Node: File Commands, Next: Format Commands, Previous: Entry Point, Up: Simple Commands
Several linker script commands deal with files.
INCLUDE
filename-L
option. You can nest calls to INCLUDE
up to 10 levels deep.INPUT(
file,
file, ...)
INPUT(
file file ...)
INPUT
command directs the linker to include the named files in the link, as though they were named on the command line.
For example, if you always want to include subr.o
any time you do a link, but you can't be bothered to put it on every link command line, then you can put INPUT (subr.o)
in your linker script.
In fact, if you like, you can list all of your input files in the linker script, and then invoke the linker with nothing but a -T
option.
In case a sysroot prefix is configured, and the filename starts with the /
character, and the script being processed was located inside the sysroot prefix, the filename will be looked for in the sysroot prefix. Otherwise, the linker will try to open the file in the current directory. If it is not found, the linker will search through the archive library search path. See the description of -L
in Command Line Options.
If you use INPUT (-l
file)
, ld
will transform the name to lib
file.a
, as with the command line argument -l
.
When you use the INPUT
command in an implicit linker script, the files will be included in the link at the point at which the linker script file is included. This can affect archive searching.
GROUP(
file,
file, ...)
GROUP(
file file ...)
GROUP
command is like INPUT
, except that the named files should all be archives, and they are searched repeatedly until no new undefined references are created. See the description of -(
in Command Line Options.OUTPUT(
filename)
OUTPUT
command names the output file. Using OUTPUT(
filename)
in the linker script is exactly like using -o
filename on the command line (see Command Line Options). If both are used, the command line option takes precedence.
You can use the OUTPUT
command to define a default name for the output file other than the usual default of a.out
.
SEARCH_DIR(
path)
SEARCH_DIR
command adds path to the list of paths where ld
looks for archive libraries. Using SEARCH_DIR(
path)
is exactly like using -L
path on the command line (see Command Line Options). If both are used, then the linker will search both paths. Paths specified using the command line option are searched first.STARTUP(
filename)
STARTUP
command is just like the INPUT
command, except that filename will become the first input file to be linked, as though it were specified first on the command line. This may be useful when using a system in which the entry point is always the start of the first file.