Thumb
the veneer. The extra cycles required to call and return from the veneer
are sufficient to avoid the erratum in both the scalar and vector cases.
+@cindex ARM1176 erratum workaround
+@kindex --fix-arm1176
+@kindex --no-fix-arm1176
+The @samp{--fix-arm1176} switch enables a link-time workaround for an erratum
+in certain ARM1176 processors. The workaround is enabled by default if you
+are targeting ARM v6 (excluding ARM v6T2) or earlier. It can be disabled
+unconditionally by specifying @samp{--no-fix-arm1176}.
+
+Further information is available in the ``ARM1176JZ-S and ARM1176JZF-S
+Programmer Advice Notice'' available on the ARM documentation website at:
+http://infocenter.arm.com/.
+
+@cindex STM32L4xx erratum workaround
+@kindex --fix-stm32l4xx-629360
+
+The @samp{--fix-stm32l4xx-629360} switch enables a link-time
+workaround for a bug in the bus matrix / memory controller for some of
+the STM32 Cortex-M4 based products (STM32L4xx). When accessing
+off-chip memory via the affected bus for bus reads of 9 words or more,
+the bus can generate corrupt data and/or abort. These are only
+core-initiated accesses (not DMA), and might affect any access:
+integer loads such as LDM, POP and floating-point loads such as VLDM,
+VPOP. Stores are not affected.
+
+The bug can be avoided by splitting memory accesses into the
+necessary chunks to keep bus reads below 8 words.
+
+The workaround is not enabled by default, this is equivalent to use
+@samp{--fix-stm32l4xx-629360=none}. If you know you are using buggy
+STM32L4xx hardware, you can enable the workaround by specifying the
+linker option @samp{--fix-stm32l4xx-629360}, or the equivalent
+@samp{--fix-stm32l4xx-629360=default}.
+
+If the workaround is enabled, instructions are scanned for
+potentially-troublesome sequences, and a veneer is created for each
+such sequence which may trigger the erratum. The veneer consists in a
+replacement sequence emulating the behaviour of the original one and a
+branch back to the subsequent instruction. The original instruction is
+then replaced with a branch to the veneer.
+
+The workaround does not always preserve the memory access order for
+the LDMDB instruction, when the instruction loads the PC.
+
+The workaround is not able to handle problematic instructions when
+they are in the middle of an IT block, since a branch is not allowed
+there. In that case, the linker reports a warning and no replacement
+occurs.
+
+The workaround is not able to replace problematic instructions with a
+PC-relative branch instruction if the @samp{.text} section is too
+large. In that case, when the branch that replaces the original code
+cannot be encoded, the linker reports a warning and no replacement
+occurs.
+
@cindex NO_ENUM_SIZE_WARNING
@kindex --no-enum-size-warning
-The @samp{--no-enum-size-warning} switch prevents the linker from
+The @option{--no-enum-size-warning} switch prevents the linker from
warning when linking object files that specify incompatible EABI
enumeration size attributes. For example, with this switch enabled,
linking of an object file using 32-bit enumeration values with another
using enumeration values fitted into the smallest possible space will
not be diagnosed.
+@cindex NO_WCHAR_SIZE_WARNING
+@kindex --no-wchar-size-warning
+The @option{--no-wchar-size-warning} switch prevents the linker from
+warning when linking object files that specify incompatible EABI
+@code{wchar_t} size attributes. For example, with this switch enabled,
+linking of an object file using 32-bit @code{wchar_t} values with another
+using 16-bit @code{wchar_t} values will not be diagnosed.
+
+@cindex PIC_VENEER
+@kindex --pic-veneer
+The @samp{--pic-veneer} switch makes the linker use PIC sequences for
+ARM/Thumb interworking veneers, even if the rest of the binary
+is not PIC. This avoids problems on uClinux targets where
+@samp{--emit-relocs} is used to generate relocatable binaries.
+
+@cindex STUB_GROUP_SIZE
+@kindex --stub-group-size=@var{N}
+The linker will automatically generate and insert small sequences of
+code into a linked ARM ELF executable whenever an attempt is made to
+perform a function call to a symbol that is too far away. The
+placement of these sequences of instructions - called stubs - is
+controlled by the command line option @option{--stub-group-size=N}.
+The placement is important because a poor choice can create a need for
+duplicate stubs, increasing the code size. The linker will try to
+group stubs together in order to reduce interruptions to the flow of
+code, but it needs guidance as to how big these groups should be and
+where they should be placed.
+
+The value of @samp{N}, the parameter to the
+@option{--stub-group-size=} option controls where the stub groups are
+placed. If it is negative then all stubs are placed after the first
+branch that needs them. If it is positive then the stubs can be
+placed either before or after the branches that need them. If the
+value of @samp{N} is 1 (either +1 or -1) then the linker will choose
+exactly where to place groups of stubs, using its built in heuristics.
+A value of @samp{N} greater than 1 (or smaller than -1) tells the
+linker that a single group of stubs can service at most @samp{N} bytes
+from the input sections.
+
+The default, if @option{--stub-group-size=} is not specified, is
+@samp{N = +1}.
