5 Each port of BFD to a different machine requires the creation
6 of a target back end. All the back end provides to the root
7 part of BFD is a structure containing pointers to functions
8 which perform certain low level operations on files. BFD
9 translates the applications's requests through a pointer into
10 calls to the back end routines.
12 When a file is opened with @code{bfd_openr}, its format and
13 target are unknown. BFD uses various mechanisms to determine
14 how to interpret the file. The operations performed are:
19 Create a BFD by calling the internal routine
20 @code{_bfd_new_bfd}, then call @code{bfd_find_target} with the
21 target string supplied to @code{bfd_openr} and the new BFD pointer.
24 If a null target string was provided to @code{bfd_find_target},
25 look up the environment variable @code{GNUTARGET} and use
26 that as the target string.
29 If the target string is still @code{NULL}, or the target string is
30 @code{default}, then use the first item in the target vector
31 as the target type, and set @code{target_defaulted} in the BFD to
32 cause @code{bfd_check_format} to loop through all the targets.
33 @xref{bfd_target}. @xref{Formats}.
36 Otherwise, inspect the elements in the target vector
37 one by one, until a match on target name is found. When found,
41 Otherwise return the error @code{bfd_error_invalid_target} to
45 @code{bfd_openr} attempts to open the file using
46 @code{bfd_open_file}, and returns the BFD.
48 Once the BFD has been opened and the target selected, the file
49 format may be determined. This is done by calling
50 @code{bfd_check_format} on the BFD with a suggested format.
51 If @code{target_defaulted} has been set, each possible target
52 type is tried to see if it recognizes the specified format.
53 @code{bfd_check_format} returns @code{TRUE} when the caller guesses right.
58 @node bfd_target, , Targets, Targets
60 @subsection bfd_target
63 @strong{Description}@*
64 This structure contains everything that BFD knows about a
65 target. It includes things like its byte order, name, and which
66 routines to call to do various operations.
68 Every BFD points to a target structure with its @code{xvec}
71 The macros below are used to dispatch to functions through the
72 @code{bfd_target} vector. They are used in a number of macros further
73 down in @file{bfd.h}, and are also used when calling various
74 routines by hand inside the BFD implementation. The @var{arglist}
75 argument must be parenthesized; it contains all the arguments
76 to the called function.
78 They make the documentation (more) unpleasant to read, so if
79 someone wants to fix this and not break the above, please do.
81 #define BFD_SEND(bfd, message, arglist) \
82 ((*((bfd)->xvec->message)) arglist)
86 #define BFD_SEND(bfd, message, arglist) \
87 (((bfd) && (bfd)->xvec && (bfd)->xvec->message) ? \
88 ((*((bfd)->xvec->message)) arglist) : \
89 (bfd_assert (__FILE__,__LINE__), NULL))
92 For operations which index on the BFD format:
94 #define BFD_SEND_FMT(bfd, message, arglist) \
95 (((bfd)->xvec->message[(int) ((bfd)->format)]) arglist)
99 #define BFD_SEND_FMT(bfd, message, arglist) \
100 (((bfd) && (bfd)->xvec && (bfd)->xvec->message) ? \
101 (((bfd)->xvec->message[(int) ((bfd)->format)]) arglist) : \
102 (bfd_assert (__FILE__,__LINE__), NULL))
106 This is the structure which defines the type of BFD this is. The
107 @code{xvec} member of the struct @code{bfd} itself points here. Each
108 module that implements access to a different target under BFD,
109 defines one of these.
111 FIXME, these names should be rationalised with the names of
112 the entry points which call them. Too bad we can't have one
113 macro to define them both!
