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Object files

File format

Object files participate in program linking (building a program) and program execution (running a program). For convenience and efficiency, the object file format provides parallel views of a file's contents, reflecting the differing needs of those activities. The object file's organization is shown below.

Linking View Execution View
ELF header ELF header
Program header table Program header table
optional  
Section 1 Segment 1
[. . .]  
Section n Segment 2
[. . .]  
[. . .] [. . .]
Section header table Section header table
  optional

Object file format

An ELF header resides at the beginning and holds a ``road map'' describing the file's organization. Sections hold the bulk of object file information for the linking view: instructions, data, symbol table, relocation information, and so on, these are described in ``Special sections''.

A program header table tells the system how to create a process image. Files used to build a process image (execute a program) must have a program header table; relocatable files do not need one. A section header table contains information describing the file's sections. Every section has an entry in the table; each entry gives information such as the section name, the section size, and so on. Files used during linking must have a section header table; other object files may or may not have one.


NOTE: Although the figure shows the program header table immediately after the ELF header, and the section header table following the sections, actual files may differ. Moreover, sections and segments have no specified order. Only the ELF header has a fixed position in the file.


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