+
+Farcalls stubs insertion is fully supported for the ARM-EABI target
+only, because it relies on object files properties not present
+otherwise.
+
+@cindex Cortex-A8 erratum workaround
+@kindex --fix-cortex-a8
+@kindex --no-fix-cortex-a8
+The @samp{--fix-cortex-a8} switch enables a link-time workaround for an erratum in certain Cortex-A8 processors. The workaround is enabled by default if you are targeting the ARM v7-A architecture profile. It can be enabled otherwise by specifying @samp{--fix-cortex-a8}, or disabled unconditionally by specifying @samp{--no-fix-cortex-a8}.
+
+The erratum only affects Thumb-2 code. Please contact ARM for further details.
+
+@cindex Cortex-A53 erratum 835769 workaround
+@kindex --fix-cortex-a53-835769
+@kindex --no-fix-cortex-a53-835769
+The @samp{--fix-cortex-a53-835769} switch enables a link-time workaround for erratum 835769 present on certain early revisions of Cortex-A53 processors. The workaround is disabled by default. It can be enabled by specifying @samp{--fix-cortex-a53-835769}, or disabled unconditionally by specifying @samp{--no-fix-cortex-a53-835769}.
+
+Please contact ARM for further details.
+
+@kindex --merge-exidx-entries
+@kindex --no-merge-exidx-entries
+@cindex Merging exidx entries
+The @samp{--no-merge-exidx-entries} switch disables the merging of adjacent exidx entries in debuginfo.
+
+@kindex --long-plt
+@cindex 32-bit PLT entries
+The @samp{--long-plt} option enables the use of 16 byte PLT entries
+which support up to 4Gb of code. The default is to use 12 byte PLT
+entries which only support 512Mb of code.
+
+@kindex --no-apply-dynamic-relocs
+@cindex AArch64 rela addend
+The @samp{--no-apply-dynamic-relocs} option makes AArch64 linker do not apply
+link-time values for dynamic relocations.
+
+@cindex Placement of SG veneers
+All SG veneers are placed in the special output section @code{.gnu.sgstubs}.
+Its start address must be set, either with the command line option
+@samp{--section-start} or in a linker script, to indicate where to place these
+veneers in memory.
+
+@kindex --cmse-implib
+@cindex Secure gateway import library
+The @samp{--cmse-implib} option requests that the import libraries
+specified by the @samp{--out-implib} and @samp{--in-implib} options are
+secure gateway import libraries, suitable for linking a non-secure
+executable against secure code as per ARMv8-M Security Extensions.
+
+@kindex --in-implib=@var{file}
+@cindex Input import library
+The @samp{--in-implib=file} specifies an input import library whose symbols
+must keep the same address in the executable being produced. A warning is
+given if no @samp{--out-implib} is given but new symbols have been introduced
+in the executable that should be listed in its import library. Otherwise, if
+@samp{--out-implib} is specified, the symbols are added to the output import
+library. A warning is also given if some symbols present in the input import
+library have disappeared from the executable. This option is only effective
+for Secure Gateway import libraries, ie. when @samp{--cmse-implib} is
+specified.
+
@ifclear GENERIC
@lowersections
@end ifclear
@end ifclear
@end ifset
+@ifset M68K
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@raisesections
+@end ifclear
+
+@node M68K
+@section @command{ld} and the Motorola 68K family
+
+@cindex Motorola 68K GOT generation
+@kindex --got=@var{type}
+The @samp{--got=@var{type}} option lets you choose the GOT generation scheme.
+The choices are @samp{single}, @samp{negative}, @samp{multigot} and
+@samp{target}. When @samp{target} is selected the linker chooses
+the default GOT generation scheme for the current target.
+@samp{single} tells the linker to generate a single GOT with
+entries only at non-negative offsets.
+@samp{negative} instructs the linker to generate a single GOT with
+entries at both negative and positive offsets. Not all environments
+support such GOTs.
+@samp{multigot} allows the linker to generate several GOTs in the
+output file. All GOT references from a single input object
+file access the same GOT, but references from different input object
+files might access different GOTs. Not all environments support such GOTs.
+
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@lowersections
+@end ifclear
+@end ifset
+
+@ifset MIPS
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@raisesections
+@end ifclear
+
+@node MIPS
+@section @command{ld} and the MIPS family
+
+@cindex MIPS microMIPS instruction choice selection
+@kindex --insn32
+@kindex --no-insn32
+The @samp{--insn32} and @samp{--no-insn32} options control the choice of
+microMIPS instructions used in code generated by the linker, such as that
+in the PLT or lazy binding stubs, or in relaxation. If @samp{--insn32} is
+used, then the linker only uses 32-bit instruction encodings. By default
+or if @samp{--no-insn32} is used, all instruction encodings are used,
+including 16-bit ones where possible.
+
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@lowersections
+@end ifclear
+@end ifset
+
@ifset MMIX
@ifclear GENERIC
@raisesections
this section; it is always set to the program entry, which is at the
symbol @code{Main} for @code{mmo} files.
