The include file
#include <link.h>
declares several structures that are present in dynamically linked
programs and libraries.
The structures define the interface between several components of the
link-editor and loader mechanism.
The layout of a number of these
structures within the binaries resembles the a.out format in many places
as it serves such similar functions as symbol definitions (including the
accompanying string table) and relocation records needed to resolve
references to external entities.
It also records a number of data structures
unique to the dynamic loading and linking process.
These include references
to other objects that are required to complete the link-editing process and
indirection tables to facilitate
Position Independent Code
(PIC for short) to improve sharing of code pages among different processes.
The collection of data structures described here will be referred to as the
Run-time Relocation Section (RRS)
and is embedded in the standard text and data segments of the dynamically
linked program or shared object image as the existing
a.out5
format offers no room for it elsewhere.
Several utilities cooperate to ensure that the task of getting a program
ready to run can complete successfully in a way that optimizes the use
of system resources.
The compiler emits PIC code from which shared libraries
can be built by
ld(1).
The compiler also includes size information of any initialized data items
through the .size assembler directive.
PIC code differs from conventional code
in that it accesses data variables through an indirection table, the
Global Offset Table, by convention accessible by the reserved name
_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_
The exact mechanism used for this is machine dependent, usually a machine
register is reserved for the purpose.
The rational behind this construct
is to generate code that is independent of the actual load address.
Only
the values contained in the Global Offset Table may need updating at run-time
depending on the load addresses of the various shared objects in the address
space.
Likewise, procedure calls to globally defined functions are redirected through
the Procedure Linkage Table (PLT) residing in the data segment of the core
image.
Again, this is done to avoid run-time modifications to the text segment.
The linker-editor allocates the Global Offset Table and Procedure Linkage Table
when combining PIC object files into an image suitable for mapping into the
process address space.
It also collects all symbols that may be needed by the
run-time link-editor and stores these along with the image's text and data bits.
Another reserved symbol,
_DYNAMIC
is used to indicate the presence of the run-time linker structures.
Whenever
_DYNAMIC is relocated to 0, there is no need to invoke the run-time
link-editor.
If this symbol is non-zero, it points at a data structure from
which the location of the necessary relocation- and symbol information can
be derived.
This is most notably used by the start-up module,
crt0
The _DYNAMIC structure is conventionally located at the start of the data
segment of the image to which it pertains.
DATA STRUCTURES
The data structures supporting dynamic linking and run-time relocation
reside both in the text and data segments of the image they apply to.
The text segments contain read-only data such as symbols descriptions and
names, while the data segments contain the tables that need to be modified by
during the relocation process.
The _DYNAMIC symbol references a
Fa _dynamic
structure:
struct _dynamic {
int d_version;
struct so_debug *d_debug;
union {
struct section_dispatch_table *d_sdt;
} d_un;
struct ld_entry *d_entry;
};
Fa d_version
This field provides for different versions of the dynamic linking
implementation.
The current version numbers understood by
ld(1)
and
ld.so1
are
LD_VERSION_SUN (3)
which is used by the
SunOS
4.x releases, and
LD_VERSION_BSD (8)
which has been in use since
Fx 1.1 .
Fa d_un
Refers to a
d_version
dependent data structure.
Fa so_debug
this field provides debuggers with a hook to access symbol tables of shared
objects loaded as a result of the actions of the run-time link-editor.
The
Fa section_dispatch_table
structure is the main
``dispatcher''
table, containing offsets into the image's segments where various symbol
and relocation information is located.
struct section_dispatch_table {
struct so_map *sdt_loaded;
long sdt_sods;
long sdt_filler1;
long sdt_got;
long sdt_plt;
long sdt_rel;
long sdt_hash;
long sdt_nzlist;
long sdt_filler2;
long sdt_buckets;
long sdt_strings;
long sdt_str_sz;
long sdt_text_sz;
long sdt_plt_sz;
};
Fa sdt_loaded
A pointer to the first link map loaded (see below).
