diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'man/deb-src-symbols.pod')
-rw-r--r-- | man/deb-src-symbols.pod | 452 |
1 files changed, 452 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/man/deb-src-symbols.pod b/man/deb-src-symbols.pod new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e5428d --- /dev/null +++ b/man/deb-src-symbols.pod @@ -0,0 +1,452 @@ +# dpkg manual page - deb-src-symbols(5) +# +# Copyright © 2007-2011 Raphaël Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org> +# Copyright © 2009-2010 Modestas Vainius <modestas@vainius.eu> +# Copyright © 2012-2015 Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> +# +# This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify +# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by +# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or +# (at your option) any later version. +# +# This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, +# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of +# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the +# GNU General Public License for more details. +# +# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License +# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. + +=encoding utf8 + +=head1 NAME + +deb-src-symbols - Debian's extended shared library template file + +=head1 SYNOPSIS + +B<debian/>I<package>B<.symbols.>I<arch>, +B<debian/symbols.>I<arch>, +B<debian/>I<package>B<.symbols>, +B<debian/symbols> + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +The symbol file templates are shipped in Debian source packages, and its +format is a superset of the symbols files shipped in binary packages, +see L<deb-symbols(5)>. + +=head2 Comments + +Comments are supported in template symbol files. +Any line with ‘#’ as +the first character is a comment except if it starts with ‘#include’ +(see section L</Using includes>). +Lines starting with ‘#MISSING:’ are special comments documenting +symbols that have disappeared. + +=head2 Using #PACKAGE# substitution + +In some rare cases, the name of the library varies between architectures. +To avoid hardcoding the name of the package in the symbols file, you can +use the marker I<#PACKAGE#>. +It will be replaced by the real package name during installation of the +symbols files. +Contrary to the +I<#MINVER#> marker, I<#PACKAGE#> will never appear in a symbols file +inside a binary package. + +=head2 Using symbol tags + +Symbol tagging is useful for marking symbols that are special in some way. +Any symbol can have an arbitrary number of tags associated with it. +While all tags are +parsed and stored, only some of them are understood by +B<dpkg-gensymbols> and trigger special handling of the symbols. +See +subsection L</Standard symbol tags> for reference of these tags. + +Tag specification comes right before the symbol name (no whitespace is allowed +in between). +It always starts with an opening bracket B<(>, +ends with a closing bracket B<)> and must contain at least one tag. +Multiple tags are separated by the B<|> character. +Each tag can optionally have a value which is separated form the tag name +by the B<=> character. +Tag names and values +can be arbitrary strings except they cannot contain any of the special B<)> +B<|> B<=> characters. +Symbol names following a tag specification can +optionally be quoted with either B<'> or B<"> characters to allow +whitespaces in them. +However, if there are no tags specified for the symbol, +quotes are treated as part of the symbol name which continues up until the +first space. + + (tag1=i am marked|tag name with space)"tagged quoted symbol"@Base 1.0 + (optional)tagged_unquoted_symbol@Base 1.0 1 + untagged_symbol@Base 1.0 + +The first symbol in the example is named I<tagged quoted symbol> and has two +tags: I<tag1> with value I<i am marked> and I<tag name with space> +that has no value. +The second symbol named I<tagged_unquoted_symbol> is only tagged with the +tag named I<optional>. +The last symbol is an +example of the normal untagged symbol. + +Since symbol tags are an extension of the L<deb-symbols(5)> format, they +can only be part of the symbols files used in source packages (those files +should then be seen as templates used to build the symbols files that are +embedded in binary packages). +When +B<dpkg-gensymbols> is called without the B<-t> option, it will +output symbols files compatible to the L<deb-symbols(5)> format: +it fully processes symbols