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NAME

       ld - Using LD, the GNU linker

SYNOPSIS

       ld [options] objfile ...

DESCRIPTION

       ld  combines a number of object and archive files, relocates their data and ties up symbol
       references. Usually the last step in compiling a program is to run ld.

       ld accepts Linker Command Language files written in  a  superset  of  AT&T's  Link  Editor
       Command Language syntax, to provide explicit and total control over the linking process.

       This  man  page does not describe the command language; see the ld entry in "info", or the
       manual ld: the GNU linker, for full details on the command language and on  other  aspects
       of the GNU linker.

       This version of ld uses the general purpose BFD libraries to operate on object files. This
       allows ld to read, combine,  and  write  object  files  in  many  different  formats---for
       example,  COFF  or  "a.out".   Different  formats  may  be  linked together to produce any
       available kind of object file.

       Aside from its flexibility, the GNU linker is more helpful than other linkers in providing
       diagnostic  information.   Many linkers abandon execution immediately upon encountering an
       error; whenever possible, ld continues executing, allowing you to  identify  other  errors
       (or, in some cases, to get an output file in spite of the error).

       The  GNU  linker ld is meant to cover a broad range of situations, and to be as compatible
       as possible with other linkers.  As a  result,  you  have  many  choices  to  control  its
       behavior.

OPTIONS

       The linker supports a plethora of command-line options, but in actual practice few of them
       are used in any particular context.  For instance,  a  frequent  use  of  ld  is  to  link
       standard  Unix  object  files  on a standard, supported Unix system.  On such a system, to
       link a file "hello.o":

               ld -o <output> /lib/crt0.o hello.o -lc

       This tells ld to produce  a  file  called  output  as  the  result  of  linking  the  file
       "/lib/crt0.o"  with  "hello.o" and the library "libc.a", which will come from the standard
       search directories.  (See the discussion of the -l option below.)

       Some of the command-line options to ld may be specified at any point in the command  line.
       However,  options which refer to files, such as -l or -T, cause the file to be read at the
       point at which the option appears in the command line, relative to the  object  files  and
       other file options.  Repeating non-file options with a different argument will either have
       no further effect, or override prior occurrences (those further to the left on the command
       line)  of  that  option.   Options  which may be meaningfully specified more than once are
       noted in the descriptions below.

       Non-option arguments are object files or archives which are to be linked  together.   They
       may  follow, precede, or be mixed in with command-line options, except that an object file
       argument may not be placed between an option and its argument.

       Usually the linker is invoked with at least one object file, but  you  can  specify  other
       forms  of  binary input files using -l, -R, and the script command language.  If no binary
       input files at all are specified, the linker does not produce any output, and  issues  the
       message No input files.

       If  the  linker cannot recognize the format of an object file, it will assume that it is a
       linker script.  A script specified in this way augments the main linker  script  used  for
       the  link  (either  the  default  linker  script  or the one specified by using -T).  This
       feature permits the linker to link against a file which appears to  be  an  object  or  an
       archive,  but  actually  merely  defines some symbol values, or uses "INPUT" or "GROUP" to
       load other objects.  Note that specifying a script in this way merely  augments  the  main
       linker script; use the -T option to replace the default linker script entirely.

       For  options  whose  names  are  a  single letter, option arguments must either follow the
       option  letter  without  intervening  whitespace,  or  be  given  as  separate   arguments
       immediately following the option that requires them.

       For  options  whose  names  are  multiple  letters, either one dash or two can precede the
       option name; for example, -trace-symbol and --trace-symbol are  equivalent.   Note---there
       is  one  exception to this rule.  Multiple letter options that start with a lower case 'o'
       can only be preceeded by two dashes.  This is to reduce confusion with the -o option.   So
       for  example  -omagic  sets the output file name to magic whereas --omagic sets the NMAGIC
       flag on the output.

       Arguments to multiple-letter options must either be separated from the option name  by  an
       equals  sign,  or  be  given  as  separate arguments immediately following the option that
       requires them.  For example, --trace-symbol foo  and  --trace-symbol=foo  are  equivalent.
       Unique abbreviations of the names of multiple-letter options are accepted.

       Note---if  the  linker  is being invoked indirectly, via a compiler driver (e.g. gcc) then
       all the linker command line options should be prefixed by -Wl, (or whatever is appropriate
       for the particular compiler driver) like this:

                 gcc -Wl,--startgroup foo.o bar.o -Wl,--endgroup

       This  is  important,  because  otherwise the compiler driver program may silently drop the
       linker options, resulting in a bad link.

       Here is a table of the generic command line switches accepted by the GNU linker:

       -akeyword
           This option is supported for HP/UX compatibility.  The keyword argument must be one of
           the  strings  archive,  shared,  or  default.  -aarchive is functionally equivalent to
           -Bstatic, and the other two keywords are functionally equivalent to  -Bdynamic.   This
           option may be used any number of times.

       -Aarchitecture
       --architecture=architecture
           In  the  current release of ld, this option is useful only for the Intel 960 family of
           architectures.  In that ld configuration, the  architecture  argument  identifies  the
           particular  architecture in the 960 family, enabling some safeguards and modifying the
           archive-library search path.

           Future releases of  ld  may  support  similar  functionality  for  other  architecture
           families.

       -b input-format
       --format=input-format
           ld  may  be  configured  to  support more than one kind of object file.  If your ld is
           configured this way, you can use the -b option to specify the binary format for  input
           object  files that follow this option on the command line.  Even when ld is configured
           to support alternative object formats, you don't usually need to specify this,  as  ld
           should be configured to expect as a default input format the most usual format on each
           machine.  input-format is a text string, the name of a particular format supported  by
           the BFD libraries.  (You can list the available binary formats with objdump -i.)

           You  may  want  to  use  this  option  if you are linking files with an unusual binary
           format.  You can also use -b to switch formats explicitly (when linking  object  files
           of  different formats), by including -b input-format before each group of object files
           in a particular format.

           The default format is taken from the environment variable "GNUTARGET".

           You can also define the input format from a script, using the command "TARGET";

       -c MRI-commandfile
       --mri-script=MRI-commandfile
           For compatibility with linkers produced by MRI, ld accepts script files written in  an
           alternate,  restricted  command language, described in the MRI Compatible Script Files
           section of GNU ld documentation.  Introduce MRI script files with the option  -c;  use
           the  -T  option  to  run  linker  scripts  written in the general-purpose ld scripting
           language.  If MRI-cmdfile does not exist, ld looks for it in the directories specified
           by any -L options.

       -d
       -dc
       -dp These  three  options  are  equivalent; multiple forms are supported for compatibility
           with other linkers.  They assign space to common symbols even if a relocatable  output
           file  is  specified  (with  -r).  The script command "FORCE_COMMON_ALLOCATION" has the
           same effect.

       -e entry
       --entry=entry
           Use entry as the explicit symbol for beginning execution of your program, rather  than
           the  default  entry  point.  If there is no symbol named entry, the linker will try to
           parse entry as a number, and use that  as  the  entry  address  (the  number  will  be
           interpreted  in base 10; you may use a leading 0x for base 16, or a leading 0 for base
           8).

       --exclude-libs lib,lib,...
           Specifies a list of archive libraries from which symbols should not  be  automatically
           exported.  The  library  names  may  be  delimited  by  commas  or colons.  Specifying
           "--exclude-libs ALL" excludes symbols in all archive libraries from automatic  export.
           This  option is available only for the i386 PE targeted port of the linker and for ELF
           targeted ports.  For i386 PE, symbols explicitly listed  in  a  .def  file  are  still
           exported, regardless of this option.  For ELF targeted ports, symbols affected by this
           option will be treated as hidden.

