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This is ../../src/ld/ld.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.2 from
../../src/ld/ld.texinfo.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Ld: (ld).                       The GNU linker.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   This file documents the GNU linker LD version 2.16.91.

   Copyright (C) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

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Using ld
********

   This file documents the GNU linker ld version 2.16.91.

   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".

* Menu:

* Overview::                    Overview
* Invocation::                  Invocation
* Scripts::                     Linker Scripts

* Machine Dependent::           Machine Dependent Features

* BFD::                         BFD

* Reporting Bugs::              Reporting Bugs
* MRI::                         MRI Compatible Script Files
* GNU Free Documentation License::  GNU Free Documentation License
* Index::                       Index

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Overview
********

   `ld' combines a number of object and archive files, relocates their
data and ties up symbol references. Usually the last step in compiling
a program is to run `ld'.

   `ld' accepts Linker Command Language files written in a superset of
AT&T's Link Editor Command Language syntax, to provide explicit and
total control over the linking process.

   This version of `ld' uses the general purpose BFD libraries to
operate on object files. This allows `ld' to read, combine, and write
object files in many different formats--for example, COFF or `a.out'.
Different formats may be linked together to produce any available kind
of object file.  *Note BFD::, for more information.

   Aside from its flexibility, the GNU linker is more helpful than other
linkers in providing diagnostic information.  Many linkers abandon
execution immediately upon encountering an error; whenever possible,
`ld' continues executing, allowing you to identify other errors (or, in
some cases, to get an output file in spite of the error).

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File: ld.info,  Node: Invocation,  Next: Scripts,  Prev: Overview,  Up: Top

Invocation
**********

   The GNU linker `ld' is meant to cover a broad range of situations,
and to be as compatible as possible with other linkers.  As a result,
you have many choices to control its behavior.

* Menu:

* Options::                     Command Line Options
* Environment::                 Environment Variables

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Command Line Options
====================

   The linker supports a plethora of command-line options, but in actual
practice few of them are used in any particular context.  For instance,
a frequent use of `ld' is to link standard Unix object files on a
standard, supported Unix system.  On such a system, to link a file
`hello.o':

     ld -o OUTPUT /lib/crt0.o hello.o -lc

   This tells `ld' to produce a file called OUTPUT as the result of
linking the file `/lib/crt0.o' with `hello.o' and the library `libc.a',
which will come from the standard search directories.  (See the
discussion of the `-l' option below.)

   Some of the command-line options to `ld' may be specified at any
point in the command line.  However, options which refer to files, such
as `-l' or `-T', cause the file to be read at the point at which the
option appears in the command line, relative to the object files and
other file options.  Repeating non-file options with a different
argument will either have no further effect, or override prior
occurrences (those further to the left on the command line) of that
option.  Options which may be meaningfully specified more than once are
noted in the descriptions below.

   Non-option arguments are object files or archives which are to be
linked together.  They may follow, precede, or be mixed in with
command-line options, except that an object file argument may not be
placed between an option and its argument.

   Usually the linker is invoked with at least one object file, but you
can specify other forms of binary input files using `-l', `-R', and the
script command language.  If _no_ binary input files at all are
specified, the linker does not produce any output, and issues the
message `No input files'.

   If the linker cannot recognize the format of an object file, it will
assume that it is a linker script.  A script specified in this way
augments the main linker script used for the link (either the default
linker script or the one specified by using `-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
`INPUT' or `GROUP' to load other objects.  Note that specifying a
script in this way merely augments the main linker script; use the `-T'
option to replace the default linker script entirely.  *Note Scripts::.

   For options whose names are a single letter, option arguments must
either follow the option letter without intervening whitespace, or be
given as separate arguments immediately following the option that
requires them.

   For options whose names are multiple letters, either one dash or two
can precede the option name; for example, `-trace-symbol' and
`--trace-symbol' are equivalent.  Note--there is one exception to this
rule.  Multiple letter options that start with a lower case 'o' can
only be preceeded by two dashes.  This is to reduce confusion with the
`-o' option.  So for example `-omagic' sets the output file name to
`magic' whereas `--omagic' sets the NMAGIC flag on the output.

   Arguments to multiple-letter options must either be separated from
the option name by an equals sign, or be given as separate arguments
immediately following the option that requires them.  For example,
`--trace-symbol foo' and `--trace-symbol=foo' are equivalent.  Unique
abbreviations of the names of multiple-letter options are accepted.

   Note--if the linker is being invoked indirectly, via a compiler
driver (e.g. `gcc') then all the linker command line options should be
prefixed by `-Wl,' (or whatever is appropriate for the particular
compiler driver) like this:

       gcc -Wl,--startgroup foo.o bar.o -Wl,--endgroup

   This is important, because otherwise the compiler driver program may
silently drop the linker options, resulting in a bad link.

   Here is a table of the generic command line switches accepted by the
GNU linker:

`@FILE'
     Read command-line options from FILE.  The options read are
     inserted in place of the original @FILE option.  If FILE does not
     exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated
     literally, and not removed.

     Options in FILE are separated by whitespace.  A whitespace
     character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
     option in either single or double quotes.  Any character
     (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character
     to be included with a backslash.  The FILE may itself contain
     additional @FILE options; any such options will be processed
     recursively.

`-aKEYWORD'
     This option is supported for HP/UX compatibility.  The KEYWORD
     argument must be one of the strings `archive', `shared', or
     `default'.  `-aarchive' is functionally equivalent to `-Bstatic',
     and the other two keywords are functionally equivalent to
     `-Bdynamic'.  This option may be used any number of times.

`-AARCHITECTURE'
`--architecture=ARCHITECTURE'
     In the current release of `ld', this option is useful only for the
     Intel 960 family of architectures.  In that `ld' configuration, the
     ARCHITECTURE argument identifies the particular architecture in
     the 960 family, enabling some safeguards and modifying the
     archive-library search path.  *Note `ld' and the Intel 960 family:
     i960, for details.

     Future releases of `ld' may support similar functionality for
     other architecture families.

`-b INPUT-FORMAT'
`--format=INPUT-FORMAT'
     `ld' may be configured to support more than one kind of object
     file.  If your `ld' is configured this way, you can use the `-b'
     option to specify the binary format for input object files that
     follow this option on the command line.  Even when `ld' is
     configured to support alternative object formats, you don't
     usually need to specify this, as `ld' should be configured to
     expect as a default input format the most usual format on each
     machine.  INPUT-FORMAT is a text string, the name of a particular
     format supported by the BFD libraries.  (You can list the
     available binary formats with `objdump -i'.)  *Note BFD::.

     You may want to use this option if you are linking files with an
     unusual binary format.  You can also use `-b' to switch formats
     explicitly (when linking object files of different formats), by
     including `-b INPUT-FORMAT' before each group of object files in a
     particular format.

     The default format is taken from the environment variable
     `GNUTARGET'.  *Note Environment::.  You can also define the input
     format from a script, using the command `TARGET'; see *Note Format
     Commands::.

`-c MRI-COMMANDFILE'
`--mri-script=MRI-COMMANDFILE'
     For compatibility with linkers produced by MRI, `ld' accepts script
     files written in an alternate, restricted command language,
     described in *Note MRI Compatible Script Files: MRI.  Introduce
     MRI script files with the option `-c'; use the `-T' option to run
     linker scripts written in the general-purpose `ld' scripting
     language.  If MRI-CMDFILE does not exist, `ld' looks for it in the
     directories specified by any `-L' options.

`-d'
`-dc'
`-dp'
     These three options are equivalent; multiple forms are supported
     for compatibility with other linkers.  They assign space to common
     symbols even if a relocatable output file is specified (with
     `-r').  The script command `FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION' has the same
     effect.  *Note Miscellaneous Commands::.

`-e ENTRY'
`--entry=ENTRY'
     Use ENTRY as the explicit symbol for beginning execution of your
     program, rather than the default entry point.  If there is no
     symbol named ENTRY, the linker will try to parse ENTRY as a number,
     and use that as the entry address (the number will be interpreted
     in base 10; you may use a leading `0x' for base 16, or a leading
     `0' for base 8).  *Note Entry Point::, for a discussion of defaults
     and other ways of specifying the entry point.

`--exclude-libs LIB,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 `--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
     explicitly listed in a .def file are still exported, regardless of
     this option.  For ELF targeted ports, symbols affected by this
     option will be treated as hidden.

`-E'
`--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.

     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 use `dlopen' to load a dynamic object which needs to refer
     back to the symbols defined by the program, rather than some other
     dynamic object, then you will probably need to use this option when
     linking the program itself.

     You can also use the version script to control what symbols should
     be added to the dynamic symbol table if the output format supports
     it.  See the description of `--version-script' in *Note VERSION::.

`-EB'
     Link big-endian objects.  This affects the default output format.

`-EL'
     Link little-endian objects.  This affects the default output
     format.

`-f'
`--auxiliary 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 symbol table of the shared object NAME.

     If you later link a program against this filter object, then, when
     you run the program, the dynamic linker will see the DT_AUXILIARY
     field.  If the dynamic linker resolves any symbols from the filter
     object, it will first check whether there is a definition in the
     shared object NAME.  If there is one, it will be used instead of
     the definition in the filter object.  The shared object NAME need
     not exist.  Thus the shared object NAME may be used to provide an
     alternative implementation of certain functions, perhaps for
     debugging or for machine specific performance.

     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.

`-F NAME'
`--filter 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 on the symbol table of the shared
     object NAME.

     If you later link a program against this filter object, then, when
     you run the program, the dynamic linker will see the DT_FILTER
     field.  The dynamic linker will resolve symbols according to the
     symbol table of the filter object as usual, but it will actually
     link to the definitions found in the shared object NAME.  Thus the
     filter object can be used to select a subset of the symbols
     provided by the object NAME.

     Some older linkers used the `-F' option throughout a compilation
     toolchain for specifying object-file format for both input and
     output object files.  The GNU linker uses other mechanisms for
     this purpose: the `-b', `--format', `--oformat' options, the
     `TARGET' command in linker scripts, and the `GNUTARGET'
     environment variable.  The GNU linker will ignore the `-F' option
     when not creating an ELF shared object.

`-fini 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 `_fini'
     as the function to call.

`-g'
     Ignored.  Provided for compatibility with other tools.

`-GVALUE'
`--gpsize=VALUE'
     Set the maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GP
     register to SIZE.  This is only meaningful for object file formats
     such as MIPS ECOFF which supports putting large and small objects
     into different sections.  This is ignored for other object file
     formats.

`-hNAME'
`-soname=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 which has a DT_SONAME field, then when the
     executable is run the dynamic linker will attempt to load the
     shared object specified by the DT_SONAME field rather than the
     using the file name given to the linker.

`-i'
     Perform an incremental link (same as option `-r').

`-init 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 `_init'
     as the function to call.

`-lARCHIVE'
`--library=ARCHIVE'
     Add archive file ARCHIVE to the list of files to link.  This
     option may be used any number of times.  `ld' will search its
     path-list for occurrences of `libARCHIVE.a' for every ARCHIVE
     specified.

     On systems which support shared libraries, `ld' may also search for
     libraries with extensions other than `.a'.  Specifically, on ELF
     and SunOS systems, `ld' will search a directory for a library with
     an extension of `.so' before searching for one with an extension of
     `.a'.  By convention, a `.so' extension indicates a shared library.

     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 was undefined in some object which appeared before
     the archive on the command line, the linker will include the
     appropriate file(s) from the archive.  However, an undefined
     symbol in an object appearing later on the command line will not
     cause the linker to search the archive again.

     See the `-(' option for a way to force the linker to search
     archives multiple times.

     You may list the same archive multiple times on the command line.

     This type of archive searching is standard for Unix linkers.
     However, if you are using `ld' on AIX, note that it is different
     from the behaviour of the AIX linker.

`-LSEARCHDIR'
`--library-path=SEARCHDIR'
     Add path SEARCHDIR to the list of paths that `ld' will search for
     archive libraries and `ld' control scripts.  You may use this
     option any number of times.  The directories are searched in the
     order in which they are specified on the command line.
     Directories specified on the command line are searched before the
     default directories.  All `-L' options apply to all `-l' options,
     regardless of the order in which the options appear.

     If SEARCHDIR begins with `=', then the `=' will be replaced by the
     "sysroot prefix", a path specified when the linker is configured.

     The default set of paths searched (without being specified with
     `-L') depends on which emulation mode `ld' is using, and in some
     cases also on how it was configured.  *Note Environment::.

     The paths can also be specified in a link script with the
     `SEARCH_DIR' command.  Directories specified this way are searched
     at the point in which the linker script appears in the command
     line.

`-mEMULATION'
     Emulate the EMULATION linker.  You can list the available
     emulations with the `--verbose' or `-V' options.

     If the `-m' option is not used, the emulation is taken from the
     `LDEMULATION' environment variable, if that is defined.

     Otherwise, the default emulation depends upon how the linker was
     configured.

`-M'
`--print-map'
     Print a link map to the standard output.  A link map provides
     information about the link, including the following:

        * Where object files are mapped into memory.

        * How common symbols are allocated.

        * All archive members included in the link, with a mention of
          the symbol which caused the archive member to be brought in.

        * The values assigned to symbols.

          Note - symbols whose values are computed by an expression
          which involves a reference to a previous value of the same
          symbol may not have correct result displayed in the link map.
          This is because the linker discards intermediate results and
          only retains the final value of an expression.  Under such
          circumstances the linker will display the final value
          enclosed by square brackets.  Thus for example a linker
          script containing:

                  foo = 1
                  foo = foo * 4
                  foo = foo + 8

          will produce the following output in the link map if the `-M'
          option is used:

                  0x00000001                foo = 0x1
                  [0x0000000c]                foo = (foo * 0x4)
                  [0x0000000c]                foo = (foo + 0x8)

          See *Note Expressions:: for more information about
          expressions in linker scripts.

`-n'
`--nmagic'
     Turn off page alignment of sections, and mark the output as
     `NMAGIC' if possible.

`-N'
`--omagic'
     Set the text and data sections to be readable and writable.  Also,
     do not page-align the data segment, and disable linking against
     shared libraries.  If the output format supports Unix style magic
     numbers, mark the output as `OMAGIC'. Note: Although a writable
     text section is allowed for PE-COFF targets, it does not conform
     to the format specification published by Microsoft.

`--no-omagic'
     This option negates most of the effects of the `-N' option.  It
     sets the text section to be read-only, and forces the data segment
     to be page-aligned.  Note - this option does not enable linking
     against shared libraries.  Use `-Bdynamic' for this.

`-o OUTPUT'
`--output=OUTPUT'
     Use OUTPUT as the name for the program produced by `ld'; if this
     option is not specified, the name `a.out' is used by default.  The
     script command `OUTPUT' can also specify the output file name.

`-O LEVEL'
     If LEVEL is a numeric values greater than zero `ld' optimizes the
     output.  This might take significantly longer and therefore
     probably should only be enabled for the final binary.

`-q'
`--emit-relocs'
     Leave relocation sections and contents in fully linked
     exececutables.  Post link analysis and optimization tools may need
     this information in order to perform correct modifications of
     executables.  This results in larger executables.

     This option is currently only supported on ELF platforms.

`-r'
`--relocatable'
     Generate relocatable output--i.e., generate an output file that
     can in turn serve as input to `ld'.  This is often called "partial
     linking".  As a side effect, in environments that support standard
     Unix magic numbers, this option also sets the output file's magic
     number to `OMAGIC'.  If this option is not specified, an absolute
     file is produced.  When linking C++ programs, this option _will
     not_ resolve references to constructors; to do that, use `-Ur'.

     When an input file does not have the same format as the output
     file, partial linking is only supported if that input file does
     not contain any relocations.  Different output formats can have
     further restrictions; for example some `a.out'-based formats do
     not support partial linking with input files in other formats at
     all.

     This option does the same thing as `-i'.

`-R FILENAME'
`--just-symbols=FILENAME'
     Read symbol names and their addresses from FILENAME, but do not
     relocate it or include it in the output.  This allows your output
     file to refer symbolically to absolute locations of memory defined
     in other programs.  You may use this option more than once.

     For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the `-R' option is
     followed by a directory name, rather than a file name, it is
     treated as the `-rpath' option.

`-s'
`--strip-all'
     Omit all symbol information from the output file.

`-S'
`--strip-debug'
     Omit debugger symbol information (but not all symbols) from the
     output file.

`-t'
`--trace'
     Print the names of the input files as `ld' processes them.

`-T SCRIPTFILE'
`--script=SCRIPTFILE'
     Use SCRIPTFILE as the linker script.  This script replaces `ld''s
     default linker script (rather than adding to it), so COMMANDFILE
     must specify everything necessary to describe the output file.
     *Note Scripts::.  If SCRIPTFILE does not exist in the current
     directory, `ld' looks for it in the directories specified by any
     preceding `-L' options.  Multiple `-T' options accumulate.

`-u SYMBOL'
`--undefined=SYMBOL'
     Force SYMBOL to be entered in the output file as an undefined
     symbol.  Doing this may, for example, trigger linking of additional
     modules from standard libraries.  `-u' may be repeated with
     different option arguments to enter additional undefined symbols.
     This option is equivalent to the `EXTERN' linker script command.

`-Ur'
     For anything other than C++ programs, this option is equivalent to
     `-r': it generates relocatable output--i.e., an output file that
     can in turn serve as input to `ld'.  When linking C++ programs,
     `-Ur' _does_ resolve references to constructors, unlike `-r'.  It
     does not work to use `-Ur' on files that were themselves linked
     with `-Ur'; once the constructor table has been built, it cannot
     be added to.  Use `-Ur' only for the last partial link, and `-r'
     for the others.

`--unique[=SECTION]'
     Creates a separate output section for every input section matching
     SECTION, or if the optional wildcard SECTION argument is missing,
     for every orphan input section.  An orphan section is one not
     specifically mentioned in a linker script.  You may use this option
     multiple times on the command line;  It prevents the normal
     merging of input sections with the same name, overriding output
     section assignments in a linker script.

`-v'
`--version'
`-V'
     Display the version number for `ld'.  The `-V' option also lists
     the supported emulations.

`-x'
`--discard-all'
     Delete all local symbols.

`-X'
`--discard-locals'
     Delete all temporary local symbols.  For most targets, this is all
     local symbols whose names begin with `L'.

`-y SYMBOL'
`--trace-symbol=SYMBOL'
     Print the name of each linked file in which SYMBOL appears.  This
     option may be given any number of times.  On many systems it is
     necessary to prepend an underscore.

     This option is useful when you have an undefined symbol in your
     link but don't know where the reference is coming from.

`-Y PATH'
     Add PATH to the default library search path.  This option exists
     for Solaris compatibility.

`-z KEYWORD'
     The recognized keywords are:
    `combreloc'
          Combines multiple reloc sections and sorts them to make
          dynamic symbol lookup caching possible.

    `defs'
          Disallows undefined symbols in object files.  Undefined
          symbols in shared libraries are still allowed.

    `execstack'
          Marks the object as requiring executable stack.

    `initfirst'
          This option is only meaningful when building a shared object.
          It marks the object so that its runtime initialization will
          occur before the runtime initialization of any other objects
          brought into the process at the same time.  Similarly the
          runtime finalization of the object will occur after the
          runtime finalization of any other objects.

    `interpose'
          Marks the object that its symbol table interposes before all
          symbols but the primary executable.

    `loadfltr'
          Marks  the object that its filters be processed immediately at
          runtime.

    `muldefs'
          Allows multiple definitions.

    `nocombreloc'
          Disables multiple reloc sections combining.

    `nocopyreloc'
          Disables production of copy relocs.

    `nodefaultlib'
          Marks the object that the search for dependencies of this
          object will ignore any default library search paths.

    `nodelete'
          Marks the object shouldn't be unloaded at runtime.

    `nodlopen'
          Marks the object not available to `dlopen'.

    `nodump'
          Marks the object can not be dumped by `dldump'.

    `noexecstack'
          Marks the object as not requiring executable stack.

    `norelro'
          Don't create an ELF `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment header in the
          object.

    `now'
          When generating an executable or shared library, mark it to
          tell the dynamic linker to resolve all symbols when the
          program is started, or when the shared library is linked to
          using dlopen, instead of deferring function call resolution
          to the point when the function is first called.

    `origin'
          Marks the object may contain $ORIGIN.

    `relro'
          Create an ELF `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment header in the object.

     Other keywords are ignored for Solaris compatibility.

`-( ARCHIVES -)'
`--start-group ARCHIVES --end-group'
     The ARCHIVES should be a list of archive files.  They may be
     either explicit file names, or `-l' options.

     The specified archives are searched repeatedly until no new
     undefined references are created.  Normally, an archive is
     searched only once in the order that it is specified on the
     command line.  If a symbol in that archive is needed to resolve an
     undefined symbol referred to by an object in an archive that
     appears later on the command line, the linker would not be able to
     resolve that reference.  By grouping the archives, they all be
     searched repeatedly until all possible references are resolved.

     Using this option has a significant performance cost.  It is best
     to use it only when there are unavoidable circular references
     between two or more archives.

`--accept-unknown-input-arch'
`--no-accept-unknown-input-arch'
     Tells the linker to accept input files whose architecture cannot be
     recognised.  The assumption is that the user knows what they are
     doing and deliberately wants to link in these unknown input files.
     This was the default behaviour of the linker, before release
     2.14.  The default behaviour from release 2.14 onwards is to
     reject such input files, and so the `--accept-unknown-input-arch'
     option has been added to restore the old behaviour.

`--as-needed'
`--no-as-needed'
     This option affects ELF DT_NEEDED tags for dynamic libraries
     mentioned on the command line after the `--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.  `--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.  `--no-as-needed' restores the
     default behaviour.

`--add-needed'
`--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 `--no-add-needed' option.  Normally, the linker will add
     a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library from DT_NEEDED tags.
     `--no-add-needed' causes DT_NEEDED tags will never be emitted for
     those libraries from DT_NEEDED tags. `--add-needed' restores the
     default behaviour.

`-assert KEYWORD'
     This option is ignored for SunOS compatibility.

`-Bdynamic'
`-dy'
`-call_shared'
     Link against dynamic libraries.  This is only meaningful on
     platforms for which shared libraries are supported.  This option
     is normally the default on such platforms.  The different variants
     of this option are for compatibility with various systems.  You
     may use this option multiple times on the command line: it affects
     library searching for `-l' options which follow it.

`-Bgroup'
     Set the `DF_1_GROUP' flag in the `DT_FLAGS_1' entry in the dynamic
     section.  This causes the runtime linker to handle lookups in this
     object and its dependencies to be performed only inside the group.
     `--unresolved-symbols=report-all' is implied.  This option is only
     meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.

`-Bstatic'
`-dn'
`-non_shared'
`-static'
     Do not link against shared libraries.  This is only meaningful on
     platforms for which shared libraries are supported.  The different
     variants of this option are for compatibility with various
     systems.  You may use this option multiple times on the command
     line: it affects library searching for `-l' options which follow
     it.  This option also implies `--unresolved-symbols=report-all'.
     This option can be used with `-shared'.  Doing so means that a
     shared library is being created but that all of the library's
     external references must be resolved by pulling in entries from
     static libraries.

`-Bsymbolic'
     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.

`--check-sections'
`--no-check-sections'
     Asks the linker _not_ to check section addresses after they have
     been assigned to see if there any overlaps.  Normally the linker
     will perform this check, and if it finds any overlaps it will
     produce 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
     `--check-sections'.

`--cref'
     Output a cross reference table.  If a linker map file is being
     generated, the cross reference table is printed to the map file.
     Otherwise, it is printed on the standard output.

     The format of the table is intentionally simple, so that it may be
     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.

`--no-define-common'
     This option inhibits the assignment of addresses to common symbols.
     The script command `INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION' has the same effect.
     *Note Miscellaneous Commands::.

     The `--no-define-common' option allows decoupling the decision to
     assign addresses to Common symbols from the choice of the output
     file type; otherwise a non-Relocatable output type forces
     assigning addresses to Common symbols.  Using `--no-define-common'
     allows Common symbols that are referenced from a shared library to
     be assigned addresses only in the main program.  This eliminates
     the unused duplicate space in the shared library, and also
     prevents any possible confusion over resolving to the wrong
     duplicate when there are many dynamic modules with specialized
     search paths for runtime symbol resolution.