according to the requirements of their standard tags +and strips all tags from the output. +On the contrary, in template mode +(B<-t>) all symbols and their tags (both standard and unknown ones) +are kept in the output and are written in their original form as they were +loaded. + +=head2 Standard symbol tags + +=over + +=item B<optional> + +A symbol marked as optional can disappear from the library at any time and that +will never cause B<dpkg-gensymbols> to fail. +However, disappeared optional +symbols will continuously appear as MISSING in the diff in each new package +revision. +This behavior serves as a reminder for the maintainer that such a +symbol needs to be removed from the symbol file or readded to the library. +When +the optional symbol, which was previously declared as MISSING, suddenly +reappears in the next revision, it will be upgraded back to the “existing” +status with its minimum version unchanged. + +This tag is useful for symbols which are private where their disappearance do +not cause ABI breakage. +For example, most of C++ template instantiations fall into this category. +Like any other tag, this one may also have an arbitrary +value: it could be used to indicate why the symbol is considered optional. + +=item B<arch=>I<architecture-list> + +=item B<arch-bits=>I<architecture-bits> + +=item B<arch-endian=>I<architecture-endianness> + +These tags allow one to restrict the set of architectures where the symbol +is supposed to exist. +The B<arch-bits> and B<arch-endian> tags are supported since dpkg 1.18.0. +When the symbols list is updated with +the symbols +discovered in the library, all arch-specific symbols which do not concern +the current host architecture are treated as if they did not exist. +If an +arch-specific symbol matching the current host architecture does not exist +in the library, normal procedures for missing symbols apply and it may +cause B<dpkg-gensymbols> to fail. +On the other hand, if the +arch-specific symbol is found when it was not supposed to exist (because +the current host architecture is not listed in the tag or does not match +the endianness and bits), it is made arch neutral (i.e. the arch, arch-bits +and arch-endian tags are dropped and the symbol will appear in the diff due +to this change), but it is not considered as new. + +When operating in the default non-template mode, among arch-specific symbols +only those that match the current host architecture are written to the +symbols file. +On the contrary, all arch-specific symbols (including those +from foreign arches) are always written to the symbol file when operating +in template mode. + +The format of I<architecture-list> is the same as the one used in the +B<Build-Depends> field of I<debian/control> (except the enclosing +square brackets []). +For example, the first symbol from the list below +will be considered only on alpha, any-amd64 and ia64 architectures, +the second only on linux architectures, while the third one anywhere +except on armel. + + (arch=alpha any-amd64 ia64)64bit_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + (arch=linux-any)linux_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + (arch=!armel)symbol_armel_does_not_have@Base 1.0 + +The I<architecture-bits> is either B<32> or B<64>. + + (arch-bits=32)32bit_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + (arch-bits=64)64bit_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + +The I<architecture-endianness> is either B<little> or B<big>. + + (arch-endian=little)little_endian_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + (arch-endian=big)big_endian_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + +Multiple restrictions can be chained. + + (arch-bits=32|arch-endian=little)32bit_le_symbol@Base 1.0 + +=item B<allow-internal> + +dpkg-gensymbols has a list of internal symbols that should not +appear in symbols files as they are usually only side-effects of +implementation details of the toolchain (since dpkg 1.20.1). +If for some reason, you really want one of those symbols to be included in +the symbols file, you should tag the symbol with B<allow-internal>. +It can be necessary for some low level toolchain libraries like “libgcc”. + +=item B<ignore-blacklist> + +A deprecated alias for B<allow-internal> (since dpkg 1.20.1, +supported since dpkg 1.15.3). + +=item B<c++> + +Denotes I<c++> symbol pattern. +See L</Using symbol patterns> subsection +below. + +=item B<symver> + +Denotes