#### 2.6.4 typedef asection

Here is the section structure:

    typedef struct bfd_section
    {
      /* The name of the section; the name isn't a copy, the pointer is
         the same as that passed to bfd_make_section.  */
      const char *name;

      /* A unique sequence number.  */
      unsigned int id;

      /* Which section in the bfd; 0..n-1 as sections are created in a bfd.  */
      unsigned int index;

      /* The next section in the list belonging to the BFD, or NULL.  */
      struct bfd_section *next;

      /* The previous section in the list belonging to the BFD, or NULL.  */
      struct bfd_section *prev;

      /* The field flags contains attributes of the section. Some
         flags are read in from the object file, and some are
         synthesized from other information.  */
      flagword flags;

    #define SEC_NO_FLAGS                      0x0

      /* Tells the OS to allocate space for this section when loading.
         This is clear for a section containing debug information only.  */
    #define SEC_ALLOC                         0x1

      /* Tells the OS to load the section from the file when loading.
         This is clear for a .bss section.  */
    #define SEC_LOAD                          0x2

      /* The section contains data still to be relocated, so there is
         some relocation information too.  */
    #define SEC_RELOC                         0x4

      /* A signal to the OS that the section contains read only data.  */
    #define SEC_READONLY                      0x8

      /* The section contains code only.  */
    #define SEC_CODE                         0x10

      /* The section contains data only.  */
    #define SEC_DATA                         0x20

      /* The section will reside in ROM.  */
    #define SEC_ROM                          0x40

      /* The section contains constructor information. This section
         type is used by the linker to create lists of constructors and
         destructors used by g++. When a back end sees a symbol
         which should be used in a constructor list, it creates a new
         section for the type of name (e.g., __CTOR_LIST__), attaches
         the symbol to it, and builds a relocation. To build the lists
         of constructors, all the linker has to do is catenate all the
         sections called __CTOR_LIST__ and relocate the data
         contained within - exactly the operations it would peform on
         standard data.  */
    #define SEC_CONSTRUCTOR                  0x80

      /* The section has contents - a data section could be
         SEC_ALLOC | SEC_HAS_CONTENTS; a debug section could be
         SEC_HAS_CONTENTS  */
    #define SEC_HAS_CONTENTS                0x100

      /* An instruction to the linker to not output the section
         even if it has information which would normally be written.  */
    #define SEC_NEVER_LOAD                  0x200

      /* The section contains thread local data.  */
    #define SEC_THREAD_LOCAL                0x400

      /* The section's size is fixed.  Generic linker code will not
         recalculate it and it is up to whoever has set this flag to
         get the size right.  */
    #define SEC_FIXED_SIZE                  0x800

      /* The section contains common symbols (symbols may be defined
         multiple times, the value of a symbol is the amount of
         space it requires, and the largest symbol value is the one
         used).  Most targets have exactly one of these (which we
         translate to bfd_com_section_ptr), but ECOFF has two.  */
    #define SEC_IS_COMMON                  0x1000

      /* The section contains only debugging information.  For
         example, this is set for ELF .debug and .stab sections.
         strip tests this flag to see if a section can be
         discarded.  */
    #define SEC_DEBUGGING                  0x2000

      /* The contents of this section are held in memory pointed to
         by the contents field.  This is checked by bfd_get_section_contents,
         and the data is retrieved from memory if appropriate.  */
    #define SEC_IN_MEMORY                  0x4000

      /* The contents of this section are to be excluded by the
         linker for executable and shared objects unless those
         objects are to be further relocated.  */
    #define SEC_EXCLUDE                    0x8000

      /* The contents of this section are to be sorted based on the sum of
         the symbol and addend values specified by the associated relocation
         entries.  Entries without associated relocation entries will be
         appended to the end of the section in an unspecified order.  */
    #define SEC_SORT_ENTRIES              0x10000

      /* When linking, duplicate sections of the same name should be
         discarded, rather than being combined into a single section as
         is usually done.  This is similar to how common symbols are
         handled.  See SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES below.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_ONCE                 0x20000

      /* If SEC_LINK_ONCE is set, this bitfield describes how the linker
         should handle duplicate sections.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES           0xc0000

      /* This value for SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES means that duplicate
         sections with the same name should simply be discarded.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_DISCARD       0x0

      /* This value for SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES means that the linker
         should warn if there are any duplicate sections, although
         it should still only link one copy.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_ONE_ONLY  0x40000

      /* This value for SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES means that the linker
         should warn if any duplicate sections are a different size.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_SAME_SIZE 0x80000

      /* This value for SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES means that the linker
         should warn if any duplicate sections contain different
         contents.  */
    #define SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_SAME_CONTENTS \
      (SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_ONE_ONLY | SEC_LINK_DUPLICATES_SAME_SIZE)

