1 .\" Copyright (c) 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95, 1996 Free Software Foundation
2 .\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
3 .TH ld 1 "17 August 1992" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
30 .RB "[\|" \-Bstatic "\|]"
31 .RB "[\|" \-Bdynamic "\|]"
32 .RB "[\|" \-Bsymbolic "\|]"
36 .RB "[\|" \-d | \-dc | \-dp\c
39 .RB "[\|" "\-defsym\ "\c
47 .RB "[\|" \-embedded\-relocs "\|]"
48 .RB "[\|" \-export\-dynamic "\|]"
53 .RB "[\|" "\-format\ "\c
60 .RB "[\|" \-\-help "\|]"
75 .RB "[\|" \-n | \-N "\|]"
76 .RB "[\|" \-noinhibit-exec "\|]"
77 .RB "[\|" \-no\-keep\-memory "\|]"
78 .RB "[\|" "\-oformat\ "\c
84 .RB "[\|" \-relax "\|]"
85 .RB "[\|" \-r | \-Ur "\|]"
86 .RB "[\|" "\-rpath\ "\c
89 .RB "[\|" "\-rpath\-link\ "\c
94 .RB "[\|" \-shared "\|]"
95 .RB "[\|" \-sort\-common "\|]"
96 .RB "[\|" "\-split\-by\-reloc\ "\c
99 .RB "[\|" \-split\-by\-file "\|]"
103 .RB "[\|" "\-Ttext\ "\c
106 .RB "[\|" "\-Tdata\ "\c
109 .RB "[\|" "\-Tbss\ "\c
118 .RB "[\|" \-\-verbose "\|]"
119 .RB "[\|" \-\-version "\|]"
120 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-common "\|]"
121 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-constructors "\|]"
122 .RB "[\|" \-warn\-once "\|]"
123 .RB "[\|" \-\-whole\-archive "\|]"
124 .RB "[\|" \-\-no\-whole\-archive "\|]"
132 \& combines a number of object and archive files, relocates
133 their data and ties up symbol references. Often the last step in
134 building a new compiled program to run is a call to \c
140 \& accepts Linker Command Language files
141 to provide explicit and total control over the linking process.
142 This man page does not describe the command language; see the `\|\c
149 \&, for full details on the command language and on other aspects of
154 \& uses the general purpose BFD libraries
155 to operate on object files. This allows \c
157 \& to read, combine, and
158 write object files in many different formats\(em\&for example, COFF or
161 \&. Different formats may be linked together to produce any
162 available kind of object file. You can use `\|\c
164 \|' to get a list of formats supported on various architectures; see
167 Aside from its flexibility, the GNU linker is more helpful than other
168 linkers in providing diagnostic information. Many linkers abandon
169 execution immediately upon encountering an error; whenever possible,
172 \& continues executing, allowing you to identify other errors
173 (or, in some cases, to get an output file in spite of the error).
177 \& is meant to cover a broad range of situations,
178 and to be as compatible as possible with other linkers. As a result,
179 you have many choices to control its behavior through the command line,
180 and through environment variables.
183 The plethora of command-line options may seem intimidating, but in
184 actual practice few of them are used in any particular context.
185 For instance, a frequent use of \c
187 \& is to link standard Unix
188 object files on a standard, supported Unix system. On such a system, to
194 $\ ld\ \-o\ output\ /lib/crt0.o\ hello.o\ \-lc
199 \& to produce a file called \c
202 result of linking the file \c
209 \& which will come from the standard search
212 The command-line options to \c
214 \& may be specified in any order, and
215 may be repeated at will. For the most part, repeating an option with a
216 different argument will either have no further effect, or override prior
217 occurrences (those further to the left on the command line) of an
220 The exceptions\(em\&which may meaningfully be used more than once\(em\&are
225 \& (or its synonym \c
240 The list of object files to be linked together, shown as \c
243 may follow, precede, or be mixed in with command-line options; save that
246 \& argument may not be placed between an option flag and
249 Usually the linker is invoked with at least one object file, but other
250 forms of binary input files can also be specified with \c
255 \&, and the script command language. If \c
258 files at all are specified, the linker does not produce any output, and
259 issues the message `\|\c
263 Option arguments must either follow the option letter without intervening
264 whitespace, or be given as separate arguments immediately following the
265 option that requires them.
