Author: kaiw Date: Sat May 7 10:44:08 2011 New Revision: 221594 URL: http://svn.freebsd.org/changeset/base/221594
Log: * Rewrite ar.5 mannual page to better document ar(1) archive format. * Use more standard BSD license. Obtained from: elftoolchain Modified: head/share/man/man5/ar.5 Modified: head/share/man/man5/ar.5 ============================================================================== --- head/share/man/man5/ar.5 Sat May 7 10:40:57 2011 (r221593) +++ head/share/man/man5/ar.5 Sat May 7 10:44:08 2011 (r221594) @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -.\" Copyright (c) 2007 Joseph Koshy. All rights reserved. +.\" Copyright (c) 2010 Joseph Koshy. All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions @@ -9,226 +9,319 @@ .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" -.\" This software is provided by Joseph Koshy ``as is'' and -.\" any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the -.\" implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose -.\" are disclaimed. in no event shall Joseph Koshy be liable -.\" for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential -.\" damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods -.\" or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) -.\" however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict -.\" liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way -.\" out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of -.\" such damage. +.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND +.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE +.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE +.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE +.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL +.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS +.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) +.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT +.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY +.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF +.\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" $FreeBSD$ .\" -.Dd September 7, 2007 -.Dt AR 5 +.Dd November 28, 2010 .Os +.Dt AR 5 .Sh NAME .Nm ar -.Nd format of archives managed by ar(1) and ranlib(1) +.Nd archive file format for +.Xr ar 1 +and +.Xr ranlib 1 .Sh SYNOPSIS .In ar.h .Sh DESCRIPTION -An archive managed by the +.Xr ar 1 +archives are created and managed by the .Xr ar 1 and .Xr ranlib 1 -utilities is a single file that stores the individual members of the -archive along with metadata for each member. -There are two major variants of the +utilities. +These archives are typically used during program development to +hold libraries of program objects. +An +.Xr ar 1 +archive is contained in a single operating system file. +.Pp +This manual page documents two variants of the .Xr ar 1 -archive format, the BSD variant and the SVR4/GNU variant. -Both variants are described by this manual page. +archive format: the BSD archive format, and the SVR4/GNU archive +format. .Pp -The header file +In both variants the archive file starts with an identifying byte +sequence of the seven ASCII characters +.Sq Li "!<arch>" +followed by a ASCII linefeed character +.Po +see the constant +.Dq ARMAG +in the header file .In ar.h -defines constants and structures used to describe the layout -of these archives. -.Ss Archive Layout -.Xr ar 1 -archives start with a string of magic bytes -.Qq !<arch>\en -(constant -.Dv ARMAG -in header -.In ar.h ) . -The content of the archive follows the magic bytes. -Each member stored in the archive is preceded by a fixed size -archive header that stores file permissions, last modification -time, the owner, and the group of the archived file. -.Pp -Archive headers start at an even byte offset in the archive -file. -If the length of the preceding archive member was odd, then an extra -newline character -.Dq "\en" -is used as padding. -.Pp -The archive header comprises six fixed-size ASCII strings followed -by a two character trailer (see -.Vt "struct ar_hdr" -in header file -.In ar.h Ns ): -.Bd -literal -struct ar_hdr { - char ar_name[16]; /* name */ - char ar_date[12]; /* modification time */ - char ar_uid[6]; /* user id */ - char ar_gid[6]; /* group id */ - char ar_mode[8]; /* octal file permissions */ - char ar_size[10]; /* size in bytes */ - char ar_fmag[2]; /* consistency check */ -}; -.Ed -.Pp -Unused characters in the header are filled with space (ASCII 20H) -characters. -Each field of the header abuts the next without additional padding. -.Pp -The members of the archive header are as follows: -.Bl -tag -width "Va ar_name" -compact -.It Va ar_date -This field holds the decimal representation of the -modification time, in seconds since the epoch, of the archive -member. -.It Va ar_fmag -This trailer field holds the two characters -.Qq `\en -(constant -.Dv ARFMAG -defined in header file -.In ar.h Ns ), -and is used for consistency checks. -.It Va ar_gid -This field holds the decimal representation of the numeric -user id of the creator of the member. -.It Va ar_mode -This field holds octal representation of the file permissions -for the member. -.It Va ar_name -This field holds the name of an archive member. -The usage of this field depends on the format variant: -.Bl -tag -width "SVR4/GNU" -compact -.It BSD -In the BSD variant, names that are shorter than 16 characters and -without embedded spaces are stored directly in this field. -If a name has an embedded space, or if it is longer than 16 -characters, then the string -.Qq "#1/" -followed by the decimal representation of the length of the file name -is placed in this field. -The actual file name is stored immediately after the archive header. -The content of the archive member follows the file name. +.Pc . +.Pp +Archive members follow the initial