Symbol Values
Symbol table entries for different object file types have slightly different
interpretations for the st_value
member.
-
In relocatable files,
st_value
holds alignment constraints for a symbol whose section index isSHN_COMMON
.
-
In relocatable files,
st_value
holds a section offset for a defined symbol.st_value
is an offset from the beginning of the section thatst_shndx
identifies.
-
In dynamic object files,
st_value
holds a virtual address. To make these files' symbols more useful for the runtime linker, the section offset (file interpretation) gives way to a virtual address (memory interpretation) for which the section number is irrelevant.
Although the symbol table values have similar meanings for different object files, the data allow efficient access by the appropriate programs.