ELF Library Functions                          elf_getident(3ELF)

NAME
     elf_getident - retrieve file identification data

SYNOPSIS
     cc [ flag ... ] file ... -lelf [ library ... ]
     #include <libelf.h>

     char *elf_getident(Elf *elf, size_t *ptr);

DESCRIPTION
     As elf(3ELF) explains, ELF provides a framework for  various
     classes  of  files, where basic objects may have 32 bits, 64
     bits, etc. To accommodate these differences, without forcing
     the  larger  sizes on smaller machines, the initial bytes in
     an ELF file hold identification information  common  to  all
     file classes. Every ELF header's e_ident has EI_NIDENT bytes
     with the following interpretation:

       e_ident Index             Value                Purpose

     EI_MAG0              ELFMAG0               File identification
     EI_MAG1              ELFMAG1
     EI_MAG2              ELFMAG2
     EI_MAG3              ELFMAG3

     EI_CLASS             ELFCLASSNONE          File class
                          ELFCLASS32
                          ELFCLASS64

     EI_DATA              ELFDATANONE           Data encoding
                          ELFDATA2LSB
                          ELFDATA2MSB

     EI_VERSION           EV_CURRENT            File version

     7-15                 0                      Unused, set to zero

     Other kinds of files  (see  elf_kind(3ELF))  also  may  have
     identification  data,  though  they  would  not  conform  to
     e_ident.

     elf_getident() returns a pointer  to  the  file's  ``initial
     bytes.''  If  the  library recognizes the file, a conversion
     from the file image to the memory image may  occur.  In  any
     case,  the  identification  bytes are guaranteed not to have
     been modified,  though  the  size  of  the  unmodified  area
     depends  on  the  file type. If ptr is non-null, the library
     stores the number of identification bytes in the location to
     which ptr points. If no data are present, elf is null, or an
     error occurs, the return value is a  null  pointer,  with  0
     stored through ptr, if  ptr is non-null.

SunOS 5.8           Last change: 29 Dec 1996                    1

ELF Library Functions                          elf_getident(3ELF)

ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | MT-Level                    | MT-Safe                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO
     elf(3ELF),       elf32_getehdr(3ELF),       elf_begin(3ELF),
     elf_kind(3ELF), elf_rawfile(3ELF), attributes(5)

SunOS 5.8           Last change: 29 Dec 1996                    2