identifying byte sequence. +Each archive member is prefixed by a fixed size header describing the +file attributes associated with the member. +.Ss "Archive Headers" +An archive header describes the file attributes for the archive member that +follows it. The -.Va ar_size -field of the header (see below) will then hold the sum of the size of -the file name and the size of the member. -.It SVR4/GNU -In the SVR4/GNU variant, names up to 15 characters in length are -stored directly in this field, and are terminated by a -.Qq / -(ASCII 2FH) character. -Names larger than 15 characters in length are stored in a special -archive string table member (see -.Sx "Archive String Table" -below), and the -.Va ar_name -field holds the string -.Qq "/" -followed by the decimal representation of the offset in the archive -string table of the actual name. +.Xr ar 5 +format only supports a limited number of attributes: the file name, +the file creation time stamp, the uid and gid of the creator, the file +mode and the file size. +.Pp +Archive headers are placed at an even byte offset in the archive file. +If the data for an archive member ends at an odd byte offset, then a +padding byte with value 0x0A is used to position the next archive +header on an even byte offset. +.Pp +An archive header comprises the following fixed sized fields: +.Bl -tag -width "Li ar_name" +.It Ar ar_name +(16 bytes) The file name of the archive member. +The format of this field varies between the BSD and SVR4/GNU formats and +is described in more detail in the section +.Sx "Representing File Names" +below. +.It Ar ar_date +(12 bytes) The file modification time for the member in seconds since the +epoch, encoded as a decimal number. +.It Ar ar_uid +(6 bytes) The uid associated with the archive member, encoded as a +decimal number. +.It Ar ar_gid +(6 bytes) The gid associated with the archive member, encoded as a +decimal number. +.It Ar ar_mode +(8 bytes) The file mode for the archive member, encoded as an octal +number. +.It Ar ar_size +(10 bytes) In the SVR4/GNU archive format this field holds the size in +bytes of the archive member, encoded as a decimal number. +In the BSD archive format, for short file names, this field +holds the size in bytes of the archive member, encoded as a decimal +number. +For long file names +.Po +see +.Sx "Representing File Names" +below +.Pc , +the field contains the combined size of the +archive member and its file name, encoded as a decimal number. +.It Ar ar_fmag +(2 bytes) This field holds 2 bytes with values 0x96 and 0x0A +respectively, marking the end of the header. +.El +.Pp +Unused bytes in the fields of an archive header are set to the value +0x20. +.Ss "Representing File Names" +The BSD and SVR4/GNU variants use different schemes for encoding file +names for members. +.Bl -tag -width "SVR4/GNU" +.It "BSD" +File names that are upto 16 bytes long and which do not contain +embedded spaces are stored directly in the +.Ar ar_name +field of the archive header. +File names that are either longer than 16 bytes or which contain +embedded spaces are stored immediately after the archive header +and the +.Ar ar_name +field of the archive header is set to the string +.Dq "#1/" +followed by a decimal representation of the number of bytes needed for +the file name. +In addition, the +.Ar ar_size +field of the archive header is set to the decimal representation of +the combined sizes of the archive member and the file name. +The file contents of the member follows the file name without further +padding. +.Pp +As an example, if the file name for a member was +.Dq "A B" +and its contents was the string +.Dq "C D" , +then the +.Ar ar_name +field of the header would contain +.Dq Li "#1/3" , +the +.Ar ar_size +field of the header would contain +.Dq Li 6 , +and the bytes immediately following the header would be 0x41, 0x20, +0x42, 0x43, 0x20 and 0x44 +.Po +ASCII +.Dq "A BC D" +.Pc . +.It "SVR4/GNU" +File names that are upto 15 characters long are stored directly in the +.Ar ar_name +field of the header, terminated by a +.Dq Li / +character. +.Pp +If the file name is larger than would fit in space for the +.Ar ar_name +field, then the actual file name is kept in the archive +string table +.Po +see +.Sx "Archive String Tables" +below +.Pc , +and the decimal offset of the file name in the string table is stored +in the +.Ar ar_name +field, prefixed by a +.Dq Li / +character. +.Pp +As an example, if the real file name has been stored at offset 768 in +the archive string table, the +.Ar ar_name +field of the header will contain the string +.Dq /768 . .El -.It Va ar_size -In the SVR4/GNU variant, this field holds the decimal representation -of actual size in bytes of the archived file. -In the BSD variant, for member names that use the -.Va ar_name -field directly, this field holds the decimal representation of the -actual size in bytes of the archived member. -For member names that use the extension mechanism described above, the -field will hold the sum of the sizes, in bytes, of the filename and the -archive member. -.It Va ar_uid -This field holds the decimal representation of the numeric -group id of the creator of the member. +.Ss "Special Archive Members" +The following archive members are special. +.Bl -tag -width indent +.It Dq Li / +In the SVR4/GNU variant of the archive format, the archive member with +name +.Dq Li / +denotes an archive symbol table. +If present, this member will be the very first member in the +archive. +.It Dq Li // +In the SVR4/GNU variant of the archive format, the archive member with +name +.Dq Li // +denotes the archive string table. +This special member is used to hold filenames that do not fit in the +file name field of the header +.Po +see +.Sx "Representing File Names" +above +.Pc . +If present, this member immediately follows