nld and noft Manual

nld Diagnostic Messages
nld and noft Manual—520384-003
10-4
Terms That Appear in nld Diagnostic Messages
define/definition. A symbol is said to be defined in an object file when it physically exists
there. That is, space is allocated for it in one of the text or data sections within the
object file. In the case of data, the symbol might also have an initial value, whereas a
procedure contains executable code.
If an object file only makes an external reference to a symbol, that symbol is said to be
declared, but not defined, in the object file.
When building a loadfile, all small data items must be defined, but large data items do
not need to be defined because they can come from a user library or an SRL.
Procedures do not need to be defined because they can come from a user library, an
SRL, or the system library.
It is possible for data items or procedures to be defined more than once, possibly with
initial values for the data, under the appropriate conditions. If those conditions are not
met, nld considers it an error. When the conditions are met, one of the copies of the
data item or procedure becomes the one that is used; the others are ignored. When
data is defined and initialized more than once, the initial values should be the same.
The syntax for defining a symbol and giving it an initial value depends on the language
used; it is beyond the scope of this manual to explain the syntax of specific languages.
ELF (executable and linkable format). This is the name for the object file format. The two
types of HP object files are called loadfiles and linkfiles.
entry vector. This is an item found in an SRL or user library as part of the HP
implementation of the way in which procedures are exported.
errno. See the appropriate other documentation for the meaning of the error number that
can be generated by a file system related error.
error. An error message (as opposed to a warning message) always implies that nld failed
to create a new object file or modify an existing one. nld stopped what it was doing
because an error condition occurred.
executable. Object files are of two varieties: loadfiles and linkfiles. A loadfile can be a main
program, an SRL, a user library, or the system library. A loadfile can be modified by
nld if you use -change on page 3-4 or -strip on page 3-16. An SRL is also specified on
the nld command line when nld is building a client of that SRL. It is an error to give a
loadfile to nld in any other circumstances.
When you run nld, it creates a loadfile by default. If you want to create a linkfile
instead, you must specify -r on page 3-11.
export digest. This is the name for some of the information that is found within the
TANDEM_GINFO section of an SRL.
external symbol table. This is part of the symbol information in an object file.