1 .\" Copyright (c) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 1999 Free Software Foundation
2 .\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
3 .TH ld 1 "17 August 1992" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
30 .RB "[\|" \-Bstatic "\|]"
31 .RB "[\|" \-Bdynamic "\|]"
32 .RB "[\|" \-Bsymbolic "\|]"
36 .RB "[\|" \-\-cref "\|]"
37 .RB "[\|" \-d | \-dc | \-dp\c
40 .RB "[\|" "\-defsym\ "\c
45 .RB "[\|" \-\-demangle "\|]"
46 .RB "[\|" \-\-no\-demangle "\|]"
50 .RB "[\|" \-embedded\-relocs "\|]"
52 .RB "[\|" \-export\-dynamic "\|]"
56 .RB "[\|" "\-\-auxiliary\ "\c
62 .RB "[\|" "\-\-filter\ "\c
65 .RB "[\|" "\-format\ "\c
75 .RB "[\|" "\-soname\ "\c
78 .RB "[\|" \-\-help "\|]"
93 .RB "[\|" \-n | \-N "\|]"
94 .RB "[\|" \-noinhibit-exec "\|]"
95 .RB "[\|" \-no\-keep\-memory "\|]"
96 .RB "[\|" \-no\-warn\-mismatch "\|]"
100 .RB "[\|" "\-oformat\ "\c
106 .RB "[\|" \-relax "\|]"
107 .RB "[\|" \-r | \-Ur "\|]"
108 .RB "[\|" "\-rpath\ "\c
111 .RB "[\|" "\-rpath\-link\ "\c
116 .RB "[\|" \-shared "\|]"
117 .RB "[\|" \-sort\-common "\|]"
118 .RB "[\|" "\-split\-by\-reloc\ "\c
121 .RB "[\|" \-split\-by\-file "\|]"
125 .RB "[\|" "\-\-section\-start\ "\c
130 .RB "[\|" "\-Ttext\ "\c
133 .RB "[\|" "\-Tdata\ "\c
136 .RB "[\|" "\-Tbss\ "\c
145 .RB "[\|" \-\-verbose "\|]"
146 .RB "[\|" \-\-version "\|]"
147 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-common "\|]"
148 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-constructors "\|]"
149 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-multiple\-gp "\|]"
150 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-once "\|]"
151 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-section\-align "\|]"
152 .RB "[\|" \-\-whole\-archive "\|]"
153 .RB "[\|" \-\-no\-whole\-archive "\|]"
154 .RB "[\|" "\-\-wrap\ "\c
164 \& combines a number of object and archive files, relocates
165 their data and ties up symbol references. Often the last step in
166 building a new compiled program to run is a call to \c
172 \& accepts Linker Command Language files
173 to provide explicit and total control over the linking process.
174 This man page does not describe the command language; see the `\|\c
181 \&, for full details on the command language and on other aspects of
186 \& uses the general purpose BFD libraries
187 to operate on object files. This allows \c
189 \& to read, combine, and
190 write object files in many different formats\(em\&for example, COFF or
193 \&. Different formats may be linked together to produce any
194 available kind of object file. You can use `\|\c
196 \|' to get a list of formats supported on various architectures; see
199 Aside from its flexibility, the GNU linker is more helpful than other
200 linkers in providing diagnostic information. Many linkers abandon
201 execution immediately upon encountering an error; whenever possible,
204 \& continues executing, allowing you to identify other errors
205 (or, in some cases, to get an output file in spite of the error).
209 \& is meant to cover a broad range of situations,
210 and to be as compatible as possible with other linkers. As a result,
211 you have many choices to control its behavior through the command line,
212 and through environment variables.
215 The plethora of command-line options may seem intimidating, but in
216 actual practice few of them are used in any particular context.
