Retrieve uninterpreted file contents
cc [flag...]
file... -lelf
[library]...
#include <libelf.h>
char *elf_rawfile(Elf * elf, size_t * ptr);
elf_rawfile returns a pointer to an uninterpreted byte image of the file. This function should be used only to retrieve a file being read. For example, a program might use elf_rawfile to retrieve the bytes for an archive member.
A program that uses elf_rawfile and that also interprets the same file as an object file potentially has two copies of the bytes in memory. If such a program requests the raw image first, before it asks for translated information (through such functions as elf32_getehdr, elf_getdata, and so on), the library freezes its original memory copy for the raw image. It then uses this frozen copy as the source for creating translated objects, without reading the file again. Consequently, the application should view the raw file image returned by elf_rawfile as a read-only buffer, unless it wants to alter its own view of data subsequently translated. In any case, the application may alter the translated objects without changing bytes visible in the raw image.
Multiple calls to elf_rawfile with the same ELF descriptor return the same value; the library does not create duplicate copies of the file.
A program may not close or disable [see the elf_cntl subroutine] the file descriptor associated with elf before the initial call to elf_rawfile, because elf_rawfile might have to read the data from the file if it does not already have the original bytes in memory. Generally, this function is more efficient for unknown file types than for object files. The library implicitly translates object files in memory, while it leaves unknown files unmodified. Thus asking for the uninterpreted image of an object file may create a duplicate copy in memory.
elf_rawdata [see the elf_getdata subroutine] is a related function, providing access to sections within a file.
If ptr is non-null, the library also stores the file's size, in bytes, in the location to which ptr points. If no data is present, elf is null, or an error occurs, the return value is a null pointer, with zero optionally stored through ptr.
The elf_begin (elf_begin Subroutine) subroutine, elf_cntl (elf_cntl Subroutine) subroutine, elf_getdata (elf_getdata, elf_newdata, elf_rawdata Subroutine) subroutine, elf32_getehdr (elf32_getehdr, elf32_newehdr, elf64_getehdr, elf64_newehdr Subroutine) subroutine, elf_getident (elf_getident Subroutine) subroutine, elf_kind (elf_kind Subroutine) subroutine.
Introduction to ELF Subroutines.