117 bfd_target_unknown_flavour,
118 bfd_target_aout_flavour,
119 bfd_target_coff_flavour,
120 bfd_target_ecoff_flavour,
121 bfd_target_xcoff_flavour,
122 bfd_target_elf_flavour,
123 bfd_target_ieee_flavour,
124 bfd_target_nlm_flavour,
125 bfd_target_oasys_flavour,
126 bfd_target_tekhex_flavour,
127 bfd_target_srec_flavour,
128 bfd_target_verilog_flavour,
129 bfd_target_ihex_flavour,
130 bfd_target_som_flavour,
131 bfd_target_os9k_flavour,
132 bfd_target_versados_flavour,
133 bfd_target_msdos_flavour,
134 bfd_target_ovax_flavour,
135 bfd_target_evax_flavour,
136 bfd_target_mmo_flavour,
137 bfd_target_mach_o_flavour,
138 bfd_target_pef_flavour,
139 bfd_target_pef_xlib_flavour,
140 bfd_target_sym_flavour
143 enum bfd_endian @{ BFD_ENDIAN_BIG, BFD_ENDIAN_LITTLE, BFD_ENDIAN_UNKNOWN @};
145 /* Forward declaration. */
146 typedef struct bfd_link_info _bfd_link_info;
148 typedef struct bfd_target
150 /* Identifies the kind of target, e.g., SunOS4, Ultrix, etc. */
153 /* The "flavour" of a back end is a general indication about
154 the contents of a file. */
155 enum bfd_flavour flavour;
157 /* The order of bytes within the data area of a file. */
158 enum bfd_endian byteorder;
160 /* The order of bytes within the header parts of a file. */
161 enum bfd_endian header_byteorder;
163 /* A mask of all the flags which an executable may have set -
164 from the set @code{BFD_NO_FLAGS}, @code{HAS_RELOC}, ...@code{D_PAGED}. */
165 flagword object_flags;
167 /* A mask of all the flags which a section may have set - from
168 the set @code{SEC_NO_FLAGS}, @code{SEC_ALLOC}, ...@code{SET_NEVER_LOAD}. */
169 flagword section_flags;
171 /* The character normally found at the front of a symbol.
172 (if any), perhaps `_'. */
173 char symbol_leading_char;
175 /* The pad character for file names within an archive header. */
178 /* The maximum number of characters in an archive header. */
179 unsigned short ar_max_namelen;
181 /* Entries for byte swapping for data. These are different from the
182 other entry points, since they don't take a BFD as the first argument.
183 Certain other handlers could do the same. */
184 bfd_uint64_t (*bfd_getx64) (const void *);
185 bfd_int64_t (*bfd_getx_signed_64) (const void *);
186 void (*bfd_putx64) (bfd_uint64_t, void *);
187 bfd_vma (*bfd_getx32) (const void *);
188 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_getx_signed_32) (const void *);
189 void (*bfd_putx32) (bfd_vma, void *);
190 bfd_vma (*bfd_getx16) (const void *);
191 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_getx_signed_16) (const void *);
192 void (*bfd_putx16) (bfd_vma, void *);
194 /* Byte swapping for the headers. */
195 bfd_uint64_t (*bfd_h_getx64) (const void *);
196 bfd_int64_t (*bfd_h_getx_signed_64) (const void *);
197 void (*bfd_h_putx64) (bfd_uint64_t, void *);
198 bfd_vma (*bfd_h_getx32) (const void *);
199 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_h_getx_signed_32) (const void *);
200 void (*bfd_h_putx32) (bfd_vma, void *);
201 bfd_vma (*bfd_h_getx16) (const void *);
202 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_h_getx_signed_16) (const void *);
203 void (*bfd_h_putx16) (bfd_vma, void *);
205 /* Format dependent routines: these are vectors of entry points
206 within the target vector structure, one for each format to check. */
208 /* Check the format of a file being read. Return a @code{bfd_target *} or zero. */
209 const struct bfd_target *(*_bfd_check_format[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
211 /* Set the format of a file being written. */
212 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_format[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
214 /* Write cached information into a file being written, at @code{bfd_close}. */
215 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_write_contents[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
