ARM ELF

2 SCOPE

This specification defines ARM Executable and Linking Format (ARM ELF). It follows the essential structure of the Tool Interface Standards (TIS) Committee’s version 1.2 specification of ELF (TIS-ELF). TIS-ELF is divided into three major sections that TIS-ELF calls books:

Book 1 defines generic, 32-bit ELF. All users of 32-bit ELF use the definitions given in book 1. Section 3 of this specification reproduces the content of book 1 of TIS-ELF (Copyright Tool Interface Standards Committee 1995), with a few editorial corrections and clarifications, but no intentional change of content.

Book 2 defines processor specifics, the definitions used by all users of ELF for a given processor (in the case of TIS-ELF, for the Intel x86 architecture).

Book 3 defines operating system specifics (in the case of TIS-ELF, for Unix System V.4 for x86).

Section 4 of this specification covers the material of books 2 and 3 of TIS-ELF. It includes:

ARMand Thumb-specific definitions needed by all users of ARM ELF.

ARMand Thumb-specific definitions relating to the ARM Embedded Applications Binary Interface (EABI).

The ARM EABI underlies many ARMand Thumb-based operating environments that follow the single addressspace model.

Some operating systems—especially those founded on multiple virtual address spaces—define their own conventions for using ARM ELF—especially in relation to shared objects and dynamic linking. These OS-specific definitions extend section 4 of this specification.