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objcopy

OBJCOPY(1)                   GNU Development Tools                  OBJCOPY(1)



NAME
       objcopy - copy and translate object files

SYNOPSIS
       objcopy [-F bfdname|--target=bfdname]
               [-I bfdname|--input-target=bfdname]
               [-O bfdname|--output-target=bfdname]
               [-B bfdarch|--binary-architecture=bfdarch]
               [-S|--strip-all] [-g|--strip-debug]
               [-K symbolname|--keep-symbol=symbolname]
               [-N symbolname|--strip-symbol=symbolname]
               [-G symbolname|--keep-global-symbol=symbolname]
               [-L symbolname|--localize-symbol=symbolname]
               [-W symbolname|--weaken-symbol=symbolname]
               [-x|--discard-all] [-X|--discard-locals]
               [-b byte|--byte=byte]
               [-i interleave|--interleave=interleave]
               [-j sectionname|--only-section=sectionname]
               [-R sectionname|--remove-section=sectionname]
               [-p|--preserve-dates]
               [--debugging]
               [--gap-fill=val] [--pad-to=address]
               [--set-start=val] [--adjust-start=incr]
               [--change-addresses=incr]
               [--change-section-address section{=,+,-}val]
               [--change-section-lma section{=,+,-}val]
               [--change-section-vma section{=,+,-}val]
               [--change-warnings] [--no-change-warnings]
               [--set-section-flags section=flags]
               [--add-section sectionname=filename]
               [--rename-section oldname=newname[,flags]]
               [--change-leading-char ] [--remove-leading-char]
               [--srec-len=ival ] [--srec-forceS3]
               [--redefine-sym old=new ]
               [--weaken]
               [--keep-symbols=filename]
               [--strip-symbols=filename]
               [--keep-global-symbols=filename]
               [--localize-symbols=filename]
               [--weaken-symbols=filename]
               [--alt-machine-code=index]
               [--prefix-symbols=string]
               [--prefix-sections=string]
               [--prefix-alloc-sections=string]
               [-v|--verbose]
               [-V|--version]
               [--help]
               infile [outfile]

DESCRIPTION
       The  GNU  objcopy  utility  copies  the  contents  of an object file to
       another.  objcopy uses the GNU BFD Library to read and write the object
       files.   It can write the destination object file in a format different
       from that of the source object file.  The exact behavior of objcopy  is
       controlled  by  command-line options.  Note that objcopy should be able
       to copy a fully linked file between any two formats. However, copying a
       relocatable  object  file  between  any  two  formats  may  not work as
       expected.

       objcopy creates temporary files to do its translations and deletes them
       afterward.   objcopy  uses  BFD  to do all its translation work; it has
       access to all the  formats  described  in  BFD  and  thus  is  able  to
       recognize most formats without being told explicitly.

       objcopy  can be used to generate S-records by using an output target of
       srec (e.g., use -O srec).

       objcopy can be used to generate a raw binary file by  using  an  output
       target  of  binary (e.g., use -O binary).  When objcopy generates a raw
       binary file, it will essentially produce a memory dump of the  contents
       of  the input object file.  All symbols and relocation information will
       be discarded.  The memory dump will start at the load  address  of  the
       lowest section copied into the output file.

       When  generating an S-record or a raw binary file, it may be helpful to
       use -S to remove sections containing debugging  information.   In  some
       cases  -R  will  be useful to remove sections which contain information
       that is not needed by the binary file.

       Note - objcopy is not able to change the endianness of its input files.
       If  the  input format has an endianness, (some formats do not), objcopy
       can only copy the inputs into file formats that have the  same  endian-
       ness or which have no endianness (eg srec).

OPTIONS
       infile
       outfile
           The  input  and  output files, respectively.  If you do not specify
           outfile, objcopy creates a temporary file and destructively renames
           the result with the name of infile.

       -I bfdname
       --input-target=bfdname
           Consider the source file's object format to be bfdname, rather than
           attempting to deduce it.

       -O bfdname
       --output-target=bfdname
           Write the output file using the object format bfdname.

       -F bfdname
       --target=bfdname
           Use bfdname as the object format for both the input and the  output
           file; i.e., simply transfer data from source to destination with no
           translation.

       -B bfdarch
       --binary-architecture=bfdarch
           Useful when transforming a raw binary input  file  into  an  object
           file.   In this case the output architecture can be set to bfdarch.
           This option will be ignored if the input file has a known  bfdarch.
           You can access this binary data inside a program by referencing the
           special symbols that are created by the conversion process.   These
           symbols  are  called _binary_objfile_start, _binary_objfile_end and
           _binary_objfile_size.  e.g. you can transform a picture  file  into
           an object file and then access it in your code using these symbols.

       -j sectionname
       --only-section=sectionname
           Copy only the named section from the input file to the output file.
           This  option  may  be  given  more than once.  Note that using this
           option inappropriately may make the output file unusable.

       -R sectionname
       --remove-section=sectionname
           Remove any section named sectionname from the  output  file.   This
           option  may  be  given more than once.  Note that using this option
           inappropriately may make the output file unusable.

