Re: Output format documentation

[Andrew STUBBS <andrew.stubbs@st.com>]

Ian Lance Taylor wrote:
> Andrew STUBBS <andrew.stubbs@st.com> writes:
>>SYMBOL TABLE:
>>a0000000 l    d  .text  00000000
> 
> 'l' means a local symbol.
> 
> 'd' means a debugging symbol.
> 
> 'f' means a file symbol.
> 
>>Is there some documentation I have missed?
> 
> Probably not.

Then how do you know? Ok, silly question, but you get my point. I notice 
that you make no attempt the explain the '00000000'.

>>Whether or not there are any now, please can I request that somebody
>>in the know inserts some useful descriptions into the official docs
>>for the next version of binutils. Some column header in the tool
>>output might not be a bad plan either. I know there is a problem in
>>that the different data formats have different output, but at least
>>the most common one ought to have something written.
> 
> 
> The documentation does indeed have many weaknesses.  Patches are
> welcome.

I don't really have time for our own documentation, never mind anybody 
else's, and yes, I'm sure the same is true for many people which is why 
the docs are so short in the first place.

That said, I might be able to find a little time now and again to have a 
bash, but it still wouldn't do any good because I wouldn't be able to 
come up with anything better than that you put above. I mean, 'd' might 
be a debugging symbol, and I already guessed that from the source, but 
what does it mean for a symbol to have this flag? What does it mean to 
have a nameless symbol like the one above? Why are filenames listed as 
symbols? How come that column can be either 'd' for debug or 'D' for 
dynamic? That's the sort of information that should be in the docs, and 
that's the stuff only insiders can really know.

Sigh, if somebody were to explain it to me I might find time to have a 
go at a patch, slowly, in between other work.

Andrew