[thirdparty/binutils-gdb.git] / binutils / NEWS

-*- text -*-

Changes since binutils 2.7

* The objdump disassembly format has been changed, and hopefully improved.  Use
  the new --prefix-addresses option to get the old format.

* Formats may now be specified as configuration triplets.  For example,
  objdump -b i386-pc-linux.  The triplets are not passed through config.sub,
  so they must be in canonical form.

* Added --change-leading-char argument to objcopy.

* Added --weaken argument to objcopy.

* objdump --dynamic-reloc now works on ELF executables and shared libraries.

Changes since binutils 2.6

* Added --enable-shared and --enable-commonbfdlib options to configure.

* Added --debugging argument to objdump and objcopy.

* Added --defined-only argument to nm.

* Added --remove-leading-char argument to objcopy.

* The objdump --line-numbers option is now meaningful with --reloc.

* Added --line-numbers option to nm.

* Added --endian/-EB/-EL option to objdump.

* Added support for Alpha OpenVMS/AXP.

Changes since binutils 2.5

* Added -N/--strip-symbol and -K/--keep-symbol arguments to strip and objcopy.

* Added several arguments to objcopy to provide some control over how the new
  file is laid out in memory.  Also added binary output format to BFD to permit
  generating plain binary files.

* Added --start-address and --stop-address options to objdump.

* ar and ranlib now work on AIX.  The tools are now built by default on AIX.

Changes since binutils 2.4

* Changed objdump -dr to dump the relocs interspersed with the assembly
  listing, for a more useful listing of relocateable files.

* Changed objdump -d/--disassemble to only disassemble SEC_CODE sections.
  Added -D/--disassemble-all option to disassemble all sections.

* Added --size-sort option to nm.

* strip and objcopy should now be able to handle dynamically linked ELF
  executables.

Changes since binutils 2.3

* Support for HP-PA (by Jeff Law), i386 Mach (by David Mackenzie), RS/6000 and
  PowerPC (except ar and ranlib; by Ian Taylor).

* Support for Irix 5.

* Programs `strip' and `objcopy' will not attempt to write dynamically linked
  ELF output files, since BFD currently can't create them properly.

Changes since binutils 2.2

* A new --stabs argument has been added to objdump to dump stabs sections in
  ELF and COFF files.

* A new program, nlmconv, has been added.  It can convert object files into
  Novell NetWare Loadable Modules.

* The strings program has been added.

Changes since binutils 2.1

* The 'copy' program has been renamed to 'objcopy', for consistency with
  'objdump', and because 'copy' might more plausibly be used as a synonym for
  'cp'.

* The new stand-alone program c++filt is a filter that converts encoded
  (mangled) C++ assembly-level identifiers to user-level names.  (Note: This
  may get moved to the gcc distribution.)

* nm -o on an archive now prefixes each line with the archive name, matching
  the output from BSD nm.

* ar (and ld) can now read (but not write) BSD4.4-style archives.

* New support for H8500, Z8000, and the Hitach SH.

* Dis-assembler interface changed to allow sharing with gdb.

* There is new Elf code, but it is not yet ready for general use.

* There is the beginnings of a test suite.

Changes since binutils 2.0

* There is now support for writing ECOFF files, so ld and the other utilities
  should work on Risc/Ultrix and Irix.  Please let us know how well this works.

* ar now automatically creates a symbol table (a __.SYMDEF member, in the BSD
  version), if there are any object files in the archive.  So running ranlib is
  now redundant (unless the non-standard q command is used).  This is required
  for Posix.2 conformance.

* The archive-reading code now reads both BSD-style and SYSV-style archives
  independently of the selected target format.  This is to encourage people to
  switch to SYSV-format, which has a number of advantages.

* The strip and copy programs now have options to remove debug-symbols only
  and/or local symbols only.  They now also support long options.

