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elf_begin(3ELF)		     ELF Library Functions	       elf_begin(3ELF)

NAME
       elf_begin, elf_end, elf_memory, elf_next, elf_rand - process ELF object
       files

SYNOPSIS
       cc [ flag... ] file ... -lelf [ library ... ]
       #include <libelf.h>

       Elf *elf_begin(int fildes, Elf_Cmd cmd, Elf *ref);

       int elf_end(Elf *elf);

       Elf *elf_memory(char *image, size_t sz);

       Elf_Cmd elf_next(Elf *elf);

       size_t elf_rand(Elf *elf, size_t offset);

DESCRIPTION
       The elf_begin(), elf_end(), elf_memory(),  elf_next(),  and  elf_rand()
       functions  work together to process Executable and Linking Format (ELF)
       object files, either individually or  as	 members  of  archives.	 After
       obtaining  an ELF descriptor from elf_begin() or elf_memory(), the pro‐
       gram can read an existing file, update an existing file,	 or  create  a
       new  file.  The	fildes	argument  is  an  open	file  descriptor  that
       elf_begin() uses for reading or writing. The elf	 argument  is  an  ELF
       descriptor  previously returned from elf_begin(). The initial file off‐
       set (see lseek(2)) is unconstrained, and the resulting file  offset  is
       undefined.

       The cmd argument can take the following values:

       ELF_C_NULL     When  a  program	sets  cmd  to  this value, elf_begin()
		      returns a null pointer, without opening a	 new  descrip‐
		      tor.  ref	 is ignored for this command. See the examples
		      below for more information.

       ELF_C_READ     When a program wants  to	examine	 the  contents	of  an
		      existing	file, it should set cmd to this value. Depend‐
		      ing on the value of ref, this command  examines  archive
		      members or entire files. Three cases can occur.

			  o	 If  ref  is a null pointer, elf_begin() allo‐
				 cates a new ELF descriptor  and  prepares  to
				 process  the  entire  file. If the file being
				 read is an archive, elf_begin() also prepares
				 the  resulting descriptor to examine the ini‐
				 tial archive  member  on  the	next  call  to
				 elf_begin(),  as  if  the  program  had  used
				 elf_next() or elf_rand() to ``move''  to  the
				 initial member.

			  o	 If  ref  is  a non-null descriptor associated
				 with an archive file, elf_begin() lets a pro‐
				 gram obtain a separate ELF descriptor associ‐
				 ated with an individual member.  The  program
				 should	 have used elf_next() or elf_rand() to
				 position ref appropriately  (except  for  the
				 initial  member,  which elf_begin() prepares;
				 see the example below). In this case,	fildes
				 should	 be  the same file descriptor used for
				 the parent archive.

			  o	 If ref is a non-null ELF descriptor  that  is
				 not  an  archive,  elf_begin() increments the
				 number of activations for the descriptor  and
				 returns   ref,	  without   allocating	a  new
				 descriptor and without changing the  descrip‐
				 tor's	read/write  permissions.  To terminate
				 the descriptor for ref, the program must call
				 elf_end()  once  for each activation. See the
				 examples below for more information.

       ELF_C_RDWR     This command duplicates the actions  of  ELF_C_READ  and
		      additionally allows the program to update the file image
		      (see elf_update(3ELF)). Using ELF_C_READ gives  a	 read-
		      only view of the file, while ELF_C_RDWR lets the program
		      read and write the file. ELF_C_RDWR is not valid for ar‐
		      chive  members.  If   ref is non-null, it must have been
		      created with the ELF_C_RDWR command.

       ELF_C_WRITE    If the program wants to ignore previous  file  contents,
		      presumably  to  create  a new file, it should set cmd to
		      this value. ref is ignored for this command.

       The elf_begin() function operates on all files  (including  files  with
       zero  bytes),  providing it can allocate memory for its internal struc‐
       tures and read any necessary information from the file. Programs	 read‐
       ing  object  files  can	call  elf_kind(3ELF) or elf32_getehdr(3ELF) to
       determine the file type (only object files have an ELF header). If  the
       file is an archive with no more members to process, or an error occurs,
       elf_begin() returns a null pointer. Otherwise, the return  value	 is  a
       non-null ELF descriptor.

