LD(1)                      OpenBSD Reference Manual                      LD(1)

NAME
     ld - link editor



SYNOPSIS
     ld [-MNnprSstXxZz] [-A symbol-file] [-assert keyword] [-Blinkmode]
        [-D data-size] [-d c] [-d p] [-e entry] [-llibrary-specifier]
        [-Llibrary-search-path] [-Rrecord-library-search-path] [-nostdlib]
        [-o filename] [-T address] [-u symbol] [-V shlib-version] [-y symbol]

DESCRIPTION
     ld combines the object and archive files given on the command line into a
     new object file. The output object file is either an executable program,
     a shared object suitable for loading at run-time, or an object file that
     can once again be processed by ld. Object files and archives are pro-
     cessed in the order given on the command line.

     The options are as follows:

     -A symbol-file
             The symbol-file is taken as a base for link-editing the object
             files on the command line.

     -assert keyword
             This option has currently no effect. It is here for compatibility
             with SunOS ld. All conditions which would cause a Sun assertion
             to fail will currently always cause error or warning messages
             from ld.

     -Bdynamic
             Specifies that linking against dynamic libraries can take place.
             If a library specifier of the form -lspec appears on the command
             line, ld searches for a library of the from lib<spec>.so.<n>.<m>
             (see the -l option) according to the search rules in effect. If
             such a file can not be found a traditional archive is looked for.
             This options can appear anywhere on the command line and is com-
             plementary to -Bstatic.

     -Bstatic
             The counterpart of -Bdynamic. This option turns off dynamic link-
             ing for all library specifiers until a -Bdynamic is once again
             given. Any explicitly mentioned shared object encountered on the
             command line while this option is in effect is flagged as an er-
             ror.

     -Bshareable
             Instructs the linker to build a shared object from the object
             files rather than a normal executable image.

     -Bsymbolic
             This option causes all symbolic references in the output to be
             resolved in this link-edit session. The only remaining run-time
             relocation requirements are base-relative relocations, i.e.
             translation with respect to the load address. Failure to resolve
             any symbolic reference causes an error to be reported.

     -Bforcearchive
             Force all members of archives to be loaded, whether or not such
             members contribute a definition to any plain object files. Useful
             for making a shared library from an archive of PIC objects with-
             out having to unpack the archive.

     -Bsilly
             Search for .sa silly archive companions of shared objects. Useful

             for compatibility with version 3 shared objects.

     -D data-size
             Set the size of the data segment. For sanity's sake, this should
             be larger than the cumulative data sizes of the input files.

     -d c    Force allocation of commons even producing relocatable output.

     -d p    Force alias definitions of procedure calls in non-PIC code. Use-
             ful to obtain shareable code in the presence of run-time reloca-
             tions as such calls will be re-directed through the Procedure
             Linkage Table (see link(5).)

     -e entry
             Specifies the entry symbol for an executable.

     -Lpath  Add path to the list of directories to search for libraries spec-
             ified with the -l option.

     -lspec  This option specifies a library to be considered for inclusion in
             the output. If the -Bdynamic option is in effect, a shared li-
             brary of the form lib<spec>.so.<m>.<n> is searched for first
             (where m is the major, and n is the minor version number, respec-
             tively.)  The library with the highest version found in the
             search path is selected.  If no shared library is found or the
             -Bstatic option is in effect, an archive of the form lib<spec>.a
             is looked for in the library search path.

     -M      Produce output about the mapping of segments of the input files
             and the values assigned to (global) symbols in the output file.

     -N      Produce an OMAGIC output file.

     -n      Produce a NMAGIC output file.

     -nostdlib
             Do not search the built-in path (usually ``/usr/lib'') for -l
             specified libraries.

     -o filename
             Specifies the name of the output file. Defaults to ``a.out''.

     -p      Make the data segment start on a page boundary.

     -Q      Produce a QMAGIC output file.

     -r      Produce relocatable object file, suitable for another pass
             through ld.

     -Rpath  Record path within the executable for run-time library search.
             This only applies to dynamically linked executables.

     -S      Strip all debugger symbols from the output.

     -s      Strip all symbols from the output.

     -T address
             Specifies the start address of the text segment, with respect to
             which all input files will be relocated.

     -t      Leave a trace of the input files as they are processed.

     -u symbol
             Force symbol to be marked as undefined. Useful to force loading
             of an archive member in the absence of any other references to

             that member.

     -V version
             Put the given version number into the output shared library (if
             one is created). Useful to make shared libraries compatible with
             other operating systems. E.g., SunOS 4.x libraries use version
             number 3. Defaults to 8.

     -X      Discard local symbols in the input files that start with the let-
             ter ``L''.

     -x      Discard all local symbols in the input files.

     -y symbol
             Trace the manipulations inflicted on symbol.

     -z      Make a ZMAGIC output file.  This is the default.

     -Z      Make an old-style ZMAGIC output file.  This means no flags and no
             machine ID in the magic.


     The following long options are exceptions to the normal option syntax de-
     scribed above, and are provided for compatibility with later versions of
     GNU ld:

     -rpath path
             Record the given path within the executable for run-time library
             search, as for -R. This only applies to dynamically linked exe-
             cutables.

     -shared
             Instructs the linker to build a shared object from the object
             files rather than a normal executable image.

     -soname library-name
             This option and its library-name argument are ignored. They are
             provided for compatibility with versions of ld, which allow the
             user to specify an internal name and version number for dynami-
             cally-linked shared libraries.

     --whole-archive
             A positional qualifier to force loading from archives.  For each
             archive mentioned on the commandline after this option, include
             every object file from the archive in the link, rather than
             searching the archive for the required object files.  This is
             normally used when building shared libraries.

             The positional syntax is not currently implemented; --whole-
             archive is treated exactly as -Bforcearchive.

     --no-whole-archive
             This option  should turn off the effect of a preceding --whole-
             archive for any subsequent archive files on the command line.  It
             is currently ignored.

ENVIRONMENT
     ld utilizes the following environment variables:

     LD_LIBRARY_PATH  This colon-separated list of directories is inserted in-
                      to the search path for libraries following any directo-
                      ries specified via -L options and preceding the built-in
                      path.

     LD_NOSTD_PATH    When set, do not search the built-in path for libraries.
                      This is an alternative to the -nostdlib command-line
                      flag.

SEE ALSO
     ldconfig(1),  ld.so(1),  link(5)

CAVEATS
     An entry point must now explicitly be given if the output is intended to
     be a normal executable program. This was not the case for the previous
     version of ld.

BUGS
     Shared objects are not properly checked for undefined symbols.

     Cascading of shared object defeats the -Bstatic option.

     All shared objects presented to ld are marked for run-time loading in the
     output file, even if no symbols are needed from them.

HISTORY
     The shared library model employed by ld appeared first in SunOS 4.0.

OpenBSD 2.6                    October 14, 1993                              4