binutils/objcopy.1

   1 .\" Copyright (c) 1991, 93, 94, 95, 96, 1997 Free Software Foundation
   2 .\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
   3 .TH objcopy 1 "October 1994" "cygnus support" "GNU Development Tools"
   4 .de BP
   5 .sp
   6 .ti \-.2i
   7 \(**
   8 ..
   9
  10 .SH NAME
  11 objcopy \- copy and translate object files
  12
  13 .SH SYNOPSIS
  14 .hy 0
  15 .na
  16 .TP
  17 .B objcopy
  18 .RB "[\|" \-F\ \fIbfdname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-target=\fIbfdname\fR "\|]"
  19 .RB "[\|" \-I\ \fIbfdname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-input\-target=\fIbfdname\fR "\|]"
  20 .RB "[\|" \-O\ \fIbfdname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-output\-target=\fIbfdname\fR "\|]"
  21 .RB "[\|" \-R\ \fIsectionname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-remove\-section=\fIsectionname\fR "\|]"
  22 .RB "[\|" \-S\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-strip\-all\fR "\|]"
  23 .RB "[\|" \-g\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-strip\-debug\fR "\|]"
  24 .RB "[\|" \-\-strip\-unneeded\fR "\|]"
  25 .RB "[\|" \-K\ \fIsymbolname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-keep\-symbol=\fIsymbolname\fR "\|]"
  26 .RB "[\|" \-N\ \fIsymbolname\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-strip\-symbol=\fIsymbolname\fR "\|]"
  27 .RB "[\|" \-x\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-discard\-all\fR "\|]"
  28 .RB "[\|" \-X\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-discard\-locals\fR "\|]"
  29 .RB "[\|" \-b\ \fIbyte\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-byte=\fIbyte\fR "\|]"
  30 .RB "[\|" \-i\ \fIinterleave\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-interleave=\fIinterleave\fR "\|]"
  31 .RB "[\|" \-p\fR\ |\ \fB\-\-preserve\-dates\fR "\|]"
  32 .RB "[\|" \-\-debugging "\|]"
  33 .RB "[\|" \-\-gap\-fill=\fIval\fR "\|]"
  34 .RB "[\|" \-\-pad\-to=\fIaddress\fR "\|]"
  35 .RB "[\|" \-\-set\-start=\fIval\fR "\|]"
  36 .RB "[\|" \-\-adjust\-start=\fIincr\fR "\|]"
  37 .RB "[\|" \-\-adjust\-vma=\fIincr\fR "\|]"
  38 .RB "[\|" \-\-adjust\-section\-vma=\fIsection{=,+,-}val\fR "\|]"
  39 .RB "[\|" \-\-adjust\-warnings\fR "\|]"
  40 .RB "[\|" \-\-no\-adjust\-warnings\fR "\|]"
  41 .RB "[\|" \-\-set\-section\-flags=\fIsection=flags\fR "\|]"
  42 .RB "[\|" \-\-add\-section=\fIsectionname=filename\fR "\|]"
  43 .RB "[\|" \-\-change\-leading\-char\fR "\|]"
  44 .RB "[\|" \-\-remove\-leading\-char\fR "\|]"
  45 .RB "[\|" \-\-weaken\fR "\|]"
  46 .RB "[\|" \-v\ |\ \-\-verbose\fR "\|]"
  47 .RB "[\|" \-V\ |\ \-\-version\fR "\|]"
  48 .RB "[\|" \-\-help\fR "\|]"
  49 .B infile
  50 .RB "[\|" outfile\fR "\|]"
  51 .SH DESCRIPTION
  52 The GNU
  53 .B objcopy
  54 utility copies the contents of an object file to another.
  55 .B objcopy
  56 uses the GNU BFD Library to read and write the object files.  It can
  57 write the destination object file in a format different from that of
  58 the source object file.  The exact behavior of
  59 .B objcopy
  60 is controlled by command-line options.
  61 .PP
  62 .B objcopy
  63 creates temporary files to do its translations and deletes them
  64 afterward.
  65 .B objcopy
  66 uses BFD to do all its translation work; it knows about all the
  67 formats BFD knows about, and thus is able to recognize most formats
  68 without being told explicitly.
  69 .PP
  70 .B objcopy
  71 can be used to generate S-records by using an output target of
  72 .B srec
  73 (e.g., use
  74 .B -O srec).
  75 .PP
  76 .B objcopy
  77 can be used to generate a raw binary file by using an output target of
  78 .B binary
  79 (e.g., use
  80 .B -O binary).
