1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993 2.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. 3.\" 4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 6.\" are met: 7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 8.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 10.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 11.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 12.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors 13.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software 14.\" without specific prior written permission. 15.\" 16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND 17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE 18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE 19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE 20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS 22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) 23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT 24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY 25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF 26.\" SUCH DAMAGE. 27.\" 28.Dd May 20, 2026 29.Dt NLIST 3 30.Os 31.Sh NAME 32.Nm nlist 33.Nd retrieve symbol table name list from an executable file 34.Sh LIBRARY 35.Lb libc 36.Sh SYNOPSIS 37.In nlist.h 38.Ft int 39.Fn nlist "const char *filename" "struct nlist *nl" 40.Sh DESCRIPTION 41The 42.Fn nlist 43function 44retrieves name list entries from 45.Xr elf 5 46sections with type 47.Dv SHT_DYNSYM 48or 49.Dv SHT_SYMTAB 50in an ELF object (for example, an executable file or shared library). 51This function is provided for compatibility with legacy applications. 52Its use is discouraged. 53.Pp 54The argument 55.Fa \&nl 56is set to reference the 57beginning of the list. 58The list is preened of binary and invalid data; 59if an entry in the 60name list is valid, the 61.Fa n_type 62and 63.Fa n_value 64for the entry are copied into the list 65referenced by 66.Fa \&nl . 67No other data is copied. 68The last entry in the list is always 69.Dv NULL . 70.Sh RETURN VALUES 71The number of invalid entries is returned if successful; otherwise, 72if the file 73.Fa filename 74does not exist or is not executable, the returned value is \-1. 75.Sh SEE ALSO 76.Xr elf 5 , 77.Xr stab 5 78.Sh HISTORY 79A 80.Fn nlist 81function appeared in 82.At v6 . 83