218 The general target vector. These vectors are initialized using the
219 BFD_JUMP_TABLE macros.
222 /* Generic entry points. */
223 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_GENERIC(NAME) \
224 NAME##_close_and_cleanup, \
225 NAME##_bfd_free_cached_info, \
226 NAME##_new_section_hook, \
227 NAME##_get_section_contents, \
228 NAME##_get_section_contents_in_window
230 /* Called when the BFD is being closed to do any necessary cleanup. */
231 bfd_boolean (*_close_and_cleanup) (bfd *);
232 /* Ask the BFD to free all cached information. */
233 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_free_cached_info) (bfd *);
234 /* Called when a new section is created. */
235 bfd_boolean (*_new_section_hook) (bfd *, sec_ptr);
236 /* Read the contents of a section. */
237 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_get_section_contents)
238 (bfd *, sec_ptr, void *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
239 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_get_section_contents_in_window)
240 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd_window *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
242 /* Entry points to copy private data. */
243 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_COPY(NAME) \
244 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_bfd_data, \
245 NAME##_bfd_merge_private_bfd_data, \
246 _bfd_generic_init_private_section_data, \
247 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_section_data, \
248 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_symbol_data, \
249 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_header_data, \
250 NAME##_bfd_set_private_flags, \
251 NAME##_bfd_print_private_bfd_data
253 /* Called to copy BFD general private data from one object file
255 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, bfd *);
256 /* Called to merge BFD general private data from one object file
257 to a common output file when linking. */
258 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_merge_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, bfd *);
259 /* Called to initialize BFD private section data from one object file
261 #define bfd_init_private_section_data(ibfd, isec, obfd, osec, link_info) \
262 BFD_SEND (obfd, _bfd_init_private_section_data, (ibfd, isec, obfd, osec, link_info))
263 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_init_private_section_data)
264 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd *, sec_ptr, struct bfd_link_info *);
265 /* Called to copy BFD private section data from one object file
267 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_section_data)
268 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd *, sec_ptr);
269 /* Called to copy BFD private symbol data from one symbol
271 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_symbol_data)
272 (bfd *, asymbol *, bfd *, asymbol *);
273 /* Called to copy BFD private header data from one object file
275 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_header_data)
277 /* Called to set private backend flags. */
278 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_private_flags) (bfd *, flagword);
280 /* Called to print private BFD data. */
281 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_print_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, void *);
283 /* Core file entry points. */
284 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_CORE(NAME) \
285 NAME##_core_file_failing_command, \
286 NAME##_core_file_failing_signal, \
287 NAME##_core_file_matches_executable_p
289 char * (*_core_file_failing_command) (bfd *);
290 int (*_core_file_failing_signal) (bfd *);
291 bfd_boolean (*_core_file_matches_executable_p) (bfd *, bfd *);
293 /* Archive entry points. */
294 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_ARCHIVE(NAME) \
295 NAME##_slurp_armap, \
296 NAME##_slurp_extended_name_table, \
297 NAME##_construct_extended_name_table, \
298 NAME##_truncate_arname, \
299 NAME##_write_armap, \
300 NAME##_read_ar_hdr, \
301 NAME##_openr_next_archived_file, \
302 NAME##_get_elt_at_index, \
303 NAME##_generic_stat_arch_elt, \
304 NAME##_update_armap_timestamp
306 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_slurp_armap) (bfd *);
307 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_slurp_extended_name_table) (bfd *);
308 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_construct_extended_name_table)
309 (bfd *, char **, bfd_size_type *, const char **);
310 void (*_bfd_truncate_arname) (bfd *, const char *, char *);
311 bfd_boolean (*write_armap)
312 (bfd *, unsigned int, struct orl *, unsigned int, int);
313 void * (*_bfd_read_ar_hdr_fn) (bfd *);
314 bfd * (*openr_next_archived_file) (bfd *, bfd *);
315 #define bfd_get_elt_at_index(b,i) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_get_elt_at_index, (b,i))
316 bfd * (*_bfd_get_elt_at_index) (bfd *, symindex);
317 int (*_bfd_stat_arch_elt) (bfd *, struct stat *);
318 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_update_armap_timestamp) (bfd *);
320 /* Entry points used for symbols. */
321 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_SYMBOLS(NAME) \
