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_ihex_flavour,
129 bfd_target_som_flavour,
130 bfd_target_os9k_flavour,
131 bfd_target_versados_flavour,
132 bfd_target_msdos_flavour,
133 bfd_target_ovax_flavour,
134 bfd_target_evax_flavour,
135 bfd_target_mmo_flavour,
136 bfd_target_mach_o_flavour,
137 bfd_target_pef_flavour,
138 bfd_target_pef_xlib_flavour,
139 bfd_target_sym_flavour
142 enum bfd_endian @{ BFD_ENDIAN_BIG, BFD_ENDIAN_LITTLE, BFD_ENDIAN_UNKNOWN @};
144 /* Forward declaration. */
145 typedef struct bfd_link_info _bfd_link_info;
147 typedef struct bfd_target
149 /* Identifies the kind of target, e.g., SunOS4, Ultrix, etc. */
152 /* The "flavour" of a back end is a general indication about
153 the contents of a file. */
154 enum bfd_flavour flavour;
156 /* The order of bytes within the data area of a file. */
157 enum bfd_endian byteorder;
159 /* The order of bytes within the header parts of a file. */
160 enum bfd_endian header_byteorder;
162 /* A mask of all the flags which an executable may have set -
163 from the set @code{BFD_NO_FLAGS}, @code{HAS_RELOC}, ...@code{D_PAGED}. */
164 flagword object_flags;
166 /* A mask of all the flags which a section may have set - from
167 the set @code{SEC_NO_FLAGS}, @code{SEC_ALLOC}, ...@code{SET_NEVER_LOAD}. */
168 flagword section_flags;
170 /* The character normally found at the front of a symbol.
171 (if any), perhaps `_'. */
172 char symbol_leading_char;
174 /* The pad character for file names within an archive header. */
177 /* The maximum number of characters in an archive header. */
178 unsigned short ar_max_namelen;
180 /* Entries for byte swapping for data. These are different from the
181 other entry points, since they don't take a BFD as the first argument.
182 Certain other handlers could do the same. */
183 bfd_uint64_t (*bfd_getx64) (const void *);
184 bfd_int64_t (*bfd_getx_signed_64) (const void *);
185 void (*bfd_putx64) (bfd_uint64_t, void *);
186 bfd_vma (*bfd_getx32) (const void *);
187 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_getx_signed_32) (const void *);
188 void (*bfd_putx32) (bfd_vma, void *);
189 bfd_vma (*bfd_getx16) (const void *);
190 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_getx_signed_16) (const void *);
191 void (*bfd_putx16) (bfd_vma, void *);
193 /* Byte swapping for the headers. */
194 bfd_uint64_t (*bfd_h_getx64) (const void *);
195 bfd_int64_t (*bfd_h_getx_signed_64) (const void *);
196 void (*bfd_h_putx64) (bfd_uint64_t, void *);
197 bfd_vma (*bfd_h_getx32) (const void *);
198 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_h_getx_signed_32) (const void *);
199 void (*bfd_h_putx32) (bfd_vma, void *);
200 bfd_vma (*bfd_h_getx16) (const void *);
201 bfd_signed_vma (*bfd_h_getx_signed_16) (const void *);
202 void (*bfd_h_putx16) (bfd_vma, void *);
204 /* Format dependent routines: these are vectors of entry points
205 within the target vector structure, one for each format to check. */
207 /* Check the format of a file being read. Return a @code{bfd_target *} or zero. */
208 const struct bfd_target *(*_bfd_check_format[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
210 /* Set the format of a file being written. */
211 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_format[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
213 /* Write cached information into a file being written, at @code{bfd_close}. */
214 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_write_contents[bfd_type_end]) (bfd *);
