HP-UX Linker and Libraries June 2006 Release Notes

HP-UX 11i v1 and HP-UX 11i v2

Version: B.11.53 (for PA32 and PA64 Systems)
Version: B.12.35 (for Itanium-Based Systems)

Part Number: B2355-90969
Release Date: June 2006

Legal Notices

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Trademark Notices

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UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

Table of Contents

New Features in This Release

This section describes new features introduced in this release of HP-UX Linker and Libraries. This section discusses the following topics:

New Linker Features for Itanium-based Systems/PA64 Systems

Following are the new features:

Reduced Link Time

This version of linker reduces the link time for large programs built with profile-based optimization. The reduction in link time is even more when you invoke the linker with -P or -PF to carry out procedure reordering and global variable layout.

This feature is available for both Intel Itanium-based systems and PA64 systems.

Improved Application Performance

This version of linker provides an improved layout of global variables for programs built with profile-based optimization. The new layout controls variable alignment on cache boundaries.

This feature is available only for Intel Itanium-based systems.

Large Kernel Page Size Support

This version of linker enables you to run application on large kernel pages. The dld now supports kernel page size up to 64KB. The linker aligns segments offset to 64KB boundary.

This feature is available for both Intel Itanium-based systems and PA64 systems.

Direct Access to the Linker Footprint

This version of linker adds a new program header, PT_HP_LINKER_FOOTPRINT, which points to the linker footprint in the output file.

This feature is available only for Intel Itanium-based systems.

New +FP Flag Values to Specify Rounding Mode

For floating point operations, this version of linker enables you to specify values for rounding mode. The following values are available:

This feature is available for both Intel Itanium-based systems and PA64 systems.

New Flag to Allocate Storage for Uninitialized Data

The new +nobss linker option enables you to include the bss data of the shared library in the shared library's data segment. When you build a program with the +nobss option, the number of mmap and munmap calls at load time are minimal. However, the use of +nobss option increases the disk size of the shared library. HP recommends the use of +nobss option only when the frequent loading and unloading of shared libraries affect the application performance.

This feature is available for both Intel Itanium-based systems and PA64 systems.

New Linker Features for PA32 Systems

The following new feature supports PA32 systems:

Dynamic Path Search Behavior for setuid Programs

For setuid programs if SHLIB_PATH/LD_LIBRARY_PATH is not set, the loader does not consider the paths listed in the file /etc/dld.sl.conf. The dynamic path lookup is disabled and the search is restricted to the embedded path (RPATH).

Documentation Overview

This section discusses the following topics:

Before You Begin

Before you begin to use the HP-UX Linker Online Help, complete the following steps:

  1. Set the DISPLAY environment variable to graphic mode to open an HTML browser.

  2. Set the BROWSER environment variable to point to the location of your HTML browser. If you do not set the BROWSER environment variable, the linker automatically runs the browser located at:

    /opt/mozilla/mozilla

    or

    /opt/ns-navgold/bin/netscape

    or

    /opt/ns-communicator/netscape

Accessing HP-UX Linker Online Help

To access the Linker online help on a system in which the HP-UX Linker is installed, enter the following command:

/usr/ccs/bin/ld +help

This command opens a Web browser and displays the main page of the HP-UX Linker online help system.

If the browser path set by the BROWSER environment variable does not exist, or if the default browser paths /opt/mozilla/mozilla, /opt/ns-navgold/bin/netscape or /opt/ns-communicator/netscape do not exist, the system displays a message that the BROWSER environment variable must be set properly.

Related Documentation

The following documentation is available on the HP-UX 11i v2 Instant Information CD and also at:

http://docs.hp.com