       -E
       --export-dynamic
           When creating a dynamically linked executable, add all symbols to the  dynamic  symbol
           table.   The dynamic symbol table is the set of symbols which are visible from dynamic
           objects at run time.

           If you do not use this option, the dynamic symbol table  will  normally  contain  only
           those symbols which are referenced by some dynamic object mentioned in the link.

           If  you use "dlopen" to load a dynamic object which needs to refer back to the symbols
           defined by the program, rather than some other dynamic object, then you will  probably
           need to use this option when linking the program itself.

           You  can  also  use  the version script to control what symbols should be added to the
           dynamic symbol table if the  output  format  supports  it.   See  the  description  of
           --version-script in @ref{VERSION}.

       -EB Link big-endian objects.  This affects the default output format.

       -EL Link little-endian objects.  This affects the default output format.

       -f
       --auxiliary name
           When  creating  an  ELF  shared  object,  set  the  internal DT_AUXILIARY field to the
           specified name.  This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol  table  of  the  shared
           object  should be used as an auxiliary filter on the symbol table of the shared object
           name.

           If you later link a program against  this  filter  object,  then,  when  you  run  the
           program,  the  dynamic  linker will see the DT_AUXILIARY field.  If the dynamic linker
           resolves any symbols from the filter object, it will first check whether  there  is  a
           definition in the shared object name.  If there is one, it will be used instead of the
           definition in the filter object.  The shared object name need  not  exist.   Thus  the
           shared  object  name  may  be used to provide an alternative implementation of certain
           functions, perhaps for debugging or for machine specific performance.

           This option may be specified more than once.  The DT_AUXILIARY entries will be created
           in the order in which they appear on the command line.

       -F name
       --filter name
           When  creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_FILTER field to the specified
           name.  This tells the dynamic linker that the symbol table of the shared object  which
           is  being  created should be used as a filter on the symbol table of the shared object
           name.

           If you later link a program against  this  filter  object,  then,  when  you  run  the
           program,  the  dynamic  linker  will see the DT_FILTER field.  The dynamic linker will
           resolve symbols according to the symbol table of the filter object as  usual,  but  it
           will  actually  link  to  the  definitions  found in the shared object name.  Thus the
           filter object can be used to select a subset of the symbols  provided  by  the  object
           name.

           Some  older  linkers  used  the  -F  option  throughout  a  compilation  toolchain for
           specifying object-file format for both input and output object files.  The GNU  linker
           uses  other  mechanisms  for  this  purpose:  the -b, --format, --oformat options, the
           "TARGET" command in linker scripts, and the "GNUTARGET" environment variable.  The GNU
           linker will ignore the -F option when not creating an ELF shared object.

       -fini name
           When  creating  an  ELF  executable or shared object, call NAME when the executable or
           shared object is unloaded, by setting DT_FINI to the  address  of  the  function.   By
           default, the linker uses "_fini" as the function to call.

       -g  Ignored.  Provided for compatibility with other tools.

       -Gvalue
       --gpsize=value
           Set  the  maximum size of objects to be optimized using the GP register to size.  This
           is only meaningful for object file formats such as MIPS ECOFF which  supports  putting
           large  and  small  objects  into different sections.  This is ignored for other object
           file formats.

       -hname
       -soname=name
           When creating an ELF shared object, set the internal DT_SONAME field to the  specified
           name.   When an executable is linked with a shared object which has a DT_SONAME field,
           then when the executable is run the dynamic linker will attempt  to  load  the  shared
           object  specified  by the DT_SONAME field rather than the using the file name given to
           the linker.

       -i  Perform an incremental link (same as option -r).

       -init name
           When creating an ELF executable or shared object, call NAME  when  the  executable  or
           shared  object  is  loaded,  by  setting  DT_INIT  to the address of the function.  By
           default, the linker uses "_init" as the function to call.

       -larchive
       --library=archive
           Add archive file archive to the list of files to link.  This option may  be  used  any
           number  of  times.  ld will search its path-list for occurrences of "libarchive.a" for
           every archive specified.

           On systems which support shared libraries, ld  may  also  search  for  libraries  with
           extensions  other than ".a".  Specifically, on ELF and SunOS systems, ld will search a
           directory for a library with an extension of ".so" before searching for  one  with  an
           extension of ".a".  By convention, a ".so" extension indicates a shared library.

           The  linker will search an archive only once, at the location where it is specified on
           the command line.  If the archive defines a symbol which was undefined in some  object
           which  appeared  before  the  archive on the command line, the linker will include the
           appropriate file(s) from the archive.  However,  an  undefined  symbol  in  an  object
           appearing  later  on  the command line will not cause the linker to search the archive
           again.

           See the -( option for a way to force the linker to search archives multiple times.

           You may list the same archive multiple times on the command line.

           This type of archive searching is standard for Unix  linkers.   However,  if  you  are
           using ld on AIX, note that it is different from the behaviour of the AIX linker.

       -Lsearchdir
       --library-path=searchdir
           Add  path searchdir to the list of paths that ld will search for archive libraries and
           ld control scripts.  You may use this option any number of times.  The directories are
           searched  in  the  order in which they are specified on the command line.  Directories
           specified on the command line are searched before the  default  directories.   All  -L
           options apply to all -l options, regardless of the order in which the options appear.

           If  searchdir  begins with "=", then the "=" will be replaced by the sysroot prefix, a
           path specified when the linker is configured.

           The default set of paths searched (without being specified with -L) depends  on  which
           emulation mode ld is using, and in some cases also on how it was configured.

           The  paths  can  also  be  specified  in  a link script with the "SEARCH_DIR" command.
           Directories specified this way are searched at the point in which  the  linker  script
           appears in the command line.

       -memulation
           Emulate  the  emulation  linker.   You  can  list  the  available  emulations with the
           --verbose or -V options.

           If the -m  option  is  not  used,  the  emulation  is  taken  from  the  "LDEMULATION"
           environment variable, if that is defined.

           Otherwise, the default emulation depends upon how the linker was configured.

       -M
       --print-map
           Print  a  link  map to the standard output.  A link map provides information about the
           link, including the following:

           *   Where object files and symbols are mapped into memory.

           *   How common symbols are allocated.

           *   All archive members included in the link, with  a  mention  of  the  symbol  which
               caused the archive member to be brought in.

       -n
       --nmagic
           Turn off page alignment of sections, and mark the output as "NMAGIC" if possible.

       -N
       --omagic
           Set  the  text and data sections to be readable and writable.  Also, do not page-align
           the data segment, and disable linking against shared libraries.  If the output  format
           supports  Unix  style  magic  numbers,  mark  the output as "OMAGIC". Note: Although a
           writable text section is allowed for PE-COFF targets,  it  does  not  conform  to  the
           format specification published by Microsoft.

       --no-omagic
           This option negates most of the effects of the -N option.  It sets the text section to
           be read-only, and forces the data segment to be page-aligned.  Note - this option does
           not enable linking against shared libraries.  Use -Bdynamic for this.

       -o output
       --output=output
           Use  output  as  the  name  for  the  program  produced  by  ld; if this option is not
           specified, the name a.out is used by default.  The script command  "OUTPUT"  can  also
           specify the output file name.

       -O level
           If  level  is  a numeric values greater than zero ld optimizes the output.  This might
           take significantly longer and therefore probably should only be enabled for the  final
           binary.

       -q
       --emit-relocs
           Leave  relocation  sections  and  contents  in  fully linked exececutables.  Post link
           analysis and optimization tools may need this information in order to perform  correct
           modifications of executables.  This results in larger executables.

           This option is currently only supported on ELF platforms.

