eld Manual

Output Listings and Error Handling
eld Manual—527255-009
6-126
Glossary of Errors
There is also a main Glossary at the end of this reference manual that contains
explanations of the major concepts in linking and loading files on a TNS/E system.
Archive. An archive is a file that contains within it one or more files, called the
members of the archive. In general, the members of an archive can be any kinds of
files, but the members should probably only be TNS/E linkfiles if the archive is intended
to be used with eld. eld can read an archive and use some of its linkfiles as inputs
for a link.
Bad input file. When eld says this, it means that eld believes there is something
wrong with the named input file, and the next step is to see where that file came from
and why it is bad. For example, that file may have been an object file created by a
compiler, or by a previous eld command with the -r option.
Callable procedure. A callable procedure is a procedure that has the "callable"
attribute, which means that code enters privileged mode when that procedure is called.
The linker creates "gateways" to make that happen. There is a special type of callable
procedure, called a "kernel callable" procedure, that is only used in one of the special
system DLL's, and that DLL must also contain the procedure named
$n_MillicodeCheckRV. All other callable procedures are called "user callable"
procedures, and they are required to have from 0 to 32 parameters.
Create. When eld says that it cannot create a file, or cannot open a workfile that will
eventually become some file, that may mean that the name you specified for such a file
was invalid, or that eld didn't have permission to create a file in that location.
Data segment. A data segment is that portion of a program or DLL that contains
writeable data that is allocated once before the process begins execution (i.e., as
opposed to data that is a runtime stack or heap).
Definition. The definition of a symbol means that the symbol is present in the given
object file, such as a procedure whose code is present, or a data item for which space
has been allocated. It does not mean a symbol that may be declared/referenced here,
but actually exists elsewhere. Each language has its own rules for which syntactical
elements define, or don't define, symbols.
Delete. When eld is told to create an output file, and a file of that name already
exists, eld tries to delete it. If eld says that it cannot delete a file, that can indicate
that eld does not have permission to delete that previously existing file.
DLL. A DLL (dynamically linked library) is an object file that is loaded into memory as
part of a process. Each process that you run contains exactly one program and any
number of DLL's. eld builds DLL's out of linkfiles. eld also uses DLL's to resolve
references when it it building a new program or DLL, or when the -alf option is
used. Options such as the -l option are used to tell eld which DLL's to use to
resolve references.
DLL name. A DLL name is an identifying string found within a DLL, and is not
necessarily the same as the DLL's filename. DLL names are stored in the liblist
portion of a loadfile.