elf_rawfile(3E) 														   elf_rawfile(3E)

NAME

       elf_rawfile - retrieve uninterpreted file contents

SYNOPSIS

       [flag... ] file...  [library] ...

DESCRIPTION

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

       A program may not close or disable (see elf_cntl(3E)) the file descriptor associated with elf before the initial call to because 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  unmodi-
       fied.  Thus asking for the uninterpreted image of an object file may create a duplicate copy in memory.

       (see elf_getdata(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.

   Note
       A program that uses 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 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, with-
       out  reading  the  file	again.	 Consequently, the application should view the raw file image returned by 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  chang-
       ing bytes visible in the raw image.

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

SEE ALSO

       elf(3E), elf_begin(3E), elf_cntl(3E), elf_getdata(3E), elf_getehdr(3E), elf_getident(3E), elf_kind(3E).

																   elf_rawfile(3E)