1@section File formats
2A format is a BFD concept of high level file contents type. The
3formats supported by BFD are:
4
5@itemize @bullet
6
7@item
8@code{bfd_object}
9@end itemize
10The BFD may contain data, symbols, relocations and debug info.
11
12@itemize @bullet
13
14@item
15@code{bfd_archive}
16@end itemize
17The BFD contains other BFDs and an optional index.
18
19@itemize @bullet
20
21@item
22@code{bfd_core}
23@end itemize
24The BFD contains the result of an executable core dump.
25
26@subsection File format functions
27
28
29@findex bfd_check_format
30@subsubsection @code{bfd_check_format}
31@deftypefn {Function} bool bfd_check_format (bfd *abfd, bfd_format format); 
32Verify if the file attached to the BFD @var{abfd} is compatible
33with the format @var{format} (i.e., one of @code{bfd_object},
34@code{bfd_archive} or @code{bfd_core}).
35
36If the BFD has been set to a specific target before the
37call, only the named target and format combination is
38checked. If the target has not been set, or has been set to
39@code{default}, then all the known target backends is
40interrogated to determine a match.  If the default target
41matches, it is used.  If not, exactly one target must recognize
42the file, or an error results.
43
44The function returns @code{TRUE} on success, otherwise @code{FALSE}
45with one of the following error codes:
46
47@itemize @bullet
48
49@item
50@code{bfd_error_invalid_operation} -
51if @code{format} is not one of @code{bfd_object}, @code{bfd_archive} or
52@code{bfd_core}.
53
54@item
55@code{bfd_error_system_call} -
56if an error occured during a read - even some file mismatches
57can cause bfd_error_system_calls.
58
59@item
60@code{file_not_recognised} -
61none of the backends recognised the file format.
62
63@item
64@code{bfd_error_file_ambiguously_recognized} -
65more than one backend recognised the file format.
66@end itemize
67
68@end deftypefn
69@findex bfd_check_format_matches
70@subsubsection @code{bfd_check_format_matches}
71@deftypefn {Function} bool bfd_check_format_matches (bfd *abfd, bfd_format format, char ***matching); 
72Like @code{bfd_check_format}, except when it returns FALSE with
73@code{bfd_errno} set to @code{bfd_error_file_ambiguously_recognized}.  In that
74case, if @var{matching} is not NULL, it will be filled in with
75a NULL-terminated list of the names of the formats that matched,
76allocated with @code{malloc}.
77Then the user may choose a format and try again.
78
79When done with the list that @var{matching} points to, the caller
80should free it.
81
82@end deftypefn
83@findex bfd_set_format
84@subsubsection @code{bfd_set_format}
85@deftypefn {Function} bool bfd_set_format (bfd *abfd, bfd_format format); 
86This function sets the file format of the BFD @var{abfd} to the
87format @var{format}. If the target set in the BFD does not
88support the format requested, the format is invalid, or the BFD
89is not open for writing, then an error occurs.
90
91@end deftypefn
92@findex bfd_format_string
93@subsubsection @code{bfd_format_string}
94@deftypefn {Function} const char *bfd_format_string (bfd_format format); 
95Return a pointer to a const string
96@code{invalid}, @code{object}, @code{archive}, @code{core}, or @code{unknown},
97depending upon the value of @var{format}.
98
99@end deftypefn
100