-Symbols with the prefix @code{__.MMIX.start.}, for example
-@code{__.MMIX.start..text} and @code{__.MMIX.start..data} are special;
-there must be only one each, even if they are local. The default linker
-script uses these to set the default start address of a section.
+Global symbols with the prefix @code{__.MMIX.start.}, for example
+@code{__.MMIX.start..text} and @code{__.MMIX.start..data} are special.
+The default linker script uses these to set the default start address
+of a section.
Initial and trailing multiples of zero-valued 32-bit words in a section,
are left out from an mmo file.
Defines an information memory section (if applicable). Any code in
this section will be uploaded to the MPU.
-@item @samp{.infomemnobits}
+@item @samp{.infomemnobits}
This is the same as the @samp{.infomem} section except that any code
in this section will not be uploaded to the MPU.
@item @samp{.noinit}
Denotes a portion of RAM located above @samp{.bss} section.
-The last two sections are used by gcc.
+The last two sections are used by gcc.
+@end table
+
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@lowersections
+@end ifclear
+@end ifset
+
+@ifset NDS32
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@raisesections
+@end ifclear
+
+@node NDS32
+@section @code{ld} and NDS32
+@kindex relaxing on NDS32
+For NDS32, there are some options to select relaxation behavior. The linker
+relaxes objects according to these options.
+
+@table @code
+@item @samp{--m[no-]fp-as-gp}
+Disable/enable fp-as-gp relaxation.
+
+@item @samp{--mexport-symbols=FILE}
+Exporting symbols and their address into FILE as linker script.
+
+@item @samp{--m[no-]ex9}
+Disable/enable link-time EX9 relaxation.
+
+@item @samp{--mexport-ex9=FILE}
+Export the EX9 table after linking.
+
+@item @samp{--mimport-ex9=FILE}
+Import the Ex9 table for EX9 relaxation.
+
+@item @samp{--mupdate-ex9}
+Update the existing EX9 table.
+
+@item @samp{--mex9-limit=NUM}
+Maximum number of entries in the ex9 table.
+
+@item @samp{--mex9-loop-aware}
+Avoid generating the EX9 instruction inside the loop.
+
+@item @samp{--m[no-]ifc}
+Disable/enable the link-time IFC optimization.
+
+@item @samp{--mifc-loop-aware}
+Avoid generating the IFC instruction inside the loop.
@end table
@ifclear GENERIC
@end ifclear
@end ifset
+@ifset NIOSII
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@raisesections
+@end ifclear
+
+@node Nios II
+@section @command{ld} and the Altera Nios II
+@cindex Nios II call relaxation
+@kindex --relax on Nios II
+
+Call and immediate jump instructions on Nios II processors are limited to
+transferring control to addresses in the same 256MB memory segment,
+which may result in @command{ld} giving
+@samp{relocation truncated to fit} errors with very large programs.
+The command-line option @option{--relax} enables the generation of
+trampolines that can access the entire 32-bit address space for calls
+outside the normal @code{call} and @code{jmpi} address range. These
+trampolines are inserted at section boundaries, so may not themselves
+be reachable if an input section and its associated call trampolines are
+larger than 256MB.
+
+The @option{--relax} option is enabled by default unless @option{-r}
+is also specified. You can disable trampoline generation by using the
+@option{--no-relax} linker option. You can also disable this optimization
+locally by using the @samp{set .noat} directive in assembly-language
+source files, as the linker-inserted trampolines use the @code{at}
+register as a temporary.
+
+Note that the linker @option{--relax} option is independent of assembler
+relaxation options, and that using the GNU assembler's @option{-relax-all}
+option interferes with the linker's more selective call instruction relaxation.
+
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@lowersections
+@end ifclear
+@end ifset
+
@ifset POWERPC
@ifclear GENERIC
@raisesections
@samp{--relax} enables the generation of trampolines that can access
the entire 32-bit address space. These trampolines are inserted at
section boundaries, so may not themselves be reachable if an input
-section exceeds 33M in size.
+section exceeds 33M in size. You may combine @samp{-r} and
+@samp{--relax} to add trampolines in a partial link. In that case
+both branches to undefined symbols and inter-section branches are also
+considered potentially out of range, and trampolines inserted.
@cindex PowerPC ELF32 options
@table @option
compiled with @samp{-msecure-plt}. @samp{--bss-plt} forces the old
BSS PLT (and GOT layout) which can give slightly better performance.
+@kindex --secure-plt
+@item --secure-plt
+@command{ld} will use the new PLT and GOT layout if it is linking new
+@samp{-fpic} or @samp{-fPIC} code, but does not do so automatically
+when linking non-PIC code. This option requests the new PLT and GOT
+layout. A warning will be given if some object file requires the old
+style BSS PLT.
+
@cindex PowerPC GOT
@kindex --sdata-got
@item --sdata-got
@cindex PowerPC64 dot symbols
@kindex --dotsyms
@kindex --no-dotsyms
-@item --dotsyms, --no-dotsyms
+@item --dotsyms
+@itemx --no-dotsyms
These two options control how @command{ld} interprets version patterns
in a version script. Older PowerPC64 compilers emitted both a
function descriptor symbol with the same name as the function, and a
dot-prefixed patterns. Use @samp{--no-dotsyms} to disable this
feature.