\f
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Commit	Line	Data
11548211 ILT	1	-- text --
11548211 ILT	2
55311d1c ILT	3	Changes since binutils 2.7
55311d1c ILT	4
9681fa45 ILT	5	* The objdump disassembly format has been changed, and hopefully improved. Use
	6	the new --prefix-addresses option to get the old format.
	7
55311d1c ILT	8	* Formats may now be specified as configuration triplets. For example,
	9	objdump -b i386-pc-linux. The triplets are not passed through config.sub,
	10	so they must be in canonical form.
	11
	12	* Added --change-leading-char argument to objcopy.
	13
9a442fe8 ILT	14	* Added --weaken argument to objcopy.
9a442fe8 ILT	15
9681fa45 ILT	16	* objdump --dynamic-reloc now works on ELF executables and shared libraries.
9681fa45 ILT	17
11548211 ILT	18	Changes since binutils 2.6
	19
	20	* Added --enable-shared and --enable-commonbfdlib options to configure.
	21
	22	* Added --debugging argument to objdump and objcopy.
	23
	24	* Added --defined-only argument to nm.
	25
	26	* Added --remove-leading-char argument to objcopy.
	27
	28	* The objdump --line-numbers option is now meaningful with --reloc.
	29
55311d1c ILT	30	* Added --line-numbers option to nm.
	31
	32	* Added --endian/-EB/-EL option to objdump.
	33
	34	* Added support for Alpha OpenVMS/AXP.
	35
11548211 ILT	36	Changes since binutils 2.5
	37
	38	* Added -N/--strip-symbol and -K/--keep-symbol arguments to strip and objcopy.
	39
	40	* Added several arguments to objcopy to provide some control over how the new
	41	file is laid out in memory. Also added binary output format to BFD to permit
	42	generating plain binary files.
	43
	44	* Added --start-address and --stop-address options to objdump.
	45
	46	* ar and ranlib now work on AIX. The tools are now built by default on AIX.
	47
	48	Changes since binutils 2.4
	49
	50	* Changed objdump -dr to dump the relocs interspersed with the assembly
	51	listing, for a more useful listing of relocateable files.
	52
	53	* Changed objdump -d/--disassemble to only disassemble SEC_CODE sections.
	54	Added -D/--disassemble-all option to disassemble all sections.
	55
	56	* Added --size-sort option to nm.
	57
	58	* strip and objcopy should now be able to handle dynamically linked ELF
	59	executables.
	60
	61	Changes since binutils 2.3
	62
	63	* Support for HP-PA (by Jeff Law), i386 Mach (by David Mackenzie), RS/6000 and
	64	PowerPC (except ar and ranlib; by Ian Taylor).
	65
	66	* Support for Irix 5.
	67
	68	* Programs `strip' and `objcopy' will not attempt to write dynamically linked
	69	ELF output files, since BFD currently can't create them properly.
	70
	71	Changes since binutils 2.2
	72
	73	* A new --stabs argument has been added to objdump to dump stabs sections in
	74	ELF and COFF files.
	75
	76	* A new program, nlmconv, has been added. It can convert object files into
	77	Novell NetWare Loadable Modules.
	78
	79	* The strings program has been added.
	80
	81	Changes since binutils 2.1
	82
	83	* The 'copy' program has been renamed to 'objcopy', for consistency with
	84	'objdump', and because 'copy' might more plausibly be used as a synonym for
	85	'cp'.
	86
	87	* The new stand-alone program c++filt is a filter that converts encoded
	88	(mangled) C++ assembly-level identifiers to user-level names. (Note: This
	89	may get moved to the gcc distribution.)
	90
	91	* nm -o on an archive now prefixes each line with the archive name, matching
	92	the output from BSD nm.
	93
	94	* ar (and ld) can now read (but not write) BSD4.4-style archives.
	95
	96	* New support for H8500, Z8000, and the Hitach SH.
	97
	98	* Dis-assembler interface changed to allow sharing with gdb.
	99
100	* There is new Elf code, but it is not yet ready for general use.
101
102	* There is the beginnings of a test suite.
103
104	Changes since binutils 2.0
105
106	* There is now support for writing ECOFF files, so ld and the other utilities
107	should work on Risc/Ultrix and Irix. Please let us know how well this works.
108
109	* ar now automatically creates a symbol table (a __.SYMDEF member, in the BSD
110	version), if there are any object files in the archive. So running ranlib is
111	now redundant (unless the non-standard q command is used). This is required
112	for Posix.2 conformance.
113
114	* The archive-reading code now reads both BSD-style and SYSV-style archives
115	independently of the selected target format. This is to encourage people to
116	switch to SYSV-format, which has a number of advantages.
117
118	* The strip and copy programs now have options to remove debug-symbols only
119	and/or local symbols only. They now also support long options.
120
121	\f
122	Local variables:
123	fill-column: 79
124	End: