CS303- System Software

Module IV

Loaders and Linkers

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 Introduction

 To execute an object program, we need:

» Allocation - allocates memory location
» Relocation - modifies the object program so that it can be loaded
at an address different from the location originally specified
» Linking - combines two or more separate object programs and
supplies the information needed to allow references between them
» Loading - brings the object program into memory for execution

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 Overview – Loaders

 Type of loaders
» assemble-and-go loader
» absolute loader (bootstrap loader)
» relocating loader (relative loader)
» linking loader
 Design options
» linkage editors
» dynamic linking
» bootstrap loaders

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 Assemble-and-go Loader
 Characteristic
» the object code is stored in memory after assembly
» When the END statement is encountered, the assembler will
transfer the control to the first executable line specified
 Advantage
» Simple
» Used when the program is frequently reassembled
(developing environment)
 Disadvantage
» whenever the assembly program is to be executed, it has to
be assembled again
» programs must be coded in the same language

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 Design of an Absolute Loader

 Absolute Loader
» Advantage
– Simple and efficient
» Disadvantage
– the need for programmer to specify the actual address
– difficult to use subroutine libraries (programmer needs to know
those addresses as well !!)

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 Algorithm for an absolute loader

Begin
read Header record
verify program name and length
read first Text record
while record type is not ‘E’ do
begin
{if object code is in character form, convert into internal representation }
move object code to specified location in memory
read next object program record
end
jump to address specified in End record
end

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Loading of an absolute program

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 Object Code Representation

 Figure (a)
» each byte of assembled code is given using its hexadecimal
representation in character form
» easy to read by human beings
 In general
» each byte of object code is stored as a single byte
» most machine store object programs in a binary form
» we must be sure that our file and device conventions do not
cause some of the program bytes to be interpreted as
control characters

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 A Simple Bootstrap Loader
 Bootstrap Loader
» When a computer is first tuned on or restarted, a special
type of absolute loader, called bootstrap loader is executed
» This bootstrap loads the first program to be run by the
computer -- usually an operating system
 Example (SIC bootstrap loader)
» The bootstrap itself begins at address 0
» It loads the OS starting address 0x80
» No header record or control information, the object code is
consecutive bytes of memory

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 SIC Bootstrap Loader Logic
Begin
X=0x80 (the address of the next memory location to be loaded
Loop
AGETC (and convert it from the ASCII character code to the value
of the hexadecimal digit)
save the value in the high-order 4 bits of S
AGETC
combine the value to form one byte A (A+S)
store the value (in A) to the address in register X
XX+1 GETC Aread one character
End if A=0x04 then jump to 0x80
if A<48 then GETC
0~9 : 48
A~F : 65 A  A-48 (0x30)
if A<10 then return
A  A-7 (48+7=55)
return
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 Relocating Loaders

 Motivation
» efficient sharing of the machine with larger memory and
when several independent programs are to be run together
» support the use of subroutine libraries efficiently
 Two methods for specifying relocation
» modification record(in SIC/XE)
» relocation bit (in SIC)
– each instruction is associated with one relocation bit
– these relocation bits in a Text record is gathered into bit masks

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 Modification Record
 For SIC/XE
 Also called RLD specification
» Relocation and Linkage Directory

Modification record
col 1: M
col 2-7: relocation address
col 8-9: length (halfbyte)
col 10: flag (+/-)
col 11-17: segment name

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Object Program with Modification
record

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 Relocation Bit
 For SIC machines(since it has fixed addressing format)
 Relocation bit
» 0: no modification is necessary Text record
col 1: T
» 1: modification is needed col 2-7: starting address
col 8-9: length (byte)
col 10-12: relocation bits
col 13-72: object code
 Twelve-bit mask is used in each Text record
» since each text record contains less than 12 words
» unused words are set to 0
» Eg: bit mask- FFC =>111111111100
 first 10 instructions have to be modified while relocating
 the rest two 0s indicate either no relocation is needed or
unused bytes
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Object program with relocation bit mask

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 Program Linking
 Goal
» Resolve the problems with EXTREF and EXTDEF from different
control sections
 Linking can be performed by
» User
» Assembler
» Linking loader

Note: We use modification records for both relocation and linking

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Program example for linking loader

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19
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Object program for the above program

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Relocation of REF4 in PROGA

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 For addresses referenced in the
previous example
 Load address for control sections
» PROGA 004000 63
» PROGB 004063 7F
» PROGC 0040E2 51
 Load address for symbols
» LISTA: PROGA+0040=4040
» LISTB: PROGB+0060=40C3
» LISTC: PROGC+0030=4112
 REF4 in PROGA
» ENDA-LISTA+LISTC=14+4112=4126
» T0000540F000014FFFFF600003F000014FFFFC0
» M00005406+LISTC

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Program after linking and loading

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 Program Logic and Data Structure
 Two Passes Logic
» Pass 1: assign addresses to all external symbols
» Pass 2: perform the actual loading, relocation, and linking
 ESTAB (external symbol table)
Control section Symbol Address Length
Progam A 4000 63
LISTA 4040
ENDA 4054
Program B 4063 7F
LISTB 40C3
ENDB 40D3
Program C 40E2 51
LISTC 4112
ENDC 4124 26
 Pass 1 Program Logic