217 For instance, a frequent use of \c
219 \& is to link standard Unix
220 object files on a standard, supported Unix system. On such a system, to
226 $\ ld\ \-o\ output\ /lib/crt0.o\ hello.o\ \-lc
231 \& to produce a file called \c
234 result of linking the file \c
241 \& which will come from the standard search
244 The command-line options to \c
246 \& may be specified in any order, and
247 may be repeated at will. For the most part, repeating an option with a
248 different argument will either have no further effect, or override prior
249 occurrences (those further to the left on the command line) of an
252 The exceptions\(em\&which may meaningfully be used more than once\(em\&are
257 \& (or its synonym \c
262 .B \-\-section\-start\c
273 The list of object files to be linked together, shown as \c
276 may follow, precede, or be mixed in with command-line options; save that
279 \& argument may not be placed between an option flag and
282 Usually the linker is invoked with at least one object file, but other
283 forms of binary input files can also be specified with \c
288 \&, and the script command language. If \c
291 files at all are specified, the linker does not produce any output, and
292 issues the message `\|\c
296 Option arguments must either follow the option letter without intervening
297 whitespace, or be given as separate arguments immediately following the
298 option that requires them.
301 .BI "-A" "architecture"
302 In the current release of \c
304 \&, this option is useful only for the
305 Intel 960 family of architectures. In that \c
307 \& configuration, the
310 \& argument is one of the two-letter names identifying
311 members of the 960 family; the option specifies the desired output
312 target, and warns of any incompatible instructions in the input files.
313 It also modifies the linker's search strategy for archive libraries, to
314 support the use of libraries specific to each particular
315 architecture, by including in the search loop names suffixed with the
316 string identifying the architecture.
318 For example, if your \c
320 \& command line included `\|\c
325 \|', the linker would look (in its built-in search
326 paths, and in any paths you specify with \c
328 \&) for a library with
342 The first two possibilities would be considered in any event; the last
343 two are due to the use of `\|\c
347 Future releases of \c
349 \& may support similar functionality for
350 other architecture families.
352 You can meaningfully use \c
354 \& more than once on a command line, if
355 an architecture family allows combination of target architectures; each
356 use will add another pair of name variants to search for when \c
361 .BI "\-b " "input-format"
362 Specify the binary format for input object files that follow this option
363 on the command line. You don't usually need to specify this, as
366 \& is configured to expect as a default input format the most
367 usual format on each machine. \c
369 \& is a text string, the
370 name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.
375 \& has the same effect, as does the script command
378 You may want to use this option if you are linking files with an unusual
379 binary format. You can also use \c
381 \& to switch formats explicitly (when
382 linking object files of different formats), by including
387 \& before each group of object files in a
390 The default format is taken from the environment variable
392 \&. You can also define the input
393 format from a script, using the command \c
399 Do not link against shared libraries. This is only meaningful on
400 platforms for which shared libraries are supported.
404 Link against dynamic libraries. This is only meaningful on platforms
405 for which shared libraries are supported. This option is normally the
406 default on such platforms.
410 When creating a shared library, bind references to global symbols to
411 the definition within the shared library, if any. Normally, it is
412 possible for a program linked against a shared library to override the
413 definition within the shared library. This option is only meaningful
414 on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.
417 .BI "\-c " "commandfile"
420 \& to read link commands from the file
423 \&. These commands will completely override \c
426 default link format (rather than adding to it); \c
429 specify everything necessary to describe the target format.
432 You may also include a script of link commands directly in the command
433 line by bracketing it between `\|\c
441 Output a cross reference table. If a linker map file is being
442 generated, the cross reference table is printed to the map file.
443 Otherwise, it is printed on the standard output.
451 These three options are equivalent; multiple forms are supported for
452 compatibility with other linkers. Use any of them to make \c
454 assign space to common symbols even if a relocatable output file is
457 \&). The script command
459 .B FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION\c
460 \& has the same effect.
463 .BI "-defsym " "symbol" "\fR=\fP" expression
464 Create a global symbol in the output file, containing the absolute
467 \&. You may use this option as many
468 times as necessary to define multiple symbols in the command line. A
469 limited form of arithmetic is supported for the \c
472 context: you may give a hexadecimal constant or the name of an existing
477 \& to add or subtract hexadecimal
478 constants or symbols. If you need more elaborate expressions, consider
479 using the linker command language from a script.
