NAME

strip − strip symbol and line number information from an object file

SYNOPSIS

strip [-l] [-x] [-r] [-V] filename ...

DESCRIPTION

strip removes the symbol table and line number information from object files, including archives.  Thereafter, no symbolic debugging access is available for that file; thus, this command is normally run only on production modules that have been debugged and tested.  The effect is nearly identical to using the -s option of ld.

Options

The amount of information stripped from the symbol table can be controlled by using any of the following options:

-l Strip line number information only; do not strip any symbol table information. 

-x Do not strip static or external symbol information. 

Note that the -l and -x options are synonymous because the symbol table contains only static and external symbols.  Either option strips only symbolic debugging information and unloadable data. 

-r Reset the relocation indexes into the symbol table.  This option allows strip to be run on relocatable files, in which case the effect is also to strip only symbolic debugging information and unloadable data. 

-V Print the version of the strip command on the standard error output. 

If there are any relocation entries in the object file and any symbol table information is to be stripped, strip complains and terminates without stripping filename unless the -r option is used. 

If strip is executed on an archive file (see ar(4)), the archive symbol table is removed. The archive symbol table must be restored by executing ar with its s operator (see ar(1)) before the archive can be used by the ld command (se ld(1)). strip instructs the user with appropriate warning messages when this situation arises. 

The purpose of this command is to reduce file storage overhead consumed by the object file. 

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Environment Variables

The following internationalization variables affect the execution of size:

LANG

Determines the locale category for native language, local customs and coded character set in the absence of LC_ALL and other LC_* environment variables.  If LANG is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of C (see lang(5)) is used instead of LANG. 

LC_ALL

Determines the values for all locale categories and has precedence over LANG and other LC_* environment variables. 

LC_MESSAGES

Determines the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error. 

LC_NUMERIC

Determines the locale category for numeric formatting. 

LC_CTYPE

Determines the locale category for character handling functions. 

NLSPATH

Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES. 

If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, strip behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to C.  See environ(5).

In addition, the following environment variable affects strip:

TMPDIR

Specifies a directory for temporary files (see tmpnam(3S)).

International Code Set Support

Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported. 

DIAGNOSTICS

strip: name: cannot open name cannot be read. 

strip: name:  bad magic name is not an appropriate object file. 

strip: name:  relocation entries present; cannot strip
name contains relocation entries and the -r option was not specified.  Symbol table information cannot be stripped. 

EXAMPLES

Strip symbol table and debug information from the shared library libfoo.sl in the current directory to reduce its size.  Symbol information required to use the library is preserved:

strip ./libfoo.sl

FILES

/var/tmp/SGSstrp* temporary files

SEE ALSO

System Tools:

ar(1) create archived libraries

as(1) translate assembly code to machine code

cc(1) invoke the HP-UX C compiler

ld(1) invoke the link editor

Miscellaneous:

a.out(4) assembler, compiler, and linker output

ar(4) archive format

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

strip: SVID2, SVID3, XPG2, XPG3, XPG4, POSIX.2

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX Release 10.20:  July 1996