Executable and Linking Format

Executable and Linking Format

The compiler system produces ELF object files. ELF is the format specified by the System V Release 4 Applications Binary Interface (the SVR4 ABI). ELF provides support for Dynamic Shared Objects, described below.

Types of ELF object files are as follows:

Relocatable files contain code and data in a format suitable for linking with other object files to make a shared object or executable.
Dynamic Shared Objects contain code and data suitable for dynamic linking. Relocatable files may be linked with DSOs to create a dynamic executable. At run time, the run-time linker combines the executable and DSOs to produce a process image.
Executable files are programs ready for execution. They may or may not be dynamically linked.

COFF executables continue to run on new releases of IRIX, but the current compiler system has no facility for creating or linking COFF executables. COFF and ELF object files may not be linked together. To take advantage of new IRIX features, you must recompile your code.

You can use this version of the compiler system to construct ABI-compliant executables that run on any operating system supporting the MIPS ABI. Be careful to avoid referencing symbols that are not defined as part of the MIPS ABI specification. For more information, see

System V Applications Binary Interface--Revised First Edition. Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-880410-9
System V Application Binary Interface MIPS Processor Supplement. Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-880170-3.