 Pass 1:
» assign addresses to all external symbols
 Data structures and Variables used
» PROGADDR (program load address) from OS
» CSADDR (control section address)
» CSLTH (control section length)
» ESTAB (External Symbol Table)

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 Pass 2 Program Logic

 Pass 2:
» perform the actual loading, relocation, and linking
 Modification record
» lookup the symbol in ESTAB

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 Machine-Independent Loader
Features

 Automatic Library Search

» Many linking loaders can automatically incorporate routines
from a subprogram library into the program being loaded
– A standard library
– Other libraries may be specified by control statements or by
parameters to the loader
» Also called automatic library call/ Automatic library search in
some systems

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 Automatic Library Search

 Implementation
» Linking loaders that support automatic library search must
keep track of external symbols that are referred to , but not
defined, in the primary input to the loader
» At the end of Pass 1, the symbols in ESTAB that remain
undefined represented unresolved external references
» Then, the loader searches the library or libraries specified for
routines that contain the definitions of these symbols
» Note that the subroutines fetched from a library in this way
may themselves contain external references
– It is therefore necessary to repeat the library search process
until all reference are resolved
– If unresolved external references remain even after the library
search is completed, these must be treated as errors
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 Automatic Library Search
 Implementation
» The above process allows the programmer to override the standard
subroutines in the library by supplying his or her own routines
» eg: user can define his own routine instead of using SQRT
 The libraries to be searched by the loader ordinarily contain
assembled or compiled versions of the subroutines (i.e., object
programs)
» It is possible to search all the Define records for all of the object programs on
the library(inefficient)
» For efficient searching
– Directory
» Some operating systems can keep the directory for commonly used
libraries permanently in memory
 The same technique applies equally well to the resolution of
external references to data items
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 Loader Options

 Many loaders allow the user to specify options that

modify the standard processing
 Many loaders have a special command language
» A separate input file to loader
» Embedded in the primary input stream
» In source program

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 Loader Options
 Examples of command language
1. INCLUDE program-name(library-name)
Direct the loader to read the designated object program from a library and
treat it as if it were part of the primary loader input
2. DELETE csdect-name
Instruct the loader to delete the named control section(s) from the set of
programs being loaded
3. CHANGE name1, name2
Cause the external symbol name1 to be changed to name2 wherever it
appears in the object programs

INCLUDE READ(UTLIB)
INCLUDE WRITE(UTLIB)
DELETE RDREC, WRREC
CHANGE RDREC, READ
CHANGE WRREC, WRITE

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 Loader Options
 Examples of command language
4. LIBRARY MYLIB
Automatic inclusion of library routines to satisfy external references
Searched before the standard libraries
5. NOCALL STDDEV, PLOT, CORREL
To instruct the loader that these external references are to remain
unsolved
6. Others
 Output from the loader, e.g., the load map which includes control
section names and addresses. Through control statements the user
can specify whether or not such a map is to be printed
 The ability to specify the location at which execution is to begin
 Control whether or not the loader should attempt to execute the
program if errors are detected during the load

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 Loader Design Options
 Linkage Editor
» Perform linking prior to load time
 Dynamic linking
» Linking function is performed at execution time
 Bootstrap loader
» Be used to run stand-alone programs independent of the
operating system or the system loader

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 Linkage Editors
 The essential difference between a linkage editor and a linking
loader

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 Linkage Editors

 A linking loaders performs

» All linking and relocation operations
» Automatic library search
» Loads the linked program directly into memory for execution
 A linkage editor
» Produces a linked version of program (often called a load
module or an executable image), which is written to a file or
library for later execution
» A simple relocating loader can be used to load the linked
version of program into memory
– The loading can be accomplished in one pass with no external
symbol table required

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 Linkage Editors

 A linkage editor
» Resolution of external references and library searching are
only performed once
» In the linked version of programs
– All external references are resolved, and relocation is indicated
by some mechanism such as modification records or a bit mask
» External references is often retained in the linked program
– To allow subsequent relinking of the program to replace control
sections, modify external references, etc.

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 Dynamic Linking

 Postpone the linking function until execution time

» A subroutine is loaded and linked to the rest of the program
when it is first called
– Dynamic linking, dynamic loading, or load on call
 Allow several executing programs to share one copy
of a subroutine or library
 In object-oriented system, it allows the
implementation of the object and its methods to be
determined at the time the program is run
 Dynamic linking provides the ability to load the
routines only when they are needed

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 Dynamically loaded routine must
be called via an operating system
service request
 Load-and-call service
a) OS examines its internal tables to
determine whether the routine is
already loaded
b) Routine is loaded from library
c) Control is passed from OS to the
called subroutine
d) Subroutine is finished
e) Calling to a subroutine which is
already in memory
 Binding of the name to an actual
address is delayed from load time
until execution time
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 Bootstrap Loaders
 Given an idle computer with no program in memory,
how do we get things started?
» With the machine empty and idle, there is no need for
program relocation
– Some early computers required the operator to enter into
memory the object code for an absolute loader, using switches
on the computer console
– One some computer, an absolute loader program is
permanently resident in a ROM
– A built-in hardware function that reads a fixed-length record
from some device into memory at a fixed location

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