This field is set by
ld.so
Fa sdt_sods
The start of a (linked) list of shared object descriptors needed by
this
object.
Fa sdt_filler1
Deprecated (used by SunOS to specify library search rules).
Fa sdt_got
The location of the Global Offset Table within this image.
Fa sdt_plt
The location of the Procedure Linkage Table within this image.
Fa sdt_rel
The location of an array of
Fa relocation_info
structures
(see
a.out5)
specifying run-time relocations.
Fa sdt_hash
The location of the hash table for fast symbol lookup in this object's
symbol table.
Fa sdt_nzlist
The location of the symbol table.
Fa sdt_filler2
Currently unused.
Fa sdt_buckets
The number of buckets in
Fa sdt_hash
Fa sdt_strings
The location of the symbol string table that goes with
Fa sdt_nzlist .
Fa sdt_str_sz
The size of the string table.
Fa sdt_text_sz
The size of the object's text segment.
Fa sdt_plt_sz
The size of the Procedure Linkage Table.
A
Fa sod
structure describes a shared object that is needed
to complete the link edit process of the object containing it.
A list of such objects
(chained through
Fa sod_next )
is pointed at
by the
Fa sdt_sods
in the section_dispatch_table structure.
struct sod {
long sod_name;
u_int sod_library : 1,
sod_reserved : 31;
short sod_major;
short sod_minor;
long sod_next;
};
Fa sod_name
The offset in the text segment of a string describing this link object.
Fa sod_library
If set,
Fa sod_name
specifies a library that is to be searched for by
ld.so
The path name
is obtained by searching a set of directories
(see also
ldconfig(8))
for a shared object matching
lib<sod_name>.so.n.m
If not set,
Fa sod_name
should point at a full path name for the desired shared object.
Fa sod_major
Specifies the major version number of the shared object to load.
Fa sod_minor
Specifies the preferred minor version number of the shared object to load.
The run-time link-editor maintains a list of structures called
link maps
to keep track of all shared objects loaded into a process' address space.
These structures are only used at run-time and do not occur within
the text or data segment of an executable or shared library.
The address at which the shared object associated with this link map has
been loaded.
Fa som_path
The full path name of the loaded object.
Fa som_next
Pointer to the next link map.
Fa som_sod
The
Fa sod
structure that was responsible for loading this shared object.
Fa som_sodbase
Tossed out in later versions of the run-time linker.
Fa som_write
Set if (some portion of) this object's text segment is currently writable.
Fa som_dynamic
Pointer to this object's
Fa _dynamic
structure.
Fa som_spd
Hook for attaching private data maintained by the run-time link-editor.
Symbol description with size.
This is simply an
Fa nlist
structure with one field
(Fa nz_size
)
added.
Used to convey size information on items in the data segment
of shared objects.
An array of these lives in the shared object's
text segment and is addressed by the
Fa sdt_nzlist
field of
Fa section_dispatch_table .
A hash table is included within the text segment of shared object
to facilitate quick lookup of symbols during run-time link-editing.
The
Fa sdt_hash
field of the
Fa section_dispatch_table
structure points at an array of
Fa rrs_hash
structures:
struct rrs_hash {
int rh_symbolnum; /* symbol number */
int rh_next; /* next hash entry */
};
Fa rh_symbolnum
The index of the symbol in the shared object's symbol table (as given by the
Fa ld_symbols
field).
Fa rh_next
In case of collisions, this field is the offset of the next entry in this
hash table bucket.
It is zero for the last bucket element.
The
Fa rt_symbol
structure is used to keep track of run-time allocated commons
and data items copied from shared objects.
These items are kept on linked list
and is exported through the
Fa dd_cc
field in the
Fa so_debug
structure (see below) for use by debuggers.
Location of the source of initialized data within a shared object.
Fa rt_smp
The shared object which is the original source of the data that this
run-time symbol describes.
