eld Manual
Table Of Contents
- eld Manual
- Legal Notices
- Contents
- What’s New in This Manual
- Manual Information
- New and Changed Information
- About This Manual
- Notation Conventions
- 1 Introduction to eld
- 2 eld Input and Output
- 3 Binding of References
- Overview
- Presetting Loadfiles
- To Preset or Not to Preset, and Creation of the LIC
- Handling Unresolved References
- Using User Libraries
- Creating Import Libraries
- Ignoring Optional Libraries
- Merging Symbols Found in Input Linkfiles
- Accepting Multiply-Defined Symbols
- Using the -cross_dll_cleanup option
- Specifying Which Symbols to Export, and Creating the Export Digest
- Public Libraries and DLLs
- The Public Library Registry
- 4 Other eld Processing
- Adjusting Loadfiles: The -alf Option
- Additional rules about -alf
- The -set and -change Options
- eld Functionality for 64-Bit
- Checking the C++ Language Dialect
- Renaming Symbols
- Creating Linker-Defined Symbols
- Updating Or Stripping DWARF Symbol Table Information
- Modifying the Data Sections that Contain Stack Unwinding Information
- Creating the MCB
- Processing of Floating Point Versions and Data Models
- Specification of the Main Entry Point
- Specifying Runtime Search Path Information for DLLs
- Merging Source RTDUs
- 5 Summary of Linker Options
- 6 Output Listings and Error Handling
- A TNS/E Native Object Files
- Glossary
- Index
eld Manual—527255-009
4-1
4 Other eld Processing
This section contains the following information:
Adjusting Loadfiles: The -alf Option - how to repeat the presetting of a loadfile when
DLLs change.
The -set and -change Options - how to set various options within the loadfile.
eld Functionality for 64-Bit - how the linker performs consistency checks.
Renaming Symbols - how the linker treats each input file.
Updating Or Stripping DWARF Symbol Table Information - from the input and output
object files.
Modifying the Data Sections that Contain Stack Unwinding Information - when
concatenating sections to create a new loadfile.
Creating the MCB - the Master Control Block contains key settings such as product
version numbers, valid file types, language dialects, and so on.
Processing of Floating Point Versions and Data Models - more consistency checks.
Specification of the Main Entry Point - there are two ways to specify the main entry
point.
Specifying Runtime Search Path Information for DLLs - eld tells rld where to find the
DLLs.
Merging Source RTDUs - used with SQL/MP.
Adjusting Loadfiles: The -alf Option
The main purpose of this option is to tell the linker to repeat the process of presetting
an existing loadfile. Most likely, this is done because some of the DLLs used by this
loadfile have changed, and therefore resolving the references against the newer set of
DLLs will allow the loadfile to load more quickly. The updating of the loadfile might
happen automatically at runtime, but this option provides a way of making sure the file
is updated by user request. It would also be possible to relink the file from its
constituent pieces, but -alf makes it possible to update the references even if those
pieces are no longer present and without knowing everything about how the original
link was done.
It is also possible that the loadfile had not been preset before, in which case this option
would be presetting it for the first time.
It is also possible to rebase a DLL while rebinding it. And, when a DLL is rebased by
-alf, it is also possible for the text and data segments to be rebased by different
amounts. If there are two data segments, they are always rebased by the same
amount. The gateway segment of a DLL is rebased together with the data segment.
-alf stands for “Adjust LoadFile”.