Special Sections

Various sections hold program and control information. Sections in the list below are used by the system and have the indicated types and attributes.

Table 7-17 Special Sections

Name	Type	Attribute
.bss	SHT_NOBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.comment	SHT_PROGBITS	None
.data	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.data1	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.dynamic	SHT_DYNAMIC	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.dynstr	SHT_STRTAB	SHF_ALLOC
.dynsym	SHT_DYNSYM	SHF_ALLOC
.fini	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR
.fini_array	SHT_FINI_ARRAY	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.got	SHT_PROGBITS	See "Global Offset Table (Processor-Specific)"
.hash	SHT_HASH	SHF_ALLOC
.init	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR
.init_array	SHT_INIT_ARRAY	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.interp	SHT_PROGBITS	See "Program Interpreter"
.note	SHT_NOTE	None
.plt	SHT_PROGBITS	See "Procedure Linkage Table (Processor-Specific)"
.preinit_array	SHT_PREINIT_ARRAY	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.rela	SHT_RELA	None
.relname	SHT_REL	See "Relocation"
.relaname	SHT_RELA	See "Relocation"
.rodata	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC
.rodata1	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC
.shstrtab	SHT_STRTAB	None
.strtab	SHT_STRTAB	See description below
.symtab	SHT_SYMTAB	See "Symbol Table"
.text	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_EXECINSTR
.SUNW_bss	SHT_NOBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.SUNW_heap	SHT_PROGBITS	SHF_ALLOC + SHF_WRITE
.SUNW_move	SHT_SUNW_move	SHF_ALLOC
.SUNW_reloc	SHT_rel SHT_rela	SHF_ALLOC
.SUNW_syminfo	SHT_SUNW_syminfo	SHF_ALLOC
.SUNW_version	SHT_SUNW_verdef SHT_SUNW_verneed SHT_SUNW_versym	SHF_ALLOC

.bss

This section holds uninitialized data that contribute to the program's memory image. By definition, the system initializes the data with zeros when the program begins to run. The section occupies no file space, as indicated by the section type, SHT_NOBITS.

.comment

This section holds comment information, typically contributed by the components of the compilation system. This section can be manipulated by mcs(1)).

.data, .data1

These sections hold initialized data that contribute to the program's memory image.

.dynamic

This section holds dynamic linking information. See "Dynamic Section" for details.

.dynstr

This section holds strings needed for dynamic linking, most commonly the strings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries.

.dynsym

This section holds the dynamic linking symbol table. See "Symbol Table" for details.

.fini

This section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process termination code. That is, when a program exits normally, the system arranges to execute the code in this section. See "Initialization and Termination Routines" for details.

.fini_array

This section holds an array of function pointers that contributes to a single termination array for the executable or shared object containing the section. See "Initialization and Termination Routines" for details.

.got

This section holds the global offset table. See "Global Offset Table (Processor-Specific)" for more information.

.hash

This section holds a symbol hash table. See "Hash Table" for more information.

.init

This section holds executable instructions that contribute to the process initialization code. That is, when a program starts to run, the system arranges to execute the code in this section before calling the program entry point. See "Initialization and Termination Routines" for details.

.init_array

This section holds an array of function pointers that contributes to a single initialization array for the executable or shared object containing the section. See "Initialization and Termination Routines" for details.

.interp

This section holds the pathname of a program interpreter. See "Program Interpreter" for more information.

.note

This section holds information in the format described in "Note Section".

.plt

This section holds the procedure linkage table. See "Procedure Linkage Table (Processor-Specific)" for more information.

.preinit_array

This section holds an array of function pointers that contributes to a single pre-initialization array for the executable or shared object containing the section. See "Initialization and Termination Routines" for details.

.rela

This section holds relocations that do not apply to a particular section. One use of this is for register relocations, see "Register Symbols" for more details.

.relname, .relaname

These sections hold relocation information, as "Relocation" describes. If the file has a loadable segment that includes relocation, the sections' attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit will be off. Conventionally, name is supplied by the section to which the relocations apply. Thus a relocation section for .text normally will have the name .rel.text or .rela.text.

.rodata, .rodata1

These sections hold read-only data that typically contribute to a non-writable segment in the process image. See "Program Header" for more information.

.shstrtab

This section holds section names.

.strtab

This section holds strings, most commonly the strings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries. If the file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol string table, the section's attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit will be turned off.

.symtab

This section holds a symbol table, as "Symbol Table" describes. If the file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol table, the section's attributes will include the SHF_ALLOC bit; otherwise, that bit will be turned off.

.text

This section holds the text or executable instructions of a program.

.SUNW_bss

This section holds partially initialized data for shared objects that contribute to the program's memory image. The data is initialized at runtime. The section occupies no file space, as indicated by the section type, SHT_NOBITS.

.SUNW_heap

This section holds the heap of a dynamic executable created from dldump(3DL).

.SUNW_move

This section holds the additional information for partially initialized data. See "Move Section".

.SUNW_reloc

This section holds relocation information, as "Relocation" describes. This section is a concatenation of relocation sections that provides better locality of reference of the individual relocation records. Only the offset of the relocation record itself is meaningful, thus the section sh_info value is zero.

.SUNW_syminfo

This section holds additional symbol table information. See "Syminfo Table" for more information.

.SUNW_version

Sections of this name hold versioning information. See "Versioning Information" for more information.

Section names with a dot (.) prefix are reserved for the system, although applications can use these sections if their existing meanings are satisfactory. Applications can use names without the prefix to avoid conflicts with system sections. The object file format lets one define sections not in the list above. An object file can have more than one section with the same name.

Section names reserved for a processor architecture are formed by placing an abbreviation of the architecture name ahead of the section name. The name should be taken from the architecture names used for e_machine. For example, .Foo.psect is the psect section defined by the FOO architecture.

Existing extensions use their historical names.

Preexisting Extensions:

.conflict	.liblist	.lit8	.sdata
.debug	.line	.reginfo	.stab
.gptab	.lit4	.sbss	.tdesc