ELF_GETARSYM(3)

💅 elf_getarsym — retrieve archive symbol table

okay bestie, so this is from the Libelf Programmer's Manual, section 3 (that's the ELF_GETARSYM(3) zone ✨). basically you wanna peek at the symbol table hiding inside an archive, and this function is your girl. no cap.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <libelf.h>

Elf_Arsym *elf_getarsym(Elf *elf, size_t *narsyms);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like. you call this and it goes and retrieves the archive symbol table from the archive file that's attached to elf. that's it. that's the job. 👑

if the archive actually has a symbol table, elf_getarsym() hands you back a pointer to an array of Elf_Arsym structs, one lil struct per symbol, describing each one. and if narsyms isn't NULL, it also drops the number of symbols in that array into *narsyms. adorable.

Elf_Arsym has this layout, exactly:

typedef struct {
  char   *as_name;   /* Symbol name (null-terminated). */
  int64_t as_off;    /* File offset of defining archive member. */
  uint64_t as_hash;  /* Hash value of symbol name. */
} Elf_Arsym;

and here's the iconic detail — the very last entry in the archive symbol table is the special entry { NULL, 0, ~0L}. it's giving "the end, bestie, we're done here". so if narsyms is NULL and you don't know how long the table is, you can just walk until you hit that special entry and that's how you find the end. 🎀

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🌸 PARAMETERS 🌸

• elf — an ELF descriptor that refers to an archive file. you get one of these by calling elf_begin(3) on an archive. yes bestie, that's the pipeline. 💜
• narsyms — a pointer to a size_t, and if this pointer isn't NULL, the number of entries in the symbol table gets stored in there. lowkey a little output parameter. 🙈

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💖 RETURN VALUE 💖

if the archive contains a symbol table, you get back a pointer to an array of Elf_Arsym structures — and yes, it includes that special NULL entry marking the end of the table. *narsyms gets set to the number of entries in the array, as long as narsyms isn't NULL.

🚨 these pointers are managed by libelf, okay?? do not free them. not your job, not your business, the caller of elf_getarsym should not be calling free on these. hands off, bestie. ✋

and if the archive does not contain a symbol table, or if elf isn't a valid archive descriptor? elf_getarsym returns NULL. tragic but correct. 😭

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

elf_begin(3), elf_getarhdr(3), elf_next(3), libelf(3), elf(5)

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🌈 ATTRIBUTES 🌈

here's the vibe check on this one:

• Interface: elf_getarsym()
• Attribute: Thread safety
• Value: MT-Safe

so yeah, she's thread safe. slay. ✨

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🫶 REPORTING BUGS 🫶

found a bug? tell the people! report bugs to <elfutils-devel@sourceware.org> or hit up https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/. they wanna know fr fr. 💌

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aaaand that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was Libelf, dated 2025-06-06, living in section 3 as ELF_GETARSYM(3). go forth and read those archive symbols, you absolute icon 🎀⭐