10.5.5.10 Output Section Type

Each output section may have a type. The type is a keyword in parentheses. The following types are defined:

NOLOAD

The section should be marked as not loadable, so that it will not be loaded into memory when the program is run.

DSECT, COPY, INFO, OVERLAY

These type names are supported for backward compatibility, and are rarely used. They all have the same effect: the section should be marked as not allocatable, so that no memory is allocated for the section when the program is run.

The linker normally sets the attributes of an output section based on the input sections which map into it. This can be overridden by using the section type. For example, in the script sample below, the ROM section is addressed at memory location 0 and does not need to be loaded when the program is run. The contents of the ROM section will appear in the linker output file as usual.

SECTIONS {
 ROM 0 (NOLOAD) : { ... }
 ...
}