the archive symbol table +if an archive symbol table is present, or is the first member otherwise. +.It Dq Li "__.SYMDEF" +This special member contains the archive symbol table in the BSD +variant of the archive format. +If present, this member will be the very first member in the +archive. .El -.Ss Archive Symbol Table -An archive may additionally contain an archive symbol table -used by the link editor, -.Xr ld 1 . -This symbol table has the member name -.Qq __.SYMDEF -in the BSD variant of the archive format, and the name -.Qq / -in the SVR4/GNU variant. +.Ss "Archive String Tables" +An archive string table is used in the SVR4/GNU archive format to hold +file names that are too large to fit into the constraints of the +.Ar ar_name +field of the archive header. +An archive string table contains a sequence of file names. +Each file name in the archive string table is terminated by the +byte sequence 0x2F, 0x0A +.Po +the ASCII string +.Dq "/\en" +.Pc . +No padding is used to separate adjacent file names. +.Ss "Archive Symbol Tables" +Archive symbol tables are used to speed up link editing by providing a +mapping between the program symbols defined in the archive +and the corresponding archive members. +Archive symbol tables are managed by the +.Xr ranlib 1 +utility. .Pp -The format of the symbol table depends on the format variant: -.Bl -tag -width "SVR4/GNU" -compact +The format of archive symbol tables is as follows: +.Bl -tag -width "SVR4/GNU" .It BSD -In the BSD variant, the symbol table has 4 parts encoded in -a machine dependent manner: -.Bl -enum -compact -.It -The first part is a binary value containing size in bytes of the -second part encoded as a C -.Dq long . -.It -The second part is a list of -.Vt struct ranlib -structures (see -.In ranlib.h Ns ). -Each ranlib structure describes one symbol and comprises of -two C -.Dq long -values. -The first -.Dq long -is a zero-based offset into the string table in the fourth part -for the symbol's name. -The second -.Dq long -is an offset from the beginning of the archive to the start -of the archive header for the member that defines the symbol. -.It -The third part is a binary value denoting the length of the -string table contained in the fourth part. -.It -The fourth part is a string table containing NUL-terminated -strings. +In the BSD archive format, the archive symbol table comprises +of two parts: a part containing an array of +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptors, followed by a part containing a symbol string table. +The sizes and layout of the structures that make up a BSD format +archive symbol table are machine dependent. +.Pp +The part containing +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptors begins with a field containing the size in bytes of the +array of +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptors encoded as a C +.Vt long +value. +.Pp +The array of +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptors follows the size field. +Each +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptor describes one symbol. +.Pp +A +.Vt "struct ranlib" +descriptor comprises two fields: +.Bl -tag -width "Ar ran_strx" -compact +.It Ar ran_strx +.Pq C Vt long +This field contains the zero-based offset of the symbol name in the +symbol string table. +.It Ar ran_off +.Pq C Vt long +This field is the file offset to the archive header for the archive +member defining the symbol. .El +.Pp +The part containing the symbol string table begins with a field +containing the size in bytes of the string table, encoded as a C +.Vt long +value. +This string table follows the size field, and contains +NUL-terminated strings for the symbols in the symbol table. .It SVR4/GNU -In the SVR4/GNU variant, the symbol table comprises of three parts -which follow each other without padding: -.Bl -enum -compact -.It -The first part comprises of a count of entries in the symbol table, -stored a 4 byte binary value in MSB first order. -.It -The next part is an array of 4 byte file offsets within the archive -to archive header for members that define the symbol in question. -Each offset in stored in MSB first order. -.It -The third part is a string table, that contains NUL-terminated -strings for the symbols in the symbol table. -.El +In the SVR4/GNU archive format, the archive symbol table starts with a +4-byte binary value containing the number of entries contained in the +archive symbol table. +This count of entries is stored most significant byte first. +.Pp +Next, there are +.Ar count +4-byte numbers, each stored most significant byte first. +Each number is a binary offset to the archive header for the member in +the archive file for the corresponding symbol table entry. +.Pp +After the binary offset values, there are +.Ar count +NUL-terminated strings in sequence, holding the symbol names for +the corresponding symbol table entries. .El -.Ss Archive String Table -In the SVR4/GNU variant of the +.Sh STANDARDS COMPLIANCE +The .Xr ar 1 -archive format, long file names are stored in a separate -archive string table and referenced from the archive header -for each member. -Each file name is terminated by the string -.Qq /\en . -The string table itself has a name of -.Qq // . +archive format is not currently specified by a standard. +.Pp +This manual page documents the +.Xr ar 1 +archive formats used by the +.Bx 4.4 +and +.Ux SVR4 +operating system releases. .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr ar 1 , +.Xr ld 1 , .Xr ranlib 1 , -.Xr archive 3 , .Xr elf 3 , -.Xr gelf 3 , -.Xr elf 5 +.Xr elf_getarsym 3 , +.Xr elf_rand 3 _______________________________________________ svn-src-all@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/svn-src-all To unsubscribe, send any mail to "svn-src-all-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"