[PATCH v1 0/6] TIMESTAMP output section command

[Ulf Samuelsson]

Den 2025-10-07 kl. 14:43, skrev Jan Beulich:
> On 07.10.2025 14:39, binutils@emagii.com wrote:
>> [PATCH v1 1/6] ld:TIMESTAMP command, ldlex.l
>> [PATCH v1 2/6] ld:TIMESTAMP command, ldgram.y
>> [PATCH v1 3/6] ld:TIMESTAMP command, ldlang.*
>> [PATCH v1 4/6] ld:TIMESTAMP info
>> [PATCH v1 5/6] ld:TIMESTAMP ChangeLog
>> [PATCH v1 6/6] ld:TIMESTAMP NEWS
>>
>> ld:TIMESTAMP command
>>      
>> Add TIMESTAMP command to linker.
>>      
>> The TIMESTAMP command inserts a QUAD-word entry with the current time
>> into the image at the current location.
>> The value is the number of seconds since the Epoch,
>> 1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 (UTC)
>>
>> The main purpose for the command is for application headers
>> in embedded systems which often require a timestamp to be able to
>> exactly identify the build.
> And those embedded systems all agree on all the field properties? I find
> it hard to believe that anything time related can be "general purpose".
>
> Jan

Each company is likely to have their own definition of the application 
header
So you create a linker command file that will generate a header 
according to your specification.

Many will want to have a timestamp inside the application header so they 
can use
that to ensure that two devices are running exactly the same code.

The TIMESTAMP is generated using the "time" function which I assume is 
what people expect.
It is highly unlikely that a company will release or even build two 
different images that are linked in
exactly the same second, so it is enough resolution.

This is a part of the application header support that I hope to introduce.

You might remember the ASCIZ discussion we had last year.
I will try to resend that afterwards with parameters inside paranthesis 
as you requested.

Then the real meat in the form of CRC calculation of the image with CRC 
included in the header.

All this was approved and included a couple of years ago, but I did not 
have a license agreement with FSF at the time.

-- 
Best Regards
Ulf Samuelsson