      /* This section was created by the linker as part of dynamic
         relocation or other arcane processing.  It is skipped when
         going through the first-pass output, trusting that someone
         else up the line will take care of it later.  */
    #define SEC_LINKER_CREATED           0x100000

      /* This section should not be subject to garbage collection.
         Also set to inform the linker that this section should not be
         listed in the link map as discarded.  */
    #define SEC_KEEP                     0x200000

      /* This section contains "short" data, and should be placed
         "near" the GP.  */
    #define SEC_SMALL_DATA               0x400000

      /* Attempt to merge identical entities in the section.
         Entity size is given in the entsize field.  */
    #define SEC_MERGE                    0x800000

      /* If given with SEC_MERGE, entities to merge are zero terminated
         strings where entsize specifies character size instead of fixed
         size entries.  */
    #define SEC_STRINGS                 0x1000000

      /* This section contains data about section groups.  */
    #define SEC_GROUP                   0x2000000

      /* The section is a COFF shared library section.  This flag is
         only for the linker.  If this type of section appears in
         the input file, the linker must copy it to the output file
         without changing the vma or size.  FIXME: Although this
         was originally intended to be general, it really is COFF
         specific (and the flag was renamed to indicate this).  It
         might be cleaner to have some more general mechanism to
         allow the back end to control what the linker does with
         sections.  */
    #define SEC_COFF_SHARED_LIBRARY     0x4000000

      /* This input section should be copied to output in reverse order
         as an array of pointers.  This is for ELF linker internal use
         only.  */
    #define SEC_ELF_REVERSE_COPY        0x4000000

      /* This section contains data which may be shared with other
         executables or shared objects. This is for COFF only.  */
    #define SEC_COFF_SHARED             0x8000000

      /* This section should be compressed.  This is for ELF linker
         internal use only.  */
    #define SEC_ELF_COMPRESS            0x8000000

      /* When a section with this flag is being linked, then if the size of
         the input section is less than a page, it should not cross a page
         boundary.  If the size of the input section is one page or more,
         it should be aligned on a page boundary.  This is for TI
         TMS320C54X only.  */
    #define SEC_TIC54X_BLOCK           0x10000000

      /* This section should be renamed.  This is for ELF linker
         internal use only.  */
    #define SEC_ELF_RENAME             0x10000000

      /* Conditionally link this section; do not link if there are no
         references found to any symbol in the section.  This is for TI
         TMS320C54X only.  */
    #define SEC_TIC54X_CLINK           0x20000000

      /* This section contains vliw code.  This is for Toshiba MeP only.  */
    #define SEC_MEP_VLIW               0x20000000

      /* All symbols, sizes and relocations in this section are octets
         instead of bytes.  Required for DWARF debug sections as DWARF
         information is organized in octets, not bytes.  */
    #define SEC_ELF_OCTETS             0x40000000

      /* Indicate that section has the no read flag set. This happens
         when memory read flag isn't set. */
    #define SEC_COFF_NOREAD            0x40000000

      /* Indicate that section has the purecode flag set.  */
    #define SEC_ELF_PURECODE           0x80000000

      /*  End of section flags.  */

      /* Some internal packed boolean fields.  */

      /* See the vma field.  */
      unsigned int user_set_vma : 1;

      /* A mark flag used by some of the linker backends.  */
      unsigned int linker_mark : 1;

      /* Another mark flag used by some of the linker backends.  Set for
         output sections that have an input section.  */
      unsigned int linker_has_input : 1;

      /* Mark flag used by some linker backends for garbage collection.  */
      unsigned int gc_mark : 1;

      /* Section compression status.  */
      unsigned int compress_status : 2;
    #define COMPRESS_SECTION_NONE    0
    #define COMPRESS_SECTION_DONE    1
    #define DECOMPRESS_SECTION_SIZED 2

      /* The following flags are used by the ELF linker. */

      /* Mark sections which have been allocated to segments.  */
      unsigned int segment_mark : 1;

      /* Type of sec_info information.  */
      unsigned int sec_info_type:3;
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_NONE      0
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_STABS     1
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_MERGE     2
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_EH_FRAME  3
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_JUST_SYMS 4
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_TARGET    5
    #define SEC_INFO_TYPE_EH_FRAME_ENTRY 6

      /* Nonzero if this section uses RELA relocations, rather than REL.  */
      unsigned int use_rela_p:1;

      /* Bits used by various backends.  The generic code doesn't touch
         these fields.  */

      unsigned int sec_flg0:1;
      unsigned int sec_flg1:1;
      unsigned int sec_flg2:1;
      unsigned int sec_flg3:1;
      unsigned int sec_flg4:1;
      unsigned int sec_flg5:1;