+@cindex PowerPC64 register save/restore functions
+@kindex --save-restore-funcs
+@kindex --no-save-restore-funcs
+@item --save-restore-funcs
+@itemx --no-save-restore-funcs
+These two options control whether PowerPC64 @command{ld} automatically
+provides out-of-line register save and restore functions used by
+@samp{-Os} code. The default is to provide any such referenced
+function for a normal final link, and to not do so for a relocatable
+link.
+
@cindex PowerPC64 TLS optimization
@kindex --no-tls-optimize
@item --no-tls-optimize
sequences used to access Thread-Local Storage. Use this option to
disable the optimization.
+@cindex PowerPC64 __tls_get_addr optimization
+@kindex --tls-get-addr-optimize
+@kindex --no-tls-get-addr-optimize
+@item --tls-get-addr-optimize
+@itemx --no-tls-get-addr-optimize
+These options control whether PowerPC64 @command{ld} uses a special
+stub to call __tls_get_addr. PowerPC64 glibc 2.22 and later support
+an optimization that allows the second and subsequent calls to
+@code{__tls_get_addr} for a given symbol to be resolved by the special
+stub without calling in to glibc. By default the linker enables this
+option when glibc advertises the availability of __tls_get_addr_opt.
+Forcing this option on when using an older glibc won't do much besides
+slow down your applications, but may be useful if linking an
+application against an older glibc with the expectation that it will
+normally be used on systems having a newer glibc.
+
@cindex PowerPC64 OPD optimization
@kindex --no-opd-optimize
@item --no-opd-optimize
PowerPC64 @command{ld} normally removes @code{.opd} section entries
corresponding to deleted link-once functions, or functions removed by
-the action of @samp{--gc-sections} or linker scrip @code{/DISCARD/}.
+the action of @samp{--gc-sections} or linker script @code{/DISCARD/}.
Use this option to disable @code{.opd} optimization.
@cindex PowerPC64 OPD spacing
@cindex PowerPC64 multi-TOC
@kindex --no-multi-toc
@item --no-multi-toc
-By default, PowerPC64 GCC generates code for a TOC model where TOC
+If given any toc option besides @code{-mcmodel=medium} or
+@code{-mcmodel=large}, PowerPC64 GCC generates code for a TOC model
+where TOC
entries are accessed with a 16-bit offset from r2. This limits the
total TOC size to 64K. PowerPC64 @command{ld} extends this limit by
grouping code sections such that each group uses less than 64K for its
help if a single input file has a @code{.toc} section that exceeds
64K, most likely from linking multiple files with @command{ld -r}.
Use this option to turn off this feature.
+
+@cindex PowerPC64 TOC sorting
+@kindex --no-toc-sort
+@item --no-toc-sort
+By default, @command{ld} sorts TOC sections so that those whose file
+happens to have a section called @code{.init} or @code{.fini} are
+placed first, followed by TOC sections referenced by code generated
+with PowerPC64 gcc's @code{-mcmodel=small}, and lastly TOC sections
+referenced only by code generated with PowerPC64 gcc's
+@code{-mcmodel=medium} or @code{-mcmodel=large} options. Doing this
+results in better TOC grouping for multi-TOC. Use this option to turn
+off this feature.
+
+@cindex PowerPC64 PLT stub alignment
+@kindex --plt-align
+@kindex --no-plt-align
+@item --plt-align
+@itemx --no-plt-align
+Use these options to control whether individual PLT call stubs are
+padded so that they don't cross a 32-byte boundary, or to the
+specified power of two boundary when using @code{--plt-align=}. Note
+that this isn't alignment in the usual sense. By default PLT call
+stubs are packed tightly.
+
+@cindex PowerPC64 PLT call stub static chain
+@kindex --plt-static-chain
+@kindex --no-plt-static-chain
+@item --plt-static-chain
+@itemx --no-plt-static-chain
+Use these options to control whether PLT call stubs load the static
+chain pointer (r11). @code{ld} defaults to not loading the static
+chain since there is never any need to do so on a PLT call.
+
+@cindex PowerPC64 PLT call stub thread safety
+@kindex --plt-thread-safe
+@kindex --no-plt-thread-safe
+@item --plt-thread-safe
+@itemx --no-thread-safe
+With power7's weakly ordered memory model, it is possible when using
+lazy binding for ld.so to update a plt entry in one thread and have
+another thread see the individual plt entry words update in the wrong
+order, despite ld.so carefully writing in the correct order and using
+memory write barriers. To avoid this we need some sort of read
+barrier in the call stub, or use LD_BIND_NOW=1. By default, @code{ld}
+looks for calls to commonly used functions that create threads, and if
+seen, adds the necessary barriers. Use these options to change the
+default behaviour.
