Filling Holes - Texas Instruments TMS320C54x User Manual

7.15.3 Filling Holes

Another way to create a hole in an output section is to combine an uninitialized
section with an initialized section to form a single output section. In this case,
the linker treats the uninitialized section as a hole and supplies data for it. The
following example illustrates this method:
SECTIONS
{
outsect:
{
file1.obj(.text)
file1.obj(.bss)
}
}
Because the .text section has raw data, all of outsect must also contain raw
data (rule 1). Therefore, the uninitialized .bss section becomes a hole.
Uninitialized sections become holes only when they are combined with
initialized sections. If several uninitialized sections are linked together, the
resulting output section is also uninitialized.
When a hole exists in an initialized output section, the linker must supply raw
data to fill it. The linker fills holes with a 16-bit fill value that is replicated through
Creating and Filling Holes
/* This becomes a hole */
Linker Description 7-63