322 NAME##_get_symtab_upper_bound, \
323 NAME##_canonicalize_symtab, \
324 NAME##_make_empty_symbol, \
325 NAME##_print_symbol, \
326 NAME##_get_symbol_info, \
327 NAME##_bfd_is_local_label_name, \
328 NAME##_bfd_is_target_special_symbol, \
330 NAME##_find_nearest_line, \
331 _bfd_generic_find_line, \
332 NAME##_find_inliner_info, \
333 NAME##_bfd_make_debug_symbol, \
334 NAME##_read_minisymbols, \
335 NAME##_minisymbol_to_symbol
337 long (*_bfd_get_symtab_upper_bound) (bfd *);
338 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_symtab)
339 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **);
341 (*_bfd_make_empty_symbol) (bfd *);
342 void (*_bfd_print_symbol)
343 (bfd *, void *, struct bfd_symbol *, bfd_print_symbol_type);
344 #define bfd_print_symbol(b,p,s,e) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_print_symbol, (b,p,s,e))
345 void (*_bfd_get_symbol_info)
346 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol *, symbol_info *);
347 #define bfd_get_symbol_info(b,p,e) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_get_symbol_info, (b,p,e))
348 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_local_label_name) (bfd *, const char *);
349 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_target_special_symbol) (bfd *, asymbol *);
350 alent * (*_get_lineno) (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol *);
351 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_nearest_line)
352 (bfd *, struct bfd_section *, struct bfd_symbol **, bfd_vma,
353 const char **, const char **, unsigned int *);
354 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_line)
355 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **, struct bfd_symbol *,
356 const char **, unsigned int *);
357 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_inliner_info)
358 (bfd *, const char **, const char **, unsigned int *);
359 /* Back-door to allow format-aware applications to create debug symbols
360 while using BFD for everything else. Currently used by the assembler
361 when creating COFF files. */
362 asymbol * (*_bfd_make_debug_symbol)
363 (bfd *, void *, unsigned long size);
364 #define bfd_read_minisymbols(b, d, m, s) \
365 BFD_SEND (b, _read_minisymbols, (b, d, m, s))
366 long (*_read_minisymbols)
367 (bfd *, bfd_boolean, void **, unsigned int *);
368 #define bfd_minisymbol_to_symbol(b, d, m, f) \
369 BFD_SEND (b, _minisymbol_to_symbol, (b, d, m, f))
370 asymbol * (*_minisymbol_to_symbol)
371 (bfd *, bfd_boolean, const void *, asymbol *);
373 /* Routines for relocs. */
374 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_RELOCS(NAME) \
375 NAME##_get_reloc_upper_bound, \
376 NAME##_canonicalize_reloc, \
377 NAME##_bfd_reloc_type_lookup, \
378 NAME##_bfd_reloc_name_lookup
380 long (*_get_reloc_upper_bound) (bfd *, sec_ptr);
381 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_reloc)
382 (bfd *, sec_ptr, arelent **, struct bfd_symbol **);
383 /* See documentation on reloc types. */
385 (*reloc_type_lookup) (bfd *, bfd_reloc_code_real_type);
387 (*reloc_name_lookup) (bfd *, const char *);
390 /* Routines used when writing an object file. */
391 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_WRITE(NAME) \
392 NAME##_set_arch_mach, \
393 NAME##_set_section_contents
395 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_arch_mach)
396 (bfd *, enum bfd_architecture, unsigned long);
397 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_section_contents)
398 (bfd *, sec_ptr, const void *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
400 /* Routines used by the linker. */
401 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_LINK(NAME) \
402 NAME##_sizeof_headers, \
403 NAME##_bfd_get_relocated_section_contents, \
404 NAME##_bfd_relax_section, \
405 NAME##_bfd_link_hash_table_create, \
406 NAME##_bfd_link_hash_table_free, \
407 NAME##_bfd_link_add_symbols, \
408 NAME##_bfd_link_just_syms, \
409 NAME##_bfd_final_link, \
410 NAME##_bfd_link_split_section, \
411 NAME##_bfd_gc_sections, \
412 NAME##_bfd_merge_sections, \
413 NAME##_bfd_is_group_section, \
414 NAME##_bfd_discard_group, \
415 NAME##_section_already_linked, \
416 NAME##_bfd_define_common_symbol
418 int (*_bfd_sizeof_headers) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
419 bfd_byte * (*_bfd_get_relocated_section_contents)
420 (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *, struct bfd_link_order *,
421 bfd_byte *, bfd_boolean, struct bfd_symbol **);
423 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_relax_section)
424 (bfd *, struct bfd_section *, struct bfd_link_info *, bfd_boolean *);
426 /* Create a hash table for the linker. Different backends store
427 different information in this table. */
428 struct bfd_link_hash_table *
429 (*_bfd_link_hash_table_create) (bfd *);
431 /* Release the memory associated with the linker hash table. */
432 void (*_bfd_link_hash_table_free) (struct bfd_link_hash_table *);
434 /* Add symbols from this object file into the hash table. */
435 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_link_add_symbols) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
437 /* Indicate that we are only retrieving symbol values from this section. */