      /* End of internal packed boolean fields.  */

      /*  The virtual memory address of the section - where it will be
          at run time.  The symbols are relocated against this.  The
          user_set_vma flag is maintained by bfd; if it's not set, the
          backend can assign addresses (for example, in a.out, where
          the default address for .data is dependent on the specific
          target and various flags).  */
      bfd_vma vma;

      /*  The load address of the section - where it would be in a
          rom image; really only used for writing section header
          information.  */
      bfd_vma lma;

      /* The size of the section in *octets*, as it will be output.
         Contains a value even if the section has no contents (e.g., the
         size of .bss).  */
      bfd_size_type size;

      /* For input sections, the original size on disk of the section, in
         octets.  This field should be set for any section whose size is
         changed by linker relaxation.  It is required for sections where
         the linker relaxation scheme doesn't cache altered section and
         reloc contents (stabs, eh_frame, SEC_MERGE, some coff relaxing
         targets), and thus the original size needs to be kept to read the
         section multiple times.  For output sections, rawsize holds the
         section size calculated on a previous linker relaxation pass.  */
      bfd_size_type rawsize;

      /* The compressed size of the section in octets.  */
      bfd_size_type compressed_size;

      /* Relaxation table. */
      struct relax_table *relax;

      /* Count of used relaxation table entries. */
      int relax_count;

      /* If this section is going to be output, then this value is the
         offset in *bytes* into the output section of the first byte in the
         input section (byte ==> smallest addressable unit on the
         target).  In most cases, if this was going to start at the
         100th octet (8-bit quantity) in the output section, this value
         would be 100.  However, if the target byte size is 16 bits
         (bfd_octets_per_byte is "2"), this value would be 50.  */
      bfd_vma output_offset;

      /* The output section through which to map on output.  */
      struct bfd_section *output_section;

      /* The alignment requirement of the section, as an exponent of 2 -
         e.g., 3 aligns to 2^3 (or 8).  */
      unsigned int alignment_power;

      /* If an input section, a pointer to a vector of relocation
         records for the data in this section.  */
      struct reloc_cache_entry *relocation;

      /* If an output section, a pointer to a vector of pointers to
         relocation records for the data in this section.  */
      struct reloc_cache_entry **orelocation;

      /* The number of relocation records in one of the above.  */
      unsigned reloc_count;

      /* Information below is back end specific - and not always used
         or updated.  */

      /* File position of section data.  */
      file_ptr filepos;

      /* File position of relocation info.  */
      file_ptr rel_filepos;

      /* File position of line data.  */
      file_ptr line_filepos;

      /* Pointer to data for applications.  */
      void *userdata;

      /* If the SEC_IN_MEMORY flag is set, this points to the actual
         contents.  */
      unsigned char *contents;

      /* Attached line number information.  */
      alent *lineno;

      /* Number of line number records.  */
      unsigned int lineno_count;

      /* Entity size for merging purposes.  */
      unsigned int entsize;

      /* Points to the kept section if this section is a link-once section,
         and is discarded.  */
      struct bfd_section *kept_section;

      /* When a section is being output, this value changes as more
         linenumbers are written out.  */
      file_ptr moving_line_filepos;

      /* What the section number is in the target world.  */
      int target_index;

      void *used_by_bfd;

      /* If this is a constructor section then here is a list of the
         relocations created to relocate items within it.  */
      struct relent_chain *constructor_chain;

      /* The BFD which owns the section.  */
      bfd *owner;

      /* A symbol which points at this section only.  */
      struct bfd_symbol *symbol;
      struct bfd_symbol **symbol_ptr_ptr;

      /* Early in the link process, map_head and map_tail are used to build
         a list of input sections attached to an output section.  Later,
         output sections use these fields for a list of bfd_link_order
         structs.  */
      union {
        struct bfd_link_order *link_order;
        struct bfd_section *s;
      } map_head, map_tail;
    } asection;

    /* Relax table contains information about instructions which can
       be removed by relaxation -- replacing a long address with a
       short address.  */
    struct relax_table {
      /* Address where bytes may be deleted. */
      bfd_vma addr;

      /* Number of bytes to be deleted.  */
      int size;
    };

    static inline const char *
    bfd_section_name (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->name;
    }

    static inline bfd_size_type
    bfd_section_size (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->size;
    }

    static inline bfd_vma
    bfd_section_vma (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->vma;
    }

    static inline bfd_vma
    bfd_section_lma (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->lma;
    }

    static inline unsigned int
    bfd_section_alignment (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->alignment_power;
    }

    static inline flagword
    bfd_section_flags (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->flags;
    }

    static inline void *
    bfd_section_userdata (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec->userdata;
    }
    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_is_com_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return (sec->flags & SEC_IS_COMMON) != 0;
    }