       -r
       --relocatable
           Generate  relocatable output---i.e., generate an output file that can in turn serve as
           input to ld.  This is often called partial linking.  As a side effect, in environments
           that  support  standard  Unix  magic  numbers, this option also sets the output file's
           magic number to "OMAGIC".  If this option  is  not  specified,  an  absolute  file  is
           produced.   When  linking  C++  programs,  this  option will not resolve references to
           constructors; to do that, use -Ur.

           When an input file does not have the same format as the output file,  partial  linking
           is  only  supported  if  that  input file does not contain any relocations.  Different
           output formats can have further restrictions; for example some  "a.out"-based  formats
           do not support partial linking with input files in other formats at all.

           This option does the same thing as -i.

       -R filename
       --just-symbols=filename
           Read symbol names and their addresses from filename, but do not relocate it or include
           it in the output.  This allows your output file  to  refer  symbolically  to  absolute
           locations  of  memory  defined  in  other programs.  You may use this option more than
           once.

           For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the -R option is followed by a  directory
           name, rather than a file name, it is treated as the -rpath option.

       -s
       --strip-all
           Omit all symbol information from the output file.

       -S
       --strip-debug
           Omit debugger symbol information (but not all symbols) from the output file.

       -t
       --trace
           Print the names of the input files as ld processes them.

       -T scriptfile
       --script=scriptfile
           Use  scriptfile as the linker script.  This script replaces ld's default linker script
           (rather than adding to it),  so  commandfile  must  specify  everything  necessary  to
           describe  the  output  file.    If scriptfile does not exist in the current directory,
           "ld" looks for it in the directories specified by any preceding -L options.   Multiple
           -T options accumulate.

       -u symbol
       --undefined=symbol
           Force symbol to be entered in the output file as an undefined symbol.  Doing this may,
           for example, trigger linking of additional modules from standard libraries.  -u may be
           repeated  with different option arguments to enter additional undefined symbols.  This
           option is equivalent to the "EXTERN" linker script command.

       -Ur For anything other than C++ programs, this option is equivalent to  -r:  it  generates
           relocatable output---i.e., an output file that can in turn serve as input to ld.  When
           linking C++ programs, -Ur does resolve references to constructors, unlike -r.  It does
           not  work  to  use  -Ur  on  files  that  were  themselves  linked  with -Ur; once the
           constructor table has been built, it cannot be added to.  Use -Ur only  for  the  last
           partial link, and -r for the others.

       --unique[=SECTION]
           Creates  a separate output section for every input section matching SECTION, or if the
           optional wildcard SECTION argument is missing, for every  orphan  input  section.   An
           orphan section is one not specifically mentioned in a linker script.  You may use this
           option multiple times on the command line;  It prevents the normal  merging  of  input
           sections with the same name, overriding output section assignments in a linker script.

       -v
       --version
       -V  Display the version number for ld.  The -V option also lists the supported emulations.

       -x
       --discard-all
           Delete all local symbols.

       -X
       --discard-locals
           Delete all temporary local symbols.  For most targets, this is all local symbols whose
           names begin with L.

       -y symbol
       --trace-symbol=symbol
           Print the name of each linked file in which symbol appears.  This option may be  given
           any number of times.  On many systems it is necessary to prepend an underscore.

           This  option  is  useful when you have an undefined symbol in your link but don't know
           where the reference is coming from.

       -Y path
           Add path to  the  default  library  search  path.   This  option  exists  for  Solaris
           compatibility.

       -z keyword
           The recognized keywords are:

           combreloc
               Combines  multiple  reloc  sections  and  sorts them to make dynamic symbol lookup
               caching possible.

           defs
               Disallows  undefined  symbols  in  object  files.   Undefined  symbols  in  shared
               libraries are still allowed.

           initfirst
               This option is only meaningful when building a shared object.  It marks the object
               so that its runtime initialization will occur before the runtime initialization of
               any  other  objects  brought  into  the  process  at the same time.  Similarly the
               runtime finalization of the object will occur after the  runtime  finalization  of
               any other objects.

           interpose
               Marks  the  object  that  its  symbol  table interposes before all symbols but the
               primary executable.

           loadfltr
               Marks  the object that its filters be processed immediately at runtime.

           muldefs
               Allows multiple definitions.

           nocombreloc
               Disables multiple reloc sections combining.

           nocopyreloc
               Disables production of copy relocs.

           nodefaultlib
               Marks the object that the search for dependencies of this object will  ignore  any
               default library search paths.

           nodelete
               Marks the object shouldn't be unloaded at runtime.

           nodlopen
               Marks the object not available to "dlopen".

           nodump
               Marks the object can not be dumped by "dldump".

           now When  generating  an  executable  or  shared  library, mark it to tell the dynamic
               linker to resolve all symbols when the program is  started,  or  when  the  shared
               library  is  linked to using dlopen, instead of deferring function call resolution
               to the point when the function is first called.

           origin
               Marks the object may contain $ORIGIN.

           Other keywords are ignored for Solaris compatibility.

       -( archives -)
       --start-group archives --end-group
           The archives should be a list of archive files.  They  may  be  either  explicit  file
           names, or -l options.

           The  specified  archives are searched repeatedly until no new undefined references are
           created.  Normally, an archive is searched only once in the order that it is specified
           on  the  command  line.  If a symbol in that archive is needed to resolve an undefined
           symbol referred to by an object in an archive that appears later on the command  line,
           the  linker  would  not  be able to resolve that reference.  By grouping the archives,
           they all be searched repeatedly until all possible references are resolved.

           Using this option has a significant performance cost.  It is best to use it only  when
           there are unavoidable circular references between two or more archives.

       --accept-unknown-input-arch
       --no-accept-unknown-input-arch
           Tells  the  linker to accept input files whose architecture cannot be recognised.  The
           assumption is that the user knows what they are doing and deliberately wants  to  link
           in  these  unknown  input files.  This was the default behaviour of the linker, before
           release 2.14.  The default behaviour from release 2.14 onwards is to reject such input
           files, and so the --accept-unknown-input-arch option has been added to restore the old
           behaviour.

       --as-needed
       --no-as-needed
           This option affects ELF DT_NEEDED tags for dynamic libraries mentioned on the  command
           line  after the --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.   --as-needed  causes  DT_NEEDED  tags  to  only  be emitted for
           libraries that satisfy some symbol reference from regular objects which  is  undefined
           at  the  point  that  the  library  was  linked.   --no-as-needed restores the default
           behaviour.

       --add-needed
       --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 --no-add-needed option.
           Normally, the linker will add a DT_NEEDED tag for each dynamic library from  DT_NEEDED
           tags.  --no-add-needed causes DT_NEEDED tags will never be emitted for those libraries
           from DT_NEEDED tags. --add-needed restores the default behaviour.

       -assert keyword
           This option is ignored for SunOS compatibility.

       -Bdynamic
       -dy
       -call_shared
           Link against dynamic libraries.  This is only meaningful on platforms for which shared
           libraries  are supported.  This option is normally the default on such platforms.  The
           different variants of this option are for compatibility with various systems.  You may
           use  this  option multiple times on the command line: it affects library searching for
           -l options which follow it.

       -Bgroup
           Set the "DF_1_GROUP" flag in the "DT_FLAGS_1" entry  in  the  dynamic  section.   This
           causes  the runtime linker to handle lookups in this object and its dependencies to be
           performed only inside the group.  --unresolved-symbols=report-all  is  implied.   This
           option is only meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.