438 void (*_bfd_link_just_syms) (asection *, struct bfd_link_info *);
440 /* Do a link based on the link_order structures attached to each
441 section of the BFD. */
442 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_final_link) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
444 /* Should this section be split up into smaller pieces during linking. */
445 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_link_split_section) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *);
447 /* Remove sections that are not referenced from the output. */
448 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_gc_sections) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
450 /* Attempt to merge SEC_MERGE sections. */
451 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_merge_sections) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
453 /* Is this section a member of a group? */
454 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_group_section) (bfd *, const struct bfd_section *);
456 /* Discard members of a group. */
457 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_discard_group) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *);
459 /* Check if SEC has been already linked during a reloceatable or
461 void (*_section_already_linked) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *,
462 struct bfd_link_info *);
464 /* Define a common symbol. */
465 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_define_common_symbol) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *,
466 struct bfd_link_hash_entry *);
468 /* Routines to handle dynamic symbols and relocs. */
469 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_DYNAMIC(NAME) \
470 NAME##_get_dynamic_symtab_upper_bound, \
471 NAME##_canonicalize_dynamic_symtab, \
472 NAME##_get_synthetic_symtab, \
473 NAME##_get_dynamic_reloc_upper_bound, \
474 NAME##_canonicalize_dynamic_reloc
476 /* Get the amount of memory required to hold the dynamic symbols. */
477 long (*_bfd_get_dynamic_symtab_upper_bound) (bfd *);
478 /* Read in the dynamic symbols. */
479 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_dynamic_symtab)
480 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **);
481 /* Create synthetized symbols. */
482 long (*_bfd_get_synthetic_symtab)
483 (bfd *, long, struct bfd_symbol **, long, struct bfd_symbol **,
484 struct bfd_symbol **);
485 /* Get the amount of memory required to hold the dynamic relocs. */
486 long (*_bfd_get_dynamic_reloc_upper_bound) (bfd *);
487 /* Read in the dynamic relocs. */
488 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_dynamic_reloc)
489 (bfd *, arelent **, struct bfd_symbol **);
492 A pointer to an alternative bfd_target in case the current one is not
493 satisfactory. This can happen when the target cpu supports both big
494 and little endian code, and target chosen by the linker has the wrong
495 endianness. The function open_output() in ld/ldlang.c uses this field
496 to find an alternative output format that is suitable.
498 /* Opposite endian version of this target. */
499 const struct bfd_target * alternative_target;
501 /* Data for use by back-end routines, which isn't
502 generic enough to belong in this structure. */
503 const void *backend_data;
509 @findex bfd_set_default_target
510 @subsubsection @code{bfd_set_default_target}
513 bfd_boolean bfd_set_default_target (const char *name);
515 @strong{Description}@*
516 Set the default target vector to use when recognizing a BFD.
517 This takes the name of the target, which may be a BFD target
518 name or a configuration triplet.
520 @findex bfd_find_target
521 @subsubsection @code{bfd_find_target}
524 const bfd_target *bfd_find_target (const char *target_name, bfd *abfd);
526 @strong{Description}@*
527 Return a pointer to the transfer vector for the object target
528 named @var{target_name}. If @var{target_name} is @code{NULL},
529 choose the one in the environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}; if
530 that is null or not defined, then choose the first entry in the
531 target list. Passing in the string "default" or setting the
532 environment variable to "default" will cause the first entry in
533 the target list to be returned, and "target_defaulted" will be
534 set in the BFD if @var{abfd} isn't @code{NULL}. This causes
535 @code{bfd_check_format} to loop over all the targets to find the
536 one that matches the file being read.
538 @findex bfd_target_list
539 @subsubsection @code{bfd_target_list}
542 const char ** bfd_target_list (void);
544 @strong{Description}@*
545 Return a freshly malloced NULL-terminated
546 vector of the names of all the valid BFD targets. Do not
549 @findex bfd_seach_for_target
550 @subsubsection @code{bfd_seach_for_target}
553 const bfd_target *bfd_search_for_target
554 (int (*search_func) (const bfd_target *, void *),
557 @strong{Description}@*
558 Return a pointer to the first transfer vector in the list of
559 transfer vectors maintained by BFD that produces a non-zero
560 result when passed to the function @var{search_func}. The
561 parameter @var{data} is passed, unexamined, to the search