Re: Elf/Stabs not following Stabs spec

[Ian Lance Taylor <ian at zembu dot com>]

   From: Mike_Sorensen@arium.com
   Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 18:14:22 -0800

   I am writing a debug symbols analyzer specifically for binaries that were
   created in aout/stabs and converted to elf/stabs with objcopy.  The binary
   translates correctly but the stabs symbols in the target elf file doesn't
   seem to follow the same format as the aout stabs symbols.

   Specifically, the stabs spec I'm reading claims each file begins with a
   "SO" entry (or series of them) which I see in the aout file.  Each #include
   file should be indicated with a "SOL" stabs entry.  Separate files linked
   into the same binary are indicated with "SO" entries.  I see all this in
   the aout/stabs files.

   In the objcopy'd file that is in elf/stabs format, I see things much
   differently.
   Each stabs "SO" entry is converted to a "SOL" entry with a final "SO" entry
   at the end of the file.
   Also, "SLINE" entries seem to be have addresses that are relative to the
   preceding "FUN" in the elf/stabs while aout/stabs has the "SLINE" entries
   with their actual physical addresses.

   The spec I'm reading has an entry on Sun's changes to accomodate fast stabs
   in Elf, but it doesn't mention very many of the changes I'm seeing.

   I've been reading: "The ""stabs"" debug format" by Julia Menapace, ...

Which version?  The current version should include all the differences
between ELF and a.out.  But you do have to read closely.  You can find
the current version at
    http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/onlinedocs/stabs_toc.html

Note that this document is not ``the spec.''  It is an ex post facto
description of the observed formats.

Ian