`--defsym SYMBOL=EXPRESSION'
     Create a global symbol in the output file, containing the absolute
     address given by EXPRESSION.  You may use this option as many
     times as necessary to define multiple symbols in the command line.
     A limited form of arithmetic is supported for the EXPRESSION in
     this context: you may give a hexadecimal constant or the name of
     an existing symbol, or use `+' and `-' to add or subtract
     hexadecimal constants or symbols.  If you need more elaborate
     expressions, consider using the linker command language from a
     script (*note Assignment: Symbol Definitions: Assignments.).
     _Note:_ there should be no white space between SYMBOL, the equals
     sign ("<=>"), and EXPRESSION.

`--demangle[=STYLE]'
`--no-demangle'
     These options control whether to demangle symbol names in error
     messages and other output.  When the linker is told to demangle,
     it tries to present symbol names in a readable fashion: it strips
     leading underscores if they are used by the object file format,
     and converts C++ mangled symbol names into user readable names.
     Different compilers have different mangling styles.  The optional
     demangling style argument can be used to choose an appropriate
     demangling style for your compiler.  The linker will demangle by
     default unless the environment variable `COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE' is
     set.  These options may be used to override the default.

`--dynamic-linker 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.

`--fatal-warnings'
     Treat all warnings as errors.

`--force-exe-suffix'
     Make sure that an output file has a .exe suffix.

     If a successfully built fully linked output file does not have a
     `.exe' or `.dll' suffix, this option forces the linker to copy the
     output file to one of the same name with a `.exe' suffix. This
     option is useful when using unmodified Unix makefiles on a
     Microsoft Windows host, since some versions of Windows won't run
     an image unless it ends in a `.exe' suffix.

`--no-gc-sections'
`--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 `-r'. The default behaviour (of not performing
     this garbage collection) can be restored by specifying
     `--no-gc-sections' on the command line.

`--help'
     Print a summary of the command-line options on the standard output
     and exit.

`--target-help'
     Print a summary of all target specific options on the standard
     output and exit.

`-Map MAPFILE'
     Print a link map to the file MAPFILE.  See the description of the
     `-M' option, above.

`--no-keep-memory'
     `ld' normally optimizes for speed over memory usage by caching the
     symbol tables of input files in memory.  This option tells `ld' to
     instead optimize for memory usage, by rereading the symbol tables
     as necessary.  This may be required if `ld' runs out of memory
     space while linking a large executable.

`--no-undefined'
`-z defs'
     Report unresolved symbol references from regular object files.
     This is done even if the linker is creating a non-symbolic shared
     library.  The switch `--[no-]allow-shlib-undefined' controls the
     behaviour for reporting unresolved references found in shared
     libraries being linked in.

`--allow-multiple-definition'
`-z muldefs'
     Normally when a symbol is defined multiple times, the linker will
     report a fatal error. These options allow multiple definitions and
     the first definition will be used.

`--allow-shlib-undefined'
`--no-allow-shlib-undefined'
     Allows (the default) or disallows undefined symbols in shared
     libraries.  This switch is similar to `--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 `--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.

`--no-undefined-version'
     Normally when a symbol has an undefined version, the linker will
     ignore it. This option disallows symbols with undefined version
     and a fatal error will be issued instead.

`--default-symver'
     Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) for
     unversioned exported symbols.

`--default-imported-symver'
     Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) for
     unversioned imported symbols.

`--no-warn-mismatch'
     Normally `ld' will give an error if you try to link together input
     files that are mismatched for some reason, perhaps because they
     have been compiled for different processors or for different
     endiannesses.  This option tells `ld' that it should silently
     permit such possible errors.  This option should only be used with
     care, in cases when you have taken some special action that
     ensures that the linker errors are inappropriate.

`--no-whole-archive'
     Turn off the effect of the `--whole-archive' option for subsequent
     archive files.

`--noinhibit-exec'
     Retain the executable output file whenever it is still usable.
     Normally, the linker will not produce an output file if it
     encounters errors during the link process; it exits without
     writing an output file when it issues any error whatsoever.

`-nostdlib'
     Only search library directories explicitly specified on the
     command line.  Library directories specified in linker scripts
     (including linker scripts specified on the command line) are
     ignored.

`--oformat OUTPUT-FORMAT'
     `ld' may be configured to support more than one kind of object
     file.  If your `ld' is configured this way, you can use the
     `--oformat' option to specify the binary format for the output
     object file.  Even when `ld' is configured to support alternative
     object formats, you don't usually need to specify this, as `ld'
     should be configured to produce as a default output format the most
     usual format on each machine.  OUTPUT-FORMAT is a text string, the
     name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.  (You
     can list the available binary formats with `objdump -i'.)  The
     script command `OUTPUT_FORMAT' can also specify the output format,
     but this option overrides it.  *Note BFD::.

`-pie'
`--pic-executable'
     Create a position independent executable.  This is currently only
     supported on ELF platforms.  Position independent executables are
     similar to shared libraries in that they are relocated by the
     dynamic linker to the virtual address the OS chooses for them
     (which can vary between invocations).  Like normal dynamically
     linked executables they can be executed and symbols defined in the
     executable cannot be overridden by shared libraries.

`-qmagic'
     This option is ignored for Linux compatibility.

`-Qy'
     This option is ignored for SVR4 compatibility.

`--relax'
     An option with machine dependent effects.  This option is only
     supported on a few targets.  *Note `ld' and the H8/300: H8/300.
     *Note `ld' and the Intel 960 family: i960.  *Note `ld' and Xtensa
     Processors: Xtensa.

     On some platforms, the `--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 these link time global optimizations may make
     symbolic debugging of the resulting executable impossible.  This
     is known to be the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300
     family of processors.

     On platforms where this is not supported, `--relax' is accepted,
     but ignored.

`--retain-symbols-file FILENAME'
     Retain _only_ the symbols listed in the file FILENAME, discarding
     all others.  FILENAME is simply a flat file, with one symbol name
     per line.  This option is especially useful in environments (such
     as VxWorks) where a large global symbol table is accumulated
     gradually, to conserve run-time memory.

     `--retain-symbols-file' does _not_ discard undefined symbols, or
     symbols needed for relocations.

     You may only specify `--retain-symbols-file' once in the command
     line.  It overrides `-s' and `-S'.

`-rpath DIR'
     Add a directory to the runtime library search path.  This is used
     when linking an ELF executable with shared objects.  All `-rpath'
     arguments are concatenated and passed to the runtime linker, which
     uses them to locate shared objects at runtime.  The `-rpath'
     option is also used when locating shared objects which are needed
     by shared objects explicitly included in the link; see the
     description of the `-rpath-link' option.  If `-rpath' is not used
     when linking an ELF executable, the contents of the environment
     variable `LD_RUN_PATH' will be used if it is defined.

     The `-rpath' option may also be used on SunOS.  By default, on
     SunOS, the linker will form a runtime search patch out of all the
     `-L' options it is given.  If a `-rpath' option is used, the
     runtime search path will be formed exclusively using the `-rpath'
     options, ignoring the `-L' options.  This can be useful when using
     gcc, which adds many `-L' options which may be on NFS mounted
     filesystems.

     For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the `-R' option is
     followed by a directory name, rather than a file name, it is
     treated as the `-rpath' option.

`-rpath-link DIR'
     When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another.
     This happens when an `ld -shared' link includes a shared library
     as one of the input files.

     When the linker encounters such a dependency when doing a
     non-shared, non-relocatable link, it will automatically try to
     locate the required shared library and include it in the link, if
     it is not included explicitly.  In such a case, the `-rpath-link'
     option specifies the first set of directories to search.  The
     `-rpath-link' option may specify a sequence of directory names
     either by specifying a list of names separated by colons, or by
     appearing multiple times.

     This option should be used with caution as it overrides the search
     path that may have been hard compiled into a shared library. In
     such a case it is possible to use unintentionally a different
     search path than the runtime linker would do.

     The linker uses the following search paths to locate required
     shared libraries.
       1. Any directories specified by `-rpath-link' options.

       2. Any directories specified by `-rpath' options.  The difference
          between `-rpath' and `-rpath-link' is that directories
          specified by `-rpath' options are included in the executable
          and used at runtime, whereas the `-rpath-link' option is only
          effective at link time. It is for the native linker only.

       3. On an ELF system, if the `-rpath' and `rpath-link' options
          were not used, search the contents of the environment variable
          `LD_RUN_PATH'. It is for the native linker only.

       4. On SunOS, if the `-rpath' option was not used, search any
          directories specified using `-L' options.

       5. For a native linker, the contents of the environment variable
          `LD_LIBRARY_PATH'.

       6. For a native ELF linker, the directories in `DT_RUNPATH' or
          `DT_RPATH' of a shared library are searched for shared
          libraries needed by it. The `DT_RPATH' entries are ignored if
          `DT_RUNPATH' entries exist.

       7. The default directories, normally `/lib' and `/usr/lib'.

       8. For a native linker on an ELF system, if the file
          `/etc/ld.so.conf' exists, the list of directories found in
          that file.

     If the required shared library is not found, the linker will issue
     a warning and continue with the link.

`-shared'
`-Bshareable'
     Create a shared library.  This is currently only supported on ELF,
     XCOFF and SunOS platforms.  On SunOS, the linker will
     automatically create a shared library if the `-e' option is not
     used and there are undefined symbols in the link.

`--sort-common'
     This option tells `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.

`--sort-section name'
     This option will apply `SORT_BY_NAME' to all wildcard section
     patterns in the linker script.

`--sort-section alignment'
     This option will apply `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' to all wildcard section
     patterns in the linker script.

`--split-by-file [SIZE]'
     Similar to `--split-by-reloc' but creates a new output section for
     each input file when SIZE is reached.  SIZE defaults to a size of
     1 if not given.

`--split-by-reloc [COUNT]'
     Tries to creates extra sections in the output file so that no
     single output section in the file contains more than COUNT
     relocations.  This is useful when generating huge relocatable
     files for downloading into certain real time kernels with the COFF
     object file format; since COFF cannot represent more than 65535
     relocations in a single section.  Note that this will fail to work
     with object file formats which do not support arbitrary sections.
     The linker will not split up individual input sections for
     redistribution, so if a single input section contains more than
     COUNT relocations one output section will contain that many
     relocations.  COUNT defaults to a value of 32768.

`--stats'
     Compute and display statistics about the operation of the linker,
     such as execution time and memory usage.

`--sysroot=DIRECTORY'
     Use DIRECTORY as the location of the sysroot, overriding the
     configure-time default.  This option is only supported by linkers
     that were configured using `--with-sysroot'.

`--traditional-format'
     For some targets, the output of `ld' is different in some ways from
     the output of some existing linker.  This switch requests `ld' to
     use the traditional format instead.

     For example, on SunOS, `ld' combines duplicate entries in the
     symbol string table.  This can reduce the size of an output file
     with full debugging information by over 30 percent.
     Unfortunately, the SunOS `dbx' program can not read the resulting
     program (`gdb' has no trouble).  The `--traditional-format' switch
     tells `ld' to not combine duplicate entries.

`--section-start SECTIONNAME=ORG'
     Locate a section in the output file at the absolute address given
     by ORG.  You may use this option as many times as necessary to
     locate multiple sections in the command line.  ORG must be a
     single hexadecimal integer; for compatibility with other linkers,
     you may omit the leading `0x' usually associated with hexadecimal
     values.  _Note:_ there should be no white space between
     SECTIONNAME, the equals sign ("<=>"), and ORG.

`-Tbss ORG'
`-Tdata ORG'
`-Ttext ORG'
     Same as -section-start, with `.bss', `.data' or `.text' as the
     SECTIONNAME.

`--unresolved-symbols=METHOD'
     Determine how to handle unresolved symbols.  There are four
     possible values for `method':

    `ignore-all'
          Do not report any unresolved symbols.

    `report-all'
          Report all unresolved symbols.  This is the default.

    `ignore-in-object-files'
          Report unresolved symbols that are contained in shared
          libraries, but ignore them if they come from regular object
          files.

    `ignore-in-shared-libs'
          Report unresolved symbols that come from regular object
          files, but ignore them if they come from shared libraries.
          This can be useful when creating a dynamic binary and it is
          known that all the shared libraries that it should be
          referencing are included on the linker's command line.

     The behaviour for shared libraries on their own can also be
     controlled by the `--[no-]allow-shlib-undefined' option.

     Normally the linker will generate an error message for each
     reported unresolved symbol but the option
     `--warn-unresolved-symbols' can change this to a warning.

`--dll-verbose'
`--verbose'
     Display the version number for `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.

`--version-script=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.  *Note VERSION::.

`--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, 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 warnings about symbols in the
     libraries as well as in your programs.

     There are three kinds of global symbols, illustrated here by C
     examples:

    `int i = 1;'
          A definition, which goes in the initialized data section of
          the output file.

    `extern int i;'
          An undefined reference, which does not allocate space.  There
          must be either a definition or a common symbol for the
          variable somewhere.

    `int i;'
          A common symbol.  If there are only (one or more) common
          symbols for a variable, it goes in the uninitialized data
          area of the output file.  The linker merges multiple common
          symbols for the same variable into a single symbol.  If they
          are of different sizes, it picks the largest size.  The
          linker turns a common symbol into a declaration, if there is
          a definition of the same variable.

     The `--warn-common' option can produce five kinds of warnings.
     Each warning consists of a pair of lines: the first describes the
     symbol just encountered, and the second describes the previous
     symbol encountered with the same name.  One or both of the two
     symbols will be a common symbol.

       1. Turning a common symbol into a reference, because there is
          already a definition for the symbol.
               FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'
                  overridden by definition
               FILE(SECTION): warning: defined here

       2. Turning a common symbol into a reference, because a later
          definition for the symbol is encountered.  This is the same
          as the previous case, except that the symbols are encountered
          in a different order.
               FILE(SECTION): warning: definition of `SYMBOL'
                  overriding common
               FILE(SECTION): warning: common is here

       3. Merging a common symbol with a previous same-sized common
          symbol.
               FILE(SECTION): warning: multiple common
                  of `SYMBOL'
               FILE(SECTION): warning: previous common is here

       4. Merging a common symbol with a previous larger common symbol.
               FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'
                  overridden by larger common
               FILE(SECTION): warning: larger common is here

       5. Merging a common symbol with a previous smaller common
          symbol.  This is the same as the previous case, except that
          the symbols are encountered in a different order.
               FILE(SECTION): warning: common of `SYMBOL'
                  overriding smaller common
               FILE(SECTION): warning: smaller common is here

`--warn-constructors'
     Warn if any global constructors are used.  This is only useful for
     a few object file formats.  For formats like COFF or ELF, the
     linker can not detect the use of global constructors.

`--warn-multiple-gp'
     Warn if multiple global pointer values are required in the output
     file.  This is only meaningful for certain processors, such as the
     Alpha.  Specifically, some processors put large-valued constants
     in a special section.  A special register (the global pointer)
     points into the middle of this section, so that constants can be
     loaded efficiently via a base-register relative addressing mode.
     Since the offset in base-register relative mode is fixed and
     relatively small (e.g., 16 bits), this limits the maximum size of
     the constant pool.  Thus, in large programs, it is often necessary
     to use multiple global pointer values in order to be able to
     address all possible constants.  This option causes a warning to
     be issued whenever this case occurs.

`--warn-once'
     Only warn once for each undefined symbol, rather than once per
     module which refers to it.

`--warn-section-align'
     Warn if the address of an output section is changed because of
     alignment.  Typically, the alignment will be set by an input
     section.  The address will only be changed if it not explicitly
     specified; that is, if the `SECTIONS' command does not specify a
     start address for the section (*note SECTIONS::).

`--warn-shared-textrel'
     Warn if the linker adds a DT_TEXTREL to a shared object.

`--warn-unresolved-symbols'
     If the linker is going to report an unresolved symbol (see the
     option `--unresolved-symbols') it will normally generate an error.
     This option makes it generate a warning instead.

`--error-unresolved-symbols'
     This restores the linker's default behaviour of generating errors
     when it is reporting unresolved symbols.

`--whole-archive'
     For each archive mentioned on the command line after the
     `--whole-archive' option, include every object file in the archive
     in the link, rather than searching the archive for the required
     object files.  This is normally used to turn an archive file into
     a shared library, forcing every object to be included in the
     resulting shared library.  This option may be used more than once.

     Two notes when using this option from gcc: First, gcc doesn't know
     about this option, so you have to use `-Wl,-whole-archive'.
     Second, don't forget to use `-Wl,-no-whole-archive' after your
     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.

`--wrap SYMBOL'
     Use a wrapper function for SYMBOL.  Any undefined reference to
     SYMBOL will be resolved to `__wrap_SYMBOL'.  Any undefined
     reference to `__real_SYMBOL' will be resolved to SYMBOL.

     This can be used to provide a wrapper for a system function.  The
     wrapper function should be called `__wrap_SYMBOL'.  If it wishes
     to call the system function, it should call `__real_SYMBOL'.

     Here is a trivial example:

          void *
          __wrap_malloc (size_t c)
          {
            printf ("malloc called with %zu\n", c);
            return __real_malloc (c);
          }

     If you link other code with this file using `--wrap malloc', then
     all calls to `malloc' will call the function `__wrap_malloc'
     instead.  The call to `__real_malloc' in `__wrap_malloc' will call
     the real `malloc' function.

     You may wish to provide a `__real_malloc' function as well, so that
     links without the `--wrap' option will succeed.  If you do this,
     you should not put the definition of `__real_malloc' in the same
     file as `__wrap_malloc'; if you do, the assembler may resolve the
     call before the linker has a chance to wrap it to `malloc'.

`--eh-frame-hdr'
     Request creation of `.eh_frame_hdr' section and ELF
     `PT_GNU_EH_FRAME' segment header.

`--enable-new-dtags'
`--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
     `--enable-new-dtags', the dynamic tags will be created as needed.
     If you specify `--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.

`--hash-size=NUMBER'
     Set the default size of the linker's hash tables to a prime number
     close to NUMBER.  Increasing this value can reduce the length of
     time it takes the linker to perform its tasks, at the expense of
     increasing the linker's memory requirements.  Similarly reducing
     this value can reduce the memory requirements at the expense of
     speed.

`--reduce-memory-overheads'
     This option reduces memory requirements at ld runtime, at the
     expense of linking speed.  This was introduced to select the old
     O(n^2) algorithm for link map file generation, rather than the new
     O(n) algorithm which uses about 40% more memory for symbol storage.

     Another effect of the switch is to set the default hash table size
     to 1021, which again saves memory at the cost of lengthening the
     linker's run time.  This is not done however if the `--hash-size'
     switch has been used.

     The `--reduce-memory-overheads' switch may be also be used to
     enable other tradeoffs in future versions of the linker.

Options Specific to i386 PE Targets
-----------------------------------

   The i386 PE linker supports the `-shared' option, which causes the
output to be a dynamically linked library (DLL) instead of a normal
executable.  You should name the output `*.dll' when you use this
option.  In addition, the linker fully supports the standard `*.def'
files, which may be specified on the linker command line like an object
file (in fact, it should precede archives it exports symbols from, to
ensure that they get linked in, just like a normal object file).

   The `-shared' option creates a relocatable DLL.  To convert a
relocatable DLL to a non-relocatable one, strip the `.reloc' section
using

     strip -R .reloc FOO.DLL

   In addition to the options common to all targets, the i386 PE linker
support additional command line options that are specific to the i386
PE target.  Options that take values may be separated from their values
by either a space or an equals sign.

`--add-stdcall-alias'
     If given, symbols with a stdcall suffix (@NN) will be exported
     as-is and also with the suffix stripped.  [This option is specific
     to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--base-file FILE'
     Use FILE as the name of a file in which to save the base addresses
     of all the relocations needed for generating DLLs with `dlltool'.
     [This is an i386 PE specific option]

`--dll'
     Create a DLL instead of a regular executable.  You may also use
     `-shared' or specify a `LIBRARY' in a given `.def' file.  [This
     option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--enable-stdcall-fixup'
`--disable-stdcall-fixup'
     If the link finds a symbol that it cannot resolve, it will attempt
     to do "fuzzy linking" by looking for another defined symbol that
     differs only in the format of the symbol name (cdecl vs stdcall)
     and will resolve that symbol by linking to the match.  For
     example, the undefined symbol `_foo' might be linked to the
     function `_foo@12', or the undefined symbol `_bar@16' might be
     linked to the function `_bar'.  When the linker does this, it
     prints a warning, since it normally should have failed to link,
     but sometimes import libraries generated from third-party dlls may
     need this feature to be usable.  If you specify
     `--enable-stdcall-fixup', this feature is fully enabled and
     warnings are not printed.  If you specify
     `--disable-stdcall-fixup', this feature is disabled and such
     mismatches are considered to be errors.  [This option is specific
     to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--export-all-symbols'
     If given, all global symbols in the objects used to build a DLL
     will be exported by the DLL.  Note that this is the default if
     there otherwise wouldn't be any exported symbols.  When symbols are
     explicitly exported via DEF files or implicitly exported via
     function attributes, the default is to not export anything else
     unless this option is given.  Note that the symbols `DllMain@12',
     `DllEntryPoint@0', `DllMainCRTStartup@12', and `impure_ptr' will
     not be automatically exported.  Also, symbols imported from other
     DLLs will not be re-exported, nor will symbols specifying the
     DLL's internal layout such as those beginning with `_head_' or
     ending with `_iname'.  In addition, no symbols from `libgcc',
     `libstd++', `libmingw32', or `crtX.o' will be exported.  Symbols
     whose names begin with `__rtti_' or `__builtin_' will not be
     exported, to help with C++ DLLs.  Finally, there is an extensive
     list of cygwin-private symbols that are not exported (obviously,
     this applies on when building DLLs for cygwin targets).  These
     cygwin-excludes are: `_cygwin_dll_entry@12',
     `_cygwin_crt0_common@8', `_cygwin_noncygwin_dll_entry@12',
     `_fmode', `_impure_ptr', `cygwin_attach_dll', `cygwin_premain0',
     `cygwin_premain1', `cygwin_premain2', `cygwin_premain3', and
     `environ'.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port
     of the linker]

`--exclude-symbols SYMBOL,SYMBOL,...'
     Specifies a list of symbols which should not be automatically
     exported.  The symbol names may be delimited by commas or colons.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--file-alignment'
     Specify the file alignment.  Sections in the file will always
     begin at file offsets which are multiples of this number.  This
     defaults to 512.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted
     port of the linker]

`--heap RESERVE'
`--heap RESERVE,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
     committed.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port
     of the linker]

`--image-base VALUE'
     Use VALUE as the base address of your program or dll.  This is the
     lowest memory location that will be used when your program or dll
     is loaded.  To reduce the need to relocate and improve performance
     of your dlls, each should have a unique base address and not
     overlap any other dlls.  The default is 0x400000 for executables,
     and 0x10000000 for dlls.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE
     targeted port of the linker]

`--kill-at'
     If given, the stdcall suffixes (@NN) will be stripped from symbols
     before they are exported.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE
     targeted port of the linker]

`--large-address-aware'
     If given, the appropriate bit in the "Charateristics" field of the
     COFF header is set to indicate that this executable supports
     virtual addresses greater than 2 gigabytes.  This should be used
     in conjuction with the /3GB or /USERVA=VALUE megabytes switch in
     the "[operating systems]" section of the BOOT.INI.  Otherwise,
     this bit has no effect.  [This option is specific to PE targeted
     ports of the linker]

`--major-image-version 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]

`--major-os-version VALUE'
     Sets the major number of the "os version".  Defaults to 4.  [This
     option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--major-subsystem-version VALUE'
     Sets the major number of the "subsystem version".  Defaults to 4.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--minor-image-version VALUE'
     Sets the minor number of the "image version".  Defaults to 0.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--minor-os-version VALUE'
     Sets the minor number of the "os version".  Defaults to 0.  [This
     option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--minor-subsystem-version VALUE'
     Sets the minor number of the "subsystem version".  Defaults to 0.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--output-def FILE'
     The linker will create the file FILE which will contain a DEF file
     corresponding to the DLL the linker is generating.  This DEF file
     (which should be called `*.def') may be used to create an import
     library with `dlltool' or may be used as a reference to
     automatically or implicitly exported symbols.  [This option is
     specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--out-implib FILE'
     The linker will create the file FILE which will contain an import
     lib corresponding to the DLL the linker is generating. This import
     lib (which should be called `*.dll.a' or `*.a' may be used to link
     clients against the generated DLL; this behaviour makes it
     possible to skip a separate `dlltool' import library creation step.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--enable-auto-image-base'
     Automatically choose the image base for DLLs, unless one is
     specified using the `--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]

`--disable-auto-image-base'
     Do not automatically generate a unique image base.  If there is no
     user-specified image base (`--image-base') then use the platform
     default.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of
     the linker]

`--dll-search-prefix STRING'
     When linking dynamically to a dll without an import library,
     search for `<string><basename>.dll' in preference to
     `lib<basename>.dll'. This behaviour allows easy distinction
     between DLLs built for the various "subplatforms": native, cygwin,
     uwin, pw, etc.  For instance, cygwin DLLs typically use
     `--dll-search-prefix=cyg'.  [This option is specific to the i386
     PE targeted port of the linker]

`--enable-auto-import'
     Do sophisticated linking of `_symbol' to `__imp__symbol' for DATA
     imports from DLLs, and create the necessary thunking symbols when
     building the import libraries with those DATA exports. Note: Use
     of the 'auto-import' extension will cause the text section of the
     image file to be made writable. This does not conform to the
     PE-COFF format specification published by Microsoft.

