@kindex --nmagic
@item -n
@itemx --nmagic
-Turn off page alignment of sections, and mark the output as
-@code{NMAGIC} if possible.
+Turn off page alignment of sections, and disable linking against shared
+libraries. If the output format supports Unix style magic numbers,
+mark the output as @code{NMAGIC}.
@kindex -N
@kindex --omagic
@item --as-needed
@itemx --no-as-needed
This option affects ELF DT_NEEDED tags for dynamic libraries mentioned
-on the command line after the @option{--as-needed} option. Normally,
+on the command line after the @option{--as-needed} option. Normally
the linker will add a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library mentioned
on the command line, regardless of whether the library is actually
-needed. @option{--as-needed} causes a DT_NEEDED tag to only be emitted
-for a library that satisfies a symbol reference from regular objects
-which is undefined at the point that the library was linked, or, if
-the library is not found in the DT_NEEDED lists of other libraries
-linked up to that point, a reference from another dynamic library.
+needed or not. @option{--as-needed} causes a DT_NEEDED tag to only be
+emitted for a library that satisfies an undefined symbol reference
+from a regular object file or, if the library is not found in the
+DT_NEEDED lists of other libraries linked up to that point, an
+undefined symbol reference from another dynamic library.
@option{--no-as-needed} restores the default behaviour.
@kindex --add-needed
@kindex --no-add-needed
@item --add-needed
@itemx --no-add-needed
-This option affects the treatment of dynamic libraries from ELF
-DT_NEEDED tags in dynamic libraries mentioned on the command line after
-the @option{--no-add-needed} option. Normally, the linker will add
-a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library from DT_NEEDED tags.
-@option{--no-add-needed} causes DT_NEEDED tags will never be emitted
-for those libraries from DT_NEEDED tags. @option{--add-needed} restores
-the default behaviour.
+These two options have been deprecated because of the similarity of
+their names to the @option{--as-needed} and @option{--no-as-needed}
+options. They have been replaced by @option{--copy-dt-needed-entries}
+and @option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries}.
@kindex -assert @var{keyword}
@item -assert @var{keyword}
force checking in that case by using the @option{--check-sections}
option.
+@kindex --copy-dt-needed-entries
+@kindex --no-copy-dt-needed-entries
+@item --copy-dt-needed-entries
+@itemx --no-copy-dt-needed-entries
+This option affects the treatment of dynamic libraries referred to
+by DT_NEEDED tags @emph{inside} ELF dynamic libraries mentioned on the
+command line. Normally the linker will add a DT_NEEDED tag to the
+output binary for each library mentioned in a DT_NEEDED tag in an
+input dynamic library. With @option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries}
+specified on the command line however any dynamic libraries that
+follow it will have their DT_NEEDED entries ignored. The default
+behaviour can be restored with @option{--copy-dt-needed-entries}.
+
+This option also has an effect on the resolution of symbols in dynamic
+libraries. With the default setting dynamic libraries mentioned on
+the command line will be recursively searched, following their
+DT_NEEDED tags to other libraries, in order to resolve symbols
+required by the output binary. With
+@option{--no-copy-dt-needed-entries} specified however the searching
+of dynamic libraries that follow it will stop with the dynamic
+library itself. No DT_NEEDED links will be traversed to resolve
+symbols.
+
@cindex cross reference table
@kindex --cref
@item --cref
@kindex --relax
@cindex synthesizing linker
@cindex relaxing addressing modes
+@cindex --no-relax
@item --relax
+@itemx --no-relax
An option with machine dependent effects.
@ifset GENERIC
This option is only supported on a few targets.
@xref{PowerPC ELF32,,@command{ld} and PowerPC 32-bit ELF Support}.
@end ifset
-On some platforms, the @samp{--relax} option performs global
-optimizations that become possible when the linker resolves addressing
-in the program, such as relaxing address modes and synthesizing new
-instructions in the output object file.
+On some platforms the @samp{--relax} option performs target specific,
+global optimizations that become possible when the linker resolves
+addressing in the program, such as relaxing address modes,
+synthesizing new instructions, selecting shorter version of current
+instructions, and combinig constant values.
On some platforms these link time global optimizations may make symbolic
debugging of the resulting executable impossible.
@ifset GENERIC
-This is known to be
-the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300 family of processors.
+This is known to be the case for the Matsushita MN10200 and MN10300
+family of processors.
@end ifset
@ifset GENERIC
but ignored.
@end ifset
+On platforms where @samp{--relax} is accepted the option
+@samp{--no-relax} can be used to disable the feature.
+
@cindex retaining specified symbols
@cindex stripping all but some symbols
@cindex symbols, retaining selectively
@item
the @code{ENTRY(@var{symbol})} command in a linker script;
@item
-the value of the symbol @code{start}, if defined;
+the value of a target specific symbol, if it is defined; For many
+targets this is @code{start}, but PE and BeOS based systems for example
+check a list of possible entry symbols, matching the first one found.
@item
the address of the first byte of the @samp{.text} section, if present;
@item
@cindex Xtensa options
@table @option
-@kindex --no-relax
-@item --no-relax
-Since the Xtensa version of @code{ld} enables the @option{--relax} option
-by default, the @option{--no-relax} option is provided to disable
-relaxation.
-
@item --size-opt
When optimizing indirect calls to direct calls, optimize for code size
more than performance. With this option, the linker will not insert
projects / deliverable / binutils-gdb.git / blobdiff