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2.17.3 Performing the final link

When all the input files have been processed, the linker calls the _bfd_final_link entry point of the output BFD. This routine is responsible for producing the final output file, which has several aspects. It must relocate the contents of the input sections and copy the data into the output sections. It must build an output symbol table including any local symbols from the input files and the global symbols from the hash table. When producing relocatable output, it must modify the input relocs and write them into the output file. There may also be object format dependent work to be done.

The linker will also call the write_object_contents entry point when the BFD is closed. The two entry points must work together in order to produce the correct output file.

The details of how this works are inevitably dependent upon the specific object file format. The a.out _bfd_final_link routine is NAME(aout,final_link).