     Using 'auto-import' generally will 'just work' - but sometimes you
     may see this message:

     "variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read the
     documentation for ld's `--enable-auto-import' for details."

     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 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 the warning, and exit.

     There are several ways to address this difficulty, regardless of
     the data type of the exported variable:

     One way is to use -enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc switch. This leaves
     the task 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 variable, or b) make the 'constant' index a
     variable.  Thus:

          extern type extern_array[];
          extern_array[1] -->
             { volatile type *t=extern_array; t[1] }

     or

          extern type extern_array[];
          extern_array[1] -->
             { volatile int t=1; extern_array[t] }

     For structs (and most other multiword data types) the only option
     is to make the struct itself (or the long long, or the ...)
     variable:

          extern struct s extern_struct;
          extern_struct.field -->
             { volatile struct s *t=&extern_struct; t->field }

     or

          extern long long extern_ll;
          extern_ll -->
            { volatile long long * local_ll=&extern_ll; *local_ll }

     A third method of dealing with this difficulty is to abandon
     'auto-import' for the offending symbol and mark it with
     `__declspec(dllimport)'.  However, in practise 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
     constant offset' problem, you should consider typical real-world
     usage:

     Original:
          --foo.h
          extern int arr[];
          --foo.c
          #include "foo.h"
          void main(int argc, char **argv){
            printf("%d\n",arr[1]);
          }

     Solution 1:
          --foo.h
          extern int arr[];
          --foo.c
          #include "foo.h"
          void main(int argc, char **argv){
            /* This workaround is for win32 and cygwin; do not "optimize" */
            volatile int *parr = arr;
            printf("%d\n",parr[1]);
          }

     Solution 2:
          --foo.h
          /* Note: auto-export is assumed (no __declspec(dllexport)) */
          #if (defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)) && \
            !(defined(FOO_BUILD_DLL) || defined(FOO_STATIC))
          #define FOO_IMPORT __declspec(dllimport)
          #else
          #define FOO_IMPORT
          #endif
          extern FOO_IMPORT int arr[];
          --foo.c
          #include "foo.h"
          void main(int argc, char **argv){
            printf("%d\n",arr[1]);
          }

     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).  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port
     of the linker]

`--disable-auto-import'
     Do not attempt to do sophisticated linking of `_symbol' to
     `__imp__symbol' for DATA imports from DLLs.  [This option is
     specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc'
     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.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE
     targeted port of the linker]

`--disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc'
     Do not create pseudo relocations for non-zero offset DATA imports
     from DLLs.  This is the default.  [This option is specific to the
     i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

`--enable-extra-pe-debug'
     Show additional debug info related to auto-import symbol thunking.
     [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
     linker]

`--section-alignment'
     Sets the section alignment.  Sections in memory will always begin
     at addresses which are a multiple of this number.  Defaults to
     0x1000.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of
     the linker]

`--stack RESERVE'
`--stack RESERVE,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
     committed.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port
     of the linker]

`--subsystem WHICH'
`--subsystem WHICH:MAJOR'
`--subsystem WHICH:MAJOR.MINOR'
     Specifies the subsystem under which your program will execute.  The
     legal values for WHICH are `native', `windows', `console',
     `posix', and `xbox'.  You may optionally set the subsystem version
     also.  Numeric values are also accepted for WHICH.  [This option
     is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Environment,  Prev: Options,  Up: Invocation

Environment Variables
=====================

   You can change the behaviour of `ld' with the environment variables
`GNUTARGET', `LDEMULATION' and `COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE'.

   `GNUTARGET' determines the input-file object format if you don't use
`-b' (or its synonym `--format').  Its value should be one of the BFD
names for an input format (*note BFD::).  If there is no `GNUTARGET' in
the environment, `ld' uses the natural format of the target. If
`GNUTARGET' is set to `default' then BFD attempts to discover the input
format by examining binary input files; this method often succeeds, but
there are potential ambiguities, since there is no method of ensuring
that the magic number used to specify object-file formats is unique.
However, the configuration procedure for BFD on each system places the
conventional format for that system first in the search-list, so
ambiguities are resolved in favor of convention.

   `LDEMULATION' determines the default emulation if you don't use the
`-m' option.  The emulation can affect various aspects of linker
behaviour, particularly the default linker script.  You can list the
available emulations with the `--verbose' or `-V' options.  If the `-m'
option is not used, and the `LDEMULATION' environment variable is not
defined, the default emulation depends upon how the linker was
configured.

   Normally, the linker will default to demangling symbols.  However, if
`COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE' is set in the environment, then it will default
to not demangling symbols.  This environment variable is used in a
similar fashion by the `gcc' linker wrapper program.  The default may
be overridden by the `--demangle' and `--no-demangle' options.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Scripts,  Next: Machine Dependent,  Prev: Invocation,  Up: Top

Linker Scripts
**************

   Every link is controlled by a "linker script".  This script is
written in the linker command language.

   The main purpose of the linker script is to describe how the
sections in the input files should be mapped into the output file, and
to control the memory layout of the output file.  Most linker scripts
do nothing more than this.  However, when necessary, the linker script
can also direct the linker to perform many other operations, using the
commands described below.

   The linker always uses a linker script.  If you do not supply one
yourself, the linker will use a default script that is compiled into the
linker executable.  You can use the `--verbose' command line option to
display the default linker script.  Certain command line options, such
as `-r' or `-N', will affect the default linker script.

   You may supply your own linker script by using the `-T' command line
option.  When you do this, your linker script will replace the default
linker script.

   You may also use linker scripts implicitly by naming them as input
files to the linker, as though they were files to be linked.  *Note
Implicit Linker Scripts::.

* Menu:

* Basic Script Concepts::       Basic Linker Script Concepts
* Script Format::               Linker Script Format
* Simple Example::              Simple Linker Script Example
* Simple Commands::             Simple Linker Script Commands
* Assignments::                 Assigning Values to Symbols
* SECTIONS::                    SECTIONS Command
* MEMORY::                      MEMORY Command
* PHDRS::                       PHDRS Command
* VERSION::                     VERSION Command
* Expressions::                 Expressions in Linker Scripts
* Implicit Linker Scripts::     Implicit Linker Scripts

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Basic Script Concepts,  Next: Script Format,  Up: Scripts

Basic Linker Script Concepts
============================

   We need to define some basic concepts and vocabulary in order to
describe the linker script language.

   The linker combines input files into a single output file.  The
output file and each input file are in a special data format known as an
"object file format".  Each file is called an "object file".  The
output file is often called an "executable", but for our purposes we
will also call it an object file.  Each object file has, among other
things, a list of "sections".  We sometimes refer to a section in an
input file as an "input section"; similarly, a section in the output
file is an "output section".

   Each section in an object file has a name and a size.  Most sections
also have an associated block of data, known as the "section contents".
A section may be marked as "loadable", which mean that the contents
should be loaded into memory when the output file is run.  A section
with no contents may be "allocatable", which means that an area in
memory should be set aside, but nothing in particular should be loaded
there (in some cases this memory must be zeroed out).  A section which
is neither loadable nor allocatable typically contains some sort of
debugging information.

   Every loadable or allocatable output section has two addresses.  The
first is the "VMA", or virtual memory address.  This is the address the
section will have when the output file is run.  The second is the
"LMA", or load memory address.  This is the address at which the
section will be loaded.  In most cases the two addresses will be the
same.  An example of when they might be different is when a data section
is loaded into ROM, and then copied into RAM when the program starts up
(this technique is often used to initialize global variables in a ROM
based system).  In this case the ROM address would be the LMA, and the
RAM address would be the VMA.

   You can see the sections in an object file by using the `objdump'
program with the `-h' option.

   Every object file also has a list of "symbols", known as the "symbol
table".  A symbol may be defined or undefined.  Each symbol has a name,
and each defined symbol has an address, among other information.  If
you compile a C or C++ program into an object file, you will get a
defined symbol for every defined function and global or static
variable.  Every undefined function or global variable which is
referenced in the input file will become an undefined symbol.

   You can see the symbols in an object file by using the `nm' program,
or by using the `objdump' program with the `-t' option.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Script Format,  Next: Simple Example,  Prev: Basic Script Concepts,  Up: Scripts

Linker Script Format
====================

   Linker scripts are text files.

   You write a linker script as a series of commands.  Each command is
either a keyword, possibly followed by arguments, or an assignment to a
symbol.  You may separate commands using semicolons.  Whitespace is
generally ignored.

   Strings such as file or format names can normally be entered
directly.  If the file name contains a character such as a comma which
would otherwise serve to separate file names, you may put the file name
in double quotes.  There is no way to use a double quote character in a
file name.

   You may include comments in linker scripts just as in C, delimited by
`/*' and `*/'.  As in C, comments are syntactically equivalent to
whitespace.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Simple Example,  Next: Simple Commands,  Prev: Script Format,  Up: Scripts

Simple Linker Script Example
============================

   Many linker scripts are fairly simple.

   The simplest possible linker script has just one command:
`SECTIONS'.  You use the `SECTIONS' command to describe the memory
layout of the output file.

   The `SECTIONS' command is a powerful command.  Here we will describe
a simple use of it.  Let's assume your program consists only of code,
initialized data, and uninitialized data.  These will be in the
`.text', `.data', and `.bss' sections, respectively.  Let's assume
further that these are the only sections which appear in your input
files.

   For this example, let's say that the code should be loaded at address
0x10000, and that the data should start at address 0x8000000.  Here is a
linker script which will do that:
     SECTIONS
     {
       . = 0x10000;
       .text : { *(.text) }
       . = 0x8000000;
       .data : { *(.data) }
       .bss : { *(.bss) }
     }

   You write the `SECTIONS' command as the keyword `SECTIONS', followed
by a series of symbol assignments and output section descriptions
enclosed in curly braces.

   The first line inside the `SECTIONS' command of the above example
sets the value of the special symbol `.', which is the location
counter.  If you do not specify the address of an output section in some
other way (other ways are described later), the address is set from the
current value of the location counter.  The location counter is then
incremented by the size of the output section.  At the start of the
`SECTIONS' command, the location counter has the value `0'.

   The second line defines an output section, `.text'.  The colon is
required syntax which may be ignored for now.  Within the curly braces
after the output section name, you list the names of the input sections
which should be placed into this output section.  The `*' is a wildcard
which matches any file name.  The expression `*(.text)' means all
`.text' input sections in all input files.

   Since the location counter is `0x10000' when the output section
`.text' is defined, the linker will set the address of the `.text'
section in the output file to be `0x10000'.

   The remaining lines define the `.data' and `.bss' sections in the
output file.  The linker will place the `.data' output section at
address `0x8000000'.  After the linker places the `.data' output
section, the value of the location counter will be `0x8000000' plus the
size of the `.data' output section.  The effect is that the linker will
place the `.bss' output section immediately after the `.data' output
section in memory.

   The linker will ensure that each output section has the required
alignment, by increasing the location counter if necessary.  In this
example, the specified addresses for the `.text' and `.data' sections
will probably satisfy any alignment constraints, but the linker may
have to create a small gap between the `.data' and `.bss' sections.

   That's it!  That's a simple and complete linker script.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Simple Commands,  Next: Assignments,  Prev: Simple Example,  Up: Scripts

Simple Linker Script Commands
=============================

   In this section we describe the simple linker script commands.

* Menu:

* Entry Point::                 Setting the entry point
* File Commands::               Commands dealing with files

* Format Commands::             Commands dealing with object file formats

* Miscellaneous Commands::      Other linker script commands

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Entry Point,  Next: File Commands,  Up: Simple Commands

Setting the Entry Point
-----------------------

   The first instruction to execute in a program is called the "entry
point".  You can use the `ENTRY' linker script command to set the entry
point.  The argument is a symbol name:
     ENTRY(SYMBOL)

   There are several ways to set the entry point.  The linker will set
the entry point by trying each of the following methods in order, and
stopping when one of them succeeds:
   * the `-e' ENTRY command-line option;

   * the `ENTRY(SYMBOL)' command in a linker script;

   * the value of the symbol `start', if defined;

   * the address of the first byte of the `.text' section, if present;

   * The address `0'.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: File Commands,  Next: Format Commands,  Prev: Entry Point,  Up: Simple Commands

Commands Dealing with Files
---------------------------

   Several linker script commands deal with files.

`INCLUDE FILENAME'
     Include the linker script FILENAME at this point.  The file will
     be searched for in the current directory, and in any directory
     specified with the `-L' option.  You can nest calls to `INCLUDE'
     up to 10 levels deep.

`INPUT(FILE, FILE, ...)'
`INPUT(FILE FILE ...)'
     The `INPUT' command directs the linker to include the named files
     in the link, as though they were named on the command line.

     For example, if you always want to include `subr.o' any time you do
     a link, but you can't be bothered to put it on every link command
     line, then you can put `INPUT (subr.o)' in your linker script.

     In fact, if you like, you can list all of your input files in the
     linker script, and then invoke the linker with nothing but a `-T'
     option.

     In case a "sysroot prefix" is configured, and the filename starts
     with the `/' character, and the script being processed was located
     inside the "sysroot prefix", the filename will be looked for in
     the "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
     description of `-L' in *Note Command Line Options: Options.

     If you use `INPUT (-lFILE)', `ld' will transform the name to
     `libFILE.a', as with the command line argument `-l'.

     When you use the `INPUT' command in an implicit linker script, the
     files will be included in the link at the point at which the linker
     script file is included.  This can affect archive searching.

`GROUP(FILE, FILE, ...)'
`GROUP(FILE FILE ...)'
     The `GROUP' command is like `INPUT', except that the named files
     should all be archives, and they are searched repeatedly until no
     new undefined references are created.  See the description of `-('
     in *Note Command Line Options: Options.

`AS_NEEDED(FILE, FILE, ...)'
`AS_NEEDED(FILE FILE ...)'
     This construct can appear only inside of the `INPUT' or `GROUP'
     commands, among other filenames.  The files listed will be handled
     as if they appear directly in the `INPUT' or `GROUP' commands,
     with the exception of ELF shared libraries, that will be added only
     when they are actually needed.  This construct essentially enables
     `--as-needed' option for all the files listed inside of it and
     restores previous `--as-needed' resp. `--no-as-needed' setting
     afterwards.

`OUTPUT(FILENAME)'
     The `OUTPUT' command names the output file.  Using
     `OUTPUT(FILENAME)' in the linker script is exactly like using `-o
     FILENAME' on the command line (*note Command Line Options:
     Options.).  If both are used, the command line option takes
     precedence.

     You can use the `OUTPUT' command to define a default name for the
     output file other than the usual default of `a.out'.

`SEARCH_DIR(PATH)'
     The `SEARCH_DIR' command adds PATH to the list of paths where `ld'
     looks for archive libraries.  Using `SEARCH_DIR(PATH)' is exactly
     like using `-L PATH' on the command line (*note Command Line
     Options: Options.).  If both are used, then the linker will search
     both paths.  Paths specified using the command line option are
     searched first.

`STARTUP(FILENAME)'
     The `STARTUP' command is just like the `INPUT' command, except
     that FILENAME will become the first input file to be linked, as
     though it were specified first on the command line.  This may be
     useful when using a system in which the entry point is always the
     start of the first file.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Format Commands,  Next: Miscellaneous Commands,  Prev: File Commands,  Up: Simple Commands

Commands Dealing with Object File Formats
-----------------------------------------

   A couple of linker script commands deal with object file formats.

`OUTPUT_FORMAT(BFDNAME)'
`OUTPUT_FORMAT(DEFAULT, BIG, LITTLE)'
     The `OUTPUT_FORMAT' command names the BFD format to use for the
     output file (*note BFD::).  Using `OUTPUT_FORMAT(BFDNAME)' is
     exactly like using `--oformat BFDNAME' on the command line (*note
     Command Line Options: Options.).  If both are used, the command
     line option takes precedence.

     You can use `OUTPUT_FORMAT' with three arguments to use different
     formats based on the `-EB' and `-EL' command line options.  This
     permits the linker script to set the output format based on the
     desired endianness.

     If neither `-EB' nor `-EL' are used, then the output format will
     be the first argument, DEFAULT.  If `-EB' is used, the output
     format will be the second argument, BIG.  If `-EL' is used, the
     output format will be the third argument, LITTLE.

     For example, the default linker script for the MIPS ELF target
     uses this command:
          OUTPUT_FORMAT(elf32-bigmips, elf32-bigmips, elf32-littlemips)
     This says that the default format for the output file is
     `elf32-bigmips', but if the user uses the `-EL' command line
     option, the output file will be created in the `elf32-littlemips'
     format.

`TARGET(BFDNAME)'
     The `TARGET' command names the BFD format to use when reading input
     files.  It affects subsequent `INPUT' and `GROUP' commands.  This
     command is like using `-b BFDNAME' on the command line (*note
     Command Line Options: Options.).  If the `TARGET' command is used
     but `OUTPUT_FORMAT' is not, then the last `TARGET' command is also
     used to set the format for the output file.  *Note BFD::.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Miscellaneous Commands,  Prev: Format Commands,  Up: Simple Commands

Other Linker Script Commands
----------------------------

   There are a few other linker scripts commands.

`ASSERT(EXP, MESSAGE)'
     Ensure that EXP is non-zero.  If it is zero, then exit the linker
     with an error code, and print MESSAGE.

`EXTERN(SYMBOL SYMBOL ...)'
     Force SYMBOL to be entered in the output file as an undefined
     symbol.  Doing this may, for example, trigger linking of additional
     modules from standard libraries.  You may list several SYMBOLs for
     each `EXTERN', and you may use `EXTERN' multiple times.  This
     command has the same effect as the `-u' command-line option.

`FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION'
     This command has the same effect as the `-d' command-line option:
     to make `ld' assign space to common symbols even if a relocatable
     output file is specified (`-r').

`INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION'
     This command has the same effect as the `--no-define-common'
     command-line option: to make `ld' omit the assignment of addresses
     to common symbols even for a non-relocatable output file.

`NOCROSSREFS(SECTION SECTION ...)'
     This command may be used to tell `ld' to issue an error about any
     references among certain output sections.

     In certain types of programs, particularly on embedded systems when
     using overlays, when one section is loaded into memory, another
     section will not be.  Any direct references between the two
     sections would be errors.  For example, it would be an error if
     code in one section called a function defined in the other section.

     The `NOCROSSREFS' command takes a list of output section names.  If
     `ld' detects any cross references between the sections, it reports
     an error and returns a non-zero exit status.  Note that the
     `NOCROSSREFS' command uses output section names, not input section
     names.

`OUTPUT_ARCH(BFDARCH)'
     Specify a particular output machine architecture.  The argument is
     one of the names used by the BFD library (*note BFD::).  You can
     see the architecture of an object file by using the `objdump'
     program with the `-f' option.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Assignments,  Next: SECTIONS,  Prev: Simple Commands,  Up: Scripts

Assigning Values to Symbols
===========================

   You may assign a value to a symbol in a linker script.  This will
define the symbol and place it into the symbol table with a global
scope.

* Menu:

* Simple Assignments::          Simple Assignments
* PROVIDE::                     PROVIDE
* PROVIDE_HIDDEN::              PROVIDE_HIDDEN
* Source Code Reference::       How to use a linker script defined symbol in source code

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Simple Assignments,  Next: PROVIDE,  Up: Assignments

Simple Assignments
------------------

   You may assign to a symbol using any of the C assignment operators:

`SYMBOL = EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL += EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL -= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL *= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL /= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL <<= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL >>= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL &= EXPRESSION ;'
`SYMBOL |= EXPRESSION ;'
   The first case will define SYMBOL to the value of EXPRESSION.  In
the other cases, SYMBOL must already be defined, and the value will be
adjusted accordingly.

   The special symbol name `.' indicates the location counter.  You may
only use this within a `SECTIONS' command.  *Note Location Counter::.

   The semicolon after EXPRESSION is required.

   Expressions are defined below; see *Note Expressions::.

   You may write symbol assignments as commands in their own right, or
as statements within a `SECTIONS' command, or as part of an output
section description in a `SECTIONS' command.

   The section of the symbol will be set from the section of the
expression; for more information, see *Note Expression Section::.

   Here is an example showing the three different places that symbol
assignments may be used:

     floating_point = 0;
     SECTIONS
     {
       .text :
         {
           *(.text)
           _etext = .;
         }
       _bdata = (. + 3) & ~ 3;
       .data : { *(.data) }
     }

In this example, the symbol `floating_point' will be defined as zero.
The symbol `_etext' will be defined as the address following the last
`.text' input section.  The symbol `_bdata' will be defined as the
address following the `.text' output section aligned upward to a 4 byte
boundary.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: PROVIDE,  Next: PROVIDE_HIDDEN,  Prev: Simple Assignments,  Up: Assignments

PROVIDE
-------

   In some cases, it is desirable for a linker script to define a symbol
only if it is referenced and is not defined by any object included in
the link.  For example, traditional linkers defined the symbol `etext'.
However, ANSI C requires that the user be able to use `etext' as a
function name without encountering an error.  The `PROVIDE' keyword may
be used to define a symbol, such as `etext', only if it is referenced
but not defined.  The syntax is `PROVIDE(SYMBOL = EXPRESSION)'.

   Here is an example of using `PROVIDE' to define `etext':
     SECTIONS
     {
       .text :
         {
           *(.text)
           _etext = .;
           PROVIDE(etext = .);
         }
     }

   In this example, if the program defines `_etext' (with a leading
underscore), the linker will give a multiple definition error.  If, on
the other hand, the program defines `etext' (with no leading
underscore), the linker will silently use the definition in the program.
If the program references `etext' but does not define it, the linker
will use the definition in the linker script.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: PROVIDE_HIDDEN,  Next: Source Code Reference,  Prev: PROVIDE,  Up: Assignments

PROVIDE_HIDDEN
--------------

   Similar to `PROVIDE'.  For ELF targeted ports, the symbol will be
hidden and won't be exported.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Source Code Reference,  Prev: PROVIDE_HIDDEN,  Up: Assignments

Source Code Reference
---------------------

   Accessing a linker script defined variable from source code is not
intuitive.  In particular a linker script symbol is not equivalent to a
variable declaration in a high level language, it is instead a symbol
that does not have a value.

   Before going further, it is important to note that compilers often
transform names in the source code into different names when they are
stored in the symbol table.  For example, Fortran compilers commonly
prepend or append an underscore, and C++ performs extensive `name
mangling'.  Therefore there might be a discrepancy between the name of
a variable as it is used in source code and the name of the same
variable as it is defined in a linker script.  For example in C a
linker script variable might be referred to as:

       extern int foo;

   But in the linker script it might be defined as:

       _foo = 1000;

   In the remaining examples however it is assumed that no name
transformation has taken place.

