[PATCH v1 0/6] TIMESTAMP output section command

[Jan Beulich]

On 07.10.2025 14:58, Ulf Samuelsson wrote:
> 
> 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".
> 
> 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.

A lot of assumptions. I can't help the impression that what we want instead
is a time _value_ (at higher precision) which one can then use in arbitrary
expressions.

Jan