NLMCONV(1)

💅 NLMCONV(1) — the GNU Development Tools era 💅

okay so bestie, pull up a chair, because we're talking about nlmconv from the GNU Development Tools corner of the universe, and honestly? it's giving "niche but iconic." 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

nlmconv — literally converts object code into an NLM. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

nlmconv [-I bfdname|--input-target=bfdname]
        [-O bfdname|--output-target=bfdname]
        [-T headerfile|--header-file=headerfile]
        [-d|--debug] [-l linker|--linker=linker]
        [-h|--help] [-V|--version]
        infile outfile

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea: nlmconv takes your relocatable i386 object file infile and turns it into the NetWare Loadable Module outfile, and it can optionally read headerfile for all the NLM header info. no cap. 🔥

for instructions on writing the NLM command file language that gets used in header files, go look at the linkers section, NLMLINK in particular, of the NLM Development and Tools Overview — that's part of the NLM Software Developer's Kit (affectionately the "NLM SDK"), available from Novell, Inc. 🫶

and nlmconv uses the GNU Binary File Descriptor library to read infile. slay.

here's the part that makes it kind of main character: nlmconv can perform a link step too. in other words, you can list more than one object file for input — as long as you list them in the definitions file (rather than just specifying one input file on the command line). when that happens, nlmconv calls the linker for you. bestie does the heavy lifting. 💪

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -I bfdname, --input-target=bfdname — the object format of the input file. nlmconv can usually figure out the format of a given file on its own, so no default is necessary. she just knows. 🙈
• -O bfdname, --output-target=bfdname — the object format of the output file. nlmconv infers the output format based on the input format, e.g. for an i386 input file the output format is nlm32-i386. ✨
• -T headerfile, --header-file=headerfile — reads headerfile for NLM header information. for instructions on writing the NLM command file language used in header files, see the linkers section of the NLM Development and Tools Overview, which is part of the NLM Software Developer's Kit, available from Novell, Inc. 📖
• -d, --debug — displays (on standard error) the linker command line that nlmconv used. not me peeking behind the curtain 👀
• -l linker, --linker=linker — use linker for any linking. linker can be an absolute or a relative pathname. 🛠️
• -h, --help — prints a usage summary. your little cheat sheet, your little safety net. 💅
• -V, --version — prints the version number for nlmconv. ⭐
• @file — read command-line options from file. the options that get read are inserted right in place of the original @file option. and if file doesn't exist, or can't be read, then the option is treated literally, and not removed — so it just sits there, unbothered. 💀

options in file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. and plot twist: the file may itself contain additional @file options — any such options will be processed recursively. it's files all the way down 🌀

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the Info entries for binutils. go read them, i believe in you 🫶

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright (c) 1991-2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". 📜

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this has been nlmconv from binutils-2.30, dated 2018-01-27 — vintage, but make it fashion. mwah 💋 🌈