nlist(3)

nlist3

Retrieve symbol table name list from an executable file

Usage

#include <nlist.h>

int

nlist(const char *filename, struct nlist *nl);

Library

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

Overview

The nlist() function retrieves name list entries from elf(5) sections with type SHT_DYNSYM or SHT_SYMTAB in an ELF object (for example, an executable file or shared library). This function is provided for compatibility with legacy applications. Its use is discouraged.

The argument nl is set to reference the beginning of the list. The list is preened of binary and invalid data; if an entry in the name list is valid, the n_type and n_value for the entry are copied into the list referenced by nl. No other data is copied. The last entry in the list is always NULL.

Return values

The number of invalid entries is returned if successful; otherwise, if the file filename does not exist or is not executable, the returned value is -1.

Releases

87 releases since FreeBSD 2.0.5-RELEASE; the text changed 42 times.

  1. 2.0.5
  2. 2.1.5–3.4
  3. 3.5–3.5.1
  4. 4.0
  5. 4.1–4.3
  6. 4.4
  7. 4.5–4.11
  8. 5.0–6.3
  9. 6.4
  10. 7.0
  11. 7.1
  12. 7.2
  13. 7.3
  14. 7.4
  15. 8.0
  16. 8.1
  17. 8.2
  18. 8.3
  19. 8.4
  20. 9.0
  21. 9.1
  22. 9.2
  23. 9.3
  24. 10.0
  25. 10.1
  26. 10.2
  27. 10.3
  28. 10.4
  29. 11.0
  30. 11.1
  31. 11.2
  32. 11.3
  33. 11.4
  34. 12.0
  35. 12.1
  36. 12.2
  37. 12.3
  38. 12.4
  39. 13.0–13.2
  40. 13.3–14.4
  41. 14.5
  42. 15.0–15.1
  43. 16.0

History

A nlist() function appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

From base 16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79 in FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27). Parsed by carta from the page's mdoc source.