elf_rawfile(ELF)
elf_rawfile --
retrieve uninterpreted file contents
Synopsis
cc [flag . . . ] file . . . -lelf [library] . . .
#include <libelf.h>
char elf_rawfile(Elf elf, size_t ptr);
Description
elf_rawfile
returns a pointer to an uninterpreted byte image of the file.
This function should be used only to retrieve a file being read.
For example, a program might use
elf_rawfile
to retrieve the bytes for an archive member.
A program
may not close or disable [see
elf_cntl(ELF)]
the file descriptor associated with
elf
before the initial call to
elf_rawfile,
because
elf_rawfile
might have to read the data from the file if it does not
already have the original bytes in memory.
Generally, this function is more efficient for unknown
file types than for object files.
The library implicitly translates object files in memory,
while it leaves unknown files unmodified.
Thus asking for the uninterpreted image of an object file
may create a duplicate copy in memory.
elf_rawdata
[see
elf_getdata(ELF)]
is a related function, providing access to sections
within a file.
If
ptr
is non-null, the library also stores the file's size, in bytes,
in the location to which
ptr
points.
If no data is present,
elf
is null, or an error occurs, the return value is a null pointer,
with zero optionally stored through
ptr.
References
Intro(ELF),
elf_begin(ELF),
elf_cntl(ELF),
elf_getdata(ELF),
elf_getehdr(ELF),
elf_getident(ELF),
elf_kind(ELF)
Notices
A program that uses
elf_rawfile
and that also interprets the same file as an object file
potentially has two copies of the bytes in memory.
If such a program requests the raw image first,
before it asks for translated information
(through such functions as
elf_getehdr,
elf_getdata,
and so on), the library ``freezes'' its original memory
copy for the raw image.
It then uses this frozen copy as the source for creating
translated objects, without reading the file again.
Consequently, the application should view the raw file
image returned by
elf_rawfile
as a read-only buffer, unless it wants to alter its
own view of data subsequently translated.
In any case, the application may alter the translated
objects without changing bytes visible in the raw image.
Multiple calls to
elf_rawfile
with the same
ELF
descriptor return the same value;
the library does not create duplicate copies of the file.
© 2005 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 6.0.0 - 02 June 2005