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NLIST(3)		    BSD Programmer's Manual		      NLIST(3)

NAME
     nlist - retrieve symbol table name list from an executable file

SYNOPSIS
     #include <nlist.h>

     int
     nlist(const char *filename, struct nlist *nl);

DESCRIPTION
     The nlist() function looks up names in the symbol table of an executable
     binary file, and returns the corresponding values.	 A value is normally
     the address of a global variable in the running image of the executable
     binary.

     The argument nl should point to an array of nlist structures:

	   struct nlist {
		   char		   *n_name;
		   unsigned char   n_type;
		   char		   n_other;
		   short	   n_desc;
		   unsigned long   n_value;
	   };

     On input, the n_name fields should be initialized to the names of symbols
     that nlist() should look for in the symbol table.	All other fields
     should be set to 0.  The last array element should have its n_name field
     set to NULL.

     If nlist() returns successfully, then for each array element whose value
     was found in the symbol table, the n_type field will be nonzero and the
     n_value field will be set to the value of the symbol.  For array elements
     whose value was not found, the n_type field will be 0.  The n_name fields
     will not change.  The values of the other fields are not defined.

     Only global symbols can be matched.

RETURN VALUES
     The number of invalid entries is returned if successful; otherwise, the
     value returned is -1 and the global variable errno is set to indicate the
     error.

SEE ALSO
     a.out(5),	elf(5)

HISTORY
     An nlist() function appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

BUGS
     The nlist structure is a variant of the symbol table structure used in
     a.out(5) executable binary files.	When nlist() is used with a file that
     isn't a.out(5) format, the n_type field is at best an approximation of
     the value that would be expected in an a.out(5) binary, and the n_other
     and n_desc fields contain no useful information.

     Because some symbol table formats prepend an underscore to names of sym-
     bols that derive from names of variables in high-level languages, nlist()
     will declare a match if it finds a symbol name that compares equal to the
     given name with or without its initial underscore.	 This `feature' can
     sometimes lead to incorrect matches.

4th Berkeley Distribution      October 18, 1997				     1
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