       -Bstatic
       -dn
       -non_shared
       -static
           Do  not link against shared libraries.  This is only meaningful on platforms for which
           shared libraries are supported.   The  different  variants  of  this  option  are  for
           compatibility  with  various  systems.   You may use this option multiple times on the
           command line: it affects library searching for  -l  options  which  follow  it.   This
           option also implies --unresolved-symbols=report-all.

       -Bsymbolic
           When  creating  a  shared library, bind references to global symbols to the definition
           within the shared library, if any.  Normally, it is  possible  for  a  program  linked
           against  a  shared library to override the definition within the shared library.  This
           option is only meaningful on ELF platforms which support shared libraries.

       --check-sections
       --no-check-sections
           Asks the linker not to check section addresses after they have been assigned to see if
           there  any overlaps.  Normally the linker will perform this check, and if it finds any
           overlaps it will produce suitable error messages.  The linker  does  know  about,  and
           does  make allowances for sections in overlays.  The default behaviour can be restored
           by using the command line switch --check-sections.

       --cref
           Output a cross reference table.  If a linker map file is being  generated,  the  cross
           reference  table is printed to the map file.  Otherwise, it is printed on the standard
           output.

           The format of the table is intentionally simple, so that it may be easily processed by
           a script if necessary.  The symbols are printed out, sorted by name.  For each symbol,
           a list of file names is given.  If the symbol is defined, the first file listed is the
           location of the definition.  The remaining files contain references to the symbol.

       --no-define-common
           This  option  inhibits  the  assignment  of  addresses  to common symbols.  The script
           command "INHIBIT_COMMON_ALLOCATION" has the same effect.

           The --no-define-common option allows decoupling the decision to  assign  addresses  to
           Common  symbols  from  the choice of the output file type; otherwise a non-Relocatable
           output type forces assigning addresses to Common  symbols.   Using  --no-define-common
           allows  Common  symbols  that  are  referenced  from  a  shared library to be assigned
           addresses only in the main program.  This eliminates the unused duplicate space in the
           shared  library,  and also prevents any possible confusion over resolving to the wrong
           duplicate when there are many  dynamic  modules  with  specialized  search  paths  for
           runtime symbol resolution.

       --defsym symbol=expression
           Create  a  global  symbol in the output file, containing the absolute address given by
           expression.  You may use this option as many times as  necessary  to  define  multiple
           symbols  in  the  command  line.   A  limited  form of arithmetic is supported for the
           expression in this context: you may give a hexadecimal constant  or  the  name  of  an
           existing  symbol,  or  use  "+"  and  "-"  to add or subtract hexadecimal constants or
           symbols.  If you need more elaborate expressions, consider using  the  linker  command
           language  from  a  script.   Note:  there should be no white space between symbol, the
           equals sign (``=''), and expression.

       --demangle[=style]
       --no-demangle
           These options control whether to demangle symbol names in  error  messages  and  other
           output.   When  the  linker is told to demangle, it tries to present symbol names in a
           readable fashion: it strips leading underscores if they are used by  the  object  file
           format,  and  converts  C++  mangled symbol names into user readable names.  Different
           compilers have different mangling styles.  The optional demangling style argument  can
           be  used to choose an appropriate demangling style for your compiler.  The linker will
           demangle by default unless the environment variable COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE is set.  These
           options may be used to override the default.

       --dynamic-linker file
           Set  the  name  of  the  dynamic  linker.   This  is  only  meaningful when generating
           dynamically linked ELF executables.  The default dynamic linker is  normally  correct;
           don't use this unless you know what you are doing.

       --fatal-warnings
           Treat all warnings as errors.

       --force-exe-suffix
           Make sure that an output file has a .exe suffix.

           If  a  successfully  built  fully  linked output file does not have a ".exe" or ".dll"
           suffix, this option forces the linker to copy the output file to one of the same  name
           with  a ".exe" suffix. This option is useful when using unmodified Unix makefiles on a
           Microsoft Windows host, since some versions of Windows won't run an  image  unless  it
           ends in a ".exe" suffix.

       --no-gc-sections
       --gc-sections
           Enable  garbage collection of unused input sections.  It is ignored on targets that do
           not support this option.  This option is not compatible with -r. The default behaviour
           (of   not   performing   this  garbage  collection)  can  be  restored  by  specifying
           --no-gc-sections on the command line.

       --help
           Print a summary of the command-line options on the standard output and exit.

       --target-help
           Print a summary of all target specific options on the standard output and exit.

       -Map mapfile
           Print a link map to the file mapfile.  See the description of the -M option, above.

       --no-keep-memory
           ld normally optimizes for speed over memory usage by  caching  the  symbol  tables  of
           input  files in memory.  This option tells ld to instead optimize for memory usage, by
           rereading the symbol tables as necessary.  This may be required  if  ld  runs  out  of
           memory space while linking a large executable.

       --no-undefined
       -z defs
           Report  unresolved  symbol references from regular object files.  This is done even if
           the   linker   is   creating   a   non-symbolic   shared    library.     The    switch
           --[no-]allow-shlib-undefined   controls   the   behaviour   for  reporting  unresolved
           references found in shared libraries being linked in.

       --allow-multiple-definition
       -z muldefs
           Normally when a symbol is defined multiple times,  the  linker  will  report  a  fatal
           error. These options allow multiple definitions and the first definition will be used.

       --allow-shlib-undefined
       --no-allow-shlib-undefined
           Allows  (the default) or disallows undefined symbols in shared libraries.  This switch
           is similar to  --no-undefined  except  that  it  determines  the  behaviour  when  the
           undefined  symbols are in a shared library rather than a regular object file.  It does
           not affect how undefined symbols in regular object files are handled.

           The reason that --allow-shlib-undefined is the default  is  that  the  shared  library
           being  specified at link time may not be the same as the one that is available at load
           time, so the symbols might actually be resolvable at load time.  Plus there  are  some
           systems, (eg BeOS) where undefined symbols in shared libraries is normal.  (The kernel
           patches them at load time to select which function is most appropriate for the current
           architecture.   This  is  used for example to dynamically select an appropriate memset
           function).  Apparently it is also normal for HPPA shared libraries to  have  undefined
           symbols.

       --no-undefined-version
           Normally  when  a  symbol  has  an  undefined version, the linker will ignore it. This
           option disallows symbols with undefined version and  a  fatal  error  will  be  issued
           instead.

       --default-symver
           Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) for unversioned exported symbols.

       --default-imported-symver
           Create and use a default symbol version (the soname) for unversioned imported symbols.

       --no-warn-mismatch
           Normally  ld  will  give  an  error  if  you try to link together input files that are
           mismatched for some reason, perhaps because they  have  been  compiled  for  different
           processors  or  for  different  endiannesses.   This  option  tells  ld that it should
           silently permit such possible errors.  This option should only be used with  care,  in
           cases  when you have taken some special action that ensures that the linker errors are
           inappropriate.

       --no-whole-archive
           Turn off the effect of the --whole-archive option for subsequent archive files.

       --noinhibit-exec
           Retain the executable output file whenever it is still usable.  Normally,  the  linker
           will  not  produce  an output file if it encounters errors during the link process; it
           exits without writing an output file when it issues any error whatsoever.

       -nostdlib
           Only search library directories explicitly specified on  the  command  line.   Library
           directories  specified  in  linker  scripts (including linker scripts specified on the
           command line) are ignored.

       --oformat output-format
           ld may be configured to support more than one kind of object  file.   If  your  ld  is
           configured this way, you can use the --oformat option to specify the binary format for
           the output object file.  Even when ld is  configured  to  support  alternative  object
           formats, you don't usually need to specify this, as ld should be configured to produce
           as a default output format the most usual format on each machine.  output-format is  a
           text string, the name of a particular format supported by the BFD libraries.  (You can
           list  the  available  binary  formats  with   objdump   -i.)    The   script   command
           "OUTPUT_FORMAT" can also specify the output format, but this option overrides it.