268 .BI "-A" "architecture"
269 In the current release of \c
271 \&, this option is useful only for the
272 Intel 960 family of architectures. In that \c
274 \& configuration, the
277 \& argument is one of the two-letter names identifying
278 members of the 960 family; the option specifies the desired output
279 target, and warns of any incompatible instructions in the input files.
280 It also modifies the linker's search strategy for archive libraries, to
281 support the use of libraries specific to each particular
282 architecture, by including in the search loop names suffixed with the
283 string identifying the architecture.
285 For example, if your \c
287 \& command line included `\|\c
292 \|', the linker would look (in its built-in search
293 paths, and in any paths you specify with \c
295 \&) for a library with
309 The first two possibilities would be considered in any event; the last
310 two are due to the use of `\|\c
314 Future releases of \c
316 \& may support similar functionality for
317 other architecture families.
319 You can meaningfully use \c
321 \& more than once on a command line, if
322 an architecture family allows combination of target architectures; each
323 use will add another pair of name variants to search for when \c
328 .BI "\-b " "input-format"
329 Specify the binary format for input object files that follow this option
330 on the command line. You don't usually need to specify this, as
333 \& is configured to expect as a default input format the most
334 usual format on each machine. \c
336 \& is a text string, the
337 name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.
342 \& has the same effect, as does the script command
345 You may want to use this option if you are linking files with an unusual
346 binary format. You can also use \c
348 \& to switch formats explicitly (when
349 linking object files of different formats), by including
354 \& before each group of object files in a
357 The default format is taken from the environment variable
359 \&. You can also define the input
360 format from a script, using the command \c
366 Do not link against shared libraries. This is only meaningful on
367 platforms for which shared libraries are supported.
371 Link against dynamic libraries. This is only meaningful on platforms
372 for which shared libraries are supported. This option is normally the
373 default on such platforms.
377 When creating a shared library, bind references to global symbols to
378 the definition within the shared library, if any. Normally, it is
379 possible for a program linked against a shared library to override the
380 definition within the shared library. This option is only meaningful
381 on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.
384 .BI "\-c " "commandfile"
387 \& to read link commands from the file
390 \&. These commands will completely override \c
393 default link format (rather than adding to it); \c
396 specify everything necessary to describe the target format.
399 You may also include a script of link commands directly in the command
400 line by bracketing it between `\|\c
412 These three options are equivalent; multiple forms are supported for
413 compatibility with other linkers. Use any of them to make \c
415 assign space to common symbols even if a relocatable output file is
418 \&). The script command
420 .B FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION\c
421 \& has the same effect.
424 .BI "-defsym " "symbol" "\fR = \fP" expression
425 Create a global symbol in the output file, containing the absolute
428 \&. You may use this option as many
429 times as necessary to define multiple symbols in the command line. A
430 limited form of arithmetic is supported for the \c
433 context: you may give a hexadecimal constant or the name of an existing
438 \& to add or subtract hexadecimal
439 constants or symbols. If you need more elaborate expressions, consider
440 using the linker command language from a script.
447 \& as the explicit symbol for beginning execution of your
448 program, rather than the default entry point. for a
449 discussion of defaults and other ways of specifying the
453 .B \-embedded\-relocs
454 This option is only meaningful when linking MIPS embedded PIC code,
457 option to the GNU compiler and assembler. It causes the linker to
458 create a table which may be used at runtime to relocate any data which
459 was statically initialized to pointer values. See the code in
460 testsuite/ld-empic for details.
464 When creating an ELF file, add all symbols to the dynamic symbol table.
465 Normally, the dynamic symbol table contains only symbols which are used
466 by a dynamic object. This option is needed for some uses of
473 Some older linkers used this option throughout a compilation toolchain
474 for specifying object-file format for both input and output object
477 \&'s mechanisms (the \c
482 for input files, the \c
484 \& command in linker scripts for output
487 \& environment variable) are more flexible, but
488 but it accepts (and ignores) the \c
490 \& option flag for compatibility
491 with scripts written to call the old linker.
494 .BI "\-format " "input\-format"
503 Accepted, but ignored; provided for compatibility with other tools.
507 Set the maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GP register
510 under MIPS ECOFF. Ignored for other object file formats.
514 Print a summary of the command-line options on the standard output and exit.
517 begin with two dashes instead of one
518 for compatibility with other GNU programs. The other options start with
519 only one dash for compatibility with other linkers.