217 The general target vector. These vectors are initialized using the
218 BFD_JUMP_TABLE macros.
221 /* Generic entry points. */
222 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_GENERIC(NAME) \
223 NAME##_close_and_cleanup, \
224 NAME##_bfd_free_cached_info, \
225 NAME##_new_section_hook, \
226 NAME##_get_section_contents, \
227 NAME##_get_section_contents_in_window
229 /* Called when the BFD is being closed to do any necessary cleanup. */
230 bfd_boolean (*_close_and_cleanup) (bfd *);
231 /* Ask the BFD to free all cached information. */
232 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_free_cached_info) (bfd *);
233 /* Called when a new section is created. */
234 bfd_boolean (*_new_section_hook) (bfd *, sec_ptr);
235 /* Read the contents of a section. */
236 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_get_section_contents)
237 (bfd *, sec_ptr, void *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
238 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_get_section_contents_in_window)
239 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd_window *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
241 /* Entry points to copy private data. */
242 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_COPY(NAME) \
243 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_bfd_data, \
244 NAME##_bfd_merge_private_bfd_data, \
245 _bfd_generic_init_private_section_data, \
246 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_section_data, \
247 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_symbol_data, \
248 NAME##_bfd_copy_private_header_data, \
249 NAME##_bfd_set_private_flags, \
250 NAME##_bfd_print_private_bfd_data
252 /* Called to copy BFD general private data from one object file
254 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, bfd *);
255 /* Called to merge BFD general private data from one object file
256 to a common output file when linking. */
257 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_merge_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, bfd *);
258 /* Called to initialize BFD private section data from one object file
260 #define bfd_init_private_section_data(ibfd, isec, obfd, osec, link_info) \
261 BFD_SEND (obfd, _bfd_init_private_section_data, (ibfd, isec, obfd, osec, link_info))
262 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_init_private_section_data)
263 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd *, sec_ptr, struct bfd_link_info *);
264 /* Called to copy BFD private section data from one object file
266 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_section_data)
267 (bfd *, sec_ptr, bfd *, sec_ptr);
268 /* Called to copy BFD private symbol data from one symbol
270 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_symbol_data)
271 (bfd *, asymbol *, bfd *, asymbol *);
272 /* Called to copy BFD private header data from one object file
274 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_copy_private_header_data)
276 /* Called to set private backend flags. */
277 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_private_flags) (bfd *, flagword);
279 /* Called to print private BFD data. */
280 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_print_private_bfd_data) (bfd *, void *);
282 /* Core file entry points. */
283 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_CORE(NAME) \
284 NAME##_core_file_failing_command, \
285 NAME##_core_file_failing_signal, \
286 NAME##_core_file_matches_executable_p
288 char * (*_core_file_failing_command) (bfd *);
289 int (*_core_file_failing_signal) (bfd *);
290 bfd_boolean (*_core_file_matches_executable_p) (bfd *, bfd *);
292 /* Archive entry points. */
293 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_ARCHIVE(NAME) \
294 NAME##_slurp_armap, \
295 NAME##_slurp_extended_name_table, \
296 NAME##_construct_extended_name_table, \
297 NAME##_truncate_arname, \
298 NAME##_write_armap, \
299 NAME##_read_ar_hdr, \
300 NAME##_openr_next_archived_file, \
301 NAME##_get_elt_at_index, \
302 NAME##_generic_stat_arch_elt, \
303 NAME##_update_armap_timestamp
305 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_slurp_armap) (bfd *);
306 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_slurp_extended_name_table) (bfd *);
307 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_construct_extended_name_table)
308 (bfd *, char **, bfd_size_type *, const char **);
309 void (*_bfd_truncate_arname) (bfd *, const char *, char *);
310 bfd_boolean (*write_armap)
311 (bfd *, unsigned int, struct orl *, unsigned int, int);
312 void * (*_bfd_read_ar_hdr_fn) (bfd *);
313 bfd * (*openr_next_archived_file) (bfd *, bfd *);
314 #define bfd_get_elt_at_index(b,i) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_get_elt_at_index, (b,i))
315 bfd * (*_bfd_get_elt_at_index) (bfd *, symindex);
316 int (*_bfd_stat_arch_elt) (bfd *, struct stat *);