   When a symbol is declared in a high level language such as C, two
things happen.  The first is that the compiler reserves enough space in
the program's memory to hold the _value_ of the symbol.  The second is
that the compiler creates an entry in the program's symbol table which
holds the symbol's _address_.  ie the symbol table contains the address
of the block of memory holding the symbol's value.  So for example the
following C declaration, at file scope:

       int foo = 1000;

   creates a entry called `foo' in the symbol table.  This entry holds
the address of an `int' sized block of memory where the number 1000 is
initially stored.

   When a program references a symbol the compiler generates code that
first accesses the symbol table to find the address of the symbol's
memory block and then code to read the value from that memory block.
So:

       foo = 1;

   looks up the symbol `foo' in the symbol table, gets the address
associated with this symbol and then writes the value 1 into that
address.  Whereas:

       int * a = & foo;

   looks up the symbol `foo' in the symbol table, gets it address and
then copies this address into the block of memory associated with the
variable `a'.

   Linker scripts symbol declarations, by contrast, create an entry in
the symbol table but do not assign any memory to them.  Thus they are
an address without a value.  So for example the linker script
definition:

       foo = 1000;

   creates an entry in the symbol table called `foo' which holds the
address of memory location 1000, but nothing special is stored at
address 1000.  This means that you cannot access the _value_ of a
linker script defined symbol - it has no value - all you can do is
access the _address_ of a linker script defined symbol.

   Hence when you are using a linker script defined symbol in source
code you should always take the address of the symbol, and never
attempt to use its value.  For example suppose you want to copy the
contents of a section of memory called .ROM into a section called
.FLASH and the linker script contains these declarations:

       start_of_ROM   = .ROM;
       end_of_ROM     = .ROM + sizeof (.ROM) - 1;
       start_of_FLASH = .FLASH;

   Then the C source code to perform the copy would be:

       extern char start_of_ROM, end_of_ROM, start_of_FLASH;
     
       memcpy (& start_of_FLASH, & start_of_ROM, & end_of_ROM - & start_of_ROM);

   Note the use of the `&' operators.  These are correct.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: SECTIONS,  Next: MEMORY,  Prev: Assignments,  Up: Scripts

SECTIONS Command
================

   The `SECTIONS' command tells the linker how to map input sections
into output sections, and how to place the output sections in memory.

   The format of the `SECTIONS' command is:
     SECTIONS
     {
       SECTIONS-COMMAND
       SECTIONS-COMMAND
       ...
     }

   Each SECTIONS-COMMAND may of be one of the following:

   * an `ENTRY' command (*note Entry command: Entry Point.)

   * a symbol assignment (*note Assignments::)

   * an output section description

   * an overlay description

   The `ENTRY' command and symbol assignments are permitted inside the
`SECTIONS' command for convenience in using the location counter in
those commands.  This can also make the linker script easier to
understand because you can use those commands at meaningful points in
the layout of the output file.

   Output section descriptions and overlay descriptions are described
below.

   If you do not use a `SECTIONS' command in your linker script, the
linker will place each input section into an identically named output
section in the order that the sections are first encountered in the
input files.  If all input sections are present in the first file, for
example, the order of sections in the output file will match the order
in the first input file.  The first section will be at address zero.

* Menu:

* Output Section Description::  Output section description
* Output Section Name::         Output section name
* Output Section Address::      Output section address
* Input Section::               Input section description
* Output Section Data::         Output section data
* Output Section Keywords::     Output section keywords
* Output Section Discarding::   Output section discarding
* Output Section Attributes::   Output section attributes
* Overlay Description::         Overlay description

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Description,  Next: Output Section Name,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Description
--------------------------

   The full description of an output section looks like this:
     SECTION [ADDRESS] [(TYPE)] :
       [AT(LMA)] [ALIGN(SECTION_ALIGN)] [SUBALIGN(SUBSECTION_ALIGN)]
       {
         OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
         OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
         ...
       } [>REGION] [AT>LMA_REGION] [:PHDR :PHDR ...] [=FILLEXP]

   Most output sections do not use most of the optional section
attributes.

   The whitespace around SECTION is required, so that the section name
is unambiguous.  The colon and the curly braces are also required.  The
line breaks and other white space are optional.

   Each OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND may be one of the following:

   * a symbol assignment (*note Assignments::)

   * an input section description (*note Input Section::)

   * data values to include directly (*note Output Section Data::)

   * a special output section keyword (*note Output Section Keywords::)

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Name,  Next: Output Section Address,  Prev: Output Section Description,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Name
-------------------

   The name of the output section is SECTION.  SECTION must meet the
constraints of your output format.  In formats which only support a
limited number of sections, such as `a.out', the name must be one of
the names supported by the format (`a.out', for example, allows only
`.text', `.data' or `.bss'). If the output format supports any number
of sections, but with numbers and not names (as is the case for Oasys),
the name should be supplied as a quoted numeric string.  A section name
may consist of any sequence of characters, but a name which contains
any unusual characters such as commas must be quoted.

   The output section name `/DISCARD/' is special; *Note Output Section
Discarding::.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Address,  Next: Input Section,  Prev: Output Section Name,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Address
----------------------

   The ADDRESS is an expression for the VMA (the virtual memory
address) of the output section.  If you do not provide ADDRESS, the
linker will set it based on REGION if present, or otherwise based on
the current value of the location counter.

   If you provide ADDRESS, the address of the output section will be
set to precisely that.  If you provide neither ADDRESS nor 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,
     .text . : { *(.text) }

and
     .text : { *(.text) }

are subtly different.  The first will set the address of the `.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 `.text' input section.

   The ADDRESS may be an arbitrary expression; *Note Expressions::.
For example, if you want to align the section on a 0x10 byte boundary,
so that the lowest four bits of the section address are zero, you could
do something like this:
     .text ALIGN(0x10) : { *(.text) }

This works because `ALIGN' returns the current location counter aligned
upward to the specified value.

   Specifying ADDRESS for a section will change the value of the
location counter.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section,  Next: Output Section Data,  Prev: Output Section Address,  Up: SECTIONS

Input Section Description
-------------------------

   The most common output section command is an input section
description.

   The input section description is the most basic linker script
operation.  You use output sections to tell the linker how to lay out
your program in memory.  You use input section descriptions to tell the
linker how to map the input files into your memory layout.

* Menu:

* Input Section Basics::        Input section basics
* Input Section Wildcards::     Input section wildcard patterns
* Input Section Common::        Input section for common symbols
* Input Section Keep::          Input section and garbage collection
* Input Section Example::       Input section example

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section Basics,  Next: Input Section Wildcards,  Up: Input Section

Input Section Basics
....................

   An input section description consists of a file name optionally
followed by a list of section names in parentheses.

   The file name and the section name may be wildcard patterns, which we
describe further below (*note Input Section Wildcards::).

   The most common input section description is to include all input
sections with a particular name in the output section.  For example, to
include all input `.text' sections, you would write:
     *(.text)

Here the `*' is a wildcard which matches any file name.  To exclude a
list of files from matching the file name wildcard, EXCLUDE_FILE may be
used to match all files except the ones specified in the EXCLUDE_FILE
list.  For example:
     (*(EXCLUDE_FILE (*crtend.o *otherfile.o) .ctors))
   will cause all .ctors sections from all files except `crtend.o' and
`otherfile.o' to be included.

   There are two ways to include more than one section:
     *(.text .rdata)
     *(.text) *(.rdata)

The difference between these is the order in which the `.text' and
`.rdata' input sections will appear in the output section.  In the
first example, they will be intermingled, appearing in the same order as
they are found in the linker input.  In the second example, all `.text'
input sections will appear first, followed by all `.rdata' input
sections.

   You can specify a file name to include sections from a particular
file.  You would do this if one or more of your files contain special
data that needs to be at a particular location in memory.  For example:
     data.o(.data)

   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

   When you use a file name which 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 `INPUT' command.  If you did
not, the linker will attempt to open the file as an input file, as
though it appeared on the command line.  Note that this differs from an
`INPUT' command, because the linker will not search for the file in the
archive search path.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section Wildcards,  Next: Input Section Common,  Prev: Input Section Basics,  Up: Input Section

Input Section Wildcard Patterns
...............................

   In an input section description, either the file name or the section
name or both may be wildcard patterns.

   The file name of `*' seen in many examples is a simple wildcard
pattern for the file name.

   The wildcard patterns are like those used by the Unix shell.

`*'
     matches any number of characters

`?'
     matches any single character

`[CHARS]'
     matches a single instance of any of the CHARS; the `-' character
     may be used to specify a range of characters, as in `[a-z]' to
     match any lower case letter

`\'
     quotes the following character

   When a file name is matched with a wildcard, the wildcard characters
will not match a `/' character (used to separate directory names on
Unix).  A pattern consisting of a single `*' character is an exception;
it will always match any file name, whether it contains a `/' or not.
In a section name, the wildcard characters will match a `/' character.

   File name wildcard patterns only match files which are explicitly
specified on the command line or in an `INPUT' command.  The linker
does not search directories to expand wildcards.

   If a file name matches more than one wildcard pattern, or if a file
name appears explicitly and is also matched by a wildcard pattern, the
linker will use the first match in the linker script.  For example, this
sequence of input section descriptions is probably in error, because the
`data.o' rule will not be used:
     .data : { *(.data) }
     .data1 : { data.o(.data) }

   Normally, the linker will place files and sections matched by
wildcards in the order in which they are seen during the link.  You can
change this by using the `SORT_BY_NAME' keyword, which appears before a
wildcard pattern in parentheses (e.g., `SORT_BY_NAME(.text*)').  When
the `SORT_BY_NAME' keyword is used, the linker will sort the files or
sections into ascending order by name before placing them in the output
file.

   `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' is very similar to `SORT_BY_NAME'. The
difference is `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' will sort sections into ascending
order by alignment before placing them in the output file.

   `SORT' is an alias for `SORT_BY_NAME'.

   When there are nested section sorting commands in linker script,
there can be at most 1 level of nesting for section sorting commands.

  1. `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard section pattern)).
     It will sort the input sections by name first, then by alignment
     if 2 sections have the same name.

  2. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)).
     It will sort the input sections by alignment first, then by name
     if 2 sections have the same alignment.

  3. `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)) is
     treated the same as `SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern).

  4. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard section
     pattern)) is treated the same as `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard
     section pattern).

  5. All other nested section sorting commands are invalid.

   When both command line section sorting option and linker script
section sorting command are used, section sorting command always takes
precedence over the command line option.

   If the section sorting command in linker script isn't nested, the
command line option will make the section sorting command to be treated
as nested sorting command.

  1. `SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern ) with `--sort-sections
     alignment' is equivalent to `SORT_BY_NAME' (`SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT'
     (wildcard section pattern)).

  2. `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT' (wildcard section pattern) with
     `--sort-section name' is equivalent to `SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT'
     (`SORT_BY_NAME' (wildcard section pattern)).

   If the section sorting command in linker script is nested, the
command line option will be ignored.

   If you ever get confused about where input sections are going, use
the `-M' linker option to generate a map file.  The map file shows
precisely how input sections are mapped to output sections.

   This example shows how wildcard patterns might be used to partition
files.  This linker script directs the linker to place all `.text'
sections in `.text' and all `.bss' sections in `.bss'.  The linker will
place the `.data' section from all files beginning with an upper case
character in `.DATA'; for all other files, the linker will place the
`.data' section in `.data'.
     SECTIONS {
       .text : { *(.text) }
       .DATA : { [A-Z]*(.data) }
       .data : { *(.data) }
       .bss : { *(.bss) }
     }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section Common,  Next: Input Section Keep,  Prev: Input Section Wildcards,  Up: Input Section

Input Section for Common Symbols
................................

   A special notation is needed for common symbols, because in many
object file formats common symbols do not have a particular input
section.  The linker treats common symbols as though they are in an
input section named `COMMON'.

   You may use file names with the `COMMON' section just as with any
other input sections.  You can use this to place common symbols from a
particular input file in one section while common symbols from other
input files are placed in another section.

   In most cases, common symbols in input files will be placed in the
`.bss' section in the output file.  For example:
     .bss { *(.bss) *(COMMON) }

   Some object file formats have more than one type of common symbol.
For example, the MIPS ELF object file format distinguishes standard
common symbols and small common symbols.  In this case, the linker will
use a different special section name for other types of common symbols.
In the case of MIPS ELF, the linker uses `COMMON' for standard common
symbols and `.scommon' for small common symbols.  This permits you to
map the different types of common symbols into memory at different
locations.

   You will sometimes see `[COMMON]' in old linker scripts.  This
notation is now considered obsolete.  It is equivalent to `*(COMMON)'.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section Keep,  Next: Input Section Example,  Prev: Input Section Common,  Up: Input Section

Input Section and Garbage Collection
....................................

   When link-time garbage collection is in use (`--gc-sections'), it is
often useful to mark sections that should not be eliminated.  This is
accomplished by surrounding an input section's wildcard entry with
`KEEP()', as in `KEEP(*(.init))' or `KEEP(SORT_BY_NAME(*)(.ctors))'.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Input Section Example,  Prev: Input Section Keep,  Up: Input Section

Input Section Example
.....................

   The following example is a complete linker script.  It tells the
linker to read all of the sections from file `all.o' and place them at
the start of output section `outputa' which starts at location
`0x10000'.  All of section `.input1' from file `foo.o' follows
immediately, in the same output section.  All of section `.input2' from
`foo.o' goes into output section `outputb', followed by section
`.input1' from `foo1.o'.  All of the remaining `.input1' and `.input2'
sections from any files are written to output section `outputc'.

     SECTIONS {
       outputa 0x10000 :
         {
         all.o
         foo.o (.input1)
         }
       outputb :
         {
         foo.o (.input2)
         foo1.o (.input1)
         }
       outputc :
         {
         *(.input1)
         *(.input2)
         }
     }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Data,  Next: Output Section Keywords,  Prev: Input Section,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Data
-------------------

   You can include explicit bytes of data in an output section by using
`BYTE', `SHORT', `LONG', `QUAD', or `SQUAD' as an output section
command.  Each keyword is followed by an expression in parentheses
providing the value to store (*note Expressions::).  The value of the
expression is stored at the current value of the location counter.

   The `BYTE', `SHORT', `LONG', and `QUAD' commands store one, two,
four, and eight bytes (respectively).  After storing the bytes, the
location counter is incremented by the number of bytes stored.

   For example, this will store the byte 1 followed by the four byte
value of the symbol `addr':
     BYTE(1)
     LONG(addr)

   When using a 64 bit host or target, `QUAD' and `SQUAD' are the same;
they both store an 8 byte, or 64 bit, value.  When both host and target
are 32 bits, an expression is computed as 32 bits.  In this case `QUAD'
stores a 32 bit value zero extended to 64 bits, and `SQUAD' stores a 32
bit value sign extended to 64 bits.

   If the object file format of the output file has an explicit
endianness, which is the normal case, the value will be stored in that
endianness.  When the object file format does not have an explicit
endianness, as is true of, for example, S-records, the value will be
stored in the endianness of the first input object file.

   Note--these commands only work inside a section description and not
between them, so the following will produce an error from the linker:
     SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } LONG(1) .data : { *(.data) } }
   whereas this will work:
     SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) ; LONG(1) } .data : { *(.data) } }

   You may use the `FILL' command to set the fill pattern for the
current section.  It is followed by an expression in parentheses.  Any
otherwise unspecified regions of memory within the section (for example,
gaps left due to the required alignment of input sections) are filled
with the value of the expression, repeated as necessary.  A `FILL'
statement covers memory locations after the point at which it occurs in
the section definition; by including more than one `FILL' statement,
you can have different fill patterns in different parts of an output
section.

   This example shows how to fill unspecified regions of memory with the
value `0x90':
     FILL(0x90909090)

   The `FILL' command is similar to the `=FILLEXP' output section
attribute, but it only affects the part of the section following the
`FILL' command, rather than the entire section.  If both are used, the
`FILL' command takes precedence.  *Note Output Section Fill::, for
details on the fill expression.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Keywords,  Next: Output Section Discarding,  Prev: Output Section Data,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Keywords
-----------------------

   There are a couple of keywords which can appear as output section
commands.

`CREATE_OBJECT_SYMBOLS'
     The command tells the linker to create a symbol for each input
     file.  The name of each symbol will be the name of the
     corresponding input file.  The section of each symbol will be the
     output section in which the `CREATE_OBJECT_SYMBOLS' command
     appears.

     This is conventional for the a.out object file format.  It is not
     normally used for any other object file format.

`CONSTRUCTORS'
     When linking using the a.out object file format, the linker uses an
     unusual set construct to support C++ global constructors and
     destructors.  When linking object file formats which do not support
     arbitrary sections, such as ECOFF and XCOFF, the linker will
     automatically recognize C++ global constructors and destructors by
     name.  For these object file formats, the `CONSTRUCTORS' command
     tells the linker to place constructor information in the output
     section where the `CONSTRUCTORS' command appears.  The
     `CONSTRUCTORS' command is ignored for other object file formats.

     The symbol `__CTOR_LIST__' marks the start of the global
     constructors, and the symbol `__CTOR_END__' marks the end.
     Similarly, `__DTOR_LIST__' and `__DTOR_END__' mark the start and
     end of the global destructors.  The first word in the list is the
     number of entries, followed by the address of each constructor or
     destructor, followed by a zero word.  The compiler must arrange to
     actually run the code.  For these object file formats GNU C++
     normally calls constructors from a subroutine `__main'; a call to
     `__main' is automatically inserted into the startup code for
     `main'.  GNU C++ normally runs destructors either by using
     `atexit', or directly from the function `exit'.

     For object file formats such as `COFF' or `ELF' which support
     arbitrary section names, GNU C++ will normally arrange to put the
     addresses of global constructors and destructors into the `.ctors'
     and `.dtors' sections.  Placing the following sequence into your
     linker script will build the sort of table which the GNU C++
     runtime code expects to see.

                __CTOR_LIST__ = .;
                LONG((__CTOR_END__ - __CTOR_LIST__) / 4 - 2)
                *(.ctors)
                LONG(0)
                __CTOR_END__ = .;
                __DTOR_LIST__ = .;
                LONG((__DTOR_END__ - __DTOR_LIST__) / 4 - 2)
                *(.dtors)
                LONG(0)
                __DTOR_END__ = .;

     If you are using the GNU C++ support for initialization priority,
     which provides some control over the order in which global
     constructors are run, you must sort the constructors at link time
     to ensure that they are executed in the correct order.  When using
     the `CONSTRUCTORS' command, use `SORT_BY_NAME(CONSTRUCTORS)'
     instead.  When using the `.ctors' and `.dtors' sections, use
     `*(SORT_BY_NAME(.ctors))' and `*(SORT_BY_NAME(.dtors))' instead of
     just `*(.ctors)' and `*(.dtors)'.

     Normally the compiler and linker will handle these issues
     automatically, and you will not need to concern yourself with
     them.  However, you may need to consider this if you are using C++
     and writing your own linker scripts.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Discarding,  Next: Output Section Attributes,  Prev: Output Section Keywords,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Discarding
-------------------------

   The linker will not create output section which do not have any
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:
     .foo { *(.foo) }

will only create a `.foo' section in the output file if there is a
`.foo' section in at least one input file.

   If you use anything other than an input section description as an
output section command, such as a symbol assignment, then the output
section will always be created, even if there are no matching input
sections.

   The special output section name `/DISCARD/' may be used to discard
input sections.  Any input sections which are assigned to an output
section named `/DISCARD/' are not included in the output file.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Attributes,  Next: Overlay Description,  Prev: Output Section Discarding,  Up: SECTIONS

Output Section Attributes
-------------------------

   We showed above that the full description of an output section looked
like this:
     SECTION [ADDRESS] [(TYPE)] :
       [AT(LMA)] [ALIGN(SECTION_ALIGN)] [SUBALIGN(SUBSECTION_ALIGN)]
       {
         OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
         OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
         ...
       } [>REGION] [AT>LMA_REGION] [:PHDR :PHDR ...] [=FILLEXP]
We've already described SECTION, ADDRESS, and
OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND.  In this section we will describe the remaining
section attributes.

* Menu:

* Output Section Type::         Output section type
* Output Section LMA::          Output section LMA
* Forced Output Alignment::     Forced Output Alignment
* Forced Input Alignment::      Forced Input Alignment
* Output Section Region::       Output section region
* Output Section Phdr::         Output section phdr
* Output Section Fill::         Output section fill

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Type,  Next: Output Section LMA,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Output Section Type
...................

   Each output section may have a type.  The type is a keyword in
parentheses.  The following types are defined:

`NOLOAD'
     The section should be marked as not loadable, so that it will not
     be loaded into memory when the program is run.

`DSECT'
`COPY'
`INFO'
`OVERLAY'
     These type names are supported for backward compatibility, and are
     rarely used.  They all have the same effect: the section should be
     marked as not allocatable, so that no memory is allocated for the
     section when the program is run.

   The linker normally sets the attributes of an output section based on
the input sections which map into it.  You can override this by using
the section type.  For example, in the script sample below, the `ROM'
section is addressed at memory location `0' and does not need to be
loaded when the program is run.  The contents of the `ROM' section will
appear in the linker output file as usual.
     SECTIONS {
       ROM 0 (NOLOAD) : { ... }
       ...
     }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section LMA,  Next: Forced Output Alignment,  Prev: Output Section Type,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Output Section LMA
..................

   Every section has a virtual address (VMA) and a load address (LMA);
see *Note Basic Script Concepts::.  The address expression which may
appear in an output section description sets the VMA (*note Output
Section Address::).

   The linker will normally set the LMA equal to the VMA.  You can
change that by using the `AT' keyword.  The expression LMA that follows
the `AT' keyword specifies the load address of the section.

   Alternatively, with `AT>LMA_REGION' expression, you may specify a
memory region for the section's load address. *Note MEMORY::.  Note
that if the section has not had a VMA assigned to it then the linker
will use the LMA_REGION as the VMA region as well.  *Note Output
Section Region::.

   This feature is designed to make it easy to build a ROM image.  For
example, the following linker script creates three output sections: one
called `.text', which starts at `0x1000', one called `.mdata', which is
loaded at the end of the `.text' section even though its VMA is
`0x2000', and one called `.bss' to hold uninitialized data at address
`0x3000'.  The symbol `_data' is defined with the value `0x2000', which
shows that the location counter holds the VMA value, not the LMA value.

     SECTIONS
       {
       .text 0x1000 : { *(.text) _etext = . ; }
       .mdata 0x2000 :
         AT ( ADDR (.text) + SIZEOF (.text) )
         { _data = . ; *(.data); _edata = . ;  }
       .bss 0x3000 :
         { _bstart = . ;  *(.bss) *(COMMON) ; _bend = . ;}
     }

   The run-time initialization code for use with a program generated
with this linker script would include something like the following, to
copy the initialized data from the ROM image to its runtime address.
Notice how this code takes advantage of the symbols defined by the
linker script.

     extern char _etext, _data, _edata, _bstart, _bend;
     char *src = &_etext;
     char *dst = &_data;
     
     /* ROM has data at end of text; copy it. */
     while (dst < &_edata) {
       *dst++ = *src++;
     }
     
     /* Zero bss */
     for (dst = &_bstart; dst< &_bend; dst++)
       *dst = 0;

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Forced Output Alignment,  Next: Forced Input Alignment,  Prev: Output Section LMA,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Forced Output Alignment
.......................

   You can increase an output section's alignment by using ALIGN.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Forced Input Alignment,  Next: Output Section Region,  Prev: Forced Output Alignment,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Forced Input Alignment
......................

   You can force input section alignment within an output section by
using SUBALIGN.  The value specified overrides any alignment given by
input sections, whether larger or smaller.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Region,  Next: Output Section Phdr,  Prev: Forced Input Alignment,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Output Section Region
.....................

   You can assign a section to a previously defined region of memory by
using `>REGION'.  *Note MEMORY::.

   Here is a simple example:
     MEMORY { rom : ORIGIN = 0x1000, LENGTH = 0x1000 }
     SECTIONS { ROM : { *(.text) } >rom }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Phdr,  Next: Output Section Fill,  Prev: Output Section Region,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Output Section Phdr
...................