  81 When
  82 .B objcopy
  83 generates a raw binary file, it will essentially produce a memory dump
  84 of the contents of the input object file.  All symbols and relocation
  85 information will be discarded.  The memory dump will start at the
  86 virtual address of the lowest section copied into the output file.
  87 .PP
  88 When generating an S-record or a raw binary file, it may be helpful to
  89 use
  90 .B -S
  91 to remove sections containing debugging information.  In some cases
  92 .B -R
  93 will be useful to remove sections which contain information which is
  94 not needed by the binary file.
  95 .PP
  96 .I infile
  97 and
  98 .I outfile
  99 are the source and output files respectively.  If you do not specify
 100 .IR outfile ,
 101 .B objcopy
 102 creates a temporary file and destructively renames the result with the
 103 name of the input file.
 104
 105 .SH OPTIONS
 106 .TP
 107 .B \-I \fIbfdname\fR, \fB\-\-input\-target=\fIbfdname
 108 Consider the source file's object format to be
 109 .IR bfdname ,
 110 rather than attempting to deduce it.
 111 .TP
 112 .B \-O \fIbfdname\fR, \fB\-\-output\-target=\fIbfdname
 113 Write the output file using the object format
 114 .IR bfdname .
 115 .TP
 116 .B \-F \fIbfdname\fR, \fB\-\-target=\fIbfdname
 117 Use
 118 .I bfdname
 119 as the object format for both the input and the output file; i.e.
 120 simply transfer data from source to destination with no translation.
 121 .TP
 122 .B \-R \fIsectionname\fR, \fB\-\-remove-section=\fIsectionname
 123 Remove the named section from the file.  This option may be given more
 124 than once.  Note that using this option inappropriately may make the
 125 output file unusable.
 126 .TP
 127 .B \-S\fR, \fB\-\-strip\-all
 128 Do not copy relocation and symbol information from the source file.
 129 .TP
 130 .B \-g\fR, \fB\-\-strip\-debug
 131 Do not copy debugging symbols from the source file.
 132 .TP
 133 .B \-\-strip\-unneeded
 134 Strip all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
 135 .TP
 136 .B \-K \fIsymbolname\fR, \fB\-\-keep\-symbol=\fIsymbolname
 137 Copy only symbol \fIsymbolname\fP from the source file. This option
 138 may be given more than once.
 139 .TP
 140 .B \-N \fIsymbolname\fR, \fB\-\-strip\-symbol=\fIsymbolname
 141 Do not copy symbol \fIsymbolname\fP from the source file. This option
 142 may be given more than once, and may be combined with strip options
 143 other than \fB\-K\fR.
 144 .TP
 145 .B \-x\fR, \fB \-\-discard\-all
 146 Do not copy non-global symbols from the source file.
 147 .TP
 148 .B \-X\fR, \fB\-\-discard\-locals
 149 Do not copy compiler-generated local symbols. (These usually start
 150 with "L" or ".").
 151 .TP
 152 .B \-b \fIbyte\fR, \fB\-\-byte=\fIbyte
 153 Keep only every \fIbyte\fPth byte of the input file (header data is
 154 not affected).  \fIbyte\fP can be in the range from 0 to the
 155 interleave-1.  This option is useful for creating files to program
 156 ROMs.  It is typically used with an srec output target.
 157 .TP
 158 .B \-i \fIinterleave\fR, \fB\-\-interleave=\fIinterleave
 159 Only copy one out of every \fIinterleave\fP bytes.  Which one to copy is
 160 selected by the \fB\-b\fP or \fB\-\-byte\fP option.  The default is 4.
 161 The interleave is ignored if neither \fB\-b\fP nor \fB\-\-byte\fP is given.
 162 .TP
 163 .B \-p\fR, \fB\-\-preserve\-dates
 164 Set the access and modification dates of the output file to be the same
 165 as those of the input file.
 166 .TP
 167 .B \-\-debugging
 168 Convert debugging information, if possible.  This is not the default
 169 because only certain debugging formats are supported, and the
 170 conversion process can be time consuming.
 171 .TP
 172 .B \-\-gap\-fill=\fIval
 173 Fill gaps between sections with \fIval\fP.  This is done by increasing
 174 the size of the section with the lower address, and filling in the extra
 175 space created with \fIval\fP.
 176 .TP
 177 .B \-\-pad\-to=\fIaddress
 178 Pad the output file up to the virtual address \fIaddress\fP.  This is
 179 done by increasing the size of the last section.  The extra space is
 180 filled in with the value specified by \fB\-\-gap\-fill\fP (default
 181 zero).
