cof2elf(1)

cof2elf -- COFF to ELF object file translation

Synopsis

cof2elf [-iqV] [-Q{yn}] [-s directory] files

Description

cof2elf converts one or more COFF object files to ELF. This translation occurs in place, meaning the original file contents are modified. If an input file is an archive, each member will be translated as necessary, and the archive will be rebuilt with its members in the original order. cof2elf does not change input files that are not COFF.

cof2elf takes the following options:

-i: Normally, files are modified only when full translation occurs. Unrecognized data, such as unknown relocation types, are treated as errors and prevent translation. If this option is specified, cof2elf ignores these partial translation conditions and modifies the file anyway.
-q: Normally, cof2elf prints a message for each file it examines, telling whether the file was translated, ignored, and so on. This option causes cof2elf to suppress these messages (quiet).
-Q arg: If arg is y, identification information about cof2elf will be added to the output files. This can be useful for software administration. Giving n for arg explicitly asks for no such information, which is the default behavior.
-sdirectory: cof2elf modifies the input files. This option causes cof2elf to save a copy of the original files in the specified directory, which must exist. cof2elf does not save files that it does not modify.
-V: Print a version message on standard error.

References

a.out(4), ar(4), Intro(3elf), ld(1)

Notices

Some debugging information is discarded. Although this does not affect the behavior of a running program, it may affect the information available for symbolic debugging.

cof2elf translates only COFF relocatable files. It does not translate executable or static shared library files for two main reasons. First, the operating system supports executable files and static shared libraries, making translation unnecessary. Second, those files have specific address and alignment constraints determined by the file format. Matching the constraints with a different object file format is problematic.

When possible, programmers should recompile their source code to build new object files. cof2elf is provided for those times when source code is unavailable.