80 lines
3.5 KiB
HTML
80 lines
3.5 KiB
HTML
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<title>What BFD Version 2 Can Do - Untitled</title>
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<p>
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<a name="What-BFD-Version-2-Can-Do"></a>Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="How-It-Works.html#How-It-Works">How It Works</a>,
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Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="Overview.html#Overview">Overview</a>
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<hr><br>
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</div>
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<h3 class="section">1.3 What BFD Version 2 Can Do</h3>
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<!-- This summary of BFD is shared by the BFD and LD docs. -->
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<p>When an object file is opened, BFD subroutines automatically determine
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the format of the input object file. They then build a descriptor in
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memory with pointers to routines that will be used to access elements of
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the object file's data structures.
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<p>As different information from the object files is required,
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BFD reads from different sections of the file and processes them.
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For example, a very common operation for the linker is processing symbol
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tables. Each BFD back end provides a routine for converting
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between the object file's representation of symbols and an internal
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canonical format. When the linker asks for the symbol table of an object
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file, it calls through a memory pointer to the routine from the
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relevant BFD back end which reads and converts the table into a canonical
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form. The linker then operates upon the canonical form. When the link is
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finished and the linker writes the output file's symbol table,
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another BFD back end routine is called to take the newly
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created symbol table and convert it into the chosen output format.
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<ul class="menu">
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<li><a accesskey="1" href="BFD-information-loss.html#BFD-information-loss">BFD information loss</a>: Information Loss
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<li><a accesskey="2" href="Canonical-format.html#Canonical-format">Canonical format</a>: The BFD canonical object-file format
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</ul>
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</body></html>
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