485 These options control whether to demangle symbol names in error
486 messages and other output. When the linker is told to demangle, it
487 tries to present symbol names in a readable fashion: it strips leading
488 underscores if they are used by the object file format, and converts
489 C++ mangled symbol names into user readable names. The linker will
490 demangle by default unless the environment variable
491 .B COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE
492 is set. These options may be used to override the default.
499 \& as the explicit symbol for beginning execution of your
500 program, rather than the default entry point. See the `\|\c
505 discussion of defaults and other ways of specifying the
509 .B \-embedded\-relocs
510 This option is only meaningful when linking MIPS embedded PIC code,
513 option to the GNU compiler and assembler. It causes the linker to
514 create a table which may be used at runtime to relocate any data which
515 was statically initialized to pointer values. See the code in
516 testsuite/ld-empic for details.
522 When creating an ELF file, add all symbols to the dynamic symbol table.
523 Normally, the dynamic symbol table contains only symbols which are used
524 by a dynamic object. This option is needed for some uses of
530 .BI "--auxiliary " "name"
531 When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_AUXILIARY field
532 to the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol
533 table of the shared object should be used as an auxiliary filter on the
534 symbol table of the shared object
540 .BI "--filter " "name"
541 When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_FILTER field to
542 the specified name. This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol table
543 of the shared object should be used as a filter on the symbol table of
548 .BI "\-format " "input\-format"
557 Accepted, but ignored; provided for compatibility with other tools.
561 Set the maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GP register
564 under MIPS ECOFF. Ignored for other object file formats.
569 .BI "-soname " "name"
570 When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_SONAME field to
571 the specified name. When an executable is linked with a shared object
572 which has a DT_SONAME field, then when the executable is run the dynamic
573 linker will attempt to load the shared object specified by the DT_SONAME
574 field rather than the using the file name given to the linker.
578 Print a summary of the command-line options on the standard output and exit.
581 begin with two dashes instead of one
582 for compatibility with other GNU programs. The other options start with
583 only one dash for compatibility with other linkers.
587 Perform an incremental link (same as option \c
594 Add an archive file \c
596 \& to the list of files to link. This
597 option may be used any number of times. \c
600 path-list for occurrences of \c
609 .BI "\-L" "searchdir"
610 This command adds path \c
612 \& to the list of paths that
615 \& will search for archive libraries. You may use this option
618 The default set of paths searched (without being specified with
621 \&) depends on what emulation mode \c
624 some cases also on how it was configured. The
625 paths can also be specified in a link script with the \c
631 Print (to the standard output file) a link map\(em\&diagnostic information
632 about where symbols are mapped by \c
634 \&, and information on global
635 common storage allocation.
638 .BI "\-Map " "mapfile"\c
641 a link map\(em\&diagnostic information
642 about where symbols are mapped by \c
644 \&, and information on global
645 common storage allocation.
648 .BI "\-m " "emulation"\c
651 linker. You can list the available emulations with the
655 options. This option overrides the compiled-in default, which is the
656 system for which you configured
661 specifies readable and writable \c
666 the output format supports Unix style magic numbers, the output is
671 When you use the `\|\c
673 \&\|' option, the linker does not page-align the
678 sets the text segment to be read only, and \c
685 Normally, the linker will not produce an output file if it encounters
686 errors during the link process. With this flag, you can specify that
687 you wish the output file retained even after non-fatal errors.
690 .B \-no\-keep\-memory
691 The linker normally optimizes for speed over memory usage by caching
692 the symbol tables of input files in memory. This option tells the
693 linker to instead optimize for memory usage, by rereading the symbol
694 tables as necessary. This may be required if the linker runs out of
695 memory space while linking a large executable.
698 .B \-no\-warn\-mismatch
699 Normally the linker will give an error if you try to link together
700 input files that are mismatched for some reason, perhaps because they
701 have been compiled for different processors or for different
702 endiannesses. This option tells the linker that it should silently
703 permit such possible errors. This option should only be used with
704 care, in cases when you have taken some special action that ensures
705 that the linker errors are inappropriate.
