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Encyclopedia > Binary File Descriptor
Free software Portal

The Binary File Descriptor library, most commonly seen as just BFD, is the GNU Project's main mechanism for the portable manipulation of object files in a variety of formats. As of 2003, it supports approximately 50 file formats for some 25 processor architectures. Image File history File links Free_Software_Portal_Logo. ... The GNU logo, drawn by Etienne Suvasa The GNU Project was announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman. ... In computer science, object file or object code is an intermediate representation of code generated by a compiler after it processes a source code file. ... In computer science, object file or object code is an intermediate representation of code generated by a compiler after it processes a source code file. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... To a large extent, the design of a CPU, or central processing unit, is the design of its control unit. ...


BFD works by presenting a common abstract view of object files. An object file has a "header" with descriptive info; a variable number of "sections" that each have a name, some attributes, and a block of data; a symbol table; relocation entries; and so forth. In computer science, a symbol table is a data structure used by a language translator such as a compiler or interpreter, where each symbol in a programs source code is associated with information such as location, type and scope level. ... Relocation is the process of replacing references to symbols with actual addresses during fragment preparation and it is typically done by the Linker. ...


Internally, BFD translates the data from the abstract view into the details of the bit/byte layout required by the target processor and file format. Its key services include handling byte order differences, such as between a little-endian host and big-endian target, correct conversion between 32-bit and 64-bit data, and details of address arithmetic specified by relocation entries. “CPU” redirects here. ... When integers or any other data are represented with multiple bytes, there is no unique way of ordering of those bytes in memory or in a transmission over some medium, and so the order is subject to arbitrary convention. ... When integers or any other data are represented with multiple bytes, there is no unique way of ordering of those bytes in memory or in a transmission over some medium, and so the order is subject to arbitrary convention. ... When integers or any other data are represented with multiple bytes, there is no unique way of ordering of those bytes in memory or in a transmission over some medium, and so the order is subject to arbitrary convention. ... 32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32-bit chunks. ... In computing, a 64-bit component is one in which data are processed or stored in 64-bit units (words). ... Look up address in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


Although BFD was originally designed to be a generic library usable by a wide variety of tools, its licensing under the GPL, and the frequent need to tinker with the API to accommodate new systems' capabilities has tended to limit its use; BFD's main clients are the GNU Assembler (GAS), GNU Linker (GLD), and other GNU Binary Utilities ("binutils") tools, and the GNU Debugger (GDB). As a result, BFD is not distributed separately, but is always included with releases of binutils and GDB. The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... Gas, commanded as as when typed from the shell, is the GNU assembler. ... ld is the command for a linker, which creates an executable file on Unix and Unix-like systems, such as GNU, from object files created during compilation. ... The GNU Binutils is a collection of programming tools for the manipulation of object code in various object file formats. ... The GNU Debugger, usually called just GDB, is the standard debugger for the GNU software system. ...


Nevertheless, BFD is a critical component in the use of GNU tools for embedded systems development. When David Henkel-Wallace of Cygnus Support proposed developing the library, as a way to open up new business opportunities for the company, Richard Stallman said (correctly) that it would be hard; David's response was "BFD" (big fucking deal). This became the library name,[1] and "Binary File Descriptor" was invented later as the meaning of the letters. A router, an example of an embedded system. ... Cygnus Solutions, originally Cygnus Support, was founded in 1989 by John Gilmore, Michael Tiemann and David Henkel-Wallace to provide commercial support for free software. ... Richard Matthew Stallman (born March 16, 1953), often abbreviated rms,[1] is a software freedom activist, hacker,[2] and software developer. ... A backronym (or bacronym) is a phrase that is constructed after the fact from a previously existing abbreviation, the abbreviation being an initialism or an acronym. ...


The BFD lib can be used to read the structured data out of a Core Dump. A core dump is the recorded state of the working memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has terminated abnormally (crashed). ...


External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Binary File Descriptor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (299 words)
The Binary File Descriptor library, most commonly seen as just BFD, is the GNU Project's main mechanism for the portable manipulation of object files in a variety of formats.
Internally, BFD translates the data from the abstract view into the details of the bit/byte layout required by the target processor and file format.
This became the library name, and "Binary File Descriptor" was invented later as the meaning of the letters.
How to Generate NetCDF Descriptor Files (1826 words)
The syntax of the descriptor file used with xdfopen is not exactly the same as that used in a descriptor file for gridded binary data -- see the documentation page for further details.
Five separate descriptor files are required to describe all the variables: one for the velocity components u and v, another for velocity component w, a third for potential temperature, a fourth for wind stress components taux and tauy, and a fifth for surface variables hflx, sflx, and eta.
First, here is a sample descriptor file to get the native grid point longitude and latitude values -- note that no PDEF statement is included and the XDEF and YDEF statements do not map to longitude and latitude, they are simply used as abstract grid increments.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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