523 Perform an incremental link (same as option \c
530 Add an archive file \c
532 \& to the list of files to link. This
533 option may be used any number of times. \c
536 path-list for occurrences of \c
545 .BI "\-L" "searchdir"
546 This command adds path \c
548 \& to the list of paths that
551 \& will search for archive libraries. You may use this option
554 The default set of paths searched (without being specified with
557 \&) depends on what emulation mode \c
560 some cases also on how it was configured. The
561 paths can also be specified in a link script with the \c
567 Print (to the standard output file) a link map\(em\&diagnostic information
568 about where symbols are mapped by \c
570 \&, and information on global
571 common storage allocation.
574 .BI "\-Map " "mapfile"\c
577 a link map\(em\&diagnostic information
578 about where symbols are mapped by \c
580 \&, and information on global
581 common storage allocation.
584 .BI "\-m " "emulation"\c
587 linker. You can list the available emulations with the
591 options. This option overrides the compiled-in default, which is the
592 system for which you configured
597 specifies readable and writable \c
602 the output format supports Unix style magic numbers, the output is
607 When you use the `\|\c
609 \&\|' option, the linker does not page-align the
614 sets the text segment to be read only, and \c
621 Normally, the linker will not produce an output file if it encounters
622 errors during the link process. With this flag, you can specify that
623 you wish the output file retained even after non-fatal errors.
626 .B \-no\-keep\-memory
627 The linker normally optimizes for speed over memory usage by caching
628 the symbol tables of input files in memory. This option tells the
629 linker to instead optimize for memory usage, by rereading the symbol
630 tables as necessary. This may be required if the linker runs out of
631 memory space while linking a large executable.
636 \& is a name for the program produced by \c
639 option is not specified, the name `\|\c
641 \|' is used by default. The
644 \& can also specify the output file name.
647 .BI "\-oformat " "output\-format"
648 Specify the binary format for the output object file.
649 You don't usually need to specify this, as
652 \& is configured to produce as a default output format the most
653 usual format on each machine. \c
655 \& is a text string, the
656 name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.
659 can also specify the output format, but this option overrides it.
662 .BI "\-R " "filename"
663 Read symbol names and their addresses from \c
666 relocate it or include it in the output. This allows your output file
667 to refer symbolically to absolute locations of memory defined in other
672 An option with machine dependent effects. Currently this option is only
673 supported on the H8/300.
675 On some platforms, use this option to perform global optimizations that
676 become possible when the linker resolves addressing in your program, such
677 as relaxing address modes and synthesizing new instructions in the
680 On platforms where this is not supported, `\|\c
682 \&\|' is accepted, but has no effect.
686 Generates relocatable output\(em\&i.e., generate an output file that can in
687 turn serve as input to \c
689 \&. This is often called \c
692 \&. As a side effect, in environments that support standard Unix
693 magic numbers, this option also sets the output file's magic number to
697 If this option is not specified, an absolute file is produced. When
698 linking C++ programs, this option \c
700 \& resolve references to
703 \& is an alternative.
705 This option does the same as \c
710 .B \-rpath\ \fIdirectory
711 Add a directory to the runtime library search path. This is used when
712 linking an ELF executable with shared objects. All
714 arguments are concatenated and passed to the runtime linker, which uses
715 them to locate shared objects at runtime. The
717 option is also used when locating shared objects which are needed by
718 shared objects explicitly included in the link; see the description of
723 is not used when linking an ELF executable, the contents of the
726 will be used if it is defined.
730 option may also be used on SunOS. By default, on SunOS, the linker
731 will form a runtime search patch out of all the
733 options it is given. If a
735 option is used, the runtime search path will be formed exclusively
741 options. This can be useful when using gcc, which adds many
743 options which may be on NFS mounted filesystems.
746 .B \-rpath\-link\ \fIdirectory
747 When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another. This
750 link includes a shared library as one of the input files.
752 When the linker encounters such a dependency when doing a non-shared,
753 non-relocateable link, it will automatically try to locate the required
754 shared library and include it in the link, if it is not included
755 explicitly. In such a case, the
757 option specifies the first set of directories to search. The
759 option may specify a sequence of directory names either by specifying
760 a list of names separated by colons, or by appearing multiple times.
