About this Manual

This book describes the organization and usage of object files and images that are built on Tru64 UNIX systems.

Audience

This manual is targeted for compiler and debugger writers and other developers who must access or manipulate object files. A familiarity with basic program development and symbol table concepts is assumed.

Necessity

This is a new manual designed to fill a need for technical information for back-end developers working on the Tru64 UNIX operating system. It supplements or replaces information that has been previously available in the Assembly Language Programmer's Guide.

Organization

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1	Provides background information on the development environment and describes the high-level organization and usage of object files.
Chapter 2	Describes the header sections of the object file.
Chapter 3	Describes the contents of the "raw data" sections of the object file.
Chapter 4	Describes the relocation process and related structures stored in the object file.
Chapter 5	Describes the symbol table.
Chapter 6	Describes the object file sections containing dynamic loading information.
Chapter 7	Describes the format and usage of the object file comment section (.comment).
Chapter 8	Describes the archive file format.
Chapter 9	Provides examples that illustrate symbol table representations.

Related Documents

This manual discusses the object file format from the perspectives of tools that produce or use object files. Understanding the purpose of these tools is a prerequisite, but this info is touched upon briefly in this document. The primary source for information on system programs in the development environment is the Programmer's Guide. The default debugger on Tru64 UNIX is the ladebug debugger, which is treated separately in the Ladebug Debugger Manual.

The contents of object files are also tied to the Alpha architectural implementation. The Assembly Language Programmer's Guide provides an architectural overview that focuses on assembly-level instructions and directives. Architectural documentation is also available in the Alpha Architecture Reference Manual.

The Calling Standard for Alpha Systems also contains material related to this manual. The calling standard defines the interface and other requirements for procedure calls on Alpha platforms.

The Documentation Overview, Glossary, and Master Index provides information on all of the books in the Tru64 UNIX documentation set.

Reader's Comments

Compaq welcomes any comments and suggestions you have on this and other Tru64 UNIX manuals.

You can send your comments in the following ways:

• Fax: 603-884-0120 Attn: UBPG Publications, ZK03-3/Y32
• Internet electronic mail: readers_comment@zk3.dec.com

/usr/doc/readers_comment.txt

• Mail:

Please include the following information along with your comments:

• The full title of the book and the order number. (The order number is printed on the title page of this book and on its back cover.)
• The section numbers and page numbers of the information on which you are commenting.
• The version of Tru64 UNIX that you are using.
• If known, the type of processor that is running the Tru64 UNIX software.

The Tru64 UNIX Publications group cannot respond to system problems or technical support inquiries. Please address technical questions to your local system vendor or to the appropriate Compaq technical support office. Information provided with the software media explains how to send problem reports to Compaq.

Conventions

This document uses the following typographic and symbol conventions:

%
$

A percent sign represents the C shell system prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bourne and Korn shells.

#

A number sign represents the superuser prompt.

% cat

Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.

file

Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.

[ | ]
{ | }

In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed.

. . .

In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.

cat(1)

A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.