The
Fa so_debug
structure is used by debuggers to gain knowledge of any shared objects
that have been loaded in the process's address space as a result of run-time
link-editing.
Since the run-time link-editor runs as a part of process
initialization, a debugger that wishes to access symbols from shared objects
can only do so after the link-editor has been called from crt0.
A dynamically linked binary contains a
Fa so_debug
structure which can be located by means of the
Fa d_debug
field in
Fa _dynamic .
struct so_debug {
int dd_version;
int dd_in_debugger;
int dd_sym_loaded;
char *dd_bpt_addr;
int dd_bpt_shadow;
struct rt_symbol *dd_cc;
};
Fa dd_version
Version number of this interface.
Fa dd_in_debugger
Set by the debugger to indicate to the run-time linker that the program is
run under control of a debugger.
Fa dd_sym_loaded
Set by the run-time linker whenever it adds symbols by loading shared objects.
Fa dd_bpt_addr
The address where a breakpoint will be set by the run-time linker to
divert control to the debugger.
This address is determined by the start-up
module,
crt0.o
to be some convenient place before the call to _main.
Fa dd_bpt_shadow
Contains the original instruction that was at
Fa dd_bpt_addr .
The debugger is expected to put this instruction back before continuing the
program.
Fa dd_cc
A pointer to the linked list of run-time allocated symbols that the debugger
may be interested in.
The
ld_entry
structure defines a set of service routines within
ld.so
The virtual address at which
ld.so
was loaded by crt0.
Fa crt_dzfd
On SunOS systems, this field contains an open file descriptor to
``/dev/zero
''
used to get demand paged zeroed pages.
On
Fx systems it contains -1.
Fa crt_ldfd
Contains an open file descriptor that was used by crt0 to load
ld.so
Fa crt_dp
A pointer to main's
Fa _dynamic
structure.
Fa crt_ep
A pointer to the environment strings.
Fa crt_bp
The address at which a breakpoint will be placed by the run-time linker
if the main program is run by a debugger.
See
Fa so_debug
Fa crt_prog
The name of the main program as determined by crt0 (CRT_VERSION_BSD3 only).
Fa crt_ldso
The path of the run-time linker as mapped by crt0 (CRT_VERSION_BSD4 only).
The
Fa hints_header
and
Fa hints_bucket
structures define the layout of the library hints, normally found in
``/var/run/ld.so.hints
''
which is used by
ld.so
to quickly locate the shared object images in the
file system.
The organization of the hints file is not unlike that of an
``a.out''
object file, in that it contains a header determining the offset and size
of a table of fixed sized hash buckets and a common string pool.
struct hints_header {
long hh_magic;
#define HH_MAGIC 011421044151
long hh_version;
#define LD_HINTS_VERSION_1 1
long hh_hashtab;
long hh_nbucket;
long hh_strtab;
long hh_strtab_sz;
long hh_ehints;
};
Fa hh_magic
Hints file magic number.
Fa hh_version
Interface version number.
Fa hh_hashtab
Offset of hash table.
Fa hh_strtab
Offset of string table.
Fa hh_strtab_sz
Size of strings.
Fa hh_ehints
Maximum usable offset in hints file.
/*
* Hash table element in hints file.
*/
struct hints_bucket {
int hi_namex;
int hi_pathx;
int hi_dewey[MAXDEWEY];
int hi_ndewey;
#define hi_major hi_dewey[0]
#define hi_minor hi_dewey[1]
int hi_next;
};
Fa hi_namex
Index of the string identifying the library.
Fa hi_pathx
Index of the string representing the full path name of the library.
Fa hi_dewey
The version numbers of the shared library.
Fa hi_ndewey
The number of valid entries in
Fa hi_dewey .
Fa hi_next
Next bucket in case of hashing collisions.
CAVEATS
Only the (GNU) C compiler currently supports the creation of shared libraries.
Other programming languages cannot be used.