Tue Oct 8 13:58:59 1991 Roland H. Pesch (pesch at cygnus.com)

	* binutils.texinfo: remove most remaining FIXME's, delete
	references to __.SYMDEF by name

diff --git a/binutils/ChangeLog b/binutils/ChangeLog
index a611810b6f14d8c55c4c09028e41e00d22d577c4..b03727d84b5516b28cb5efc01b210b2b31f23c1f 100644 (file)
--- a/binutils/ChangeLog
+++ b/binutils/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+Tue Oct  8 13:58:59 1991  Roland H. Pesch  (pesch at cygnus.com)
+
+       * binutils.texinfo: remove most remaining FIXME's, delete
+       references to __.SYMDEF by name
+
+
 Tue Oct  8 10:23:44 1991  Steve Chamberlain  (steve at cygnus.com)
 
        * objdump.c (print_address) Print addresses nicely.

diff --git a/binutils/binutils.texinfo b/binutils/binutils.texinfo
index 59068d8fd17f490692ba41f979cd4e6455f3115d..ef61e69b9d6ff941687d0a7f19bdd14d55c5a83d 100755 (executable)
--- a/binutils/binutils.texinfo
+++ b/binutils/binutils.texinfo
@@ -107,8 +107,12 @@ The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and
 group are preserved in the archive, and may be reconstituted on
 extraction.  
 
-Only the first fifteen characters of a file name are kept in archives.
-@c FIXME: with BFD version, this depends on obj format.
+GNU @code{ar} can maintain archives whose members have names of any
+length; however, depending on how @code{ar} is configured on your
+system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed (for compatibility
+with archive formats maintained with other tools).  If it exists, the
+limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16
+characters (typical of formats related to coff).
 
 @code{ar} is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort
 are most often used as @dfn{libraries} holding commonly needed
@@ -149,10 +153,6 @@ any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:
 be deleted as @var{files}; the archive is untouched if you
 specify no files to delete.
 
-If you wish to delete an archive's index, you can use this option to do
-it; the internal name of the index (which you will need to specify in
-@var{files} to delete it) is @samp{__.SYMDEF}.
-
 If you specify the @samp{v} option flag, @code{ar} will list each module
 as it is deleted.
 
@@ -173,9 +173,7 @@ specified place instead.
 output file.  If the @samp{v} option flag is specified, show the member
 name before copying its contents to standard output.
 
-If you specify no @var{files}, all the files in the archive are printed,
-save for the index (if any), which is listed only if you ask for it by
-name: @samp{__.SYMDEF}.
+If you specify no @var{files}, all the files in the archive are printed.
 
 @item q
 @emph{Quick append}; add @var{files} to the end of @var{archive},
@@ -215,9 +213,7 @@ see the modes (permissions), timestamp, owner, group, and size, you can
 request that by also specifying the @samp{v} option flag.
 
 If you do not specify any @var{files}, all files in the archive
-are listed; but the index to symbols from relocatable modules, called
-@samp{__.SYMDEF}, is not listed unless you explicitly request it by
-name.
+are listed.
 
 If there is more than one file with the same name (say, @samp{fie}) in
 an archive (say @samp{b.a}), @samp{ar t b.a fie} will list only the
@@ -232,10 +228,7 @@ use the @samp{v} option flag with this operation, to request that
 @code{ar} list each name as it extracts it.
 
 If you do not specify any @var{files}, all files in the archive
-are extracted; but the index to symbols from relocatable modules, called
-@samp{__.SYMDEF}, is not extracted unless you explicitly request it by
-name.
-@c FIXME: does __.SYMDEF appear in all BFD arch formats?  If not, which?
+are extracted.
 
 @end table
 
@@ -268,9 +261,9 @@ member must be present as the @var{membername} argument, before the
 @var{archive} specification.  (same as @samp{b}).
 
 @item l
-This option flag is recognized but not used; it is permitted for
-compatibility with other forms of @code{ar}.
-@c FIXME ar l modifier???---pesch@@cygnus.com, 25jan91
+This option flag is accepted but not used.
+@c whaffor ar l modifier??? presumably compat; with
+@c what???---pesch@@cygnus.com, 25jan91 
 
 @item o
 Preserve the @emph{original} dates of members when extracting them.  If
@@ -349,7 +342,7 @@ names.
 @item +print-armap
 @itemx -s
 When listing symbols from archives, list the index: a mapping (stored in
-the archive by @code{ar} or @code{ranlib} of what modules contain
+the archive by @code{ar} or @code{ranlib}) of what modules contain
 definitions for what names.
 
 @item +print-file-name 
@@ -481,9 +474,6 @@ stores it in the archive.  The index lists each symbol defined by a
 member of an archive that is a relocatable object file.  
 
 You may use @code{nm -s} or @code{nm +print-armap} to list this table.
-The index is internally stored in the archive under the name
-@samp{__.SYMDEF}.
-@c FIXME does __.SYMDEF exist in archives in all flavors? (ranlib)
 
 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and
 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to