       Before the first call to elf_begin(), a program must call elf_version()
       to coordinate versions.

       The elf_end() function is used to terminate an ELF descriptor, elf, and
       to  deallocate  data  associated with the descriptor. Until the program
       terminates a descriptor, the data remain allocated. A null  pointer  is
       allowed	as  an	argument,  to  simplify error handling. If the program
       wants to write data associated with the ELF descriptor to the file,  it
       must use elf_update() before calling elf_end().

       Calling	elf_end()  removes  one	 activation  and returns the remaining
       activation count. The library does not terminate the  descriptor	 until
       the  activation	count  reaches 0. Consequently, a 0 return value indi‐
       cates the ELF descriptor is no longer valid.

       The elf_memory() function returns a pointer to an ELF  descriptor.  The
       ELF image has read operations enabled ( ELF_C_READ). The image argument
       is a pointer to an image of the Elf file mapped	into  memory.  The  sz
       argument	 is  the size of the ELF image. An ELF image that is mapped in
       with elf_memory() can be read and modified, but the ELF image size can‐
       not be changed.

       The  elf_next() function provides sequential access to the next archive
       member. Having an ELF descriptor, elf, associated with an archive  mem‐
       ber, elf_next() prepares the containing archive to access the following
       member when the program calls elf_begin(). After successfully position‐
       ing  an	archive	 for  the  next	 member,  elf_next() returns the value
       ELF_C_READ. Otherwise, the open file was not an archive, elf was	 NULL,
       or  an  error  occurred,	 and the return value is ELF_C_NULL. In either
       case, the return value can be passed as	an  argument  to  elf_begin(),
       specifying the appropriate action.

       The  elf_rand()	function provides random archive processing, preparing
       elf to access an arbitrary archive member. The elf argument must	 be  a
       descriptor for the archive itself, not a member within the archive. The
       offset argument specifies the byte offset from the beginning of the ar‐
       chive   to   the	  archive   header   of	  the	desired	  member.  See
       elf_getarsym(3ELF) for more information about archive  member  offsets.
       When  elf_rand()	 works,	 it  returns  offset. Otherwise, it returns 0,
       because an error occurred, elf was NULL, or the file was not an archive
       (no  archive  member  can have a zero offset). A program can mix random
       and sequential archive processing.

   System Services
       When processing a file, the library decides when to read or  write  the
       file,  depending	 on  the  program's  requests.	Normally,  the library
       assumes the file descriptor remains usable for  the  life  of  the  ELF
       descriptor.  If,	 however, a program must process many files simultane‐
       ously and the underlying operating system limits	 the  number  of  open
       files, the program can use elf_cntl() to let it reuse file descriptors.
       After calling elf_cntl() with appropriate arguments,  the  program  can
       close the file descriptor without interfering with the library.

       All  data  associated  with  an	ELF  descriptor remain allocated until
       elf_end()  terminates  the  descriptor's	 last  activation.  After  the
       descriptors  have  been terminated, the storage is released; attempting
       to reference such data gives undefined behavior. Consequently,  a  pro‐
       gram that deals with multiple input (or output) files must keep the ELF
       descriptors active until it finishes with them.

EXAMPLES
       Example 1 A sample program of calling the elf_begin() function.

       A prototype for reading a file appears on the next page. If the file is
       a simple object file, the program executes the loop one time, receiving
       a null descriptor in the second iteration. In this case, both  elf  and
       arf  will  have the same value, the activation count will be 2, and the
       program calls elf_end() twice to terminate the descriptor. If the  file
       is an archive, the loop processes each archive member in turn, ignoring
       those that are not object files.