   You can assign a section to a previously defined program segment by
using `:PHDR'.  *Note PHDRS::.  If a section is assigned to one or more
segments, then all subsequent allocated sections will be assigned to
those segments as well, unless they use an explicitly `:PHDR' modifier.
You can use `:NONE' to tell the linker to not put the section in any
segment at all.

   Here is a simple example:
     PHDRS { text PT_LOAD ; }
     SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } :text }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Output Section Fill,  Prev: Output Section Phdr,  Up: Output Section Attributes

Output Section Fill
...................

   You can set the fill pattern for an entire section by using
`=FILLEXP'.  FILLEXP is an expression (*note Expressions::).  Any
otherwise unspecified regions of memory within the output section (for
example, gaps left due to the required alignment of input sections)
will be filled with the value, repeated as necessary.  If the fill
expression is a simple hex number, ie. a string of hex digit starting
with `0x' and without a trailing `k' or `M', then an arbitrarily long
sequence of hex digits can be used to specify the fill pattern;
Leading zeros become part of the pattern too.  For all other cases,
including extra parentheses or a unary `+', the fill pattern is the
four least significant bytes of the value of the expression.  In all
cases, the number is big-endian.

   You can also change the fill value with a `FILL' command in the
output section commands; (*note Output Section Data::).

   Here is a simple example:
     SECTIONS { .text : { *(.text) } =0x90909090 }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Overlay Description,  Prev: Output Section Attributes,  Up: SECTIONS

Overlay Description
-------------------

   An overlay description provides an easy way to describe sections
which are to be loaded as part of a single memory image but are to be
run at the same memory address.  At run time, some sort of overlay
manager will copy the overlaid sections in and out of the runtime
memory address as required, perhaps by simply manipulating addressing
bits.  This approach can be useful, for example, when a certain region
of memory is faster than another.

   Overlays are described using the `OVERLAY' command.  The `OVERLAY'
command is used within a `SECTIONS' command, like an output section
description.  The full syntax of the `OVERLAY' command is as follows:
     OVERLAY [START] : [NOCROSSREFS] [AT ( LDADDR )]
       {
         SECNAME1
           {
             OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
             OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
             ...
           } [:PHDR...] [=FILL]
         SECNAME2
           {
             OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
             OUTPUT-SECTION-COMMAND
             ...
           } [:PHDR...] [=FILL]
         ...
       } [>REGION] [:PHDR...] [=FILL]

   Everything is optional except `OVERLAY' (a keyword), and each
section must have a name (SECNAME1 and SECNAME2 above).  The section
definitions within the `OVERLAY' construct are identical to those
within the general `SECTIONS' contruct (*note SECTIONS::), except that
no addresses and no memory regions may be defined for sections within
an `OVERLAY'.

   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
`OVERLAY' as a whole (as with normal section definitions, the load
address is optional, and defaults to the start address; the start
address is also optional, and defaults to the current value of the
location counter).

   If the `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.  *Note NOCROSSREFS: Miscellaneous
Commands.

   For each section within the `OVERLAY', the linker automatically
defines two symbols.  The symbol `__load_start_SECNAME' is defined as
the starting load address of the section.  The symbol
`__load_stop_SECNAME' is defined as the final load address of the
section.  Any characters within SECNAME which are not legal within C
identifiers are removed.  C (or assembler) code may use these symbols
to move the overlaid sections around as necessary.

   At the end of the overlay, the value of the location counter is set
to the start address of the overlay plus the size of the largest
section.

   Here is an example.  Remember that this would appear inside a
`SECTIONS' construct.
       OVERLAY 0x1000 : AT (0x4000)
        {
          .text0 { o1/*.o(.text) }
          .text1 { o2/*.o(.text) }
        }

This will define both `.text0' and `.text1' to start at address 0x1000.
`.text0' will be loaded at address 0x4000, and `.text1' will be loaded
immediately after `.text0'.  The following symbols will be defined:
`__load_start_text0', `__load_stop_text0', `__load_start_text1',
`__load_stop_text1'.

   C code to copy overlay `.text1' into the overlay area might look
like the following.

       extern char __load_start_text1, __load_stop_text1;
       memcpy ((char *) 0x1000, &__load_start_text1,
               &__load_stop_text1 - &__load_start_text1);

   Note that the `OVERLAY' command is just syntactic sugar, since
everything it does can be done using the more basic commands.  The above
example could have been written identically as follows.

       .text0 0x1000 : AT (0x4000) { o1/*.o(.text) }
       __load_start_text0 = LOADADDR (.text0);
       __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);
       . = 0x1000 + MAX (SIZEOF (.text0), SIZEOF (.text1));

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: MEMORY,  Next: PHDRS,  Prev: SECTIONS,  Up: Scripts

MEMORY Command
==============

   The linker's default configuration permits allocation of all
available memory.  You can override this by using the `MEMORY' command.

   The `MEMORY' command describes the location and size of blocks of
memory in the target.  You can use it to describe which memory regions
may be used by the linker, and which memory regions it must avoid.  You
can then assign sections to particular memory regions.  The linker will
set section addresses based on the memory regions, and will warn about
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 `MEMORY' command.
However, you can define as many blocks of memory within it as you
wish.  The syntax is:
     MEMORY
       {
         NAME [(ATTR)] : ORIGIN = ORIGIN, LENGTH = LEN
         ...
       }

   The NAME is a name used in the linker script to refer to the 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.

   The ATTR string is an optional list of attributes that specify
whether to use a particular memory region for an input section which is
not explicitly mapped in the linker script.  As described in *Note
SECTIONS::, if you do not specify an output section for some input
section, the linker will create an output section with the same name as
the input section.  If you define region attributes, the linker will use
them to select the memory region for the output section that it creates.

   The ATTR string must consist only of the following characters:
`R'
     Read-only section

`W'
     Read/write section

`X'
     Executable section

`A'
     Allocatable section

`I'
     Initialized section

`L'
     Same as `I'

`!'
     Invert the sense of any of the preceding attributes

   If a unmapped section matches any of the listed attributes other than
`!', it will be placed in the memory region.  The `!' attribute
reverses this test, so that an unmapped section will be placed in the
memory region only if it does not match any of the listed attributes.

   The ORIGIN is an numerical expression for the start address of the
memory region.  The expression must evaluate to a constant and it
cannot involve any symbols.  The keyword `ORIGIN' may be abbreviated to
`org' or `o' (but not, for example, `ORG').

   The LEN is an expression for the size in bytes of the memory region.
As with the ORIGIN expression, the expression must be numerical only
and must evaluate to a constant.  The keyword `LENGTH' may be
abbreviated to `len' or `l'.

   In the following example, we specify that there are two memory
regions available for allocation: one starting at `0' for 256 kilobytes,
and the other starting at `0x40000000' for four megabytes.  The linker
will place into the `rom' memory region every section which is not
explicitly mapped into a memory region, and is either read-only or
executable.  The linker will place other sections which are not
explicitly mapped into a memory region into the `ram' memory region.

     MEMORY
       {
         rom (rx)  : ORIGIN = 0, LENGTH = 256K
         ram (!rx) : org = 0x40000000, l = 4M
       }

   Once you define a memory region, you can direct the linker to place
specific output sections into that memory region by using the `>REGION'
output section attribute.  For example, if you have a memory region
named `mem', you would use `>mem' in the output section definition.
*Note Output Section Region::.  If no address was specified for the
output section, the linker will set the address to the next available
address within the memory region.  If the combined output sections
directed to a memory region are too large for the 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 `ORIGIN(MEMORY)' and `LENGTH(MEMORY)' functions:

       _fstack = ORIGIN(ram) + LENGTH(ram) - 4;

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: PHDRS,  Next: VERSION,  Prev: MEMORY,  Up: Scripts

PHDRS Command
=============

   The ELF object file format uses "program headers", also knows as
"segments".  The program headers describe how the program should be
loaded into memory.  You can print them out by using the `objdump'
program with the `-p' option.

   When you run an ELF program on a native ELF system, the system loader
reads the program headers in order to figure out how to load the
program.  This will only work if the program headers are set correctly.
This manual does not describe the details of how the system loader
interprets program headers; for more information, see the ELF ABI.

   The linker will create reasonable program headers by default.
However, in some cases, you may need to specify the program headers more
precisely.  You may use the `PHDRS' command for this purpose.  When the
linker sees the `PHDRS' command in the linker script, it will not
create any program headers other than the ones specified.

   The linker only pays attention to the `PHDRS' command when
generating an ELF output file.  In other cases, the linker will simply
ignore `PHDRS'.

   This is the syntax of the `PHDRS' command.  The words `PHDRS',
`FILEHDR', `AT', and `FLAGS' are keywords.

     PHDRS
     {
       NAME TYPE [ FILEHDR ] [ PHDRS ] [ AT ( ADDRESS ) ]
             [ FLAGS ( FLAGS ) ] ;
     }

   The NAME is used only for reference in the `SECTIONS' command 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.

   Certain program header types describe segments of memory which the
system loader will load from the file.  In the linker script, you
specify the contents of these segments by placing allocatable output
sections in the segments.  You use the `:PHDR' output section attribute
to place a section in a particular segment.  *Note Output Section
Phdr::.

   It is normal to put certain sections in more than one segment.  This
merely implies that one segment of memory contains another.  You may
repeat `:PHDR', using it once for each segment which should contain the
section.

   If you place a section in one or more segments using `:PHDR', then
the linker will place all subsequent allocatable sections which do not
specify `:PHDR' in the same segments.  This is for convenience, since
generally a whole set of contiguous sections will be placed in a single
segment.  You can use `:NONE' to override the default segment and tell
the linker to not put the section in any segment at all.

   You may use the `FILEHDR' and `PHDRS' keywords appear after the
program header type to further describe the contents of the segment.
The `FILEHDR' keyword means that the segment should include the ELF
file header.  The `PHDRS' keyword means that the segment should include
the ELF program headers themselves.

   The TYPE may be one of the following.  The numbers indicate the
value of the keyword.

`PT_NULL' (0)
     Indicates an unused program header.

`PT_LOAD' (1)
     Indicates that this program header describes a segment to be
     loaded from the file.

`PT_DYNAMIC' (2)
     Indicates a segment where dynamic linking information can be found.

`PT_INTERP' (3)
     Indicates a segment where the name of the program interpreter may
     be found.

`PT_NOTE' (4)
     Indicates a segment holding note information.

`PT_SHLIB' (5)
     A reserved program header type, defined but not specified by the
     ELF ABI.

`PT_PHDR' (6)
     Indicates a segment where the program headers may be found.

EXPRESSION
     An expression giving the numeric type of the program header.  This
     may be used for types not defined above.

   You can specify that a segment should be loaded at a particular
address in memory by using an `AT' expression.  This is identical to the
`AT' command used as an output section attribute (*note Output Section
LMA::).  The `AT' command for a program header overrides the output
section attribute.

   The linker will normally set the segment flags based on the sections
which comprise the segment.  You may use the `FLAGS' keyword to
explicitly specify the segment flags.  The value of FLAGS must be an
integer.  It is used to set the `p_flags' field of the program header.

   Here is an example of `PHDRS'.  This shows a typical set of program
headers used on a native ELF system.

     PHDRS
     {
       headers PT_PHDR PHDRS ;
       interp PT_INTERP ;
       text PT_LOAD FILEHDR PHDRS ;
       data PT_LOAD ;
       dynamic PT_DYNAMIC ;
     }
     
     SECTIONS
     {
       . = SIZEOF_HEADERS;
       .interp : { *(.interp) } :text :interp
       .text : { *(.text) } :text
       .rodata : { *(.rodata) } /* defaults to :text */
       ...
       . = . + 0x1000; /* move to a new page in memory */
       .data : { *(.data) } :data
       .dynamic : { *(.dynamic) } :data :dynamic
       ...
     }

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: VERSION,  Next: Expressions,  Prev: PHDRS,  Up: Scripts

VERSION Command
===============

   The linker supports symbol versions when using ELF.  Symbol versions
are only useful when using shared libraries.  The dynamic linker can use
symbol versions to select a specific version of a function when it runs
a program that may have been linked against an earlier version of the
shared library.

   You can include a version script directly in the main linker script,
or you can supply the version script as an implicit linker script.  You
can also use the `--version-script' linker option.

   The syntax of the `VERSION' command is simply
     VERSION { version-script-commands }

   The format of the version script commands is identical to that used
by Sun's linker in Solaris 2.5.  The version script defines a tree of
version nodes.  You specify the node names and interdependencies in the
version script.  You can specify which symbols are bound to which
version nodes, and you can reduce a specified set of symbols to local
scope so that they are not globally visible outside of the shared
library.

   The easiest way to demonstrate the version script language is with a
few examples.

     VERS_1.1 {
         global:
                 foo1;
         local:
                 old*;
                 original*;
                 new*;
     };
     
     VERS_1.2 {
                 foo2;
     } VERS_1.1;
     
     VERS_2.0 {
                 bar1; bar2;
         extern "C++" {
                 ns::*;
                 "int f(int, double)";
              }
     } VERS_1.2;

   This example version script defines three version nodes.  The first
version node defined is `VERS_1.1'; it has no other dependencies.  The
script binds the symbol `foo1' to `VERS_1.1'.  It reduces a number of
symbols to local scope so that they are not visible outside of the
shared library; this is done using wildcard patterns, so that any
symbol whose name begins with `old', `original', or `new' is matched.
The wildcard patterns available are the same as those used in the shell
when matching filenames (also known as "globbing").  However, if you
specify the symbol name inside double quotes, then the name is treated
as literal, rather than as a glob pattern.

   Next, the version script defines node `VERS_1.2'.  This node depends
upon `VERS_1.1'.  The script binds the symbol `foo2' to the version
node `VERS_1.2'.

   Finally, the version script defines node `VERS_2.0'.  This node
depends upon `VERS_1.2'.  The scripts binds the symbols `bar1' and
`bar2' are bound to the version node `VERS_2.0'.

   When the linker finds a symbol defined in a library which is not
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 `global: *;'
somewhere in the version script.

   The names of the version nodes have no specific meaning other than
what they might suggest to the person reading them.  The `2.0' version
could just as well have appeared in between `1.1' and `1.2'.  However,
this would be a confusing way to write a version script.

   Node name can be omited, provided it is the only version node in the
version script.  Such version script doesn't assign any versions to
symbols, only selects which symbols will be globally visible out and
which won't.

     { global: foo; bar; local: *; };

   When you link an application against a shared library that has
versioned symbols, the application itself knows which version of each
symbol it requires, and it also knows which version nodes it needs from
each shared library it is linked against.  Thus at runtime, the dynamic
loader can make a quick check to make sure that the libraries you have
linked against do in fact supply all of the version nodes that the
application will need to resolve all of the dynamic symbols.  In this
way it is possible for the dynamic linker to know with certainty that
all external symbols that it needs will be resolvable without having to
search for each symbol reference.

   The symbol versioning is in effect a much more sophisticated way of
doing minor version checking that SunOS does.  The fundamental problem
that is being addressed here is that typically references to external
functions are bound on an as-needed basis, and are not all bound when
the application starts up.  If a shared library is out of date, a
required interface may be missing; when the application tries to use
that interface, it may suddenly and unexpectedly fail.  With symbol
versioning, the user will get a warning when they start their program if
the libraries being used with the application are too old.

   There are several GNU extensions to Sun's versioning approach.  The
first of these is the ability to bind a symbol to a version node in the
source file where the symbol is defined instead of in the versioning
script.  This was done mainly to reduce the burden on the library
maintainer.  You can do this by putting something like:
     __asm__(".symver original_foo,foo@VERS_1.1");

in the C source file.  This renames the function `original_foo' to be
an alias for `foo' bound to the version node `VERS_1.1'.  The `local:'
directive can be used to prevent the symbol `original_foo' from being
exported. A `.symver' directive takes precedence over a version script.

   The second GNU extension is to allow multiple versions of the same
function to appear in a given shared library.  In this way you can make
an incompatible change to an interface without increasing the major
version number of the shared library, while still allowing applications
linked against the old interface to continue to function.

   To do this, you must use multiple `.symver' directives in the source
file.  Here is an example:

     __asm__(".symver original_foo,foo@");
     __asm__(".symver old_foo,foo@VERS_1.1");
     __asm__(".symver old_foo1,foo@VERS_1.2");
     __asm__(".symver new_foo,foo@@VERS_2.0");

   In this example, `foo@' represents the symbol `foo' bound to the
unspecified base version of the symbol.  The source file that contains
this example would define 4 C functions: `original_foo', `old_foo',
`old_foo1', and `new_foo'.

   When you have multiple definitions of a given symbol, there needs to
be some way to specify a default version to which external references to
this symbol will be bound.  You can do this with the `foo@@VERS_2.0'
type of `.symver' directive.  You can only declare one version of a
symbol as the default in this manner; otherwise you would effectively
have multiple definitions of the same symbol.

   If you wish to bind a reference to a specific version of the symbol
within the shared library, you can use the aliases of convenience
(i.e., `old_foo'), or you can use the `.symver' directive to
specifically bind to an external version of the function in question.

   You can also specify the language in the version script:

     VERSION extern "lang" { version-script-commands }

   The supported `lang's are `C', `C++', and `Java'.  The linker will
iterate over the list of symbols at the link time and demangle them
according to `lang' before matching them to the patterns specified in
`version-script-commands'.

   Demangled names may contains spaces and other special characters.  As
described above, you can use a glob pattern to match demangled names,
or you can use a double-quoted string to match the string exactly.  In
the latter case, be aware that minor differences (such as differing
whitespace) between the version script and the demangler output will
cause a mismatch.  As the exact string generated by the demangler might
change in the future, even if the mangled name does not, you should
check that all of your version directives are behaving as you expect
when you upgrade.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Expressions,  Next: Implicit Linker Scripts,  Prev: VERSION,  Up: Scripts

Expressions in Linker Scripts
=============================

   The syntax for expressions in the linker script language is
identical to that of C expressions.  All expressions are evaluated as
integers.  All expressions are evaluated in the same size, which is 32
bits if both the host and target are 32 bits, and is otherwise 64 bits.

   You can use and set symbol values in expressions.

   The linker defines several special purpose builtin functions for use
in expressions.

* Menu:

* Constants::                   Constants
* Symbols::                     Symbol Names
* Orphan Sections::             Orphan Sections
* Location Counter::            The Location Counter
* Operators::                   Operators
* Evaluation::                  Evaluation
* Expression Section::          The Section of an Expression
* Builtin Functions::           Builtin Functions

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Constants,  Next: Symbols,  Up: Expressions

Constants
---------

   All constants are integers.

   As in C, the linker considers an integer beginning with `0' to be
octal, and an integer beginning with `0x' or `0X' to be hexadecimal.
The linker considers other integers to be decimal.

   In addition, you can use the suffixes `K' and `M' to scale a
constant by `1024' or `1024*1024' respectively. For example, the
following all refer to the same quantity:
     _fourk_1 = 4K;
     _fourk_2 = 4096;
     _fourk_3 = 0x1000;

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Symbols,  Next: Orphan Sections,  Prev: Constants,  Up: Expressions

Symbol Names
------------

   Unless quoted, symbol names start with a letter, underscore, or
period and may include letters, digits, underscores, periods, and
hyphens.  Unquoted symbol names must not conflict with any keywords.
You can specify a symbol which contains odd characters or has the same
name as a keyword by surrounding the symbol name in double quotes:
     "SECTION" = 9;
     "with a space" = "also with a space" + 10;

   Since symbols can contain many non-alphabetic characters, it is
safest to delimit symbols with spaces.  For example, `A-B' is one
symbol, whereas `A - B' is an expression involving subtraction.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Orphan Sections,  Next: Location Counter,  Prev: Symbols,  Up: Expressions

Orphan Sections
---------------

   Orphan sections are sections present in the input files which are
not explicitly placed into the output file by the linker script.  The
linker will still copy these sections into the output file, but it has
to guess as to where they should be placed.  The linker uses a simple
heuristic to do this.  It attempts to place orphan sections after
non-orphan sections of the same attribute, such as code vs data,
loadable vs non-loadable, etc.  If there is not enough room to do this
then it places at the end of the file.

   For ELF targets, the attribute of the section includes section type
as well as section flag.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Location Counter,  Next: Operators,  Prev: Orphan Sections,  Up: Expressions

The Location Counter
--------------------

   The special linker variable "dot" `.' always contains the current
output location counter.  Since the `.' always refers to a location in
an output section, it may only appear in an expression within a
`SECTIONS' command.  The `.' symbol may appear anywhere that an
ordinary symbol is allowed in an expression.

   Assigning a value to `.' will cause the location counter to be
moved.  This may be used to create holes in the output section.  The
location counter may never be moved backwards.

     SECTIONS
     {
       output :
         {
           file1(.text)
           . = . + 1000;
           file2(.text)
           . += 1000;
           file3(.text)
         } = 0x12345678;
     }

In the previous example, the `.text' section from `file1' is located at
the beginning of the output section `output'.  It is followed by a 1000
byte gap.  Then the `.text' section from `file2' appears, also with a
1000 byte gap following before the `.text' section from `file3'.  The
notation `= 0x12345678' specifies what data to write in the gaps (*note
Output Section Fill::).

   Note: `.' actually refers to the byte offset from the start of the
current containing object.  Normally this is the `SECTIONS' statement,
whose start address is 0, hence `.' can be used as an absolute address.
If `.' is used inside a section description however, it refers to the
byte offset from the start of that section, not an absolute address.
Thus in a script like this:

     SECTIONS
     {
         . = 0x100
         .text: {
           *(.text)
           . = 0x200
         }
         . = 0x500
         .data: {
           *(.data)
           . += 0x600
         }
     }

   The `.text' section will be assigned a starting address of 0x100 and
a size of exactly 0x200 bytes, even if there is not enough data in the
`.text' input sections to fill this area.  (If there is too much data,
an error will be produced because this would be an attempt to move `.'
backwards).  The `.data' section will start at 0x500 and it will have
an extra 0x600 bytes worth of space after the end of the values from
the `.data' input sections and before the end of the `.data' output
section itself.

   Setting symbols to the value of the location counter outside of an
output section statement can result in unexpected values if the linker
needs to place orphan sections.  For example, given the following:

     SECTIONS
     {
         start_of_text = . ;
         .text: { *(.text) }
         end_of_text = . ;
     
         start_of_data = . ;
         .data: { *(.data) }
         end_of_data = . ;
     }

   If the linker needs to place some input section, e.g. `.rodata', not
mentioned in the script, it might choose to place that section between
`.text' and `.data'.  You might think the linker should place `.rodata'
on the blank line in the above script, but blank lines are of no
particular significance to the linker.  As well, the linker doesn't
associate the above symbol names with their sections.  Instead, it
assumes that all assignments or other statements belong to the previous
output section, except for the special case of an assignment to `.'.
I.e., the linker will place the orphan `.rodata' section as if the
script was written as follows:

     SECTIONS
     {
         start_of_text = . ;
         .text: { *(.text) }
         end_of_text = . ;
     
         start_of_data = . ;
         .rodata: { *(.rodata) }
         .data: { *(.data) }
         end_of_data = . ;
     }

   This may or may not be the script author's intention for the value of
`start_of_data'.  One way to influence the orphan section placement is
to assign the location counter to itself, as the linker assumes that an
assignment to `.' is setting the start address of a following output
section and thus should be grouped with that section.  So you could
write:

     SECTIONS
     {
         start_of_text = . ;
         .text: { *(.text) }
         end_of_text = . ;
     
         . = . ;
         start_of_data = . ;
         .data: { *(.data) }
         end_of_data = . ;
     }

   Now, the orphan `.rodata' section will be placed between
`end_of_text' and `start_of_data'.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Operators,  Next: Evaluation,  Prev: Location Counter,  Up: Expressions

Operators
---------

   The linker recognizes the standard C set of arithmetic operators,
with the standard bindings and precedence levels:
     precedence      associativity   Operators                Notes
     (highest)
     1               left            !  -  ~                  (1)
     2               left            *  /  %
     3               left            +  -
     4               left            >>  <<
     5               left            ==  !=  >  <  <=  >=
     6               left            &
     7               left            |
     8               left            &&
     9               left            ||
     10              right           ? :
     11              right           &=  +=  -=  *=  /=       (2)
     (lowest)
   Notes: (1) Prefix operators (2) *Note Assignments::.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Evaluation,  Next: Expression Section,  Prev: Operators,  Up: Expressions

Evaluation
----------

   The linker evaluates expressions lazily.  It only computes the value
of an expression when absolutely necessary.