       -S
       --strip-all
           Do not copy relocation and symbol information from the source file.

       -g
       --strip-debug
           Do not copy debugging symbols from the source file.

       --strip-unneeded
           Strip all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.

       -K symbolname
       --keep-symbol=symbolname
           Copy  only symbol symbolname from the source file.  This option may
           be given more than once.

       -N symbolname
       --strip-symbol=symbolname
           Do not copy symbol symbolname from the source  file.   This  option
           may be given more than once.

       -G symbolname
       --keep-global-symbol=symbolname
           Keep  only  symbol symbolname global.  Make all other symbols local
           to the file, so that they are not visible externally.  This  option
           may be given more than once.

       -L symbolname
       --localize-symbol=symbolname
           Make symbol symbolname local to the file, so that it is not visible
           externally.  This option may be given more than once.

       -W symbolname
       --weaken-symbol=symbolname
           Make symbol symbolname weak. This option may  be  given  more  than
           once.

       -x
       --discard-all
           Do not copy non-global symbols from the source file.

       -X
       --discard-locals
           Do not copy compiler-generated local symbols.  (These usually start
           with L or ..)

       -b byte
       --byte=byte
           Keep only every byteth byte of the input file (header data  is  not
           affected).   byte can be in the range from 0 to interleave-1, where
           interleave is given by  the  -i  or  --interleave  option,  or  the
           default  of 4.  This option is useful for creating files to program
           ROM.  It is typically used with an "srec" output target.

       -i interleave
       --interleave=interleave
           Only copy one out of every interleave bytes.  Select which byte  to
           copy  with  the  -b  or  --byte option.  The default is 4.  objcopy
           ignores this option if you do not specify either -b or --byte.

       -p
       --preserve-dates
           Set the access and modification dates of the output file to be  the
           same as those of the input file.

       --debugging
           Convert  debugging  information,  if  possible.   This  is  not the
           default because only certain debugging formats are  supported,  and
           the conversion process can be time consuming.

       --gap-fill val
           Fill gaps between sections with val.  This operation applies to the
           load address (LMA) of the sections.  It is done by  increasing  the
           size  of  the  section  with  the lower address, and filling in the
           extra space created with val.

       --pad-to address
           Pad the output file up to the load address address.  This  is  done
           by  increasing  the  size  of the last section.  The extra space is
           filled in with the value specified by --gap-fill (default zero).

       --set-start val
           Set the start address of the new file to val.  Not all object  file
           formats support setting the start address.

       --change-start incr
       --adjust-start incr
           Change  the start address by adding incr.  Not all object file for-
           mats support setting the start address.

       --change-addresses incr
       --adjust-vma incr
           Change the VMA and LMA addresses of all sections, as  well  as  the
           start  address,  by  adding  incr.  Some object file formats do not
           permit section addresses to be changed arbitrarily.  Note that this
           does  not relocate the sections; if the program expects sections to
           be loaded at a certain address, and this option is used  to  change
           the  sections such that they are loaded at a different address, the
           program may fail.

       --change-section-address section{=,+,-}val
       --adjust-section-vma section{=,+,-}val
           Set or change both the VMA address and the LMA address of the named
           section.   If = is used, the section address is set to val.  Other-
           wise, val is added to or subtracted from the section address.   See
           the  comments  under --change-addresses, above. If section does not
           exist  in  the  input  file,  a  warning  will  be  issued,  unless
           --no-change-warnings is used.

       --change-section-lma section{=,+,-}val
           Set  or  change  the  LMA  address  of  the named section.  The LMA
           address is the address where the section will be loaded into memory
           at  program  load  time.   Normally  this  is  the  same as the VMA
           address, which is the address of the section at program  run  time,
           but  on  some  systems, especially those where a program is held in
           ROM, the two can be different.  If = is used, the  section  address
           is  set  to val.  Otherwise, val is added to or subtracted from the
           section address.  See the comments under --change-addresses, above.
           If  section  does  not  exist  in the input file, a warning will be
           issued, unless --no-change-warnings is used.

       --change-section-vma section{=,+,-}val
           Set or change the VMA  address  of  the  named  section.   The  VMA
           address  is  the address where the section will be located once the
           program has started executing.  Normally this is the  same  as  the
           LMA  address, which is the address where the section will be loaded
           into memory, but on some systems, especially those where a  program
           is  held  in ROM, the two can be different.  If = is used, the sec-
           tion address is set to val.  Otherwise, val is  added  to  or  sub-
           tracted   from   the  section  address.   See  the  comments  under
           --change-addresses, above.  If section does not exist in the  input
           file,  a  warning  will  be  issued, unless --no-change-warnings is
           used.

       --change-warnings
       --adjust-warnings
           If    --change-section-address    or    --change-section-lma     or
           --change-section-vma is used, and the named section does not exist,
           issue a warning.  This is the default.

       --no-change-warnings
       --no-adjust-warnings
           Do not issue a warning if --change-section-address or --adjust-sec-
           tion-lma or --adjust-section-vma is used, even if the named section
           does not exist.