+@end table
+
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@lowersections
+@end ifclear
+@end ifset
+
+@ifset SPU
+@ifclear GENERIC
+@raisesections
+@end ifclear
+
+@node SPU ELF
+@section @command{ld} and SPU ELF Support
+
+@cindex SPU ELF options
+@table @option
+
+@cindex SPU plugins
+@kindex --plugin
+@item --plugin
+This option marks an executable as a PIC plugin module.
+
+@cindex SPU overlays
+@kindex --no-overlays
+@item --no-overlays
+Normally, @command{ld} recognizes calls to functions within overlay
+regions, and redirects such calls to an overlay manager via a stub.
+@command{ld} also provides a built-in overlay manager. This option
+turns off all this special overlay handling.
+
+@cindex SPU overlay stub symbols
+@kindex --emit-stub-syms
+@item --emit-stub-syms
+This option causes @command{ld} to label overlay stubs with a local
+symbol that encodes the stub type and destination.
+
+@cindex SPU extra overlay stubs
+@kindex --extra-overlay-stubs
+@item --extra-overlay-stubs
+This option causes @command{ld} to add overlay call stubs on all
+function calls out of overlay regions. Normally stubs are not added
+on calls to non-overlay regions.
+
+@cindex SPU local store size
+@kindex --local-store=lo:hi
+@item --local-store=lo:hi
+@command{ld} usually checks that a final executable for SPU fits in
+the address range 0 to 256k. This option may be used to change the
+range. Disable the check entirely with @option{--local-store=0:0}.
+
+@cindex SPU
+@kindex --stack-analysis
+@item --stack-analysis
+SPU local store space is limited. Over-allocation of stack space
+unnecessarily limits space available for code and data, while
+under-allocation results in runtime failures. If given this option,
+@command{ld} will provide an estimate of maximum stack usage.
+@command{ld} does this by examining symbols in code sections to
+determine the extents of functions, and looking at function prologues
+for stack adjusting instructions. A call-graph is created by looking
+for relocations on branch instructions. The graph is then searched
+for the maximum stack usage path. Note that this analysis does not
+find calls made via function pointers, and does not handle recursion
+and other cycles in the call graph. Stack usage may be
+under-estimated if your code makes such calls. Also, stack usage for
+dynamic allocation, e.g. alloca, will not be detected. If a link map
+is requested, detailed information about each function's stack usage
+and calls will be given.
+
+@cindex SPU
+@kindex --emit-stack-syms
+@item --emit-stack-syms
+This option, if given along with @option{--stack-analysis} will result
+in @command{ld} emitting stack sizing symbols for each function.
+These take the form @code{__stack_<function_name>} for global
+functions, and @code{__stack_<number>_<function_name>} for static
+functions. @code{<number>} is the section id in hex. The value of
+such symbols is the stack requirement for the corresponding function.
+The symbol size will be zero, type @code{STT_NOTYPE}, binding
+@code{STB_LOCAL}, and section @code{SHN_ABS}.
@end table
@ifclear GENERIC
@node WIN32
@section @command{ld} and WIN32 (cygwin/mingw)
-This section describes some of the win32 specific @command{ld} issues.
+This section describes some of the win32 specific @command{ld} issues.
See @ref{Options,,Command Line Options} for detailed description of the
command line options mentioned here.
@table @emph
-@cindex import libraries
-@item import libraries
+@cindex import libraries
+@item import libraries
The standard Windows linker creates and uses so-called import
libraries, which contains information for linking to dll's. They are
regular static archives and are handled as any other static
support for creating such libraries provided with the
@samp{--out-implib} command line option.
-@item exporting DLL symbols
-@cindex exporting DLL symbols
+@item exporting DLL symbols
+@cindex exporting DLL symbols
The cygwin/mingw @command{ld} has several ways to export symbols for dll's.
@table @emph
@item --export-all-symbols [This is the default]
@item --exclude-symbols
@item --exclude-libs
+@item --exclude-modules-for-implib
+@item --version-script
@end itemize
-If, however, @samp{--export-all-symbols} is not given explicitly on the
+When auto-export is in operation, @command{ld} will export all the non-local
+(global and common) symbols it finds in a DLL, with the exception of a few
+symbols known to belong to the system's runtime and libraries. As it will
+often not be desirable to export all of a DLL's symbols, which may include
+private functions that are not part of any public interface, the command-line
+options listed above may be used to filter symbols out from the list for
+exporting. The @samp{--output-def} option can be used in order to see the
+final list of exported symbols with all exclusions taken into effect.
+
+If @samp{--export-all-symbols} is not given explicitly on the
command line, then the default auto-export behavior will be @emph{disabled}
if either of the following are true:
@item Any symbol in any object file was marked with the __declspec(dllexport) attribute.
@end itemize
-@item using a DEF file
-@cindex using a DEF file
+@item using a DEF file
+@cindex using a DEF file
Another way of exporting symbols is using a DEF file. A DEF file is
an ASCII file containing definitions of symbols which should be
exported when a dll is created. Usually it is named @samp{<dll
_bar = bar
another_foo = abc.dll.afoo
var1 DATA
-@end example
+doo = foo == foo2
+eoo DATA == var1
+@end example
-This example defines a DLL with a non-default base address and five
+This example defines a DLL with a non-default base address and seven
symbols in the export table. The third exported symbol @code{_bar} is an
alias for the second. The fourth symbol, @code{another_foo} is resolved
by "forwarding" to another module and treating it as an alias for
@code{afoo} exported from the DLL @samp{abc.dll}. The final symbol
-@code{var1} is declared to be a data object.