   The linker needs some information, such as the value of the start
address of the first section, and the origins and lengths of memory
regions, in order to do any linking at all.  These values are computed
as soon as possible when the linker reads in the linker script.

   However, other values (such as symbol values) are not known or needed
until after storage allocation.  Such values are evaluated later, when
other information (such as the sizes of output sections) is available
for use in the symbol assignment expression.

   The sizes of sections cannot be known until after allocation, so
assignments dependent upon these are not performed until after
allocation.

   Some expressions, such as those depending upon the location counter
`.', must be evaluated during section allocation.

   If the result of an expression is required, but the value is not
available, then an error results.  For example, a script like the
following
     SECTIONS
       {
         .text 9+this_isnt_constant :
           { *(.text) }
       }

will cause the error message `non constant expression for initial
address'.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Expression Section,  Next: Builtin Functions,  Prev: Evaluation,  Up: Expressions

The Section of an Expression
----------------------------

   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.

   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.

   A symbol set to a relative expression will be relocatable if you
request relocatable output using the `-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.

   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.

   You can use the builtin function `ABSOLUTE' to force an expression
to be absolute when it would otherwise be relative.  For example, to
create an absolute symbol set to the address of the end of the output
section `.data':
     SECTIONS
       {
         .data : { *(.data) _edata = ABSOLUTE(.); }
       }

If `ABSOLUTE' were not used, `_edata' would be relative to the `.data'
section.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Builtin Functions,  Prev: Expression Section,  Up: Expressions

Builtin Functions
-----------------

   The linker script language includes a number of builtin functions for
use in linker script expressions.

`ABSOLUTE(EXP)'
     Return the absolute (non-relocatable, as opposed to non-negative)
     value of the expression EXP.  Primarily useful to assign an
     absolute value to a symbol within a section definition, where
     symbol values are normally section relative.  *Note Expression
     Section::.

`ADDR(SECTION)'
     Return the absolute address (the VMA) of the named SECTION.  Your
     script must previously have defined the location of that section.
     In the following example, `symbol_1' and `symbol_2' are assigned
     identical values:
          SECTIONS { ...
            .output1 :
              {
              start_of_output_1 = ABSOLUTE(.);
              ...
              }
            .output :
              {
              symbol_1 = ADDR(.output1);
              symbol_2 = start_of_output_1;
              }
          ... }

`ALIGN(ALIGN)'
`ALIGN(EXP,ALIGN)'
     Return the location counter (`.') or arbitrary expression aligned
     to the next ALIGN boundary.  The single operand `ALIGN' doesn't
     change the value of the location counter--it just does arithmetic
     on it.  The two operand `ALIGN' allows an arbitrary expression to
     be aligned upwards (`ALIGN(ALIGN)' is equivalent to `ALIGN(.,
     ALIGN)').

     Here is an example which aligns the output `.data' section to the
     next `0x2000' byte boundary after the preceding section and sets a
     variable within the section to the next `0x8000' boundary after the
     input sections:
          SECTIONS { ...
            .data ALIGN(0x2000): {
              *(.data)
              variable = ALIGN(0x8000);
            }
          ... }

     The first use of `ALIGN' in this example specifies the location of
     a section because it is used as the optional ADDRESS attribute of
     a section definition (*note Output Section Address::).  The second
     use of `ALIGN' is used to defines the value of a symbol.

     The builtin function `NEXT' is closely related to `ALIGN'.

`BLOCK(EXP)'
     This is a synonym for `ALIGN', for compatibility with older linker
     scripts.  It is most often seen when setting the address of an
     output section.

`DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE, COMMONPAGESIZE)'
     This is equivalent to either
          (ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE) + (. & (MAXPAGESIZE - 1)))
     or
          (ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE) + (. & (MAXPAGESIZE - COMMONPAGESIZE)))

     depending on whether the latter uses fewer COMMONPAGESIZE sized
     pages for the data segment (area between the result of this
     expression and `DATA_SEGMENT_END') than the former or not.  If the
     latter form is used, it means COMMONPAGESIZE bytes of runtime
     memory will be saved at the expense of up to COMMONPAGESIZE wasted
     bytes in the on-disk file.

     This expression can only be used directly in `SECTIONS' commands,
     not in any output section descriptions and only once in the linker
     script.  COMMONPAGESIZE should be less or equal to MAXPAGESIZE and
     should be the system page size the object wants to be optimized
     for (while still working on system page sizes up to MAXPAGESIZE).

     Example:
            . = DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN(0x10000, 0x2000);

`DATA_SEGMENT_END(EXP)'
     This defines the end of data segment for `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN'
     evaluation purposes.

            . = DATA_SEGMENT_END(.);

`DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(OFFSET, EXP)'
     This defines the end of the `PT_GNU_RELRO' segment when `-z relro'
     option is used.  Second argument is returned.  When `-z relro'
     option is not present, `DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END' does nothing,
     otherwise `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN' is padded so that EXP + 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 `DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN' and `DATA_SEGMENT_END'.

            . = DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(24, .);

`DEFINED(SYMBOL)'
     Return 1 if SYMBOL is in the linker global symbol table and is
     defined before the statement using DEFINED in the script, otherwise
     return 0.  You can use this function to provide default values for
     symbols.  For example, the following script fragment shows how to
     set a global symbol `begin' to the first location in the `.text'
     section--but if a symbol called `begin' already existed, its value
     is preserved:

          SECTIONS { ...
            .text : {
              begin = DEFINED(begin) ? begin : . ;
              ...
            }
            ...
          }

`LENGTH(MEMORY)'
     Return the length of the memory region named MEMORY.

`LOADADDR(SECTION)'
     Return the absolute LMA of the named SECTION.  This is normally
     the same as `ADDR', but it may be different if the `AT' attribute
     is used in the output section definition (*note Output Section
     LMA::).

`MAX(EXP1, EXP2)'
     Returns the maximum of EXP1 and EXP2.

`MIN(EXP1, EXP2)'
     Returns the minimum of EXP1 and EXP2.

`NEXT(EXP)'
     Return the next unallocated address that is a multiple of EXP.
     This function is closely related to `ALIGN(EXP)'; unless you use
     the `MEMORY' command to define discontinuous memory for the output
     file, the two functions are equivalent.

`ORIGIN(MEMORY)'
     Return the origin of the memory region named MEMORY.

`SEGMENT_START(SEGMENT, DEFAULT)'
     Return the base address of the named SEGMENT.  If an explicit
     value has been given for this segment (with a command-line `-T'
     option) that value will be returned; otherwise the value will be
     DEFAULT.  At present, the `-T' command-line option can only be
     used to set the base address for the "text", "data", and "bss"
     sections, but you use `SEGMENT_START' with any segment name.

`SIZEOF(SECTION)'
     Return the size in bytes of the named 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, `symbol_1' and `symbol_2' are assigned identical values:
          SECTIONS{ ...
            .output {
              .start = . ;
              ...
              .end = . ;
              }
            symbol_1 = .end - .start ;
            symbol_2 = SIZEOF(.output);
          ... }

`SIZEOF_HEADERS'
`sizeof_headers'
     Return the size in bytes of the output file's headers.  This is
     information which appears at the start of the output file.  You
     can use this number when setting the start address of the first
     section, if you choose, to facilitate paging.

     When producing an ELF output file, if the linker script uses the
     `SIZEOF_HEADERS' builtin function, the linker must compute the
     number of program headers before it has determined all the section
     addresses and sizes.  If the linker later discovers that it needs
     additional program headers, it will report an error `not enough
     room for program headers'.  To avoid this error, you must avoid
     using the `SIZEOF_HEADERS' function, or you must rework your linker
     script to avoid forcing the linker to use additional program
     headers, or you must define the program headers yourself using the
     `PHDRS' command (*note PHDRS::).

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Implicit Linker Scripts,  Prev: Expressions,  Up: Scripts

Implicit Linker Scripts
=======================

   If you specify a linker input file which the linker can not
recognize as an object file or an archive file, it will try to read the
file as a linker script.  If the file can not be parsed as a linker
script, the linker will report an error.

   An implicit linker script will not replace the default linker script.

   Typically an implicit linker script would contain only symbol
assignments, or the `INPUT', `GROUP', or `VERSION' commands.

   Any input files read because of an implicit linker script will be
read at the position in the command line where the implicit linker
script was read.  This can affect archive searching.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Machine Dependent,  Next: BFD,  Prev: Scripts,  Up: Top

Machine Dependent Features
**************************

   `ld' has additional features on some platforms; the following
sections describe them.  Machines where `ld' has no additional
functionality are not listed.

* Menu:


* H8/300::                      `ld' and the H8/300

* i960::                        `ld' and the Intel 960 family

* ARM::                         `ld' and the ARM family

* HPPA ELF32::                  `ld' and HPPA 32-bit ELF

* MMIX::                        `ld' and MMIX

* MSP430::                      `ld' and MSP430

* TI COFF::                     `ld' and TI COFF

* WIN32::                       `ld' and WIN32 (cygwin/mingw)

* Xtensa::                      `ld' and Xtensa Processors

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: H8/300,  Next: i960,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and the H8/300
===================

   For the H8/300, `ld' can perform these global optimizations when you
specify the `--relax' command-line option.

_relaxing address modes_
     `ld' finds all `jsr' and `jmp' instructions whose targets are
     within eight bits, and turns them into eight-bit program-counter
     relative `bsr' and `bra' instructions, respectively.

_synthesizing instructions_
     `ld' finds all `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.  (That is: the
     linker turns `mov.b `@'AA:16' into `mov.b `@'AA:8' whenever the
     address AA is in the top page of memory).

_bit manipulation instructions_
     `ld' finds all bit manipulation instructions like `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 page of memory, and changes them to use the 8 bit
     address form.  (That is: the linker turns `bset #xx:3,`@'AA:32'
     into `bset #xx:3,`@'AA:8' whenever the address AA is in the top
     page of memory).

_system control instructions_
     `ld' finds all `ldc.w, stc.w' instrcutions 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 `ldc.w `@'AA:32,ccr' into `ldc.w `@'AA:16,ccr' whenever the
     address AA is in the top page of memory).

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: i960,  Next: ARM,  Prev: H8/300,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and the Intel 960 Family
=============================

   You can use the `-AARCHITECTURE' command line option to specify one
of the two-letter names identifying members of the 960 family; the
option specifies the desired output target, and warns of any
incompatible instructions in the input files.  It also modifies the
linker's search strategy for archive libraries, to support the use of
libraries specific to each particular architecture, by including in the
search loop names suffixed with the string identifying the architecture.

   For example, if your `ld' command line included `-ACA' as well as
`-ltry', the linker would look (in its built-in search paths, and in
any paths you specify with `-L') for a library with the names

     try
     libtry.a
     tryca
     libtryca.a

The first two possibilities would be considered in any event; the last
two are due to the use of `-ACA'.

   You can meaningfully use `-A' more than once on a command line, since
the 960 architecture family allows combination of target architectures;
each use will add another pair of name variants to search for when `-l'
specifies a library.

   `ld' supports the `--relax' option for the i960 family.  If you
specify `--relax', `ld' finds all `balx' and `calx' instructions whose
targets are within 24 bits, and turns them into 24-bit program-counter
relative `bal' and `cal' instructions, respectively.  `ld' also turns
`cal' instructions into `bal' instructions when it determines that the
target subroutine is a leaf routine (that is, the target subroutine does
not itself call any subroutines).

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: ARM,  Next: HPPA ELF32,  Prev: i960,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and the ARM family
=======================

   For the ARM, `ld' will generate code stubs to allow functions calls
betweem ARM and Thumb code.  These stubs only work with code that has
been compiled and assembled with the `-mthumb-interwork' command line
option.  If it is necessary to link with old ARM object files or
libraries, which have not been compiled with the -mthumb-interwork
option then the `--support-old-code' command line switch should be
given to the linker.  This will make it generate larger stub functions
which will work with non-interworking aware ARM code.  Note, however,
the linker does not support generating stubs for function calls to
non-interworking aware Thumb code.

   The `--thumb-entry' switch is a duplicate of the generic `--entry'
switch, in that it sets the program's starting address.  But it also
sets the bottom bit of the address, so that it can be branched to using
a BX instruction, and the program will start executing in Thumb mode
straight away.

   The `--be8' switch instructs `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.

   The `R_ARM_TARGET1' relocation is typically used for entries in the
`.init_array' section.  It is interpreted as either `R_ARM_REL32' or
`R_ARM_ABS32', depending on the target.  The `--target1-rel' and
`--target1-abs' switches override the default.

   The `--target2=type' switch overrides the default definition of the
`R_ARM_TARGET2' relocation.  Valid values for `type', their meanings,
and target defaults are as follows:
`rel'
     `R_ARM_REL32' (arm*-*-elf, arm*-*-eabi)

`abs'
     `R_ARM_ABS32' (arm*-*-symbianelf)

`got-rel'
     `R_ARM_GOT_PREL' (arm*-*-linux, arm*-*-*bsd)

   The `R_ARM_V4BX' relocation (defined by the ARM AAELF specification)
enables objects compiled for the ARMv4 architecture to be
interworking-safe when linked with other objects compiled for ARMv4t,
but also allows pure ARMv4 binaries to be built from the same ARMv4
objects.

   In the latter case, the switch `--fix-v4bx' must be passed to the
linker, which causes v4t `BX rM' instructions to be rewritten as `MOV
PC,rM', since v4 processors do not have a `BX' instruction.

   In the former case, the switch should not be used, and `R_ARM_V4BX'
relocations are ignored.

   The `--use-blx' switch enables the linker to use ARM/Thumb BLX
instructions (available on ARMv5t and above) in various situations.
Currently it is used to perform calls via the PLT from Thumb code using
BLX rather than using BX and a mode-switching stub before each PLT
entry. This should lead to such calls executing slightly faster.

   This option is enabled implicitly for SymbianOS, so there is no need
to specify it if you are using that target.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: HPPA ELF32,  Next: MMIX,  Prev: ARM,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and HPPA 32-bit ELF Support
================================

   When generating a shared library, `ld' will by default generate
import stubs suitable for use with a single sub-space application.  The
`--multi-subspace' switch causes `ld' to generate export stubs, and
different (larger) import stubs suitable for use with multiple
sub-spaces.

   Long branch stubs and import/export stubs are placed by `ld' in stub
sections located between groups of input sections.  `--stub-group-size'
specifies the maximum size of a group of input sections handled by one
stub section.  Since branch offsets are signed, a stub section may
serve two groups of input sections, one group before the stub section,
and one group after it.  However, when using conditional branches that
require stubs, it may be better (for branch prediction) that stub
sections only serve one group of input sections.  A negative value for
`N' chooses this scheme, ensuring that branches to stubs always use a
negative offset.  Two special values of `N' are recognized, `1' and
`-1'.  These both instruct `ld' to automatically size input section
groups for the branch types detected, with the same behaviour regarding
stub placement as other positive or negative values of `N' respectively.

   Note that `--stub-group-size' does not split input sections.  A
single input section larger than the group size specified will of course
create a larger group (of one section).  If input sections are too
large, it may not be possible for a branch to reach its stub.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: MMIX,  Next: MSP430,  Prev: HPPA ELF32,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and MMIX
=============

   For MMIX, there is a choice of generating `ELF' object files or
`mmo' object files when linking.  The simulator `mmix' understands the
`mmo' format.  The binutils `objcopy' utility can translate between the
two formats.

   There is one special section, the `.MMIX.reg_contents' section.
Contents in this section is assumed to correspond to that of global
registers, and symbols referring to it are translated to special
symbols, equal to registers.  In a final link, the start address of the
`.MMIX.reg_contents' section corresponds to the first allocated global
register multiplied by 8.  Register `$255' is not included in this
section; it is always set to the program entry, which is at the symbol
`Main' for `mmo' files.

   Symbols with the prefix `__.MMIX.start.', for example
`__.MMIX.start..text' and `__.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.

   Initial and trailing multiples of zero-valued 32-bit words in a
section, are left out from an mmo file.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: MSP430,  Next: TI COFF,  Prev: MMIX,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and MSP430
===============

   For the MSP430 it is possible to select the MPU architecture.  The
flag `-m [mpu type]' will select an appropriate linker script for
selected MPU type.  (To get a list of known MPUs just pass `-m help'
option to the linker).

   The linker will recognize some extra sections which are MSP430
specific:

``.vectors''
     Defines a portion of ROM where interrupt vectors located.

``.bootloader''
     Defines the bootloader portion of the ROM (if applicable).  Any
     code in this section will be uploaded to the MPU.

``.infomem''
     Defines an information memory section (if applicable).  Any code in
     this section will be uploaded to the MPU.

``.infomemnobits''
     This is the same as the `.infomem' section except that any code in
     this section will not be uploaded to the MPU.

``.noinit''
     Denotes a portion of RAM located above `.bss' section.

     The last two sections are used by gcc.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: TI COFF,  Next: WIN32,  Prev: MSP430,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld''s Support for Various TI COFF Versions
===========================================

   The `--format' switch allows selection of one of the various TI COFF
versions.  The latest of this writing is 2; versions 0 and 1 are also
supported.  The TI COFF versions also vary in header byte-order format;
`ld' will read any version or byte order, but the output header format
depends on the default specified by the specific target.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: WIN32,  Next: Xtensa,  Prev: TI COFF,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and WIN32 (cygwin/mingw)
=============================

   This section describes some of the win32 specific `ld' issues.  See
*Note Command Line Options: Options for detailed decription of the
command line options mentioned here.

_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
     archive.  The cygwin and mingw ports of `ld' have specific support
     for creating such libraries provided with the `--out-implib'
     command line option.

_exporting DLL symbols_
     The cygwin/mingw `ld' has several ways to export symbols for dll's.

    _using auto-export functionality_
          By default `ld' exports symbols with the auto-export
          functionality, which is controlled by the following command
          line options:

             * -export-all-symbols   [This is the default]

             * -exclude-symbols

             * -exclude-libs

          If, however, `--export-all-symbols' is not given explicitly
          on the command line, then the default auto-export behavior
          will be _disabled_ if either of the following are true:

             * A DEF file is used.

             * Any symbol in any object file was marked with the
               __declspec(dllexport) attribute.

    _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 `<dll name>.def' and is added as any other object file
          to the linker's command line.  The file's name must end in
          `.def' or `.DEF'.

               gcc -o <output> <objectfiles> <dll name>.def

          Using a DEF file turns off the normal auto-export behavior,
          unless the `--export-all-symbols' option is also used.

          Here is an example of a DEF file for a shared library called
          `xyz.dll':

               LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x10000000
               
               EXPORTS
               foo
               bar
               _bar = bar

          This example defines a base address and three symbols.  The
          third symbol is an alias for the second.  For the complete
          format specification see ld/deffilep.y in the binutils
          sources.

          While linking a shared dll, `ld' is able to create a DEF file
          with the `--output-def <file>' command line option.

    _Using decorations_
          Another way of marking symbols for export is to modify the
          source code itself, so that when building the DLL each symbol
          to be exported is declared as:

               __declspec(dllexport) int a_variable
               __declspec(dllexport) void a_function(int with_args)

          All such symbols will be exported from the DLL.  If, however,
          any of the object files in the DLL contain symbols decorated
          in this way, then the normal auto-export behavior is
          disabled, unless the `--export-all-symbols' option is also
          used.

          Note that object files that wish to access these symbols must
          _not_ decorate them with dllexport.  Instead, they should use
          dllimport, instead:

               __declspec(dllimport) int a_variable
               __declspec(dllimport) void a_function(int with_args)

          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 omit the __declspec()
          declaration completely.  See `--enable-auto-import' and
          `automatic data imports' for more imformation.

_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 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
     decorations to archieve a behavior that conforms to that on
     POSIX/Un*x platforms. This feature is enabled with the
     `--enable-auto-import' command-line option, although it is enabled
     by default on cygwin/mingw.  The `--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
     additional assistance.  Sometimes, you will see this message

     "variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported. Please read the
     documentation for ld's `--enable-auto-import' for details."

     The `--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 _runtime pseudo-relocs_
     feature, described below.

     For complex variables imported from DLLs (such as structs or
     classes), object files typically contain a base address for the
     variable and an offset (_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 references.

     The `--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.

     `--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs' is not the default; it must be
     explicitly enabled as needed.

_direct linking to a dll_
     The cygwin/mingw ports of `ld' support the direct linking,
     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, expecially when
     linking large libraries or applications.  When `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 large or complex libraries when using import libs.

     Linking directly to a dll uses no extra command-line switches
     other than `-L' and `-l', because `ld' already searches for a
     number 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.

     For instance, when ld is called with the argument `-lxxx' it will
     attempt to find, in the first directory of its search path,

          libxxx.dll.a
          xxx.dll.a
          libxxx.a
          cygxxx.dll (*)
          libxxx.dll
          xxx.dll

     before moving on to the next directory in the search path.

     (*) Actually, this is not `cygxxx.dll' but in fact is
     `<prefix>xxx.dll', where `<prefix>' is set by the `ld' option
     `--dll-search-prefix=<prefix>'. In the case of cygwin, the
     standard gcc spec file includes `--dll-search-prefix=cyg', so in
     effect we actually search for `cygxxx.dll'.

     Other win32-based unix environments, such as mingw or pw32, may
     use other `<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.

     The generic cygwin/mingw path layout uses a `bin' directory for
     applications and dll's and a `lib' directory for the import
     libraries (using cygwin nomenclature):

          bin/
                cygxxx.dll
          lib/
                libxxx.dll.a   (in case of dll's)
                libxxx.a       (in case of static archive)

     Linking directly to a dll without using the import library can be
     done two ways:

     1. Use the dll directly by adding the `bin' path to the link line
          gcc -Wl,-verbose  -o a.exe -L../bin/ -lxxx

     However, as the dll's often have version numbers appended to their
     names (`cygncurses-5.dll') this will often fail, unless one
     specifies `-L../bin -lncurses-5' to include the version.  Import
     libs are generally not versioned, and do not have this difficulty.

     2. Create a symbolic link from the dll to a file in the `lib'
     directory according to the above mentioned search pattern.  This
     should be used to avoid unwanted changes in the tools needed for
     making the app/dll.

          ln -s bin/cygxxx.dll lib/[cyg|lib|]xxx.dll[.a]

     Then you can link without any make environment changes.

          gcc -Wl,-verbose  -o a.exe -L../lib/ -lxxx

     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

     Linking directly to a dll without using an import lib will work
     even when auto-import features are exercised, and even when
     `--enable-runtime-pseudo-relocs' is used.

     Given the improvements in speed and memory usage, one might
     justifiably wonder why import libraries are used at all.  There
     are two reasons:

     1. Until recently, the link-directly-to-dll functionality did _not_
     work with auto-imported data.

     2. Sometimes it is necessary to include pure static objects within
     the import library (which otherwise contains only bfd's for
     indirection symbols that point to the exports of a dll).  Again,
     the import lib for the cygwin kernel makes use of this ability,
     and it is not possible to do this without an import lib.

     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 most 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.

_symbol aliasing_

    _adding additional names_
          Sometimes, it is useful to export symbols with additional
          names.  A symbol `foo' will be exported as `foo', but it can
          also be exported as `_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:

               LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000
               
               EXPORTS
               foo
               _foo = foo

          The line `_foo = foo' maps the symbol `foo' to `_foo'.

          Another method for creating a symbol alias is to create it in
          the source code using the "weak" attribute:

               void foo () { /* Do something.  */; }
               void _foo () __attribute__ ((weak, alias ("foo")));

          See the gcc manual for more information about attributes and
          weak symbols.

    _renaming symbols_
          Sometimes it is useful to rename exports.  For instance, the
          cygwin kernel does this regularly.  A symbol `_foo' can be
          exported as `foo' but not as `_foo' by using special
          directives in the DEF file. (This will also affect the import
          library, if it is created).  In the following example:

               LIBRARY "xyz.dll" BASE=0x61000000
               
               EXPORTS
               _foo = foo

          The line `_foo = foo' maps the exported symbol `foo' to
          `_foo'.