I<symver> (symbol version) symbol pattern. +See L</Using symbol +patterns> subsection below. + +=item B<regex> + +Denotes I<regex> symbol pattern. +See L</Using symbol patterns> subsection +below. + +=back + +=head2 Using symbol patterns + +Unlike a standard symbol specification, a pattern may cover multiple real +symbols from the library. +B<dpkg-gensymbols> will attempt to match each +pattern against each real symbol that does I<not> have a specific symbol +counterpart defined in the symbol file. +Whenever the first matching pattern is +found, all its tags and properties will be used as a basis specification of the +symbol. +If none of the patterns matches, the symbol will be considered as new. + +A pattern is considered lost if it does not match any symbol in the library. +By +default this will trigger a B<dpkg-gensymbols> failure under B<-c1> or +higher level. +However, if the failure is undesired, the pattern may be marked with the +I<optional> tag. +Then if the pattern does not match anything, +it will only appear in the diff as MISSING. +Moreover, like any symbol, +the pattern may be limited to the specific architectures with the I<arch> tag. +Please +refer to L</Standard symbol tags> subsection above for more information. + +Patterns are an extension of the L<deb-symbols(5)> format hence they are +only valid in symbol file templates. +Pattern specification syntax is not any different from the one of a +specific symbol. +However, symbol name part of the +specification serves as an expression to be matched against I<name@version> +of the real symbol. +In order to distinguish among different pattern types, a +pattern will typically be tagged with a special tag. + +At the moment, B<dpkg-gensymbols> supports three basic pattern types: + +=over + +=item B<c++> + +This pattern is denoted by the I<c++> tag. +It matches only C++ symbols by their demangled symbol name +(as emitted by L<c++filt(1)> utility). +This +pattern is very handy for matching symbols which mangled names might vary +across different architectures while their demangled names remain the same. +One +group of such symbols is I<non-virtual thunks> which have architecture +specific offsets embedded in their mangled names. +A common instance of this +case is a virtual destructor which under diamond inheritance needs a +non-virtual thunk symbol. +For example, even if _ZThn8_N3NSB6ClassDD1Ev@Base on +32-bit architectures will probably be _ZThn16_N3NSB6ClassDD1Ev@Base on 64-bit +ones, it can be matched with a single I<c++> pattern: + + libdummy.so.1 libdummy1 #MINVER# + [...] + (c++)"non-virtual thunk to NSB::ClassD::~ClassD()@Base" 1.0 + [...] + +The demangled name above can be obtained by executing the following command: + + $ echo '_ZThn8_N3NSB6ClassDD1Ev@Base' | c++filt + +Please note that while mangled name is unique in the library by definition, +this is not necessarily true for demangled names. +A couple of distinct real symbols may have the same demangled name. +For example, that's the case with +non-virtual thunk symbols in complex inheritance configurations or with most +constructors and destructors (since g++ typically generates two real symbols +for them). +However, as these collisions happen on the ABI level, they should +not degrade quality of the symbol file. + +=item B<symver> + +This pattern is denoted by the I<symver> tag. +Well maintained libraries have +versioned symbols where each version corresponds to the upstream version where +the symbol got added. +If that's the case, you can use a I<symver> pattern to +match any symbol associated to the specific version. +For example: + + libc.so.6 libc6 #MINVER# + (symver)GLIBC_2.0 2.0 + [...] + (symver)GLIBC_2.7 2.7 + access@GLIBC_2.0 2.2 + +All symbols associated with versions GLIBC_2.0 and GLIBC_2.7 will lead to +minimal version of 2.0 and 2.7 respectively with the exception of the symbol +access@GLIBC_2.0. +The latter will lead to a minimal dependency on libc6 version +2.2 despite being in the scope of the "(symver)GLIBC_2.0" pattern because +specific symbols take precedence over patterns. + +Please note that while old style wildcard patterns (denoted by "*@version" in +the symbol name field) are still supported, they have been deprecated by new +style syntax "(symver|optional)version". +For example, "*@GLIBC_2.0 2.0" should +be written as "(symver|optional)GLIBC_2.0 2.0" if the same behavior is needed. + +=item B<regex> + +Regular expression patterns are denoted by the I<regex> tag. +They match by the perl regular expression specified in the symbol name field. +A regular +expression is matched as it is, therefore do not forget to start it with the +I<^> character or it may match any part of the real symbol +I<name@version> string. +For example: + + libdummy.so.1 libdummy1 #MINVER# + (regex)"^mystack_.