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6.1.1 C/C++ Program Sections

The correspondence between memory areas and sections for C/C++ programs and the standard library is described in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1

Summary of Memory Area Types and Their Properties

No.

Name

Section

Format Type

Initial Value

Align-ment Number

Description

Name

Attribute

Write Operation

1

Program area

P *1*6

code

Relative

Yes

Not possible

1 byte *7

Stores machine code

2

Constant area

C_8 *1 *2 *6 *8 *10

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

8 bytes

Stores const type data

C *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

4 bytes

C_2 *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

2 bytes

C_1 *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

1 byte

3

Initialized data area

D_8 *1 *2 *6 *8 *10

romdata

Relative

Yes

Possible

8 bytes

Stores data with initial values

D *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Possible

4 bytes

D_2 *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Possible

2 bytes

D_1 *1*2*6*8

romdata

Relative

Yes

Possible

1 byte

4

Uninitialized data area

B_8 *1 *2 *6 *8 *10

data

Relative

No

Possible

8 bytes

Stores data without initial values

B *1*2*6*8

data

Relative

No

Possible

4 bytes

B_2 *1*2*6*8

data

Relative

No

Possible

2 bytes

B_1 *1*2*6*8

data

Relative

No

Possible

1 byte

5

switch statement branch table area

W *1*2

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not Possible

4 bytes

Stores branch tables for switch statements

W_2 *1*2

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not Possible

2 bytes

W_1 *1*2

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not Possible

1 byte

6

C++ initial processing/ postprocessing data area

C$INIT

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

4 bytes

Stores addresses of constructors and destructors called for global class objects

7

C++ virtual function table area

C$VTBL

romdata

Relative

Yes

Not possible

4 bytes

Stores data for calling the virtual function when a virtual function exists in the class declaration

8

User stack area

SU

data

Relative

No

Possible

4 bytes

Area necessary for program execution

9

Interrupt stack area

SI

data

Relative

No

Possible

4 bytes

Area necessary for program execution

10

Heap area

-

-

Relative

No

Possible

-

Area used by library functions malloc, realloc, calloc, and new *9

11

Absolute address variable area

$ADDR_

<section>_

<address>

*3

data

Absolute

Yes/No

Possible/

Not possible *4

-

Stores variables specified by #pragma address

12

Variable vector area

C$VECT

C$VECT<vector table number>

romdata

Relative

No

Possible

4 bytes

Variable vector table

13

Literal area

L *5

romdata

Relative

Yes

Possible/

Not possible

4 bytes

Stores string literals and initializers used for dynamic initialization of aggregates

Notes 1.

Section names can be switched using the section option.

Notes 2.

Specifying a section with a boundary alignment of 4 when switching the section names also changes the section name of sections with a boundary alignment of 1, 2, or 8.

Notes 3.

<section> is a C, D, or B section name, and <address> is an absolute address (hexadecimal).

Notes 4.

The initial value and write operation depend on the attribute of <section>.

Notes 5.

The section name can be changed by using the section option. In this case, the C section can be selected as the changed name.

Notes 6.

The section name can be changed through #pragma section.

Notes 7.

Specifying the instalign4 or instalign8 option, #pragma instalign4, or #pragma instalign8 changes the boundary alignment to 4 or 8.

Notes 8.

If an endian not matching the endian option has been specified in #pragma endian, a dedicated section is created to store the relevant data. At the end of the section name, _B is added for #pragma endian big, and _L is added for #pragma endian little.

Notes 9.

Using these functions requires the allocation of at least 16 bytes of memory as a heap area.

Notes 10.

This section is for storing double-precision floating-point data when the dpfpu option is specified.

 

Examples 1.

A program example is used to demonstrate the correspondence between a C program and the compiler-generated sections.

C program

int a=1;
char b;
const short c=0;
void main(){
 ...
}

 

Areas generated by the compiler and stored data

Section name

Program area (main(){...})
P
Constant area (c)
C_2
Initialized data area (a)
D
Uninitialized data area (b)
B_1

 

Examples 2.

A program example is used to demonstrate the correspondence between a C++ program and the compiler-generated sections.

C++ program

class A{
  int m;
  A(int p);
  ~A();
};
A a(1);
char b;
extern const char c='a';
short d=1;
void f(){...}

 

Areas generated by the compiler and stored data

Section name

Program area (f(){...})
P
Constant area (c)
C_1
Initialized data area (d)
D_2
Uninitialized data area (a)
Uninitialized data area (b)
B
B_1
Initial processing/ 
postprocessing data areas (&A::A, &A::~A)
C $INT