     Note: using a DEF file disables the default auto-export behavior,
     unless the `--export-all-symbols' command line option is used.
     If, however, you are trying to rename symbols, then you should list
     _all_ desired exports in the DEF file, including the symbols that
     are not being renamed, and do _not_ use the `--export-all-symbols'
     option.  If you list only the renamed symbols in the DEF file, and
     use `--export-all-symbols' to handle the other symbols, then the
     both the new names _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.

_weak externals_
     The Windows object format, PE, specifies a form of weak symbols
     called weak externals.  When a weak symbol is linked and the
     symbol is not defined, the weak symbol becomes an alias for some
     other symbol.  There are three variants of weak externals:
        * Definition is searched for in objects and libraries,
          historically called lazy externals.

        * Definition is searched for only in other objects, not in
          libraries.  This form is not presently implemented.

        * No search; the symbol is an alias.  This form is not presently
          implemented.
     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.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Xtensa,  Prev: WIN32,  Up: Machine Dependent

`ld' and Xtensa Processors
==========================

   The default `ld' behavior for Xtensa processors is to interpret
`SECTIONS' commands so that lists of explicitly named sections in a
specification with a wildcard file will be interleaved when necessary to
keep literal pools within the range of PC-relative load offsets.  For
example, with the command:

     SECTIONS
     {
       .text : {
         *(.literal .text)
       }
     }

`ld' may interleave some of the `.literal' and `.text' sections from
different object files to ensure that the literal pools are within the
range of PC-relative load offsets.  A valid interleaving might place
the `.literal' sections from an initial group of files followed by the
`.text' sections of that group of files.  Then, the `.literal' sections
from the rest of the files and the `.text' sections from the rest of
the files would follow.

   Relaxation is enabled by default for the Xtensa version of `ld' and
provides two important link-time optimizations.  The first optimization
is to combine identical literal values to reduce code size.  A redundant
literal will be removed and all the `L32R' instructions that use it
will be changed to reference an identical literal, as long as the
location of the replacement literal is within the offset range of all
the `L32R' instructions.  The second optimization is to remove
unnecessary overhead from assembler-generated "longcall" sequences of
`L32R'/`CALLXN' when the target functions are within range of direct
`CALLN' instructions.

   For each of these cases where an indirect call sequence can be
optimized to a direct call, the linker will change the `CALLXN'
instruction to a `CALLN' instruction, remove the `L32R' instruction,
and remove the literal referenced by the `L32R' instruction if it is
not used for anything else.  Removing the `L32R' instruction always
reduces code size but can potentially hurt performance by changing the
alignment of subsequent branch targets.  By default, the linker will
always preserve alignments, either by switching some instructions
between 24-bit encodings and the equivalent density instructions or by
inserting a no-op in place of the `L32R' instruction that was removed.
If code size is more important than performance, the `--size-opt'
option can be used to prevent the linker from widening density
instructions or inserting no-ops, except in a few cases where no-ops
are required for correctness.

   The following Xtensa-specific command-line options can be used to
control the linker:

`--no-relax'
     Since the Xtensa version of `ld' enables the `--relax' option by
     default, the `--no-relax' option is provided to disable relaxation.

`--size-opt'
     When optimizing indirect calls to direct calls, optimize for code
     size more than performance.  With this option, the linker will not
     insert no-ops or widen density instructions to preserve branch
     target alignment.  There may still be some cases where no-ops are
     required to preserve the correctness of the code.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: BFD,  Next: Reporting Bugs,  Prev: Machine Dependent,  Up: Top

BFD
***

   The linker accesses object and archive files using the BFD libraries.
These libraries allow the linker to use the same routines to operate on
object files whatever the object file format.  A different object file
format can be supported simply by creating a new BFD back end and adding
it to the library.  To conserve runtime memory, however, the linker and
associated tools are usually configured to support only a subset of the
object file formats available.  You can use `objdump -i' (*note
objdump: (binutils.info)objdump.) to list all the formats available for
your configuration.

   As with most implementations, BFD is a compromise between several
conflicting requirements. The major factor influencing BFD design was
efficiency: any time used converting between formats is time which
would not have been spent had BFD not been involved. This is partly
offset by abstraction payback; since BFD simplifies applications and
back ends, more time and care may be spent optimizing algorithms for a
greater speed.

   One minor artifact of the BFD solution which you should bear in mind
is the potential for information loss.  There are two places where
useful information can be lost using the BFD mechanism: during
conversion and during output. *Note BFD information loss::.

* Menu:

* BFD outline::                 How it works: an outline of BFD

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: BFD outline,  Up: BFD

How It Works: An Outline of BFD
===============================

   When an object file is opened, BFD subroutines automatically
determine the format of the input object file.  They then build a
descriptor in memory with pointers to routines that will be used to
access elements of the object file's data structures.

   As different information from the object files is required, BFD
reads from different sections of the file and processes them.  For
example, a very common operation for the linker is processing symbol
tables.  Each BFD back end provides a routine for converting between
the object file's representation of symbols and an internal canonical
format. When the linker asks for the symbol table of an object file, it
calls through a memory pointer to the routine from the relevant BFD
back end which reads and converts the table into a canonical form.  The
linker then operates upon the canonical form. When the link is finished
and the linker writes the output file's symbol table, another BFD back
end routine is called to take the newly created symbol table and
convert it into the chosen output format.

* Menu:

* BFD information loss::        Information Loss
* Canonical format::            The BFD canonical object-file format

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: BFD information loss,  Next: Canonical format,  Up: BFD outline

Information Loss
----------------

   _Information can be lost during output._ The output formats
supported by BFD do not provide identical facilities, and information
which can be described in one form has nowhere to go in another format.
One example of this is alignment information in `b.out'. There is
nowhere in an `a.out' format file to store alignment information on the
contained data, so when a file is linked from `b.out' and an `a.out'
image is produced, alignment information will not propagate to the
output file. (The linker will still use the alignment information
internally, so the link is performed correctly).

   Another example is COFF section names. COFF files may contain an
unlimited number of sections, each one with a textual section name. If
the target of the link is a format which does not have many sections
(e.g., `a.out') or has sections without names (e.g., the Oasys format),
the link cannot be done simply. You can circumvent this problem by
describing the desired input-to-output section mapping with the linker
command language.

   _Information can be lost during canonicalization._ The BFD internal
canonical form of the external formats is not exhaustive; there are
structures in input formats for which there is no direct representation
internally.  This means that the BFD back ends cannot maintain all
possible data richness through the transformation between external to
internal and back to external formats.

   This limitation is only a problem when an application reads one
format and writes another.  Each BFD back end is responsible for
maintaining as much data as possible, and the internal BFD canonical
form has structures which are opaque to the BFD core, and exported only
to the back ends. When a file is read in one format, the canonical form
is generated for BFD and the application. At the same time, the back
end saves away any information which may otherwise be lost. If the data
is then written back in the same format, the back end routine will be
able to use the canonical form provided by the BFD core as well as the
information it prepared earlier.  Since there is a great deal of
commonality between back ends, there is no information lost when
linking or copying big endian COFF to little endian COFF, or `a.out' to
`b.out'.  When a mixture of formats is linked, the information is only
lost from the files whose format differs from the destination.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Canonical format,  Prev: BFD information loss,  Up: BFD outline

The BFD canonical object-file format
------------------------------------

   The greatest potential for loss of information occurs when there is
the least overlap between the information provided by the source
format, that stored by the canonical format, and that needed by the
destination format. A brief description of the canonical form may help
you understand which kinds of data you can count on preserving across
conversions.

_files_
     Information stored on a per-file basis includes target machine
     architecture, particular implementation format type, a demand
     pageable bit, and a write protected bit.  Information like Unix
     magic numbers is not stored here--only the magic numbers' meaning,
     so a `ZMAGIC' file would have both the demand pageable bit and the
     write protected text bit set.  The byte order of the target is
     stored on a per-file basis, so that big- and little-endian object
     files may be used with one another.

_sections_
     Each section in the input file contains the name of the section,
     the section's original address in the object file, size and
     alignment information, various flags, and pointers into other BFD
     data structures.

_symbols_
     Each symbol contains a pointer to the information for the object
     file which originally defined it, its name, its value, and various
     flag bits.  When a BFD back end reads in a symbol table, it
     relocates all symbols to make them relative to the base of the
     section where they were defined.  Doing this ensures that each
     symbol points to its containing section.  Each symbol also has a
     varying amount of hidden private data for the BFD back end.  Since
     the symbol points to the original file, the private data format
     for that symbol is accessible.  `ld' can operate on a collection
     of symbols of wildly different formats without problems.

     Normal global and simple local symbols are maintained on output,
     so an output file (no matter its format) will retain symbols
     pointing to functions and to global, static, and common variables.
     Some symbol information is not worth retaining; in `a.out', type
     information is stored in the symbol table as long symbol names.
     This information would be useless to most COFF debuggers; the
     linker has command line switches to allow users to throw it away.

     There is one word of type information within the symbol, so if the
     format supports symbol type information within symbols (for
     example, COFF, IEEE, Oasys) and the type is simple enough to fit
     within one word (nearly everything but aggregates), the
     information will be preserved.

_relocation level_
     Each canonical BFD relocation record contains a pointer to the
     symbol to relocate to, the offset of the data to relocate, the
     section the data is in, and a pointer to a relocation type
     descriptor. Relocation is performed by passing messages through
     the relocation type descriptor and the symbol pointer. Therefore,
     relocations can be performed on output data using a relocation
     method that is only available in one of the input formats. For
     instance, Oasys provides a byte relocation format.  A relocation
     record requesting this relocation type would point indirectly to a
     routine to perform this, so the relocation may be performed on a
     byte being written to a 68k COFF file, even though 68k COFF has no
     such relocation type.

_line numbers_
     Object formats can contain, for debugging purposes, some form of
     mapping between symbols, source line numbers, and addresses in the
     output file.  These addresses have to be relocated along with the
     symbol information.  Each symbol with an associated list of line
     number records points to the first record of the list.  The head
     of a line number list consists of a pointer to the symbol, which
     allows finding out the address of the function whose line number
     is being described. The rest of the list is made up of pairs:
     offsets into the section and line numbers. Any format which can
     simply derive this information can pass it successfully between
     formats (COFF, IEEE and Oasys).

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Reporting Bugs,  Next: MRI,  Prev: BFD,  Up: Top

Reporting Bugs
**************

   Your bug reports play an essential role in making `ld' reliable.

   Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem,
or it may not.  But in any case the principal function of a bug report
is to help the entire community by making the next version of `ld' work
better.  Bug reports are your contribution to the maintenance of `ld'.

   In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
information that enables us to fix the bug.

* Menu:

* Bug Criteria::                Have you found a bug?
* Bug Reporting::               How to report bugs

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Bug Criteria,  Next: Bug Reporting,  Up: Reporting Bugs

Have You Found a Bug?
=====================

   If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some
guidelines:

   * If the linker gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is
     a `ld' bug.  Reliable linkers never crash.

   * If `ld' produces an error message for valid input, that is a bug.

   * If `ld' does not produce an error message for invalid input, that
     may be a bug.  In the general case, the linker can not verify that
     object files are correct.

   * If you are an experienced user of linkers, your suggestions for
     improvement of `ld' are welcome in any case.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Bug Reporting,  Prev: Bug Criteria,  Up: Reporting Bugs

How to Report Bugs
==================

   A number of companies and individuals offer support for GNU
products.  If you obtained `ld' from a support organization, we
recommend you contact that organization first.

   You can find contact information for many support companies and
individuals in the file `etc/SERVICE' in the GNU Emacs distribution.

   Otherwise, send bug reports for `ld' to `bug-binutils@gnu.org'.

   The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
*report all the facts*.  If you are not sure whether to state a fact or
leave it out, state it!

   Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
problem and assume that some details do not matter.  Thus, you might
assume that the name of a symbol you use in an example does not matter.
Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure.  Perhaps the bug
is a stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location
where that name is stored in memory; perhaps, if the name 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.

   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
on the assumption that the bug has not been reported previously.

   Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, "Does this ring a
bell?"  This cannot help us fix a bug, so it is basically useless.  We
respond by asking for enough details to enable us to investigate.  You
might as well expedite matters by sending them to begin with.

   To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:

   * The version of `ld'.  `ld' announces it if you start it with the
     `--version' argument.

     Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in
     looking for the bug in the current version of `ld'.

   * Any patches you may have applied to the `ld' source, including any
     patches made to the `BFD' library.

   * The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name
     and version number.

   * What compiler (and its version) was used to compile `ld'--e.g.
     "`gcc-2.7'".

   * The command arguments you gave the linker to link your example and
     observe the bug.  To guarantee you will not omit something
     important, list them all.  A copy of the Makefile (or the output
     from make) is sufficient.

     If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess
     wrong and then we might not encounter the bug.

   * A complete input file, or set of input files, that will reproduce
     the bug.  It is generally most helpful to send the actual object
     files provided that they are reasonably small.  Say no more than
     10K.  For bigger files you can either make them available by FTP
     or HTTP or else state that you are willing to send the object
     file(s) to whomever requests them.  (Note - your email will be
     going to a mailing list, so we do not want to clog it up with
     large attachments).  But small attachments are best.

     If the source files were assembled using `gas' or compiled using
     `gcc', then it may be OK to send the source files rather than the
     object files.  In this case, be sure to say exactly what version of
     `gas' or `gcc' was used to produce the object files.  Also say how
     `gas' or `gcc' were configured.

   * A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
     incorrect.  For example, "It gets a fatal signal."

     Of course, if the bug is that `ld' gets a fatal signal, then we
     will certainly notice it.  But if the bug is incorrect output, we
     might not notice unless it is glaringly wrong.  You might as well
     not give us a chance to make a mistake.

     Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should
     still say so explicitly.  Suppose something strange is going on,
     such as, your copy of `ld' is out of synch, or you have
     encountered a bug in the C library on your system.  (This has
     happened!)  Your copy might crash and ours would not.  If you told
     us to expect a crash, then when ours fails to crash, we would know
     that the bug was not happening for us.  If you had not told us to
     expect a crash, then we would not be able to draw any conclusion
     from our observations.

   * If you wish to suggest changes to the `ld' source, send us context
     diffs, as generated by `diff' with the `-u', `-c', or `-p' option.
     Always send diffs from the old file to the new file.  If you even
     discuss something in the `ld' source, refer to it by context, not
     by line number.

     The line numbers in our development sources will not match those
     in your sources.  Your line numbers would convey no useful
     information to us.

   Here are some things that are not necessary:

   * A description of the envelope of the bug.

     Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
     which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
     changes will not affect it.

     This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way
     we will find the bug is by running a single example under the
     debugger with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of
     examples.  We recommend that you save your time for something else.

     Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report _instead_
     of the original one, that is a convenience for us.  Errors in the
     output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
     less time, and so on.

     However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do
     this, report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you
     used.

   * A patch for the bug.

     A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one.  But do not
     omit the necessary information, such as the test case, on the
     assumption that a patch is all we need.  We might see problems
     with your patch and decide to fix the problem another way, or we
     might not understand it at all.

     Sometimes with a program as complicated as `ld' it is very hard to
     construct an example that will make the program follow a certain
     path through the code.  If you do not send us the example, we will
     not be able to construct one, so we will not be able to verify
     that the bug is fixed.

     And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why
     your patch should be an improvement, we will not install it.  A
     test case will help us to understand.

   * A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.

     Such guesses are usually wrong.  Even we cannot guess right about
     such things without first using the debugger to find the facts.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: MRI,  Next: GNU Free Documentation License,  Prev: Reporting Bugs,  Up: Top

MRI Compatible Script Files
***************************

   To aid users making the transition to GNU `ld' from the MRI linker,
`ld' can use MRI compatible linker scripts as an alternative to the
more general-purpose linker scripting language described in *Note
Scripts::.  MRI compatible linker scripts have a much simpler command
set than the scripting language otherwise used with `ld'.  GNU `ld'
supports the most commonly used MRI linker commands; these commands are
described here.

   In general, MRI scripts aren't of much use with the `a.out' object
file format, since it only has three sections and MRI scripts lack some
features to make use of them.

   You can specify a file containing an MRI-compatible script using the
`-c' command-line option.

   Each command in an MRI-compatible script occupies its own line; each
command line starts with the keyword that identifies the command (though
blank lines are also allowed for punctuation).  If a line of an
MRI-compatible script begins with an unrecognized keyword, `ld' issues
a warning message, but continues processing the script.

   Lines beginning with `*' are comments.

   You can write these commands using all upper-case letters, or all
lower case; for example, `chip' is the same as `CHIP'.  The following
list shows only the upper-case form of each command.

`ABSOLUTE SECNAME'
`ABSOLUTE SECNAME, SECNAME, ... SECNAME'
     Normally, `ld' includes in the output file all sections from all
     the input files.  However, in an MRI-compatible script, you can
     use the `ABSOLUTE' command to restrict the sections that will be
     present in your output program.  If the `ABSOLUTE' command is used
     at all in a script, then only the sections named explicitly in
     `ABSOLUTE' commands will appear in the linker output.  You can
     still use other input sections (whatever you select on the command
     line, or using `LOAD') to resolve addresses in the output file.

`ALIAS OUT-SECNAME, IN-SECNAME'
     Use this command to place the data from input section IN-SECNAME
     in a section called OUT-SECNAME in the linker output file.

     IN-SECNAME may be an integer.

`ALIGN SECNAME = EXPRESSION'
     Align the section called SECNAME to EXPRESSION.  The EXPRESSION
     should be a power of two.

`BASE EXPRESSION'
     Use the value of EXPRESSION as the lowest address (other than
     absolute addresses) in the output file.

`CHIP EXPRESSION'
`CHIP EXPRESSION, EXPRESSION'
     This command does nothing; it is accepted only for compatibility.

`END'
     This command does nothing whatever; it's only accepted for
     compatibility.

`FORMAT OUTPUT-FORMAT'
     Similar to the `OUTPUT_FORMAT' command in the more general linker
     language, but restricted to one of these output formats:

       1. S-records, if OUTPUT-FORMAT is `S'

       2. IEEE, if OUTPUT-FORMAT is `IEEE'

       3. COFF (the `coff-m68k' variant in BFD), if OUTPUT-FORMAT is
          `COFF'

`LIST ANYTHING...'
     Print (to the standard output file) a link map, as produced by the
     `ld' command-line option `-M'.

     The keyword `LIST' may be followed by anything on the same line,
     with no change in its effect.

`LOAD FILENAME'
`LOAD FILENAME, FILENAME, ... FILENAME'
     Include one or more object file FILENAME in the link; this has the
     same effect as specifying FILENAME directly on the `ld' command
     line.

`NAME OUTPUT-NAME'
     OUTPUT-NAME is the name for the program produced by `ld'; the
     MRI-compatible command `NAME' is equivalent to the command-line
     option `-o' or the general script language command `OUTPUT'.

`ORDER SECNAME, SECNAME, ... SECNAME'
`ORDER SECNAME SECNAME SECNAME'
     Normally, `ld' orders the sections in its output file in the order
     in which they first appear in the input files.  In an
     MRI-compatible script, you can override this ordering with the
     `ORDER' command.  The sections you list with `ORDER' will appear
     first in your output file, in the order specified.

`PUBLIC NAME=EXPRESSION'
`PUBLIC NAME,EXPRESSION'
`PUBLIC NAME EXPRESSION'
     Supply a value (EXPRESSION) for external symbol NAME used in the
     linker input files.

`SECT SECNAME, EXPRESSION'
`SECT SECNAME=EXPRESSION'
`SECT SECNAME EXPRESSION'
     You can use any of these three forms of the `SECT' command to
     specify the start address (EXPRESSION) for section SECNAME.  If
     you have more than one `SECT' statement for the same SECNAME, only
     the _first_ sets the start address.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: GNU Free Documentation License,  Next: Index,  Prev: MRI,  Up: Top

GNU Free Documentation License
******************************

                        Version 1.1, March 2000
     Copyright (C) 2000, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
     
     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.


  0. PREAMBLE

     The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
     written document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone
     the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without
     modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially.  Secondarily,
     this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get
     credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for
     modifications made by others.

     This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
     works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
     It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
     license designed for free software.

     We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
     free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
     free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
     that the software does.  But this License is not limited to
     software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless
     of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book.
     We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
     instruction or reference.


  1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

     This License applies to any manual or other work that contains a
     notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed
     under the terms of this License.  The "Document", below, refers to
     any such manual or work.  Any member of the public is a licensee,
     and is addressed as "you."

     A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the
     Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
     modifications and/or translated into another language.

     A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter
     section of the Document that deals exclusively with the
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     Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains
     nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject.
     (For example, if the Document is in part a textbook of
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     The relationship could be a matter of historical connection with
     the subject or with related matters, or of legal, commercial,
     philosophical, ethical or political position regarding them.

     The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose
     titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in
     the notice that says that the Document is released under this
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     The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are
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     A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
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     text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of
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     otherwise Transparent file format whose markup has been designed
     to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not
     Transparent.  A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque."

     Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain
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     Opaque formats include PostScript, PDF, proprietary formats that
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     processors for output purposes only.

     The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
     plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the
     material this License requires to appear in the title page.  For
     works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title
     Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the
     work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

  2. VERBATIM COPYING

     You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either
     commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the
     copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License
     applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you
     add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License.  You
     may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
     or further copying of the copies you make or distribute.  However,
     you may accept compensation in exchange for copies.  If you
     distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow
     the conditions in section 3.

     You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above,
     and you may publicly display copies.

  3. COPYING IN QUANTITY

     If you publish printed copies of the Document numbering more than
     100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you
     must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly,
     all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and
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     title equally prominent and visible.  You may add other material
     on the covers in addition.  Copying with changes limited to the
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     If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit
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     If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document
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     state in or with each Opaque copy a publicly-accessible
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     It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of
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     version of the Document.

  4. MODIFICATIONS

     You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document
     under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you
     release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with
     the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus
     licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to
     whoever possesses a copy of it.  In addition, you must do these
     things in the Modified Version:

     A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title
     distinct    from that of the Document, and from those of previous
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     History section    of the Document).  You may use the same title
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     gives permission.
     B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or
     entities    responsible for authorship of the modifications in the
     Modified    Version, together with at least five of the principal
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     has less than five).
     C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
     Modified Version, as the publisher.
     D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
     E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
     adjacent to the other copyright notices.
     F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license
     notice    giving the public permission to use the Modified Version
     under the    terms of this License, in the form shown in the
     Addendum below.
     G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant
     Sections    and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
     license notice.
     H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
     I. Preserve the section entitled "History", and its title, and add
     to    it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and
       publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page.
     If    there is no section entitled "History" in the Document,
     create one    stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of
     the Document as    given on its Title Page, then add an item
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     sentence.
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       public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
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     "History" section.     You may omit a network location for a work
     that was published at    least four years before the Document
     itself, or if the original    publisher of the version it refers
     to gives permission.
     K. In any section entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
     preserve the section's title, and preserve in the section all the
      substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements
     and/or dedications given therein.
     L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
     unaltered in their text and in their titles.  Section numbers
     or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
     M. Delete any section entitled "Endorsements."  Such a section
     may not be included in the Modified Version.
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     conflict in title with any Invariant Section.

     If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
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     You may add a section entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
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     The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
     License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
     assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

  5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

     You may combine the Document with other documents released under
     this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
     modified versions, provided that you include in the combination
     all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
     unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
     combined work in its license notice.

     The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
     multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
     copy.  If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name
     but different contents, make the title of each such section unique
     by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
     original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a
     unique number.  Make the same adjustment to the section titles in
     the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the
     combined work.

     In the combination, you must combine any sections entitled
     "History" in the various original documents, forming one section
     entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections entitled
     "Acknowledgements", and any sections entitled "Dedications."  You
     must delete all sections entitled "Endorsements."

  6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

     You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
     documents released under this License, and replace the individual
     copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
     that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
     rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the
     documents in all other respects.

     You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
     distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
     a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow
     this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of
     that document.