       -pie
       --pic-executable
           Create  a  position  independent  executable.  This is currently only supported on ELF
           platforms.  Position independent executables are similar to shared libraries  in  that
           they  are  relocated  by  the dynamic linker to the virtual address the OS chooses for
           them (which can vary between invocations).  Like normal dynamically linked executables
           they  can  be  executed  and symbols defined in the executable cannot be overridden by
           shared libraries.

       -qmagic
           This option is ignored for Linux compatibility.

       -Qy This option is ignored for SVR4 compatibility.

       --relax
           An option with machine dependent effects.  This option is  only  supported  on  a  few
           targets.

           On  some  platforms,  the  --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 these link time global optimizations may make symbolic debugging of
           the resulting executable impossible.  This is known to be the case for the  Matsushita
           MN10200 and MN10300 family of processors.

           On platforms where this is not supported, --relax is accepted, but ignored.

       --retain-symbols-file filename
           Retain  only the symbols listed in the file filename, discarding all others.  filename
           is simply a flat file, with one symbol name  per  line.   This  option  is  especially
           useful  in  environments  (such  as  VxWorks)  where  a  large  global symbol table is
           accumulated gradually, to conserve run-time memory.

           --retain-symbols-file does not  discard  undefined  symbols,  or  symbols  needed  for
           relocations.

           You  may only specify --retain-symbols-file once in the command line.  It overrides -s
           and -S.

       -rpath dir
           Add a directory to the runtime library search path.  This is used when linking an  ELF
           executable  with  shared objects.  All -rpath arguments are concatenated and passed to
           the runtime linker, which uses them to locate shared objects at runtime.   The  -rpath
           option  is  also  used when locating shared objects which are needed by shared objects
           explicitly included in the link; see the description of the  -rpath-link  option.   If
           -rpath  is  not  used  when linking an ELF executable, the contents of the environment
           variable "LD_RUN_PATH" will be used if it is defined.

           The -rpath option may also be used on SunOS.  By default, on SunOS,  the  linker  will
           form a runtime search patch out of all the -L options it is given.  If a -rpath option
           is used, the runtime search path will be formed exclusively using the -rpath  options,
           ignoring  the  -L  options.   This  can  be  useful when using gcc, which adds many -L
           options which may be on NFS mounted filesystems.

           For compatibility with other ELF linkers, if the -R option is followed by a  directory
           name, rather than a file name, it is treated as the -rpath option.

       -rpath-link DIR
           When using ELF or SunOS, one shared library may require another.  This happens when an
           "ld -shared" link includes a shared library as one of the input files.

           When the linker encounters such a dependency when doing a non-shared,  non-relocatable
           link,  it  will automatically try to locate the required shared library and include it
           in the link, if it is not included explicitly.  In such a case, the -rpath-link option
           specifies  the first set of directories to search.  The -rpath-link option may specify
           a sequence of directory names either by  specifying  a  list  of  names  separated  by
           colons, or by appearing multiple times.

           This  option should be used with caution as it overrides the search path that may have
           been hard compiled into a shared library. In  such  a  case  it  is  possible  to  use
           unintentionally a different search path than the runtime linker would do.

           The linker uses the following search paths to locate required shared libraries.

           1.  Any directories specified by -rpath-link options.

           2.  Any  directories  specified  by -rpath options.  The difference between -rpath and
               -rpath-link is that directories specified by -rpath options are  included  in  the
               executable  and  used at runtime, whereas the -rpath-link option is only effective
               at link time. It is for the native linker only.

           3.  On an ELF system, if the -rpath and "rpath-link" options were not used, search the
               contents  of  the  environment variable "LD_RUN_PATH". It is for the native linker
               only.

           4.  On SunOS, if the -rpath option was not  used,  search  any  directories  specified
               using -L options.

           5.  For a native linker, the contents of the environment variable "LD_LIBRARY_PATH".

           6.  For a native ELF linker, the directories in "DT_RUNPATH" or "DT_RPATH" of a shared
               library are searched for shared libraries needed by it. The "DT_RPATH" entries are
               ignored if "DT_RUNPATH" entries exist.

           7.  The default directories, normally /lib and /usr/lib.

           8.  For a native linker on an ELF system, if the file /etc/ld.so.conf exists, the list
               of directories found in that file.

           If the required shared library is not found, the  linker  will  issue  a  warning  and
           continue with the link.

       -shared
       -Bshareable
           Create  a  shared  library.   This is currently only supported on ELF, XCOFF and SunOS
           platforms.  On SunOS, the linker will automatically create a shared library if the  -e
           option is not used and there are undefined symbols in the link.

       --sort-common
           This  option  tells  ld  to sort the common symbols by size when it places them in the
           appropriate output sections.  First come all the one byte symbols, then  all  the  two
           byte,  then  all  the  four  byte,  and then everything else.  This is to prevent gaps
           between symbols due to alignment constraints.

       --sort-section name
           This option will apply "SORT_BY_NAME" to all wildcard section patterns in  the  linker
           script.

       --sort-section alignment
           This  option  will  apply  "SORT_BY_ALIGNMENT" to all wildcard section patterns in the
           linker script.

       --split-by-file [size]
           Similar to --split-by-reloc but creates a new output section for each input file  when
           size is reached.  size defaults to a size of 1 if not given.

       --split-by-reloc [count]
           Tries to creates extra sections in the output file so that no single output section in
           the file contains more than count relocations.  This is useful  when  generating  huge
           relocatable  files for downloading into certain real time kernels with the COFF object
           file format; since COFF cannot represent more  than  65535  relocations  in  a  single
           section.   Note  that  this  will  fail  to work with object file formats which do not
           support arbitrary sections.  The linker will not split up  individual  input  sections
           for  redistribution, so if a single input section contains more than count relocations
           one output section will contain that many relocations.  count defaults to a  value  of
           32768.

       --stats
           Compute  and  display  statistics about the operation of the linker, such as execution
           time and memory usage.

       --sysroot=directory
           Use directory as the location of the sysroot, overriding the  configure-time  default.
           This option is only supported by linkers that were configured using --with-sysroot.

       --traditional-format
           For  some  targets, the output of ld is different in some ways from the output of some
           existing linker.  This switch requests ld to use the traditional format instead.

           For example, on SunOS, ld combines duplicate entries in the symbol string table.  This
           can  reduce  the  size  of  an  output file with full debugging information by over 30
           percent.  Unfortunately, the SunOS "dbx" program can not read  the  resulting  program
           ("gdb"  has  no  trouble).   The  --traditional-format  switch tells ld to not combine
           duplicate entries.

       --section-start sectionname=org
           Locate a section in the output file at the absolute address given by org.  You may use
           this  option  as  many  times  as necessary to locate multiple sections in the command
           line.  org must be a single hexadecimal integer; for compatibility with other linkers,
           you  may  omit the leading 0x usually associated with hexadecimal values.  Note: there
           should be no white space between sectionname, the equals sign (``=''), and org.

       -Tbss org
       -Tdata org
       -Ttext org
           Same as --section-start, with ".bss", ".data" or ".text" as the sectionname.

       --unresolved-symbols=method
           Determine how to handle unresolved  symbols.   There  are  four  possible  values  for
           method:

           ignore-all
               Do not report any unresolved symbols.

           report-all
               Report all unresolved symbols.  This is the default.

           ignore-in-object-files
               Report  unresolved symbols that are contained in shared libraries, but ignore them
               if they come from regular object files.

           ignore-in-shared-libs
               Report unresolved symbols that come from regular object files, but ignore them  if
               they  come  from  shared  libraries.   This  can be useful when creating a dynamic
               binary and it is known that all the shared libraries that it should be referencing
               are included on the linker's command line.

