| .TH MACH 3 |
| .SH NAME |
| machbytype, machbyname \- machine-independent access to executables and programs |
| .SH SYNOPSIS |
| .B #include <u.h> |
| .br |
| .B #include <libc.h> |
| .br |
| .B #include <mach.h> |
| .PP |
| .PP |
| .B |
| void machbytype(int type) |
| .PP |
| .B |
| int machbyname(char *name) |
| .PP |
| .B |
| extern Mach *mach; |
| .SH DESCRIPTION |
| .I Libmach |
| provides an interface for accessing |
| the executable files and executing images of various architectures |
| and operating systems. |
| The interface is machine-independent, meaning that, for example, |
| Mac OS X core dumps may be inspected using an x86 Linux machine |
| and vice versa. |
| In its current form, |
| the library is mainly useful for writing debuggers |
| of one sort or another. |
| .PP |
| An architecture is described primarily by a |
| .B Mach |
| structure, which contains |
| data structures and parameters describing the |
| particular architecture. |
| Most library functions assume that the global variable |
| .I mach |
| points at the structure for the architecture being debugged. |
| It is set implicitly by |
| .I crackhdr |
| (see |
| .IR mach-file (3)) |
| and can be set explicitly by calling |
| .I machbyname |
| or |
| .IR machbytype . |
| .PP |
| There is no operating system-specific structure akin to |
| .IR mach . |
| Typically the choice of operating system on a particular |
| architecture affects only the executable and core dump formats; |
| the various file parsers deduce the operating system from |
| information in the binary files themselves and adjust |
| accordingly. |
| .PP |
| The supported architectures are |
| .B 386 |
| (Intel 32-bit x86) |
| 386 and later) |
| and |
| .B power |
| (IBM PowerPC, typically running |
| Mac OS X). |
| .PP |
| Other manual pages |
| describe the library functions in detail. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-cmd (3) |
| describes some convenience routines for attaching to |
| processes and core files. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-file (3) |
| describes the manipulation of binary files. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-map (3) |
| describes the interface to address spaces and register sets |
| in executable files and executing programs. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-stack (3) |
| describes support for unwinding the stack. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-swap (3) |
| describes helper functions for accessing data |
| in a particular byte order. |
| .PP |
| .IR Mach-symbol (3) |
| describes the interface to debugging symbol information. |
| .SH SOURCE |
| .B \*9/src/libmach |
| .SH "SEE ALSO |
| .IR mach-file (3), |
| .IR mach-map (3), |
| .IR mach-stack (3), |
| .IR mach-swap (3), |
| .IR mach-symbol (3) |
