ELF header files

[Michael Eager]

Ralf Corsepius wrote:
> On 12/03/2010 10:45 PM, Michael Eager wrote:
>> Ralf Corsepius wrote:
>>> On 12/03/2010 04:33 PM, Sebastian Huber wrote:
>>>> It would be
>>>> nice if a boot loader program can use the ELF header files. Since the
>>>> ELF
>>>> format description is platform independent I thought that Newlib
>>>> could be the
>>>> right place to provide these header files.
>>>
>>> bootloader == an application. Would you mind to explain why an
>>> application would require an OS's libc to provide functions to access
>>> object file internals and why this can't be achieved by using an
>>> external library?
>>
>> Glibc and uClibc both provide elf.h for the target.
>> One could argue that by analogy, Newlib should also.
>> But the argument that a libc has nothing to do with
>> the object format is correct.
>>
>> Since binutils is the package which manipulates ELF
>> files, I think that binutils should install elf.h in
>> the target include directory. (Several targets I've
>> worked with do this as a local mod.)
> 
> Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know, none of the binutils 
> files is being used on a target. They are all host files, i.e. used by 
> binutils but not as part of a target library.

Yes, sort of.

Binutils doesn't provide usually any target libraries,
only cross utilities on the host.  For a couple targets,
I've installed the target libbfd into the target.

Which leaves the open question of how to provide the
target with the same headers used by Binutils cross tools.
Glibc and uClibc supply these headers.  Newlib doesn't.


-- 
Michael Eager	 eager@eagercon.com
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