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C++FILT(1) GNU Development Tools C++FILT(1)
NAME
c++filt - Demangle C++ and Java symbols.
SYNOPSIS
c++filt [-_|--strip-underscores]
[-n|--no-strip-underscores]
[-p|--no-params]
[-t|--types]
[-i|--no-verbose]
[-s format|--format=format]
[--help] [--version] [symbol...]
DESCRIPTION
The C++ and Java languages provide function overloading, which means
that you can write many functions with the same name, providing that
each function takes parameters of different types. In order to be able
to distinguish these similarly named functions C++ and Java encode them
into a low-level assembler name which uniquely identifies each
different version. This process is known as mangling. The c++filt [1]
program does the inverse mapping: it decodes (demangles) low-level
names into user-level names so that they can be read.
Every alphanumeric word (consisting of letters, digits, underscores,
dollars, or periods) seen in the input is a potential mangled name. If
the name decodes into a C++ name, the C++ name replaces the low-level
name in the output, otherwise the original word is output. In this way
you can pass an entire assembler source file, containing mangled names,
through c++filt and see the same source file containing demangled
names.
You can also use c++filt to decipher individual symbols by passing them
on the command line:
c++filt <symbol>
If no symbol arguments are given, c++filt reads symbol names from the
standard input instead. All the results are printed on the standard
output. The difference between reading names from the command line
versus reading names from the standard input is that command line
arguments are expected to be just mangled names and no checking is
performed to seperate them from surrounding text. Thus for example:
c++filt -n _Z1fv
will work and demangle the name to "f()" whereas:
c++filt -n _Z1fv,
will not work. (Note the extra comma at the end of the mangled name
which makes it invalid). This command however will work:
echo _Z1fv, | c++filt -n
and will display "f()," ie the demangled name followed by a trailing
comma. This behaviour is because when the names are read from the
standard input it is expected that they might be part of an assembler
source file where there might be extra, extraneous characters trailing
after a mangled name. eg:
.type _Z1fv, @function
OPTIONS
-_
--strip-underscores
On some systems, both the C and C++ compilers put an underscore in
front of every name. For example, the C name "foo" gets the low-
level name "_foo". This option removes the initial underscore.
Whether c++filt removes the underscore by default is target
dependent.
-j
--java
Prints demangled names using Java syntax. The default is to use
C++ syntax.
-n
--no-strip-underscores
Do not remove the initial underscore.
-p
--no-params
When demangling the name of a function, do not display the types of
the function's parameters.
-t
--types
Attempt to demangle types as well as function names. This is
disabled by default since mangled types are normally only used
internally in the compiler, and they can be confused with non-
mangled names. eg a function called "a" treated as a mangled type
name would be demangled to "signed char".
-i
--no-verbose
Do not include implementation details (if any) in the demangled
output.
-s format
--format=format
c++filt can decode various methods of mangling, used by different
compilers. The argument to this option selects which method it
uses:
"auto"
Automatic selection based on executable (the default method)
"gnu"
the one used by the GNU C++ compiler (g++)
"lucid"
the one used by the Lucid compiler (lcc)
"arm"
the one specified by the C++ Annotated Reference Manual
"hp"
the one used by the HP compiler (aCC)
"edg"
the one used by the EDG compiler
"gnu-v3"
the one used by the GNU C++ compiler (g++) with the V3 ABI.
"java"
the one used by the GNU Java compiler (gcj)
"gnat"
the one used by the GNU Ada compiler (GNAT).
--help
Print a summary of the options to c++filt and exit.
--version
Print the version number of c++filt and exit.
@file
Read command-line options from file. The options read are inserted
in place of the original @file option. If file does not exist, or
cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not
removed.
Options in file are separated by whitespace. A whitespace
character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
option in either single or double quotes. Any character (including
a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
included with a backslash. The file may itself contain additional
@file options; any such options will be processed recursively.
FOOTNOTES
1. MS-DOS does not allow "+" characters in file names, so on MS-DOS
this program is named CXXFILT.
SEE ALSO
the Info entries for binutils.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".
binutils-2.17 2006-06-23 C++FILT(1)