           The  behaviour  for  shared  libraries  on  their  own  can  also be controlled by the
           --[no-]allow-shlib-undefined option.

           Normally the linker will generate an error message for each reported unresolved symbol
           but the option --warn-unresolved-symbols can change this to a warning.

       --dll-verbose
       --verbose
           Display  the  version number for ld and list the linker emulations supported.  Display
           which input files can and cannot be opened.  Display the linker script being  used  by
           the linker.

       --version-script=version-scriptfile
           Specify  the  name  of  a  version  script to the linker.  This is typically used when
           creating  shared  libraries  to  specify  additional  information  about  the  version
           hierarchy  for  the  library  being  created.   This  option is only meaningful on ELF
           platforms which support shared libraries.

       --warn-common
           Warn when a common symbol is combined with another common  symbol  or  with  a  symbol
           definition.   Unix  linkers  allow  this somewhat sloppy practise, but linkers on some
           other operating systems do not.  This option allows you  to  find  potential  problems
           from  combining global symbols.  Unfortunately, some C libraries use this practise, so
           you may get some warnings about symbols in the libraries as well as in your programs.

           There are three kinds of global symbols, illustrated here by C examples:

           int i = 1;
               A definition, which goes in the initialized data section of the output file.

           extern int i;
               An undefined reference, which does not allocate space.  There  must  be  either  a
               definition or a common symbol for the variable somewhere.

           int i;
               A  common  symbol.  If there are only (one or more) common symbols for a variable,
               it goes in the uninitialized data area of the  output  file.   The  linker  merges
               multiple  common  symbols for the same variable into a single symbol.  If they are
               of different sizes, it picks the largest size.  The linker turns a  common  symbol
               into a declaration, if there is a definition of the same variable.

           The --warn-common option can produce five kinds of warnings.  Each warning consists of
           a pair of lines: the first describes the  symbol  just  encountered,  and  the  second
           describes  the previous symbol encountered with the same name.  One or both of the two
           symbols will be a common symbol.

           1.  Turning a common symbol into a reference, because there is  already  a  definition
               for the symbol.

                       <file>(<section>): warning: common of `<symbol>'
                          overridden by definition
                       <file>(<section>): warning: defined here

           2.  Turning  a  common  symbol  into  a  reference, because a later definition for the
               symbol is encountered.  This is the same as the previous  case,  except  that  the
               symbols are encountered in a different order.

                       <file>(<section>): warning: definition of `<symbol>'
                          overriding common
                       <file>(<section>): warning: common is here

           3.  Merging a common symbol with a previous same-sized common symbol.

                       <file>(<section>): warning: multiple common
                          of `<symbol>'
                       <file>(<section>): warning: previous common is here

           4.  Merging a common symbol with a previous larger common symbol.

                       <file>(<section>): warning: common of `<symbol>'
                          overridden by larger common
                       <file>(<section>): warning: larger common is here

           5.  Merging  a  common symbol with a previous smaller common symbol.  This is the same
               as the previous case, except that the  symbols  are  encountered  in  a  different
               order.

                       <file>(<section>): warning: common of `<symbol>'
                          overriding smaller common
                       <file>(<section>): warning: smaller common is here

       --warn-constructors
           Warn  if  any global constructors are used.  This is only useful for a few object file
           formats.  For formats like COFF or ELF, the linker can not detect the  use  of  global
           constructors.

       --warn-multiple-gp
           Warn  if multiple global pointer values are required in the output file.  This is only
           meaningful for certain processors, such as the Alpha.  Specifically,  some  processors
           put  large-valued  constants  in  a  special  section.  A special register (the global
           pointer) points into the middle of this section,  so  that  constants  can  be  loaded
           efficiently  via  a base-register relative addressing mode.  Since the offset in base-
           register relative mode is fixed and relatively small (e.g., 16 bits), this limits  the
           maximum  size of the constant pool.  Thus, in large programs, it is often necessary to
           use multiple global pointer values in  order  to  be  able  to  address  all  possible
           constants.  This option causes a warning to be issued whenever this case occurs.

       --warn-once
           Only  warn once for each undefined symbol, rather than once per module which refers to
           it.

       --warn-section-align
           Warn if the address of an output section is changed because of alignment.   Typically,
           the alignment will be set by an input section.  The address will only be changed if it
           not explicitly specified; that is, if the "SECTIONS" command does not specify a  start
           address for the section.

       --warn-shared-textrel
           Warn if the linker adds a DT_TEXTREL to a shared object.

       --warn-unresolved-symbols
           If   the   linker   is   going   to  report  an  unresolved  symbol  (see  the  option
           --unresolved-symbols) it will normally  generate  an  error.   This  option  makes  it
           generate a warning instead.

       --error-unresolved-symbols
           This restores the linker's default behaviour of generating errors when it is reporting
           unresolved symbols.

       --whole-archive
           For each archive mentioned on the  command  line  after  the  --whole-archive  option,
           include  every  object  file  in  the  archive  in the link, rather than searching the
           archive for the required object files.  This is normally used to turn an archive  file
           into  a  shared  library,  forcing every object to be included in the resulting shared
           library.  This option may be used more than once.

           Two notes when using this option from gcc: First, gcc doesn't know about this  option,
           so   you   have   to   use   -Wl,-whole-archive.    Second,   don't   forget   to  use
           -Wl,-no-whole-archive after your list of archives, because gcc will add its  own  list
           of archives to your link and you may not want this flag to affect those as well.

       --wrap symbol
           Use a wrapper function for symbol.  Any undefined reference to symbol will be resolved
           to "__wrap_symbol".  Any undefined reference to "__real_symbol" will  be  resolved  to
           symbol.

           This  can  be  used  to provide a wrapper for a system function.  The wrapper function
           should be called "__wrap_symbol".  If it wishes to call the system function, it should
           call "__real_symbol".

           Here is a trivial example:

                   void *
                   __wrap_malloc (size_t c)
                   {
                     printf ("malloc called with %zu\n", c);
                     return __real_malloc (c);
                   }

           If  you link other code with this file using --wrap malloc, then all calls to "malloc"
           will call the function  "__wrap_malloc"  instead.   The  call  to  "__real_malloc"  in
           "__wrap_malloc" will call the real "malloc" function.

           You  may wish to provide a "__real_malloc" function as well, so that links without the
           --wrap option will succeed.  If you do this, you should  not  put  the  definition  of
           "__real_malloc"  in  the  same  file  as "__wrap_malloc"; if you do, the assembler may
           resolve the call before the linker has a chance to wrap it to "malloc".

       --enable-new-dtags
       --disable-new-dtags
           This linker can create the new dynamic tags in ELF. But the older ELF systems may  not
           understand  them.  If you specify --enable-new-dtags, the dynamic tags will be created
           as needed.  If you specify --disable-new-dtags, no new dynamic tags will  be  created.
           By  default,  the  new  dynamic tags are not created. Note that those options are only
           available for ELF systems.

       --hash-size=number
           Set the default size of the linker's hash tables to a prime number  close  to  number.
           Increasing this value can reduce the length of time it takes the linker to perform its
           tasks, at the expense of  increasing  the  linker's  memory  requirements.   Similarly
           reducing this value can reduce the memory requirements at the expense of speed.

       --reduce-memory-overheads
           This  option  reduces  memory  requirements  at  ld runtime, at the expense of linking
           speed.  This was introduced to to select the old O(n^2) algorithm for  link  map  file
           generation,  rather  than  the new O(n) algorithm which uses about 40% more memory for
           symbol storage.