 182 .TP
 183 .B \fB\-\-set\-start=\fIval
 184 Set the start address of the new file to \fIval\fP.  Not all object
 185 file formats support setting the start address.
 186 .TP
 187 .B \fB\-\-adjust\-start=\fIincr
 188 Adjust the start address by adding \fIincr\fP.  Not all object file
 189 formats support setting the start address.
 190 .TP
 191 .B \fB\-\-adjust\-vma=\fIincr
 192 Adjust the address of all sections, as well as the start address, by
 193 adding \fIincr\fP.  Some object file formats do not permit section
 194 addresses to be changed arbitrarily.  Note that this does not relocate
 195 the sections; if the program expects sections to be loaded at a
 196 certain address, and this option is used to change the sections such
 197 that they are loaded at a different address, the program may fail.
 198 .TP
 199 .B \fB\-\-adjust\-section\-vma=\fIsection{=,+,-}val
 200 Set or adjust the address of the named \fIsection\fP.  If \fI=\fP is
 201 used, the section address is set to \fIval\fP.  Otherwise, \fIval\fP
 202 is added to or subtracted from the section address.  See the comments
 203 under \fB\-\-adjust\-vma\fP, above.  If \fIsection\fP does not exist
 204 in the input file, a warning will be issued, unless
 205 \fB\-\-no\-adjust\-warnings\fP is used.
 206 .TP
 207 .B \fB\-\-adjust\-warnings
 208 If \fB\-\-adjust\-section\-vma\fP is used, and the named section does
 209 not exist, issue a warning.  This is the default.
 210 .TP
 211 .B \fB\-\-no\-adjust\-warnings
 212 Do not issue a warning if \fB\-\-adjust\-section\-vma\fP is used, even
 213 if the named section does not exist.
 214 .TP
 215 .B \fB\-\-set\-section\-flags=\fIsection=flags
 216 Set the flags for the named section.  The \fIflags\fP argument is a
 217 comma separated string of flag names.  The recognized names are
 218 \fIalloc\fP, \fIload\fP, \fIreadonly\fP, \fIcode\fP, \fIdata\fP, and
 219 \fIrom\fP.  Not all flags are meaningful for all object file
 220 formats.
 221 .TP
 222 .B \fB\-\-add\-section=\fIsectionname=filename
 223 Add a new section named \fIsectionname\fR while copying the file.  The
 224 contents of the new section are taken from the file \fIfilename\fR.
 225 The size of the section will be the size of the file.  This option
 226 only works on file formats which can support sections with arbitrary
 227 names.
 228 .TP
 229 .B \-\-change\-leading\-char
 230 Some object file formats use special characters at the start of
 231 symbols.  The most common such character is underscore, which compilers
 232 often add before every symbol.  This option tells
 233 .B objcopy
 234 to change the leading character of every symbol when it converts
 235 between object file formats.  If the object file formats use the same
 236 leading character, this option has no effect.  Otherwise, it will add
 237 a character, or remove a character, or change a character, as
 238 appropriate.
 239 .TP
 240 .B \-\-remove\-leading\-char
 241 If the first character of a global symbol is a special symbol leading
 242 character used by the object file format, remove the character.  The
 243 most common symbol leading character is underscore.  This option will
 244 remove a leading underscore from all global symbols.  This can be
 245 useful if you want to link together objects of different file formats
 246 with different conventions for symbol names.  This is different from
 247 @code{--change-leading-char} because it always changes the symbol name
 248 when appropriate, regardless of the object file format of the output
 249 .TP
 250 .B \-\-weaken
 251 Change all global symbols in the file to be weak.
 252 .TP
 253 .B \-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose
 254 Verbose output: list all object files modified.  In the case of
 255 archives, "\fBobjcopy \-V\fR" lists all members of the archive.
 256 .TP
 257 .B \-V\fR, \fB\-\-version
 258 Show the version number of
 259 .B objcopy
 260 and exit.
 261 .TP
 262 .B \-\-help
 263 Show a summary of the options to
 264 .B objcopy
 265 and exit.
 266 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 267 .RB "`\|" binutils "\|'"
 268 entry in
 269 .B
 270 info\c
 271 \&;
 272 .I
 273 The GNU Binary Utilities\c
 274 \&, Roland H. Pesch (June 1993).
 275
 276 .SH COPYING
 277 Copyright (c) 1993, 94, 95, 96, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 278 .PP
 279 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
 280 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
 281 are preserved on all copies.
 282 .PP
 283 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
 284 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
 285 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
 286 permission notice identical to this one.
 287 .PP
 288 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
 289 manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
 290 versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
 291 translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
 292 the original English.