elf_rawfile(3E)                (ELF Library)                elf_rawfile(3E)


   NAME
         elfrawfile - retrieve uninterpreted file contents

   SYNOPSIS
         cc [flag ...] file ...  -lelf [library ...]

         #include <libelf.h>
         char *elfrawfile(Elf *elf, sizet *ptr);

   DESCRIPTION
         elfrawfile returns a pointer to an uninterpreted byte image of the
         file.  This function should be used only to retrieve a file being
         read.  For example, a program might use elfrawfile to retrieve the
         bytes for an archive member.

         A program may not close or disable [see elfcntl(3E)] the file
         descriptor associated with elf before the initial call to
         elfrawfile, because elfrawfile might have to read the data from the
         file if it does not already have the original bytes in memory.
         Generally, this function is more efficient for unknown file types
         than for object files.  The library implicitly translates object
         files in memory, while it leaves unknown files unmodified.  Thus
         asking for the uninterpreted image of an object file may create a
         duplicate copy in memory.

         elfrawdata [see elfgetdata(3E)] is a related function, providing
         access to sections within a file.

         If ptr is non-null, the library also stores the file's size, in
         bytes, in the location to which ptr points.  If no data are present,
         elf is null, or an error occurs, the return value is a null pointer,
         with zero optionally stored through ptr.

   SEE ALSO
         elf(3E), elfbegin(3E), elfcntl(3E), elfgetdata(3E),
         elfgetehdr(3E), elfgetident(3E), elfkind(3E).

   NOTE
         A program that uses elfrawfile and that also interprets the same
         file as an object file potentially has two copies of the bytes in
         memory.  If such a program requests the raw image first, before it
         asks for translated information (through such functions as
         elfgetehdr, elfgetdata, and so on), the library ``freezes'' its
         original memory copy for the raw image.  It then uses this frozen
         copy as the source for creating translated objects, without reading
         the file again.  Consequently, the application should view the raw
         file image returned by elfrawfile as a read-only buffer, unless it
         wants to alter its own view of data subsequently translated.  In any
         case, the application may alter the translated objects without
         changing bytes visible in the raw image.



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   elf_rawfile(3E)                (ELF Library)                elf_rawfile(3E)


         Multiple calls to elfrawfile with the same ELF descriptor return the
         same value; the library does not create duplicate copies of the file.



















































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