317 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_update_armap_timestamp) (bfd *);
319 /* Entry points used for symbols. */
320 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_SYMBOLS(NAME) \
321 NAME##_get_symtab_upper_bound, \
322 NAME##_canonicalize_symtab, \
323 NAME##_make_empty_symbol, \
324 NAME##_print_symbol, \
325 NAME##_get_symbol_info, \
326 NAME##_bfd_is_local_label_name, \
327 NAME##_bfd_is_target_special_symbol, \
329 NAME##_find_nearest_line, \
330 _bfd_generic_find_line, \
331 NAME##_find_inliner_info, \
332 NAME##_bfd_make_debug_symbol, \
333 NAME##_read_minisymbols, \
334 NAME##_minisymbol_to_symbol
336 long (*_bfd_get_symtab_upper_bound) (bfd *);
337 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_symtab)
338 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **);
340 (*_bfd_make_empty_symbol) (bfd *);
341 void (*_bfd_print_symbol)
342 (bfd *, void *, struct bfd_symbol *, bfd_print_symbol_type);
343 #define bfd_print_symbol(b,p,s,e) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_print_symbol, (b,p,s,e))
344 void (*_bfd_get_symbol_info)
345 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol *, symbol_info *);
346 #define bfd_get_symbol_info(b,p,e) BFD_SEND (b, _bfd_get_symbol_info, (b,p,e))
347 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_local_label_name) (bfd *, const char *);
348 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_target_special_symbol) (bfd *, asymbol *);
349 alent * (*_get_lineno) (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol *);
350 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_nearest_line)
351 (bfd *, struct bfd_section *, struct bfd_symbol **, bfd_vma,
352 const char **, const char **, unsigned int *);
353 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_line)
354 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **, struct bfd_symbol *,
355 const char **, unsigned int *);
356 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_find_inliner_info)
357 (bfd *, const char **, const char **, unsigned int *);
358 /* Back-door to allow format-aware applications to create debug symbols
359 while using BFD for everything else. Currently used by the assembler
360 when creating COFF files. */
361 asymbol * (*_bfd_make_debug_symbol)
362 (bfd *, void *, unsigned long size);
363 #define bfd_read_minisymbols(b, d, m, s) \
364 BFD_SEND (b, _read_minisymbols, (b, d, m, s))
365 long (*_read_minisymbols)
366 (bfd *, bfd_boolean, void **, unsigned int *);
367 #define bfd_minisymbol_to_symbol(b, d, m, f) \
368 BFD_SEND (b, _minisymbol_to_symbol, (b, d, m, f))
369 asymbol * (*_minisymbol_to_symbol)
370 (bfd *, bfd_boolean, const void *, asymbol *);
372 /* Routines for relocs. */
373 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_RELOCS(NAME) \
374 NAME##_get_reloc_upper_bound, \
375 NAME##_canonicalize_reloc, \
376 NAME##_bfd_reloc_type_lookup
378 long (*_get_reloc_upper_bound) (bfd *, sec_ptr);
379 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_reloc)
380 (bfd *, sec_ptr, arelent **, struct bfd_symbol **);
381 /* See documentation on reloc types. */
383 (*reloc_type_lookup) (bfd *, bfd_reloc_code_real_type);
385 /* Routines used when writing an object file. */
386 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_WRITE(NAME) \
387 NAME##_set_arch_mach, \
388 NAME##_set_section_contents
390 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_arch_mach)
391 (bfd *, enum bfd_architecture, unsigned long);
392 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_set_section_contents)
393 (bfd *, sec_ptr, const void *, file_ptr, bfd_size_type);
395 /* Routines used by the linker. */
396 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_LINK(NAME) \
397 NAME##_sizeof_headers, \
398 NAME##_bfd_get_relocated_section_contents, \
399 NAME##_bfd_relax_section, \
400 NAME##_bfd_link_hash_table_create, \
401 NAME##_bfd_link_hash_table_free, \
402 NAME##_bfd_link_add_symbols, \
403 NAME##_bfd_link_just_syms, \
404 NAME##_bfd_final_link, \
405 NAME##_bfd_link_split_section, \
406 NAME##_bfd_gc_sections, \
407 NAME##_bfd_merge_sections, \
408 NAME##_bfd_is_group_section, \
409 NAME##_bfd_discard_group, \
410 NAME##_section_already_linked \
412 int (*_bfd_sizeof_headers) (bfd *, bfd_boolean);
413 bfd_byte * (*_bfd_get_relocated_section_contents)
414 (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *, struct bfd_link_order *,
415 bfd_byte *, bfd_boolean, struct bfd_symbol **);
417 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_relax_section)
418 (bfd *, struct bfd_section *, struct bfd_link_info *, bfd_boolean *);
420 /* Create a hash table for the linker. Different backends store
421 different information in this table. */
422 struct bfd_link_hash_table *
423 (*_bfd_link_hash_table_create) (bfd *);
425 /* Release the memory associated with the linker hash table. */
426 void (*_bfd_link_hash_table_free) (struct bfd_link_hash_table *);
