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(3E)
explains, ELF provides a framework for various
classes of files, where basic objects may have 32 bits, 64
bits, and so forth. 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.
Other kinds of files (see
elf_kind(3E))
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 is present,
elf
is null, or an error
occurs, the return value is a null pointer, with zero
optionally stored through
ptr.