       --set-section-flags section=flags
           Set the flags for the named section.  The flags argument is a comma
           separated  string  of  flag names.  The recognized names are alloc,
           contents, load, noload,  readonly,  code,  data,  rom,  share,  and
           debug.   You can set the contents flag for a section which does not
           have contents, but it is not meaningful to clear the contents  flag
           of  a  section  which  does  have contents--just remove the section
           instead.  Not all flags are meaningful for all object file formats.

       --add-section sectionname=filename
           Add  a  new  section named sectionname while copying the file.  The
           contents of the new section are taken from the file filename.   The
           size of the section will be the size of the file.  This option only
           works on file formats which can  support  sections  with  arbitrary
           names.

       --rename-section oldname=newname[,flags]
           Rename  a  section from oldname to newname, optionally changing the
           section's flags to flags in the process.  This  has  the  advantage
           over  usng a linker script to perform the rename in that the output
           stays as an object file and does not become a linked executable.

           This option is  particularly  helpful  when  the  input  format  is
           binary,  since  this will always create a section called .data.  If
           for example, you wanted instead to create a section called  .rodata
           containing  binary data you could use the following command line to
           achieve it:

                     objcopy -I binary -O <output_format> -B <architecture> \
                      --rename-section .data=.rodata,alloc,load,readonly,data,contents \
                      <input_binary_file> <output_object_file>

       --change-leading-char
           Some object file formats use special characters  at  the  start  of
           symbols.   The most common such character is underscore, which com-
           pilers often add before every symbol.  This option tells objcopy to
           change  the  leading  character  of  every  symbol when it converts
           between object file formats.  If the object file  formats  use  the
           same  leading  character, this option has no effect.  Otherwise, it
           will add a character, or remove a character, or change a character,
           as appropriate.

       --remove-leading-char
           If the first character of a global symbol is a special symbol lead-
           ing character used by the object file format, remove the character.
           The  most  common  symbol  leading  character  is underscore.  This
           option will remove a leading underscore from  all  global  symbols.
           This  can be useful if you want to link together objects of differ-
           ent file formats with different conventions for symbol names.  This
           is  different  from --change-leading-char because it always changes
           the symbol name when appropriate, regardless  of  the  object  file
           format of the output file.

       --srec-len=ival
           Meaningful  only  for  srec  output.  Set the maximum length of the
           Srecords being produced to ival.  This length covers both  address,
           data and crc fields.

       --srec-forceS3
           Meaningful  only  for  srec  output.   Avoid  generation  of  S1/S2
           records, creating S3-only record format.

       --redefine-sym old=new
           Change the name of a symbol old, to new.  This can be  useful  when
           one  is  trying  link  two  things  together  for which you have no
           source, and there are name collisions.

       --weaken
           Change all global symbols in the file to be weak.  This can be use-
           ful  when  building  an  object  which will be linked against other
           objects using the -R option to the linker.   This  option  is  only
           effective when using an object file format which supports weak sym-
           bols.

       --keep-symbols=filename
           Apply --keep-symbol option to each symbol listed in the file  file-
           name.   filename  is  simply  a flat file, with one symbol name per
           line.  Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.  This
           option may be given more than once.

       --strip-symbols=filename
           Apply --strip-symbol option to each symbol listed in the file file-
           name.  filename is simply a flat file, with  one  symbol  name  per
           line.  Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.  This
           option may be given more than once.

       --keep-global-symbols=filename
           Apply --keep-global-symbol option to each symbol listed in the file
           filename.  filename is simply a flat file, with one symbol name per
           line.  Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.  This
           option may be given more than once.

       --localize-symbols=filename
           Apply  --localize-symbol  option  to each symbol listed in the file
           filename.  filename is simply a flat file, with one symbol name per
           line.  Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.  This
           option may be given more than once.

       --weaken-symbols=filename
           Apply --weaken-symbol option to each  symbol  listed  in  the  file
           filename.  filename is simply a flat file, with one symbol name per
           line.  Line comments may be introduced by the hash character.  This
           option may be given more than once.

       --alt-machine-code=index
           If  the  output  architecture  has alternate machine codes, use the
           indexth code instead of the default one.  This is useful in case  a
           machine  is assigned an official code and the tool-chain adopts the
           new code, but other applications still depend on the original  code
           being used.

       --prefix-symbols=string
           Prefix all symbols in the output file with string.

       --prefix-sections=string
           Prefix all section names in the output file with string.

       --prefix-alloc-sections=string
           Prefix  all  the names of all allocated sections in the output file
           with string.

       -V
       --version
           Show the version number of objcopy.

       -v
       --verbose
           Verbose output: list all object files modified.   In  the  case  of
           archives, objcopy -V lists all members of the archive.

       --help
           Show a summary of the options to objcopy.

SEE ALSO
       ld(1), objdump(1), and the Info entries for binutils.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (c)  1991,  92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002
       Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify  this  document
       under  the  terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
       any later version published by the Free Software  Foundation;  with  no
       Invariant  Sections,  with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled  "GNU
       Free Documentation License".



binutils-2.13.90.0.18             2003-02-24                        OBJCOPY(1)