762 If the required shared library is not found, the linker will issue a
763 warning and continue with the link.
767 Omits debugger symbol information (but not all symbols) from the output file.
771 Omits all symbol information from the output file.
775 Create a shared library. This is currently only supported on ELF and
776 SunOS platforms (on SunOS it is not required, as the linker will
777 automatically create a shared library when there are undefined symbols
786 places the global common symbols in the appropriate output sections,
787 it sorts them by size. First come all the one byte symbols, then all
788 the two bytes, then all the four bytes, and then everything else.
789 This is to prevent gaps between symbols due to
790 alignment constraints. This option disables that sorting.
793 .B \-split\-by\-reloc\ \fIcount
794 Trys to creates extra sections in the output file so that no single
795 output section in the file contains more than
798 This is useful when generating huge relocatable for downloading into
799 certain real time kernels with the COFF object file format; since COFF
800 cannot represent more than 65535 relocations in a single section.
801 Note that this will fail to work with object file formats which do not
802 support arbitrary sections. The linker will not split up individual
803 input sections for redistribution, so if a single input section
806 relocations one output section will contain that many relocations.
811 .B \-split\-by\-reloc
812 but creates a new output section for each input file.
815 .BI "\-Tbss " "org"\c
817 .BI "\-Tdata " "org"\c
819 .BI "\-Ttext " "org"\c
822 \& as the starting address for\(em\&respectively\(em\&the
829 \& segment of the output file.
832 \& must be a hexadecimal integer.
835 .BI "\-T " "commandfile"
840 \&; supported for compatibility with
845 Prints names of input files as \c
853 \& to be entered in the output file as an undefined symbol.
854 This may, for example, trigger linking of additional modules from
855 standard libraries. \c
857 \& may be repeated with different option
858 arguments to enter additional undefined symbols.
862 For anything other than C++ programs, this option is equivalent to
865 \&: it generates relocatable output\(em\&i.e., an output file that can in
866 turn serve as input to \c
868 \&. When linking C++ programs, \c
871 \& resolve references to constructors, unlike \c
877 Display the version number for \c
879 and list the supported emulations.
880 Display which input files can and can not be opened.
884 Display the version number for \c
889 option also lists the supported emulations.
893 Display the version number for \c
899 Warn when a common symbol is combined with another common symbol or with
900 a symbol definition. Unix linkers allow this somewhat sloppy practice,
901 but linkers on some other operating systems do not. This option allows
902 you to find potential problems from combining global symbols.
905 .B \-warn\-constructors
906 Warn if any global constructors are used. This is only useful for a
907 few object file formats. For formats like COFF or ELF, the linker can
908 not detect the use of global constructors.
912 Only warn once for each undefined symbol, rather than once per module
916 .B \-\-whole\-archive
917 For each archive mentioned on the command line after the
918 .B \-\-whole\-archive
919 option, include every object file in the archive in the link, rather
920 than searching the archive for the required object files. This is
921 normally used to turn an archive file into a shared library, forcing
922 every object to be included in the resulting shared library.
925 .B \-\-no\-whole\-archive
926 Turn off the effect of the
927 .B \-\-whole\-archive
928 option for archives which appear later on the command line.
932 Delete all temporary local symbols. For most targets, this is all local
933 symbols whose names begin with `\|\c
939 Delete all local symbols.
945 You can change the behavior of
947 \& with the environment variable \c
953 \& determines the input-file object format if you don't
956 \& (or its synonym \c
958 \&). Its value should be one
959 of the BFD names for an input format. If there is no
962 \& in the environment, \c
964 \& uses the natural format
969 \& then BFD attempts to discover the
970 input format by examining binary input files; this method often
971 succeeds, but there are potential ambiguities, since there is no method
972 of ensuring that the magic number used to flag object-file formats is
973 unique. However, the configuration procedure for BFD on each system
974 places the conventional format for that system first in the search-list,
975 so ambiguities are resolved in favor of convention.
984 .RB "`\|" ld "\|' and `\|" binutils "\|'"
990 , Steve Chamberlain and Roland Pesch;
992 The GNU Binary Utilities\c
996 Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
998 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
999 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
1000 are preserved on all copies.
1002 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
1003 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
1004 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
1005 permission notice identical to this one.
1007 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
1008 manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
1009 versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
1010 translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
1011 the original English.