+@code{var1} is declared to be a data object. The @samp{doo} symbol in
+export library is an alias of @samp{foo}, which gets the string name
+in export table @samp{foo2}. The @samp{eoo} symbol is an data export
+symbol, which gets in export table the name @samp{var1}.
The optional @code{LIBRARY <name>} command indicates the @emph{internal}
name of the output DLL. If @samp{<name>} does not include a suffix,
When the .DEF file is used to build an application, rather than a
library, the @code{NAME <name>} command should be used instead of
@code{LIBRARY}. If @samp{<name>} does not include a suffix, the default
-executable suffix, @samp{.EXE} is appended.
+executable suffix, @samp{.EXE} is appended.
With either @code{LIBRARY <name>} or @code{NAME <name>} the optional
specification @code{BASE = <number>} may be used to specify a
-non-default base address for the image.
+non-default base address for the image.
If neither @code{LIBRARY <name>} nor @code{NAME <name>} is specified,
or they specify an empty string, the internal name is the same as the
EXPORTS
( ( ( <name1> [ = <name2> ] )
| ( <name1> = <module-name> . <external-name>))
- [ @@ <integer> ] [NONAME] [DATA] [CONSTANT] [PRIVATE] ) *
-@end example
+ [ @@ <integer> ] [NONAME] [DATA] [CONSTANT] [PRIVATE] [== <name3>] ) *
+@end example
Declares @samp{<name1>} as an exported symbol from the DLL, or declares
@samp{<name1>} as an exported alias for @samp{<name2>}; or declares
@samp{<name1>} as a "forward" alias for the symbol
@samp{<external-name>} in the DLL @samp{<module-name>}.
Optionally, the symbol may be exported by the specified ordinal
-@samp{<integer>} alias.
+@samp{<integer>} alias. The optional @samp{<name3>} is the to be used
+string in import/export table for the symbol.
The optional keywords that follow the declaration indicate:
symbol can still be imported using the @code{LoadLibrary/GetProcAddress}
API at runtime or by by using the GNU ld extension of linking directly to
the DLL without an import library.
-
+
See ld/deffilep.y in the binutils sources for the full specification of
other DEF file statements
the @samp{--export-all-symbols} option is also used.
Note that object files that wish to access these symbols must @emph{not}
-decorate them with dllexport. Instead, they should use dllimport,
+decorate them with dllexport. Instead, they should use dllimport,
instead:
@example
__declspec(dllimport) void a_function(int with_args)
@end example
-This complicates the structure of library header files, because
-when included by the library itself the header must declare the
+This complicates the structure of library header files, because
+when included by the library itself the header must declare the
variables and functions as dllexport, but when included by client
code the header must declare them as dllimport. There are a number
-of idioms that are typically used to do this; often client code can
+of idioms that are typically used to do this; often client code can
omit the __declspec() declaration completely. See
@samp{--enable-auto-import} and @samp{automatic data imports} for more
information.
-@end table
+@end table
@cindex automatic data imports
@item automatic data imports
The standard Windows dll format supports data imports from dlls only
by adding special decorations (dllimport/dllexport), which let the
compiler produce specific assembler instructions to deal with this
-issue. This increases the effort necessary to port existing Un*x
+issue. This increases the effort necessary to port existing Un*x
code to these platforms, especially for large
c++ libraries and applications. The auto-import feature, which was
-initially provided by Paul Sokolovsky, allows one to omit the
+initially provided by Paul Sokolovsky, allows one to omit the
decorations to achieve a behavior that conforms to that on POSIX/Un*x
-platforms. This feature is enabled with the @samp{--enable-auto-import}
+platforms. This feature is enabled with the @samp{--enable-auto-import}
command-line option, although it is enabled by default on cygwin/mingw.
The @samp{--enable-auto-import} option itself now serves mainly to
suppress any warnings that are ordinarily emitted when linked objects
trigger the feature's use.
-auto-import of variables does not always work flawlessly without
+auto-import of variables does not always work flawlessly without
additional assistance. Sometimes, you will see this message
-"variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read the
+"variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read the
documentation for ld's @code{--enable-auto-import} for details."
-The @samp{--enable-auto-import} documentation explains why this error
-occurs, and several methods that can be used to overcome this difficulty.
-One of these methods is the @emph{runtime pseudo-relocs} feature, described
+The @samp{--enable-auto-import} documentation explains why this error
+occurs, and several methods that can be used to overcome this difficulty.
+One of these methods is the @emph{runtime pseudo-relocs} feature, described
below.
