elf_getident(3E)                                           elf_getident(3E)

NAME
     elfgetident - retrieve file identification data

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

     #include <libelf.h>

     char *elfgetident(Elf *elf, sizet *ptr);

DESCRIPTION
     As elf(3E) explains, ELF provides a framework for various classes of
     files, where basic objects may have 32 bits, 64 bits, etc. To accommo-
     date these differences, without forcing the larger sizes on smaller
     machines, the initial bytes in an ELF file hold identification infor-
     mation common to all file classes. Every ELF header's eident has
     EINIDENT bytes with the following interpretation.

     ______________________________________________________________________
    | eident Index |  Value        |  Purpose                            |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|
    | EIMAG0       |  ELFMAG0      |  File identification                |
    | EIMAG1       |  ELFMAG1      |                                     |
    | EIMAG2       |  ELFMAG2      |                                     |
    | EIMAG3       |  ELFMAG3      |                                     |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|
    | EICLASS      |  ELFCLASSNONE |  File class                         |
    |               |  ELFCLASS32   |                                     |
    |               |  ELFClASS64   |                                     |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|
    | EIDATA       |  ELFDATANONE  |  Data encoding                      |
    |               |  ELFDATA2LSB  |                                     |
    |               |  ELFDATA2MSB  |                                     |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|
    | EIVERSION    |  EVCURRENT   |  File version                       |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|
    | 7-15          |  0            |  Unused, set to zero                |
    |_______________|_______________|_____________________________________|

     Other kinds of files [see elfkind(3E)] also may have identification
     data, though they would not conform to eident.

     elfgetident() returns a pointer to the file's "initial bytes". If the
     library recognizes the file, a conversion from the file image to the
     memory image may occur. In any case, the identification bytes are
     guaranteed not to have been modified, though the size of the unmodi-
     fied area depends on the file type. If ptr is non-null, the library
     stores the number of identification bytes in the location to which ptr
     points. If no data is present, elf is null, or an error occurs, the
     return value is a null pointer, with zero optionally stored through
     ptr.




Page 1                       Reliant UNIX 5.44                Printed 11/98

elf_getident(3E)                                           elf_getident(3E)

SEE ALSO
     elf(3E), elfbegin(3E), elfgetehdr(3E), elfkind(3E),
     elfrawfile(3E).



















































Page 2                       Reliant UNIX 5.44                Printed 11/98