	 if (elf_version(EV_CURRENT) == EV_NONE)
	 {
	      /* library out of date */
	      /* recover from error */
	 }
	 cmd = ELF_C_READ;
	 arf = elf_begin(fildes, cmd, (Elf *)0);
	 while ((elf = elf_begin(fildes, cmd, arf)) != 0)
	 {
	      if ((ehdr = elf32_getehdr(elf)) != 0)
	      {
		   /* process the file ... */
	      }
	      cmd = elf_next(elf);
	      elf_end(elf);
	 }
	 elf_end(arf);

       Alternatively, the next example illustrates random archive  processing.
       After  identifying  the file as an archive, the program repeatedly pro‐
       cesses archive members of interest. For	clarity,  this	example	 omits
       error  checking	and  ignores  simple  object files. Additionally, this
       fragment preserves the ELF descriptors for all archive members, because
       it does not call elf_end() to terminate them.

	 elf_version(EV_CURRENT);
	 arf = elf_begin(fildes, ELF_C_READ, (Elf *)0);
	 if (elf_kind(arf) != ELF_K_AR)
	 {
	      /* not an archive */
	 }
	 /* initial processing */
	 /* set offset = ... for desired member header */
	 while (elf_rand(arf, offset) == offset)
	 {
	      if ((elf = elf_begin(fildes, ELF_C_READ, arf)) == 0)
		   break;
	      if ((ehdr = elf32_getehdr(elf)) != 0)
	      {
		   /* process archive member ... */
	      }
	      /* set offset = ... for desired member header */
	 }

       An  archive  starts  with a ``magic string'' that has SARMAG bytes; the
       initial archive member follows immediately. An application  could  thus
       provide	the  following	function  to  rewind  an archive (the function
       returns −1 for errors and 0 otherwise).

	 #include <ar.h>
	 #include <libelf.h>
	 int
	 rewindelf(Elf *elf)
	 {
	      if (elf_rand(elf, (size_t)SARMAG) == SARMAG)
		   return 0;
	      return −1;
	 }

       The following outline shows how one might create a new ELF  file.  This
       example is simplified to show the overall flow.

	 elf_version(EV_CURRENT);
	 fildes = open("path/name", O_RDWR|O_TRUNC|O_CREAT, 0666);
	 if ((elf = elf_begin(fildes, ELF_C_WRITE, (Elf *)0)) == 0)
	      return;
	 ehdr = elf32_newehdr(elf);
	 phdr = elf32_newphdr(elf, count);
	 scn = elf_newscn(elf);
	 shdr = elf32_getshdr(scn);
	 data = elf_newdata(scn);
	 elf_update(elf, ELF_C_WRITE);
	 elf_end(elf);

       Finally,	 the  following outline shows how one might update an existing
       ELF file. Again, this example is simplified to show the overall flow.

	 elf_version(EV_CURRENT);
	 fildes = open("path/name", O_RDWR);
	 elf = elf_begin(fildes, ELF_C_RDWR, (Elf *)0);
	 /* add new or delete old information */
	 ...
	 /* ensure that the memory image of the file is complete */
	 elf_update(elf, ELF_C_NULL);
	 elf_update(elf, ELF_C_WRITE);	 /* update file */
	 elf_end(elf);

       Notice that both file creation examples open the file  with  write  and
       read  permissions. On systems that support mmap(2), the library uses it
       to enhance performance, and mmap(2) requires a readable	file  descrip‐
       tor.  Although  the  library  can use a write-only file descriptor, the
       application will not obtain the performance advantages of mmap(2).

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
       │      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     │	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │Interface Stability	     │Committed			   │
       ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
       │MT-Level		     │MT-Safe			   │
       └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

SEE ALSO
       creat(2),   lseek(2),   mmap(2),	  open(2),   ar.h(3HEAD),   elf(3ELF),
       elf32_getehdr(3ELF),	    elf_cntl(3ELF),	   elf_getarhdr(3ELF),
       elf_getarsym(3ELF),	  elf_getbase(3ELF),	    elf_getdata(3ELF),
       elf_getscn(3ELF),  elf_kind(3ELF), elf_rawfile(3ELF), elf_update(3ELF),
       elf_version(3ELF), libelf(3LIB),	 attributes(5)

SunOS 5.10			  11 Jul 2001		       elf_begin(3ELF)
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