@cindex runtime pseudo-relocation
-For complex variables imported from DLLs (such as structs or classes),
-object files typically contain a base address for the variable and an
-offset (@emph{addend}) within the variable--to specify a particular
-field or public member, for instance. Unfortunately, the runtime loader used
-in win32 environments is incapable of fixing these references at runtime
+For complex variables imported from DLLs (such as structs or classes),
+object files typically contain a base address for the variable and an
+offset (@emph{addend}) within the variable--to specify a particular
+field or public member, for instance. Unfortunately, the runtime loader used
+in win32 environments is incapable of fixing these references at runtime
without the additional information supplied by dllimport/dllexport decorations.
-The standard auto-import feature described above is unable to resolve these
+The standard auto-import feature described above is unable to resolve these
references.
-The @samp{--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs} switch allows these references to
-be resolved without error, while leaving the task of adjusting the references
-themselves (with their non-zero addends) to specialized code provided by the
-runtime environment. Recent versions of the cygwin and mingw environments and
-compilers provide this runtime support; older versions do not. However, the
-support is only necessary on the developer's platform; the compiled result will
+The @samp{--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs} switch allows these references to
+be resolved without error, while leaving the task of adjusting the references
+themselves (with their non-zero addends) to specialized code provided by the
+runtime environment. Recent versions of the cygwin and mingw environments and
+compilers provide this runtime support; older versions do not. However, the
+support is only necessary on the developer's platform; the compiled result will
run without error on an older system.
-@samp{--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs} is not the default; it must be explicitly
-enabled as needed.
+@samp{--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs} is not the default; it must be explicitly
+enabled as needed.
@cindex direct linking to a dll
@item direct linking to a dll
including data symbols, to a dll without the usage of any import
libraries. This is much faster and uses much less memory than does the
traditional import library method, especially when linking large
-libraries or applications. When @command{ld} creates an import lib, each
-function or variable exported from the dll is stored in its own bfd, even
-though a single bfd could contain many exports. The overhead involved in
+libraries or applications. When @command{ld} creates an import lib, each
+function or variable exported from the dll is stored in its own bfd, even
+though a single bfd could contain many exports. The overhead involved in
storing, loading, and processing so many bfd's is quite large, and explains the
-tremendous time, memory, and storage needed to link against particularly
+tremendous time, memory, and storage needed to link against particularly
large or complex libraries when using import libs.
-Linking directly to a dll uses no extra command-line switches other than
+Linking directly to a dll uses no extra command-line switches other than
@samp{-L} and @samp{-l}, because @command{ld} already searches for a number
-of names to match each library. All that is needed from the developer's
+of names to match each library. All that is needed from the developer's
perspective is an understanding of this search, in order to force ld to
select the dll instead of an import library.
before moving on to the next directory in the search path.
-(*) Actually, this is not @samp{cygxxx.dll} but in fact is @samp{<prefix>xxx.dll},
-where @samp{<prefix>} is set by the @command{ld} option
-@samp{--dll-search-prefix=<prefix>}. In the case of cygwin, the standard gcc spec
-file includes @samp{--dll-search-prefix=cyg}, so in effect we actually search for
+(*) Actually, this is not @samp{cygxxx.dll} but in fact is @samp{<prefix>xxx.dll},
+where @samp{<prefix>} is set by the @command{ld} option
+@samp{--dll-search-prefix=<prefix>}. In the case of cygwin, the standard gcc spec
+file includes @samp{--dll-search-prefix=cyg}, so in effect we actually search for
@samp{cygxxx.dll}.
-Other win32-based unix environments, such as mingw or pw32, may use other
-@samp{<prefix>}es, although at present only cygwin makes use of this feature. It
+Other win32-based unix environments, such as mingw or pw32, may use other
+@samp{<prefix>}es, although at present only cygwin makes use of this feature. It
was originally intended to help avoid name conflicts among dll's built for the
various win32/un*x environments, so that (for example) two versions of a zlib dll
could coexist on the same machine.
cygxxx.dll
lib/
libxxx.dll.a (in case of dll's)
- libxxx.a (in case of static archive)
+ libxxx.a (in case of static archive)
@end example
-Linking directly to a dll without using the import library can be
-done two ways:
+Linking directly to a dll without using the import library can be
+done two ways:
1. Use the dll directly by adding the @samp{bin} path to the link line
@example
gcc -Wl,-verbose -o a.exe -L../bin/ -lxxx
-@end example
+@end example
However, as the dll's often have version numbers appended to their names
(@samp{cygncurses-5.dll}) this will often fail, unless one specifies
@example
ln -s bin/cygxxx.dll lib/[cyg|lib|]xxx.dll[.a]
-@end example
+@end example
Then you can link without any make environment changes.
@example
gcc -Wl,-verbose -o a.exe -L../lib/ -lxxx
-@end example
+@end example
This technique also avoids the version number problems, because the following is
perfectly legal
bin/
cygxxx-5.dll
lib/
- libxxx.dll.a -> ../bin/cygxxx-5.dll
+ libxxx.dll.a -> ../bin/cygxxx-5.dll
@end example
Linking directly to a dll without using an import lib will work
stdcall-decorated assembly names.