  7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

     A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
     separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of
     a storage or distribution medium, does not as a whole count as a
     Modified Version of the Document, provided no compilation
     copyright is claimed for the compilation.  Such a compilation is
     called an "aggregate", and this License does not apply to the
     other self-contained works thus compiled with the Document, on
     account of their being thus compiled, if they are not themselves
     derivative works of the Document.

     If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
     copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one
     quarter of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be
     placed on covers that surround only the Document within the
     aggregate.  Otherwise they must appear on covers around the whole
     aggregate.

  8. TRANSLATION

     Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
     distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
     4.  Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
     permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
     translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
     original versions of these Invariant Sections.  You may include a
     translation of this License provided that you also include the
     original English version of this License.  In case of a
     disagreement between the translation and the original English
     version of this License, the original English version will prevail.

  9. TERMINATION

     You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
     except as expressly provided for under this License.  Any other
     attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is
     void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
     License.  However, parties who have received copies, or rights,
     from you under this License will not have their licenses
     terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

     The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of
     the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time.  Such new
     versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
     differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.  See
     http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

     Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version
     number.  If the Document specifies that a particular numbered
     version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you
     have the option of following the terms and conditions either of
     that specified version or of any later version that has been
     published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.  If
     the Document does not specify a version number of this License,
     you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the
     Free Software Foundation.


ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
====================================================

   To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:

     Copyright (C)  YEAR  YOUR NAME.
     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
     under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
     or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
     with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the
     Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.
     A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
     Free Documentation License."

   If you have no Invariant Sections, write "with no Invariant Sections"
instead of saying which ones are invariant.  If you have no Front-Cover
Texts, write "no Front-Cover Texts" instead of "Front-Cover Texts being
LIST"; likewise for Back-Cover Texts.

   If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.

\x1f
File: ld.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: GNU Free Documentation License,  Up: Top

Index
*****

* Menu:

* ":                                     Symbols.
* -(:                                    Options.
* --accept-unknown-input-arch:           Options.
* --add-needed:                          Options.
* --add-stdcall-alias:                   Options.
* --allow-multiple-definition:           Options.
* --allow-shlib-undefined:               Options.
* --architecture=ARCH:                   Options.
* --as-needed:                           Options.
* --auxiliary:                           Options.
* --base-file:                           Options.
* --be8:                                 ARM.
* --check-sections:                      Options.
* --cref:                                Options.
* --default-imported-symver:             Options.
* --default-symver:                      Options.
* --defsym SYMBOL=EXP:                   Options.
* --demangle[=STYLE]:                    Options.
* --disable-auto-image-base:             Options.
* --disable-auto-import:                 Options.
* --disable-new-dtags:                   Options.
* --disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc:        Options.
* --disable-stdcall-fixup:               Options.
* --discard-all:                         Options.
* --discard-locals:                      Options.
* --dll:                                 Options.
* --dll-search-prefix:                   Options.
* --dynamic-linker FILE:                 Options.
* --eh-frame-hdr:                        Options.
* --emit-relocs:                         Options.
* --enable-auto-image-base:              Options.
* --enable-auto-import:                  Options.
* --enable-extra-pe-debug:               Options.
* --enable-new-dtags:                    Options.
* --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc:         Options.
* --enable-stdcall-fixup:                Options.
* --entry=ENTRY:                         Options.
* --error-unresolved-symbols:            Options.
* --exclude-libs:                        Options.
* --exclude-symbols:                     Options.
* --export-all-symbols:                  Options.
* --export-dynamic:                      Options.
* --fatal-warnings:                      Options.
* --file-alignment:                      Options.
* --filter:                              Options.
* --fix-v4bx:                            ARM.
* --force-exe-suffix:                    Options.
* --format=FORMAT:                       Options.
* --format=VERSION:                      TI COFF.
* --gc-sections:                         Options.
* --gpsize:                              Options.
* --hash-size=NUMBER:                    Options.
* --heap:                                Options.
* --help:                                Options.
* --image-base:                          Options.
* --just-symbols=FILE:                   Options.
* --kill-at:                             Options.
* --large-address-aware:                 Options.
* --library-path=DIR:                    Options.
* --library=ARCHIVE:                     Options.
* --major-image-version:                 Options.
* --major-os-version:                    Options.
* --major-subsystem-version:             Options.
* --minor-image-version:                 Options.
* --minor-os-version:                    Options.
* --minor-subsystem-version:             Options.
* --mri-script=MRI-CMDFILE:              Options.
* --multi-subspace:                      HPPA ELF32.
* --nmagic:                              Options.
* --no-accept-unknown-input-arch:        Options.
* --no-add-needed:                       Options.
* --no-allow-shlib-undefined:            Options.
* --no-as-needed:                        Options.
* --no-check-sections:                   Options.
* --no-define-common:                    Options.
* --no-demangle:                         Options.
* --no-gc-sections:                      Options.
* --no-keep-memory:                      Options.
* --no-omagic:                           Options.
* --no-relax:                            Xtensa.
* --no-undefined:                        Options.
* --no-undefined-version:                Options.
* --no-warn-mismatch:                    Options.
* --no-whole-archive:                    Options.
* --noinhibit-exec:                      Options.
* --oformat:                             Options.
* --omagic:                              Options.
* --out-implib:                          Options.
* --output-def:                          Options.
* --output=OUTPUT:                       Options.
* --pic-executable:                      Options.
* --print-map:                           Options.
* --reduce-memory-overheads:             Options.
* --relax:                               Options.
* --relax on i960:                       i960.
* --relax on Xtensa:                     Xtensa.
* --relocatable:                         Options.
* --script=SCRIPT:                       Options.
* --section-alignment:                   Options.
* --section-start SECTIONNAME=ORG:       Options.
* --sort-common:                         Options.
* --sort-section alignment:              Options.
* --sort-section name:                   Options.
* --split-by-file:                       Options.
* --split-by-reloc:                      Options.
* --stack:                               Options.
* --stats:                               Options.
* --strip-all:                           Options.
* --strip-debug:                         Options.
* --stub-group-size=N:                   HPPA ELF32.
* --subsystem:                           Options.
* --support-old-code:                    ARM.
* --sysroot:                             Options.
* --target-help:                         Options.
* --target1-abs:                         ARM.
* --target1-rel:                         ARM.
* --target2=TYPE:                        ARM.
* --thumb-entry=ENTRY:                   ARM.
* --trace:                               Options.
* --trace-symbol=SYMBOL:                 Options.
* --traditional-format:                  Options.
* --undefined=SYMBOL:                    Options.
* --unique[=SECTION]:                    Options.
* --unresolved-symbols:                  Options.
* --use-blx:                             ARM.
* --verbose:                             Options.
* --version:                             Options.
* --version-script=VERSION-SCRIPTFILE:   Options.
* --warn-common:                         Options.
* --warn-constructors:                   Options.
* --warn-multiple-gp:                    Options.
* --warn-once:                           Options.
* --warn-section-align:                  Options.
* --warn-shared-textrel:                 Options.
* --warn-unresolved-symbols:             Options.
* --whole-archive:                       Options.
* --wrap:                                Options.
* -AARCH:                                Options.
* -aKEYWORD:                             Options.
* -assert KEYWORD:                       Options.
* -b FORMAT:                             Options.
* -Bdynamic:                             Options.
* -Bgroup:                               Options.
* -Bshareable:                           Options.
* -Bstatic:                              Options.
* -Bsymbolic:                            Options.
* -c MRI-CMDFILE:                        Options.
* -call_shared:                          Options.
* -d:                                    Options.
* -dc:                                   Options.
* -dn:                                   Options.
* -dp:                                   Options.
* -dy:                                   Options.
* -E:                                    Options.
* -e ENTRY:                              Options.
* -EB:                                   Options.
* -EL:                                   Options.
* -f:                                    Options.
* -F:                                    Options.
* -fini:                                 Options.
* -G:                                    Options.
* -g:                                    Options.
* -hNAME:                                Options.
* -i:                                    Options.
* -IFILE:                                Options.
* -init:                                 Options.
* -lARCHIVE:                             Options.
* -LDIR:                                 Options.
* -M:                                    Options.
* -m EMULATION:                          Options.
* -Map:                                  Options.
* -N:                                    Options.
* -n:                                    Options.
* -non_shared:                           Options.
* -nostdlib:                             Options.
* -O LEVEL:                              Options.
* -o OUTPUT:                             Options.
* -pie:                                  Options.
* -q:                                    Options.
* -qmagic:                               Options.
* -Qy:                                   Options.
* -r:                                    Options.
* -R FILE:                               Options.
* -rpath:                                Options.
* -rpath-link:                           Options.
* -S:                                    Options.
* -s:                                    Options.
* -shared:                               Options.
* -soname=NAME:                          Options.
* -static:                               Options.
* -t:                                    Options.
* -T SCRIPT:                             Options.
* -Tbss ORG:                             Options.
* -Tdata ORG:                            Options.
* -Ttext ORG:                            Options.
* -u SYMBOL:                             Options.
* -Ur:                                   Options.
* -v:                                    Options.
* -V:                                    Options.
* -X:                                    Options.
* -x:                                    Options.
* -Y PATH:                               Options.
* -y SYMBOL:                             Options.
* -z defs:                               Options.
* -z KEYWORD:                            Options.
* -z muldefs:                            Options.
* .:                                     Location Counter.
* /DISCARD/:                             Output Section Discarding.
* :PHDR:                                 Output Section Phdr.
* =FILLEXP:                              Output Section Fill.
* >REGION:                               Output Section Region.
* [COMMON]:                              Input Section Common.
* ABSOLUTE (MRI):                        MRI.
* absolute and relocatable symbols:      Expression Section.
* absolute expressions:                  Expression Section.
* ABSOLUTE(EXP):                         Builtin Functions.
* ADDR(SECTION):                         Builtin Functions.
* address, section:                      Output Section Address.
* ALIAS (MRI):                           MRI.
* ALIGN (MRI):                           MRI.
* align expression:                      Builtin Functions.
* align location counter:                Builtin Functions.
* ALIGN(ALIGN):                          Builtin Functions.
* ALIGN(EXP,ALIGN):                      Builtin Functions.
* ALIGN(SECTION_ALIGN):                  Forced Output Alignment.
* allocating memory:                     MEMORY.
* architecture:                          Miscellaneous Commands.
* architectures:                         Options.
* archive files, from cmd line:          Options.
* archive search path in linker script:  File Commands.
* arithmetic:                            Expressions.
* arithmetic operators:                  Operators.
* ARM interworking support:              ARM.
* AS_NEEDED(FILES):                      File Commands.
* ASSERT:                                Miscellaneous Commands.
* assertion in linker script:            Miscellaneous Commands.
* assignment in scripts:                 Assignments.
* AT(LMA):                               Output Section LMA.
* AT>LMA_REGION:                         Output Section LMA.
* automatic data imports:                WIN32.
* back end:                              BFD.
* BASE (MRI):                            MRI.
* BE8:                                   ARM.
* BFD canonical format:                  Canonical format.
* BFD requirements:                      BFD.
* big-endian objects:                    Options.
* binary input format:                   Options.
* BLOCK(EXP):                            Builtin Functions.
* bug criteria:                          Bug Criteria.
* bug reports:                           Bug Reporting.
* bugs in ld:                            Reporting Bugs.
* BYTE(EXPRESSION):                      Output Section Data.
* C++ constructors, arranging in link:   Output Section Keywords.
* CHIP (MRI):                            MRI.
* COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE:                   Environment.
* combining symbols, warnings on:        Options.
* command files:                         Scripts.
* command line:                          Options.
* common allocation:                     Options.
* common allocation in linker script:    Miscellaneous Commands.
* common symbol placement:               Input Section Common.
* compatibility, MRI:                    Options.
* constants in linker scripts:           Constants.
* CONSTRUCTORS:                          Output Section Keywords.
* constructors:                          Options.
* constructors, arranging in link:       Output Section Keywords.
* crash of linker:                       Bug Criteria.
* CREATE_OBJECT_SYMBOLS:                 Output Section Keywords.
* creating a DEF file:                   WIN32.
* cross reference table:                 Options.
* cross references:                      Miscellaneous Commands.
* current output location:               Location Counter.
* data:                                  Output Section Data.
* DATA_SEGMENT_ALIGN(MAXPAGESIZE, COMMONPAGESIZE): Builtin Functions.
* DATA_SEGMENT_END(EXP):                 Builtin Functions.
* DATA_SEGMENT_RELRO_END(OFFSET, EXP):   Builtin Functions.
* dbx:                                   Options.
* DEF files, creating:                   Options.
* default emulation:                     Environment.
* default input format:                  Environment.
* DEFINED(SYMBOL):                       Builtin Functions.
* deleting local symbols:                Options.
* demangling, default:                   Environment.
* demangling, from command line:         Options.
* direct linking to a dll:               WIN32.
* discarding sections:                   Output Section Discarding.
* discontinuous memory:                  MEMORY.
* DLLs, creating:                        Options.
* DLLs, linking to:                      Options.
* dot:                                   Location Counter.
* dot inside sections:                   Location Counter.
* dot outside sections:                  Location Counter.
* dynamic linker, from command line:     Options.
* dynamic symbol table:                  Options.
* ELF program headers:                   PHDRS.
* emulation:                             Options.
* emulation, default:                    Environment.
* END (MRI):                             MRI.
* endianness:                            Options.
* entry point:                           Entry Point.
* entry point, from command line:        Options.
* entry point, thumb:                    ARM.
* ENTRY(SYMBOL):                         Entry Point.
* error on valid input:                  Bug Criteria.
* example of linker script:              Simple Example.
* exporting DLL symbols:                 WIN32.
* expression evaluation order:           Evaluation.
* expression sections:                   Expression Section.
* expression, absolute:                  Builtin Functions.
* expressions:                           Expressions.
* EXTERN:                                Miscellaneous Commands.
* fatal signal:                          Bug Criteria.
* file name wildcard patterns:           Input Section Wildcards.
* FILEHDR:                               PHDRS.
* filename symbols:                      Output Section Keywords.
* fill pattern, entire section:          Output Section Fill.
* FILL(EXPRESSION):                      Output Section Data.
* finalization function:                 Options.
* first input file:                      File Commands.
* first instruction:                     Entry Point.
* FIX_V4BX:                              ARM.
* FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION:               Miscellaneous Commands.
* forcing input section alignment:       Forced Input Alignment.
* forcing output section alignment:      Forced Output Alignment.
* FORMAT (MRI):                          MRI.
* functions in expressions:              Builtin Functions.
* garbage collection <1>:                Options.
* garbage collection:                    Input Section Keep.
* generating optimized output:           Options.
* GNU linker:                            Overview.
* GNUTARGET:                             Environment.
* GROUP(FILES):                          File Commands.
* grouping input files:                  File Commands.
* groups of archives:                    Options.
* H8/300 support:                        H8/300.
* header size:                           Builtin Functions.
* heap size:                             Options.
* help:                                  Options.
* holes:                                 Location Counter.
* holes, filling:                        Output Section Data.
* HPPA multiple sub-space stubs:         HPPA ELF32.
* HPPA stub grouping:                    HPPA ELF32.
* i960 support:                          i960.
* image base:                            Options.
* implicit linker scripts:               Implicit Linker Scripts.
* import libraries:                      WIN32.
* INCLUDE FILENAME:                      File Commands.
* including a linker script:             File Commands.
* including an entire archive:           Options.
* incremental link:                      Options.
* INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION:             Miscellaneous Commands.
* initialization function:               Options.
* initialized data in ROM:               Output Section LMA.
* input file format in linker script:    Format Commands.
* input filename symbols:                Output Section Keywords.
* input files in linker scripts:         File Commands.
* input files, displaying:               Options.
* input format:                          Options.
* input object files in linker scripts:  File Commands.
* input section alignment:               Forced Input Alignment.
* input section basics:                  Input Section Basics.
* input section wildcards:               Input Section Wildcards.
* input sections:                        Input Section.
* INPUT(FILES):                          File Commands.
* integer notation:                      Constants.
* integer suffixes:                      Constants.
* internal object-file format:           Canonical format.
* invalid input:                         Bug Criteria.
* K and M integer suffixes:              Constants.
* KEEP:                                  Input Section Keep.
* l =:                                   MEMORY.
* L, deleting symbols beginning:         Options.
* lazy evaluation:                       Evaluation.
* ld bugs, reporting:                    Bug Reporting.
* LDEMULATION:                           Environment.
* len =:                                 MEMORY.
* LENGTH =:                              MEMORY.
* LENGTH(MEMORY):                        Builtin Functions.
* library search path in linker script:  File Commands.
* link map:                              Options.
* link-time runtime library search path: Options.
* linker crash:                          Bug Criteria.
* linker script concepts:                Basic Script Concepts.
* linker script example:                 Simple Example.
* linker script file commands:           File Commands.
* linker script format:                  Script Format.
* linker script input object files:      File Commands.
* linker script simple commands:         Simple Commands.
* linker scripts:                        Scripts.
* LIST (MRI):                            MRI.
* little-endian objects:                 Options.
* LOAD (MRI):                            MRI.
* load address:                          Output Section LMA.
* LOADADDR(SECTION):                     Builtin Functions.
* loading, preventing:                   Output Section Type.
* local symbols, deleting:               Options.
* location counter:                      Location Counter.
* LONG(EXPRESSION):                      Output Section Data.
* M and K integer suffixes:              Constants.
* machine architecture:                  Miscellaneous Commands.
* machine dependencies:                  Machine Dependent.
* mapping input sections to output sections: Input Section.
* MAX:                                   Builtin Functions.
* MEMORY:                                MEMORY.
* memory region attributes:              MEMORY.
* memory regions:                        MEMORY.
* memory regions and sections:           Output Section Region.
* memory usage:                          Options.
* MIN:                                   Builtin Functions.
* MRI compatibility:                     MRI.
* MSP430 extra sections:                 MSP430.
* NAME (MRI):                            MRI.
* name, section:                         Output Section Name.
* names:                                 Symbols.
* naming the output file:                Options.
* NEXT(EXP):                             Builtin Functions.
* NMAGIC:                                Options.
* NOCROSSREFS(SECTIONS):                 Miscellaneous Commands.
* NOLOAD:                                Output Section Type.
* not enough room for program headers:   Builtin Functions.
* o =:                                   MEMORY.
* objdump -i:                            BFD.
* object file management:                BFD.
* object files:                          Options.
* object formats available:              BFD.
* object size:                           Options.
* OMAGIC:                                Options.
* opening object files:                  BFD outline.
* operators for arithmetic:              Operators.
* options:                               Options.
* ORDER (MRI):                           MRI.
* org =:                                 MEMORY.
* ORIGIN =:                              MEMORY.
* ORIGIN(MEMORY):                        Builtin Functions.
* orphan:                                Orphan Sections.
* output file after errors:              Options.
* output file format in linker script:   Format Commands.
* output file name in linker scripot:    File Commands.
* output section alignment:              Forced Output Alignment.
* output section attributes:             Output Section Attributes.
* output section data:                   Output Section Data.
* OUTPUT(FILENAME):                      File Commands.
* OUTPUT_ARCH(BFDARCH):                  Miscellaneous Commands.
* OUTPUT_FORMAT(BFDNAME):                Format Commands.
* OVERLAY:                               Overlay Description.
* overlays:                              Overlay Description.
* partial link:                          Options.
* PHDRS:                                 PHDRS.
* position independent executables:      Options.
* precedence in expressions:             Operators.
* prevent unnecessary loading:           Output Section Type.
* program headers:                       PHDRS.
* program headers and sections:          Output Section Phdr.
* program headers, not enough room:      Builtin Functions.
* program segments:                      PHDRS.
* PROVIDE:                               PROVIDE.
* PROVIDE_HIDDEN:                        PROVIDE_HIDDEN.
* PUBLIC (MRI):                          MRI.
* QUAD(EXPRESSION):                      Output Section Data.
* quoted symbol names:                   Symbols.
* read-only text:                        Options.
* read/write from cmd line:              Options.
* regions of memory:                     MEMORY.
* relative expressions:                  Expression Section.
* relaxing addressing modes:             Options.
* relaxing on H8/300:                    H8/300.
* relaxing on i960:                      i960.
* relaxing on Xtensa:                    Xtensa.
* relocatable and absolute symbols:      Expression Section.
* relocatable output:                    Options.
* removing sections:                     Output Section Discarding.
* reporting bugs in ld:                  Reporting Bugs.
* requirements for BFD:                  BFD.
* retain relocations in final executable: Options.
* retaining specified symbols:           Options.
* ROM initialized data:                  Output Section LMA.
* round up expression:                   Builtin Functions.
* round up location counter:             Builtin Functions.
* runtime library name:                  Options.
* runtime library search path:           Options.
* runtime pseudo-relocation:             WIN32.
* scaled integers:                       Constants.
* scommon section:                       Input Section Common.
* script files:                          Options.
* scripts:                               Scripts.
* search directory, from cmd line:       Options.
* search path in linker script:          File Commands.
* SEARCH_DIR(PATH):                      File Commands.
* SECT (MRI):                            MRI.
* section address:                       Output Section Address.
* section address in expression:         Builtin Functions.
* section alignment, warnings on:        Options.
* section data:                          Output Section Data.
* section fill pattern:                  Output Section Fill.
* section load address:                  Output Section LMA.
* section load address in expression:    Builtin Functions.
* section name:                          Output Section Name.
* section name wildcard patterns:        Input Section Wildcards.
* section size:                          Builtin Functions.
* section, assigning to memory region:   Output Section Region.
* section, assigning to program header:  Output Section Phdr.
* SECTIONS:                              SECTIONS.
* sections, discarding:                  Output Section Discarding.
* segment origins, cmd line:             Options.
* SEGMENT_START(SEGMENT, DEFAULT):       Builtin Functions.
* segments, ELF:                         PHDRS.
* shared libraries:                      Options.
* SHORT(EXPRESSION):                     Output Section Data.
* SIZEOF(SECTION):                       Builtin Functions.
* SIZEOF_HEADERS:                        Builtin Functions.
* small common symbols:                  Input Section Common.
* SORT:                                  Input Section Wildcards.
* SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT:                     Input Section Wildcards.
* SORT_BY_NAME:                          Input Section Wildcards.
* SQUAD(EXPRESSION):                     Output Section Data.
* stack size:                            Options.
* standard Unix system:                  Options.
* start of execution:                    Entry Point.
* STARTUP(FILENAME):                     File Commands.
* strip all symbols:                     Options.
* strip debugger symbols:                Options.
* stripping all but some symbols:        Options.
* SUBALIGN(SUBSECTION_ALIGN):            Forced Input Alignment.
* suffixes for integers:                 Constants.
* symbol defaults:                       Builtin Functions.
* symbol definition, scripts:            Assignments.
* symbol names:                          Symbols.
* symbol tracing:                        Options.
* symbol versions:                       VERSION.
* symbol-only input:                     Options.
* symbols, from command line:            Options.
* symbols, relocatable and absolute:     Expression Section.
* symbols, retaining selectively:        Options.
* synthesizing linker:                   Options.
* synthesizing on H8/300:                H8/300.
* TARGET(BFDNAME):                       Format Commands.
* TARGET1:                               ARM.
* TARGET2:                               ARM.
* thumb entry point:                     ARM.
* TI COFF versions:                      TI COFF.
* traditional format:                    Options.
* unallocated address, next:             Builtin Functions.
* undefined symbol:                      Options.
* undefined symbol in linker script:     Miscellaneous Commands.
* undefined symbols, warnings on:        Options.
* uninitialized data placement:          Input Section Common.
* unspecified memory:                    Output Section Data.
* usage:                                 Options.
* USE_BLX:                               ARM.
* using a DEF file:                      WIN32.
* using auto-export functionality:       WIN32.
* Using decorations:                     WIN32.
* variables, defining:                   Assignments.
* verbose:                               Options.
* version:                               Options.
* version script:                        VERSION.
* version script, symbol versions:       Options.
* VERSION {script text}:                 VERSION.
* versions of symbols:                   VERSION.
* warnings, on combining symbols:        Options.
* warnings, on section alignment:        Options.
* warnings, on undefined symbols:        Options.
* weak externals:                        WIN32.
* what is this?:                         Overview.
* wildcard file name patterns:           Input Section Wildcards.
* Xtensa options:                        Xtensa.
* Xtensa processors:                     Xtensa.