           Another affect of the switch is to set the default hash  table  size  to  1021,  which
           again saves memory at the cost of lengthening the linker's run time.  This is not done
           however if the --hash-size switch has been used.

           The --reduce-memory-overheads switch may be also be used to enable other tradeoffs  in
           future versions of the linker.

       The  i386  PE  linker  supports  the  -shared  option,  which  causes  the  output to be a
       dynamically linked library (DLL) instead of a normal  executable.   You  should  name  the
       output  "*.dll"  when  you  use  this  option.  In addition, the linker fully supports the
       standard "*.def" files, which may be specified on the linker command line like  an  object
       file (in fact, it should precede archives it exports symbols from, to ensure that they get
       linked in, just like a normal object file).

       In addition to the options common to all targets, the i386 PE  linker  support  additional
       command  line  options  that are specific to the i386 PE target.  Options that take values
       may be separated from their values by either a space or an equals sign.

       --add-stdcall-alias
           If given, symbols with a stdcall suffix (@nn) will be exported as-is and also with the
           suffix stripped.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --base-file file
           Use  file  as  the  name  of  a  file  in  which to save the base addresses of all the
           relocations needed for generating DLLs with dlltool.  [This is  an  i386  PE  specific
           option]

       --dll
           Create  a  DLL instead of a regular executable.  You may also use -shared or specify a
           "LIBRARY" in a given ".def" file.  [This option is specific to the  i386  PE  targeted
           port of the linker]

       --enable-stdcall-fixup
       --disable-stdcall-fixup
           If  the  link  finds  a  symbol  that it cannot resolve, it will attempt to do ``fuzzy
           linking'' by looking for another defined symbol that differs only in the format of the
           symbol  name  (cdecl vs stdcall) and will resolve that symbol by linking to the match.
           For example, the undefined symbol "_foo" might be linked to the function "_foo@12", or
           the  undefined  symbol  "_bar@16"  might  be  linked to the function "_bar".  When the
           linker does this, it prints a warning, since it normally should have failed  to  link,
           but  sometimes  import libraries generated from third-party dlls may need this feature
           to be usable.  If you specify --enable-stdcall-fixup, this feature  is  fully  enabled
           and warnings are not printed.  If you specify --disable-stdcall-fixup, this feature is
           disabled and such mismatches are considered to be errors.  [This option is specific to
           the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --export-all-symbols
           If  given,  all  global symbols in the objects used to build a DLL will be exported by
           the DLL.  Note that this is the default if there otherwise wouldn't  be  any  exported
           symbols.   When  symbols  are explicitly exported via DEF files or implicitly exported
           via function attributes, the default is to not export anything else unless this option
           is    given.     Note    that    the    symbols    "DllMain@12",    "DllEntryPoint@0",
           "DllMainCRTStartup@12", and "impure_ptr" will not be  automatically  exported.   Also,
           symbols  imported from other DLLs will not be re-exported, nor will symbols specifying
           the DLL's internal layout such  as  those  beginning  with  "_head_"  or  ending  with
           "_iname".   In  addition,  no  symbols  from  "libgcc",  "libstd++",  "libmingw32", or
           "crtX.o" will be exported.  Symbols whose names begin with "__rtti_"  or  "__builtin_"
           will  not  be exported, to help with C++ DLLs.  Finally, there is an extensive list of
           cygwin-private symbols that are not exported (obviously, this applies on when building
           DLLs   for   cygwin  targets).   These  cygwin-excludes  are:  "_cygwin_dll_entry@12",
           "_cygwin_crt0_common@8",  "_cygwin_noncygwin_dll_entry@12",  "_fmode",  "_impure_ptr",
           "cygwin_attach_dll",    "cygwin_premain0",    "cygwin_premain1",    "cygwin_premain2",
           "cygwin_premain3", and "environ".  [This option is specific to the  i386  PE  targeted
           port of the linker]

       --exclude-symbols symbol,symbol,...
           Specifies  a  list  of symbols which should not be automatically exported.  The symbol
           names may be delimited by commas or colons.  [This option is specific to the  i386  PE
           targeted port of the linker]

       --file-alignment
           Specify  the  file  alignment.  Sections in the file will always begin at file offsets
           which are multiples of this number.  This defaults to 512.  [This option  is  specific
           to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --heap reserve
       --heap reserve,commit
           Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) to be used as heap for
           this program.  The default is 1Mb reserved, 4K committed.  [This option is specific to
           the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --image-base value
           Use  value  as  the  base  address  of your program or dll.  This is the lowest memory
           location that will be used when your program or dll is loaded.  To reduce the need  to
           relocate  and improve performance of your dlls, each should have a unique base address
           and not overlap any  other  dlls.   The  default  is  0x400000  for  executables,  and
           0x10000000  for  dlls.   [This  option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
           linker]

       --kill-at
           If given, the stdcall suffixes (@nn) will be stripped from  symbols  before  they  are
           exported.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --large-address-aware
           If  given,  the  appropriate bit in the ``Charateristics'' field of the COFF header is
           set to indicate that  this  executable  supports  virtual  addresses  greater  than  2
           gigabytes.  This should be used in conjuction with the /3GB or /USERVA=value megabytes
           switch in the ``[operating systems]'' section of the BOOT.INI.   Otherwise,  this  bit
           has no effect.  [This option is specific to PE targeted ports of the linker]

       --major-image-version value
           Sets  the  major  number  of  the  ``image version''.  Defaults to 1.  [This option is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --major-os-version value
           Sets the major number of the ``os version''.  Defaults to 4.  [This option is specific
           to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --major-subsystem-version value
           Sets  the  major number of the ``subsystem version''.  Defaults to 4.  [This option is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --minor-image-version value
           Sets the minor number of the ``image version''.   Defaults  to  0.   [This  option  is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --minor-os-version value
           Sets the minor number of the ``os version''.  Defaults to 0.  [This option is specific
           to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --minor-subsystem-version value
           Sets the minor number of the ``subsystem version''.  Defaults to 0.  [This  option  is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --output-def file
           The  linker  will  create the file file which will contain a DEF file corresponding to
           the DLL the linker is generating.  This DEF file (which should be called "*.def")  may
           be  used  to  create an import library with "dlltool" or may be used as a reference to
           automatically or implicitly exported symbols.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE
           targeted port of the linker]

       --out-implib file
           The linker will create the file file which will contain an import lib corresponding to
           the DLL the linker is generating. This import lib (which should be called "*.dll.a" or
           "*.a"  may  be used to link clients against the generated DLL; this behaviour makes it
           possible to skip a separate "dlltool" import library creation step.  [This  option  is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --enable-auto-image-base
           Automatically  choose  the  image  base  for  DLLs,  unless one is specified using the
           "--image-base" argument.  By using a hash generated from the dllname to create  unique
           image bases for each DLL, in-memory collisions and relocations which can delay program
           execution are avoided.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port  of  the
           linker]

       --disable-auto-image-base
           Do  not  automatically  generate  a  unique image base.  If there is no user-specified
           image base ("--image-base") then use the platform default.  [This option  is  specific
           to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --dll-search-prefix string
           When   linking   dynamically   to   a  dll  without  an  import  library,  search  for
           "<string><basename>.dll" in preference to "lib<basename>.dll". This  behaviour  allows
           easy  distinction  between  DLLs built for the various "subplatforms": native, cygwin,
           uwin, pw, etc.  For instance, cygwin  DLLs  typically  use  "--dll-search-prefix=cyg".
           [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --enable-auto-import
           Do  sophisticated  linking of "_symbol" to "__imp__symbol" for DATA imports from DLLs,
           and create the necessary thunking symbols when  building  the  import  libraries  with
           those  DATA  exports.  Note:  Use  of  the 'auto-import' extension will cause the text
           section of the image file to be made writable. This does not conform  to  the  PE-COFF
           format specification published by Microsoft.