So, import libs are not going away. But the ability to replace
-true import libs with a simple symbolic link to (or a copy of)
-a dll, in many cases, is a useful addition to the suite of tools
-binutils makes available to the win32 developer. Given the
+true import libs with a simple symbolic link to (or a copy of)
+a dll, in many cases, is a useful addition to the suite of tools
+binutils makes available to the win32 developer. Given the
massive improvements in memory requirements during linking, storage
requirements, and linking speed, we expect that many developers
will soon begin to use this feature whenever possible.
-@item symbol aliasing
+@item symbol aliasing
@table @emph
-@item adding additional names
-Sometimes, it is useful to export symbols with additional names.
+@item adding additional names
+Sometimes, it is useful to export symbols with additional names.
A symbol @samp{foo} will be exported as @samp{foo}, but it can also be
exported as @samp{_foo} by using special directives in the DEF file
when creating the dll. This will affect also the optional created
-import library. Consider the following DEF file:
+import library. Consider the following DEF file:
-@example
+@example
LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000
EXPORTS
-foo
+foo
_foo = foo
-@end example
+@end example
The line @samp{_foo = foo} maps the symbol @samp{foo} to @samp{_foo}.
Another method for creating a symbol alias is to create it in the
source code using the "weak" attribute:
-@example
-void foo () @{ /* Do something. */; @}
+@example
+void foo () @{ /* Do something. */; @}
void _foo () __attribute__ ((weak, alias ("foo")));
-@end example
+@end example
See the gcc manual for more information about attributes and weak
symbols.
@item renaming symbols
Sometimes it is useful to rename exports. For instance, the cygwin
-kernel does this regularly. A symbol @samp{_foo} can be exported as
+kernel does this regularly. A symbol @samp{_foo} can be exported as
@samp{foo} but not as @samp{_foo} by using special directives in the
DEF file. (This will also affect the import library, if it is
-created). In the following example:
+created). In the following example:
-@example
+@example
LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000
EXPORTS
_foo = foo
-@end example
+@end example
The line @samp{_foo = foo} maps the exported symbol @samp{foo} to
@samp{_foo}.
-@end table
+@end table
Note: using a DEF file disables the default auto-export behavior,
-unless the @samp{--export-all-symbols} command line option is used.
+unless the @samp{--export-all-symbols} command line option is used.
If, however, you are trying to rename symbols, then you should list
-@emph{all} desired exports in the DEF file, including the symbols
-that are not being renamed, and do @emph{not} use the
-@samp{--export-all-symbols} option. If you list only the
-renamed symbols in the DEF file, and use @samp{--export-all-symbols}
-to handle the other symbols, then the both the new names @emph{and}
-the original names for the renamed symbols will be exported.
-In effect, you'd be aliasing those symbols, not renaming them,
+@emph{all} desired exports in the DEF file, including the symbols
+that are not being renamed, and do @emph{not} use the
+@samp{--export-all-symbols} option. If you list only the
+renamed symbols in the DEF file, and use @samp{--export-all-symbols}
+to handle the other symbols, then the both the new names @emph{and}
+the original names for the renamed symbols will be exported.
+In effect, you'd be aliasing those symbols, not renaming them,
which is probably not what you wanted.
@cindex weak externals
As a GNU extension, weak symbols that do not specify an alternate symbol
are supported. If the symbol is undefined when linking, the symbol
uses a default value.
+
+@cindex aligned common symbols
+@item aligned common symbols
+As a GNU extension to the PE file format, it is possible to specify the
+desired alignment for a common symbol. This information is conveyed from
+the assembler or compiler to the linker by means of GNU-specific commands
+carried in the object file's @samp{.drectve} section, which are recognized
+by @command{ld} and respected when laying out the common symbols. Native
+tools will be able to process object files employing this GNU extension,
+but will fail to respect the alignment instructions, and may issue noisy
+warnings about unknown linker directives.
+
@end table
@ifclear GENERIC
@cindex Xtensa options
@table @option
-@kindex --no-relax
-@item --no-relax
-Since the Xtensa version of @code{ld} enables the @option{--relax} option
-by default, the @option{--no-relax} option is provided to disable
-relaxation.
-
@item --size-opt
When optimizing indirect calls to direct calls, optimize for code size
more than performance. With this option, the linker will not insert
were different, the contents of that location would fool the linker
into doing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give a
specific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do,
-and the most helpful.
+and the most helpful.
Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix
the bug if it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reports
@var{secname}, only the @emph{first} sets the start address.
@end table
+@node GNU Free Documentation License
+@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
@include fdl.texi
@node LD Index
@printindex cp
@tex
-% I think something like @colophon should be in texinfo. In the
+% I think something like @@colophon should be in texinfo. In the
% meantime:
\long\def\colophon{\hbox to0pt{}\vfill
\centerline{The body of this manual is set in}
\centerline{{\sl\fontname\tensl\/}}
\centerline{are used for emphasis.}\vfill}
\page\colophon
-% Blame: doc@cygnus.com, 28mar91.
+% Blame: doc@@cygnus.com, 28mar91.
@end tex
-
-@contents
@bye
projects / deliverable / binutils-gdb.git / blobdiff