FIX: Link /SECTION Option Does Not Check for Name Errors

• The Linker (LINK.EXE) included with: - Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition, versions 1.0, 2.0

SYMPTOMS

The /SECTION option for the linker does not check:

• The name specified to determine the existance of that section.
• The case of the name even though the documentation for the /SECTION option states that the name is case sensitive.
• The attributes following the section name for errors.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Visual C++ version 4.0.

REFERENCES

The following information is taken from Visual C++ version 2.0 Books Online, Appendix B regarding the /SECTION linker option:

   /SECTION:name,attributes

   This option changes the attributes of a section, overriding the
   attributes set when the object file for the section was compiled.

   Specify a colon (:) and a section name. The name is case sensitive.

   Specify one or more attributes for the section. The attribute
   characters are E, R, W, and S and are not case sensitive. You must
   specify all attributes that you want the section to have; an omitted
   attribute character causes that attribute bit to be turned off.
   Attribute characters have the following meanings:

   Character       Attribute       Meaning
   E               execute         Allows code to be executed
   R               read            Allows read operations on data
   W               write           Allows write operations on data
   S               shared          Shares the section among all
                                   processes that load the image

NOTE: Under Win32s, the DLL data sections are loaded as "shared" even if that attribute is not set, because Windows has this requirement.