710 \& is a name for the program produced by \c
713 option is not specified, the name `\|\c
715 \|' is used by default. The
718 \& can also specify the output file name.
722 Generate optimized output files. This might use significantly more
723 time and therefore probably should be enabled only for generating the
727 \& is supposed to be a numeric value. Any value greater than zero enables
731 .BI "\-oformat " "output\-format"
732 Specify the binary format for the output object file.
733 You don't usually need to specify this, as
736 \& is configured to produce as a default output format the most
737 usual format on each machine. \c
739 \& is a text string, the
740 name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.
743 can also specify the output format, but this option overrides it.
746 .BI "\-R " "filename"
747 Read symbol names and their addresses from \c
750 relocate it or include it in the output. This allows your output file
751 to refer symbolically to absolute locations of memory defined in other
756 An option with machine dependent effects. Currently this option is only
757 supported on the H8/300.
759 On some platforms, use this option to perform global optimizations that
760 become possible when the linker resolves addressing in your program, such
761 as relaxing address modes and synthesizing new instructions in the
764 On platforms where this is not supported, `\|\c
766 \&\|' is accepted, but has no effect.
770 Generates relocatable output\(em\&i.e., generate an output file that can in
771 turn serve as input to \c
773 \&. This is often called \c
776 \&. As a side effect, in environments that support standard Unix
777 magic numbers, this option also sets the output file's magic number to
781 If this option is not specified, an absolute file is produced. When
782 linking C++ programs, this option \c
784 \& resolve references to
787 \& is an alternative.
789 This option does the same as \c
794 .B \-rpath\ \fIdirectory
795 Add a directory to the runtime library search path. This is used when
796 linking an ELF executable with shared objects. All
798 arguments are concatenated and passed to the runtime linker, which uses
799 them to locate shared objects at runtime. The
801 option is also used when locating shared objects which are needed by
802 shared objects explicitly included in the link; see the description of
807 is not used when linking an ELF executable, the contents of the
810 will be used if it is defined.
814 option may also be used on SunOS. By default, on SunOS, the linker
815 will form a runtime search path out of all the
817 options it is given. If a
819 option is used, the runtime search path will be formed exclusively
825 options. This can be useful when using gcc, which adds many
827 options which may be on NFS mounted filesystems.
830 .B \-rpath\-link\ \fIdirectory
831 When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another. This
834 link includes a shared library as one of the input files.
836 When the linker encounters such a dependency when doing a non-shared,
837 non-relocateable link, it will automatically try to locate the required
838 shared library and include it in the link, if it is not included
839 explicitly. In such a case, the
841 option specifies the first set of directories to search. The
843 option may specify a sequence of directory names either by specifying
844 a list of names separated by colons, or by appearing multiple times.
846 If the required shared library is not found, the linker will issue a
847 warning and continue with the link.
851 Omits debugger symbol information (but not all symbols) from the output file.
855 Omits all symbol information from the output file.
859 Create a shared library. This is currently only supported on ELF and
860 SunOS platforms (on SunOS it is not required, as the linker will
861 automatically create a shared library when there are undefined symbols
870 places the global common symbols in the appropriate output sections,
871 it sorts them by size. First come all the one byte symbols, then all
872 the two bytes, then all the four bytes, and then everything else.
873 This is to prevent gaps between symbols due to
874 alignment constraints. This option disables that sorting.
877 .B \-split\-by\-reloc\ \fIcount
878 Trys to creates extra sections in the output file so that no single
879 output section in the file contains more than
882 This is useful when generating huge relocatable for downloading into
883 certain real time kernels with the COFF object file format; since COFF
884 cannot represent more than 65535 relocations in a single section.
885 Note that this will fail to work with object file formats which do not
886 support arbitrary sections. The linker will not split up individual
887 input sections for redistribution, so if a single input section
890 relocations one output section will contain that many relocations.
895 .B \-split\-by\-reloc
896 but creates a new output section for each input file.
899 .BI "--section-start " "sectionname" "\fR=\fP"org
900 Locate a section in the output file at the absolute
906 \& must be a hexadecimal integer.