428 /* Add symbols from this object file into the hash table. */
429 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_link_add_symbols) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
431 /* Indicate that we are only retrieving symbol values from this section. */
432 void (*_bfd_link_just_syms) (asection *, struct bfd_link_info *);
434 /* Do a link based on the link_order structures attached to each
435 section of the BFD. */
436 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_final_link) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
438 /* Should this section be split up into smaller pieces during linking. */
439 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_link_split_section) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *);
441 /* Remove sections that are not referenced from the output. */
442 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_gc_sections) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
444 /* Attempt to merge SEC_MERGE sections. */
445 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_merge_sections) (bfd *, struct bfd_link_info *);
447 /* Is this section a member of a group? */
448 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_is_group_section) (bfd *, const struct bfd_section *);
450 /* Discard members of a group. */
451 bfd_boolean (*_bfd_discard_group) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *);
453 /* Check if SEC has been already linked during a reloceatable or
455 void (*_section_already_linked) (bfd *, struct bfd_section *);
457 /* Routines to handle dynamic symbols and relocs. */
458 #define BFD_JUMP_TABLE_DYNAMIC(NAME) \
459 NAME##_get_dynamic_symtab_upper_bound, \
460 NAME##_canonicalize_dynamic_symtab, \
461 NAME##_get_synthetic_symtab, \
462 NAME##_get_dynamic_reloc_upper_bound, \
463 NAME##_canonicalize_dynamic_reloc
465 /* Get the amount of memory required to hold the dynamic symbols. */
466 long (*_bfd_get_dynamic_symtab_upper_bound) (bfd *);
467 /* Read in the dynamic symbols. */
468 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_dynamic_symtab)
469 (bfd *, struct bfd_symbol **);
470 /* Create synthetized symbols. */
471 long (*_bfd_get_synthetic_symtab)
472 (bfd *, long, struct bfd_symbol **, long, struct bfd_symbol **,
473 struct bfd_symbol **);
474 /* Get the amount of memory required to hold the dynamic relocs. */
475 long (*_bfd_get_dynamic_reloc_upper_bound) (bfd *);
476 /* Read in the dynamic relocs. */
477 long (*_bfd_canonicalize_dynamic_reloc)
478 (bfd *, arelent **, struct bfd_symbol **);
481 A pointer to an alternative bfd_target in case the current one is not
482 satisfactory. This can happen when the target cpu supports both big
483 and little endian code, and target chosen by the linker has the wrong
484 endianness. The function open_output() in ld/ldlang.c uses this field
485 to find an alternative output format that is suitable.
487 /* Opposite endian version of this target. */
488 const struct bfd_target * alternative_target;
490 /* Data for use by back-end routines, which isn't
491 generic enough to belong in this structure. */
492 const void *backend_data;
498 @findex bfd_set_default_target
499 @subsubsection @code{bfd_set_default_target}
502 bfd_boolean bfd_set_default_target (const char *name);
504 @strong{Description}@*
505 Set the default target vector to use when recognizing a BFD.
506 This takes the name of the target, which may be a BFD target
507 name or a configuration triplet.
509 @findex bfd_find_target
510 @subsubsection @code{bfd_find_target}
513 const bfd_target *bfd_find_target (const char *target_name, bfd *abfd);
515 @strong{Description}@*
516 Return a pointer to the transfer vector for the object target
517 named @var{target_name}. If @var{target_name} is @code{NULL}, choose the
518 one in the environment variable @code{GNUTARGET}; if that is null or not
519 defined, then choose the first entry in the target list.
520 Passing in the string "default" or setting the environment
521 variable to "default" will cause the first entry in the target
522 list to be returned, and "target_defaulted" will be set in the
523 BFD. This causes @code{bfd_check_format} to loop over all the
524 targets to find the one that matches the file being read.
526 @findex bfd_target_list
527 @subsubsection @code{bfd_target_list}
530 const char ** bfd_target_list (void);
532 @strong{Description}@*
533 Return a freshly malloced NULL-terminated
534 vector of the names of all the valid BFD targets. Do not
537 @findex bfd_seach_for_target
538 @subsubsection @code{bfd_seach_for_target}
541 const bfd_target *bfd_search_for_target
542 (int (*search_func) (const bfd_target *, void *),
545 @strong{Description}@*
546 Return a pointer to the first transfer vector in the list of
547 transfer vectors maintained by BFD that produces a non-zero
548 result when passed to the function @var{search_func}. The
549 parameter @var{data} is passed, unexamined, to the search