elf_rawfile(3E)                                             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 is present, elf is
     null, or an error occurs, the return value is a null pointer, with
     zero optionally stored through ptr.

NOTES
     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 elfkind(),
     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. Con-
     sequently, 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. Multiple calls to elfrawfile() with the same ELF descriptor
     return the same value; the library does not create duplicate copies of
     the file.

SEE ALSO
     elf(3E), elfbegin(3E), elfcntl(3E), elfgetdata(3E),



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elf_rawfile(3E)                                             elf_rawfile(3E)

     elfgetehdr(3E), elfgetident(3E), elfkind(3E).





















































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