907 You may use this option as many
908 times as necessary to locate multiple sections in the command
909 line. If you need more elaborate expressions, consider
910 using the linker command language from a script.
913 .BI "\-Tbss " "org"\c
915 .BI "\-Tdata " "org"\c
917 .BI "\-Ttext " "org"\c
920 \& as the starting address for\(em\&respectively\(em\&the
927 \& segment of the output file.
930 \& must be a hexadecimal integer.
933 .BI "\-T " "commandfile"
938 \&; supported for compatibility with
943 Prints names of input files as \c
951 \& to be entered in the output file as an undefined symbol.
952 This may, for example, trigger linking of additional modules from
953 standard libraries. \c
955 \& may be repeated with different option
956 arguments to enter additional undefined symbols.
960 For anything other than C++ programs, this option is equivalent to
963 \&: it generates relocatable output\(em\&i.e., an output file that can in
964 turn serve as input to \c
966 \&. When linking C++ programs, \c
969 \& resolve references to constructors, unlike \c
975 Display the version number for \c
977 and list the supported emulations.
978 Display which input files can and can not be opened.
982 Display the version number for \c
987 option also lists the supported emulations.
991 Display the version number for \c
997 Warn when a common symbol is combined with another common symbol or with
998 a symbol definition. Unix linkers allow this somewhat sloppy practice,
999 but linkers on some other operating systems do not. This option allows
1000 you to find potential problems from combining global symbols.
1003 .B \-warn\-constructors
1004 Warn if any global constructors are used. This is only useful for a
1005 few object file formats. For formats like COFF or ELF, the linker can
1006 not detect the use of global constructors.
1009 .B \-warn\-multiple\-gp
1010 Warn if the output file requires multiple global-pointer values. This
1011 option is only meaningful for certain processors, such as the Alpha.
1015 Only warn once for each undefined symbol, rather than once per module
1019 .B \-warn\-section\-align
1020 Warn if the address of an output section is changed because of
1021 alignment. Typically, the alignment will be set by an input section.
1022 The address will only be changed if it not explicitly specified; that
1023 is, if the SECTIONS command does not specify a start address for the
1027 .B \-\-whole\-archive
1028 For each archive mentioned on the command line after the
1029 .B \-\-whole\-archive
1030 option, include every object file in the archive in the link, rather
1031 than searching the archive for the required object files. This is
1032 normally used to turn an archive file into a shared library, forcing
1033 every object to be included in the resulting shared library.
1036 .B \-\-no\-whole\-archive
1037 Turn off the effect of the
1038 .B \-\-whole\-archive
1039 option for archives which appear later on the command line.
1042 .BI "--wrap " "symbol"
1043 Use a wrapper function for
1045 Any undefined reference to
1048 .BI "__wrap_" "symbol".
1049 Any undefined reference to
1050 .BI "__real_" "symbol"
1056 Delete all temporary local symbols. For most targets, this is all local
1057 symbols whose names begin with `\|\c
1063 Delete all local symbols.
1069 You can change the behavior of
1071 \& with the environment variable \c
1077 \& determines the input-file object format if you don't
1080 \& (or its synonym \c
1082 \&). Its value should be one
1083 of the BFD names for an input format. If there is no
1086 \& in the environment, \c
1088 \& uses the natural format
1093 \& then BFD attempts to discover the
1094 input format by examining binary input files; this method often
1095 succeeds, but there are potential ambiguities, since there is no method
1096 of ensuring that the magic number used to flag object-file formats is
1097 unique. However, the configuration procedure for BFD on each system
1098 places the conventional format for that system first in the search-list,
1099 so ambiguities are resolved in favor of convention.
1108 .RB "`\|" ld "\|' and `\|" binutils "\|'"
1113 ld: the GNU linker\c
1114 , Steve Chamberlain and Roland Pesch;
1116 The GNU Binary Utilities\c
1120 Copyright (c) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1122 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
1123 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
1124 are preserved on all copies.
1126 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
1127 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
1128 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
1129 permission notice identical to this one.
1131 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
1132 manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
1133 versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
1134 translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
1135 the original English.