    /* Note: the following are provided as inline functions rather than macros
       because not all callers use the return value.  A macro implementation
       would use a comma expression, eg: "((ptr)->foo = val, TRUE)" and some
       compilers will complain about comma expressions that have no effect.  */
    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_set_section_userdata (asection *sec, void *val)
    {
      sec->userdata = val;
      return TRUE;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_set_section_vma (asection *sec, bfd_vma val)
    {
      sec->vma = sec->lma = val;
      sec->user_set_vma = TRUE;
      return TRUE;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_set_section_lma (asection *sec, bfd_vma val)
    {
      sec->lma = val;
      return TRUE;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_set_section_alignment (asection *sec, unsigned int val)
    {
      sec->alignment_power = val;
      return TRUE;
    }

    /* These sections are global, and are managed by BFD.  The application
       and target back end are not permitted to change the values in
       these sections.  */
    extern asection _bfd_std_section[4];

    #define BFD_ABS_SECTION_NAME "*ABS*"
    #define BFD_UND_SECTION_NAME "*UND*"
    #define BFD_COM_SECTION_NAME "*COM*"
    #define BFD_IND_SECTION_NAME "*IND*"

    /* Pointer to the common section.  */
    #define bfd_com_section_ptr (&_bfd_std_section[0])
    /* Pointer to the undefined section.  */
    #define bfd_und_section_ptr (&_bfd_std_section[1])
    /* Pointer to the absolute section.  */
    #define bfd_abs_section_ptr (&_bfd_std_section[2])
    /* Pointer to the indirect section.  */
    #define bfd_ind_section_ptr (&_bfd_std_section[3])

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_is_und_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec == bfd_und_section_ptr;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_is_abs_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec == bfd_abs_section_ptr;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_is_ind_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec == bfd_ind_section_ptr;
    }

    static inline bfd_boolean
    bfd_is_const_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return sec >= bfd_abs_section_ptr && sec <= bfd_ind_section_ptr;
    }

    /* Return TRUE if input section SEC has been discarded.  */
    static inline bfd_boolean
    discarded_section (const asection *sec)
    {
      return (!bfd_is_abs_section (sec)
              && bfd_is_abs_section (sec->output_section)
              && sec->sec_info_type != SEC_INFO_TYPE_MERGE
              && sec->sec_info_type != SEC_INFO_TYPE_JUST_SYMS);
    }

    #define BFD_FAKE_SECTION(SEC, SYM, NAME, IDX, FLAGS)                   \
      /* name, id,  index, next, prev, flags, user_set_vma,            */  \
      {  NAME, IDX, 0,     NULL, NULL, FLAGS, 0,                           \
                                                                           \
      /* linker_mark, linker_has_input, gc_mark, decompress_status,    */  \
         0,           0,                1,       0,                        \
                                                                           \
      /* segment_mark, sec_info_type, use_rela_p,                      */  \
         0,            0,             0,                                   \
                                                                           \
      /* sec_flg0, sec_flg1, sec_flg2, sec_flg3, sec_flg4, sec_flg5,   */  \
         0,        0,        0,        0,        0,        0,              \
                                                                           \
      /* vma, lma, size, rawsize, compressed_size, relax, relax_count, */  \
         0,   0,   0,    0,       0,               0,     0,               \
                                                                           \
      /* output_offset, output_section, alignment_power,               */  \
         0,             &SEC,           0,                                 \
                                                                           \
      /* relocation, orelocation, reloc_count, filepos, rel_filepos,   */  \
         NULL,       NULL,        0,           0,       0,                 \
                                                                           \
      /* line_filepos, userdata, contents, lineno, lineno_count,       */  \
         0,            NULL,     NULL,     NULL,   0,                      \
                                                                           \
      /* entsize, kept_section, moving_line_filepos,                    */ \
         0,       NULL,          0,                                        \
                                                                           \
      /* target_index, used_by_bfd, constructor_chain, owner,          */  \
         0,            NULL,        NULL,              NULL,               \
                                                                           \
      /* symbol,                    symbol_ptr_ptr,                    */  \
         (struct bfd_symbol *) SYM, &SEC.symbol,                           \
                                                                           \
      /* map_head, map_tail                                            */  \
         { NULL }, { NULL }                                                \
        }

    /* We use a macro to initialize the static asymbol structures because
       traditional C does not permit us to initialize a union member while
       gcc warns if we don't initialize it.
       the_bfd, name, value, attr, section [, udata]  */
    #ifdef __STDC__
    #define GLOBAL_SYM_INIT(NAME, SECTION) \
      { 0, NAME, 0, BSF_SECTION_SYM, SECTION, { 0 }}
    #else
    #define GLOBAL_SYM_INIT(NAME, SECTION) \
      { 0, NAME, 0, BSF_SECTION_SYM, SECTION }
    #endif