           Using  'auto-import'  generally  will  'just  work'  -- but sometimes you may see this
           message:

           "variable '<var>' can't be auto-imported.  Please  read  the  documentation  for  ld's
           "--enable-auto-import" for details."

           This  message occurs when some (sub)expression accesses an address ultimately given by
           the sum of two constants (Win32 import tables only allow one).  Instances  where  this
           may  occur  include accesses to member fields of struct variables imported from a DLL,
           as well as using a constant index into an array variable imported  from  a  DLL.   Any
           multiword variable (arrays, structs, long long, etc) may trigger this error condition.
           However, regardless of the exact data type of the offending exported variable, ld will
           always detect it, issue the warning, and exit.

           There  are several ways to address this difficulty, regardless of the data type of the
           exported variable:

           One way is to use  --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc  switch.  This  leaves  the  task  of
           adjusting references in your client code for runtime environment, so this method works
           only when runtime environment supports this feature.

           A second solution is to force one of the 'constants' to be  a  variable  --  that  is,
           unknown  and un-optimizable at compile time.  For arrays, there are two possibilities:
           a) make the indexee (the array's address) a variable, or b) make the 'constant'  index
           a variable.  Thus:

                   extern type extern_array[];
                   extern_array[1] -->
                      { volatile type *t=extern_array; t[1] }

           or

                   extern type extern_array[];
                   extern_array[1] -->
                      { volatile int t=1; extern_array[t] }

           For  structs  (and  most  other  multiword  data types) the only option is to make the
           struct itself (or the long long, or the ...) variable:

                   extern struct s extern_struct;
                   extern_struct.field -->
                      { volatile struct s *t=&extern_struct; t->field }

           or

                   extern long long extern_ll;
                   extern_ll -->
                     { volatile long long * local_ll=&extern_ll; *local_ll }

           A third method of dealing with this difficulty is to  abandon  'auto-import'  for  the
           offending  symbol and mark it with "__declspec(dllimport)".  However, in practise that
           requires using compile-time #defines to indicate  whether  you  are  building  a  DLL,
           building client code that will link to the DLL, or merely building/linking to a static
           library.   In making the choice between the various methods of resolving  the  'direct
           address with constant offset' problem, you should consider typical real-world usage:

           Original:

                   --foo.h
                   extern int arr[];
                   --foo.c
                   #include "foo.h"
                   void main(int argc, char **argv){
                     printf("%d\n",arr[1]);
                   }

           Solution 1:

                   --foo.h
                   extern int arr[];
                   --foo.c
                   #include "foo.h"
                   void main(int argc, char **argv){
                     /* This workaround is for win32 and cygwin; do not "optimize" */
                     volatile int *parr = arr;
                     printf("%d\n",parr[1]);
                   }

           Solution 2:

                   --foo.h
                   /* Note: auto-export is assumed (no __declspec(dllexport)) */
                   #if (defined(_WIN32) ⎪⎪ defined(__CYGWIN__)) && \
                     !(defined(FOO_BUILD_DLL) ⎪⎪ defined(FOO_STATIC))
                   #define FOO_IMPORT __declspec(dllimport)
                   #else
                   #define FOO_IMPORT
                   #endif
                   extern FOO_IMPORT int arr[];
                   --foo.c
                   #include "foo.h"
                   void main(int argc, char **argv){
                     printf("%d\n",arr[1]);
                   }

           A  fourth  way  to  avoid  this problem is to re-code your library to use a functional
           interface rather than a data interface for the offending variables (e.g. set_foo() and
           get_foo()  accessor functions).  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port
           of the linker]

       --disable-auto-import
           Do not attempt to do sophisticated linking of "_symbol" to  "__imp__symbol"  for  DATA
           imports  from  DLLs.   [This  option  is  specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the
           linker]

       --enable-runtime-pseudo-reloc
           If your code contains expressions described in --enable-auto-import section, that  is,
           DATA  imports  from  DLL  with  non-zero  offset,  this switch will create a vector of
           'runtime pseudo relocations' which can  be  used  by  runtime  environment  to  adjust
           references  to such data in your client code.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE
           targeted port of the linker]

       --disable-runtime-pseudo-reloc
           Do not create pseudo relocations for non-zero offset DATA imports from DLLs.  This  is
           the default.  [This option is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --enable-extra-pe-debug
           Show  additional  debug  info related to auto-import symbol thunking.  [This option is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --section-alignment
           Sets the section alignment.  Sections in memory will always begin at  addresses  which
           are  a  multiple of this number.  Defaults to 0x1000.  [This option is specific to the
           i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --stack reserve
       --stack reserve,commit
           Specify the amount of memory to reserve (and optionally commit) to be  used  as  stack
           for  this  program.   The  default  is  2Mb  reserved,  4K committed.  [This option is
           specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       --subsystem which
       --subsystem which:major
       --subsystem which:major.minor
           Specifies the subsystem under which your program will execute.  The legal  values  for
           which are "native", "windows", "console", "posix", and "xbox".  You may optionally set
           the subsystem version also.  Numeric values are also accepted for which.  [This option
           is specific to the i386 PE targeted port of the linker]

       The  68HC11  and  68HC12  linkers  support  specific  options  to  control the memory bank
       switching mapping and trampoline code generation.

       --no-trampoline
           This option disables  the  generation  of  trampoline.  By  default  a  trampoline  is
           generated  for  each  far  function  which  is  called using a "jsr" instruction (this
           happens when a pointer to a far function is taken).

       --bank-window name
           This option indicates to the linker the name  of  the  memory  region  in  the  MEMORY
           specification that describes the memory bank window.  The definition of such region is
           then used by the linker to compute paging and addresses within the memory window.

ENVIRONMENT

       You  can  change  the  behaviour  of  ld  with  the  environment  variables   "GNUTARGET",
       "LDEMULATION" and "COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE".

       "GNUTARGET"  determines  the  input-file object format if you don't use -b (or its synonym
       --format).  Its value should be one of the BFD names for an input format.  If there is  no
       "GNUTARGET"  in  the environment, ld uses the natural format of the target. If "GNUTARGET"
       is set to "default" then BFD attempts to discover the input  format  by  examining  binary
       input  files; this method often succeeds, but there are potential ambiguities, since there
       is no method of ensuring that the magic number used  to  specify  object-file  formats  is
       unique.   However,  the  configuration  procedure  for  BFD  on  each  system  places  the
       conventional format for that system first in the search-list, so ambiguities are  resolved
       in favor of convention.

       "LDEMULATION"  determines  the  default  emulation  if  you  don't use the -m option.  The
       emulation can affect various aspects of linker behaviour, particularly the default  linker
       script.   You  can list the available emulations with the --verbose or -V options.  If the
       -m option is not used, and the "LDEMULATION" environment  variable  is  not  defined,  the
       default emulation depends upon how the linker was configured.

       Normally,    the    linker    will   default   to   demangling   symbols.    However,   if
       "COLLECT_NO_DEMANGLE" is set in the environment, then it will default  to  not  demangling
       symbols.   This  environment  variable  is  used  in a similar fashion by the "gcc" linker
       wrapper program.  The default may  be  overridden  by  the  --demangle  and  --no-demangle
       options.

SEE ALSO

       ar(1), nm(1), objcopy(1), objdump(1), readelf(1) and the Info entries for binutils and ld.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright  (c)  1991,  92,  93,  94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 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''.