*@Base$" 1.0 + (regex|optional)"private" 1.0 + +Symbols like "mystack_new@Base", "mystack_push@Base", "mystack_pop@Base", etc., +will be matched by the first pattern while "ng_mystack_new@Base" would not. +The second pattern will match all symbols having the string "private" in their +names and matches will inherit I<optional> tag from the pattern. + +=back + +Basic patterns listed above can be combined where it makes sense. +In that case, they are processed in the order in which the tags are specified. +For example, +both: + + (c++|regex)"^NSA::ClassA::Private::privmethod\d\(int\)@Base" 1.0 + (regex|c++)N3NSA6ClassA7Private11privmethod\dEi@Base 1.0 + +will match symbols "_ZN3NSA6ClassA7Private11privmethod1Ei@Base" and +"_ZN3NSA6ClassA7Private11privmethod2Ei@Base". +When matching the first pattern, +the raw symbol is first demangled as C++ symbol, then the demangled name is +matched against the regular expression. +On the other hand, when matching the +second pattern, regular expression is matched against the raw symbol name, then +the symbol is tested if it is C++ one by attempting to demangle it. +A failure +of any basic pattern will result in the failure of the whole pattern. +Therefore, for example, "__N3NSA6ClassA7Private11privmethod\dEi@Base" will not +match either of the patterns because it is not a valid C++ symbol. + +In general, all patterns are divided into two groups: aliases (basic I<c++> +and I<symver>) and generic patterns (I<regex>, all combinations of +multiple basic patterns). +Matching of basic alias-based patterns is fast (O(1)) +while generic patterns are O(N) (N - generic pattern count) for each symbol. +Therefore, it is recommended not to overuse generic patterns. + +When multiple patterns match the same real symbol, aliases (first I<c++>, +then I<symver>) are preferred over generic patterns. +Generic patterns are +matched in the order they are found in the symbol file template until the first +success. +Please note, however, that manual reordering of template file entries +is not recommended because B<dpkg-gensymbols> generates diffs based on the +alphanumerical order of their names. + +=head2 Using includes + +When the set of exported symbols differ between architectures, it may become +inefficient to use a single symbol file. +In those cases, an include directive +may prove to be useful in a couple of ways: + +=over + +=item * + +You can factorize the common part in some external file +and include that file in your I<package>.symbols.I<arch> file by +using an include directive like this: + + #include "I<packages>.symbols.common" + +=item * + +The include directive may also be tagged like any symbol: + + (tag|...|tagN)#include "file-to-include" + +As a result, all symbols included from I<file-to-include> will be considered +to be tagged with I<tag> ... I<tagN> by default. +You can use this feature +to create a common I<package>.symbols file which includes architecture +specific symbol files: + + common_symbol1@Base 1.0 + (arch=amd64 ia64 alpha)#include "package.symbols.64-bit" + (arch=!amd64 !ia64 !alpha)#include "package.symbols.32-bit" + common_symbol2@Base 1.0 + +=back + +The symbols files are read line by line, and include directives are processed +as soon as they are encountered. +This means that the content of the included +file can override any content that appeared before the include directive and +that any content after the directive can override anything contained in the +included file. +Any symbol (or even another #include directive) in the included +file can specify additional tags or override values of the inherited tags in +its tag specification. +However, there is no way for the symbol to remove +any of the inherited tags. + +An included file can repeat the header line containing the SONAME of the +library. +In that case, it overrides any header line previously read. +However, in general it's best to avoid duplicating header lines. +One way +to do it is the following: + + #include "libsomething1.symbols.common" + arch_specific_symbol@Base 1.0 + +=head1 SEE ALSO + +L<deb-symbols(5)>, +L<dpkg-shlibdeps(1)>, +L<dpkg-gensymbols(1)>. |