[ < ] | [ > ] | [ << ] | [ Up ] | [ >> ] | [Top] | [Contents] | [Index] | [ ? ] |
BFD uses generic structures to manage information. It translates data into the generic form when reading files, and out of the generic form when writing files.
BFD describes a file as a pointer to the `bfd' type. A `bfd' is composed of the following elements. The BFD information can be displayed using the `objdump' program with various options.
BFD represents a section as a pointer to the `asection' type. Each section has a name and a size. Most sections also have an associated block of data, known as the section contents. Sections also have associated flags, a virtual memory address, a load memory address, a required alignment, a list of relocations, and other miscellaneous information.
BFD represents a relocation as a pointer to the `arelent' type. A relocation describes an action which the linker must take to modify the section contents. Relocations have a symbol, an address, an addend, and a pointer to a howto structure which describes how to perform the relocation. For more information, see 6. BFD relocation handling.
BFD represents a symbol as a pointer to the `asymbol' type. A symbol has a name, a pointer to a section, an offset within that section, and some flags.
Archive files do not have any sections or symbols. Instead, BFD represents an archive file as a file which contains a list of `bfd's. BFD also provides access to the archive symbol map, as a list of symbol names. BFD provides a function to return the `bfd' within the archive which corresponds to a particular entry in the archive symbol map.
[ < ] | [ > ] | [ << ] | [ Up ] | [ >> ] | [Top] | [Contents] | [Index] | [ ? ] |