SPRU514Z July   2001  – October 2023 SM320F28335-EP

 

  1.   1
  2.   Read This First
    1.     About This Manual
    2.     Notational Conventions
    3.     Related Documentation
    4.     Related Documentation From Texas Instruments
    5.     Trademarks
  3. 1 Introduction to the Software Development Tools
    1. 1.1 Software Development Tools Overview
    2. 1.2 Compiler Interface
    3. 1.3 ANSI/ISO Standard
    4. 1.4 Output Files
    5. 1.5 Utilities
  4. 2 Using the C/C++ Compiler
    1. 2.1  About the Compiler
    2. 2.2  Invoking the C/C++ Compiler
    3. 2.3  Changing the Compiler's Behavior with Options
      1. 2.3.1  Linker Options
      2. 2.3.2  Frequently Used Options
      3. 2.3.3  Miscellaneous Useful Options
      4. 2.3.4  Run-Time Model Options
      5. 2.3.5  Symbolic Debugging and Profiling Options
      6. 2.3.6  Specifying Filenames
      7. 2.3.7  Changing How the Compiler Interprets Filenames
      8. 2.3.8  Changing How the Compiler Processes C Files
      9. 2.3.9  Changing How the Compiler Interprets and Names Extensions
      10. 2.3.10 Specifying Directories
      11. 2.3.11 Assembler Options
      12. 2.3.12 Deprecated Options
    4. 2.4  Controlling the Compiler Through Environment Variables
      1. 2.4.1 Setting Default Compiler Options (C2000_C_OPTION)
      2. 2.4.2 Naming One or More Alternate Directories (C2000_C_DIR)
    5. 2.5  Controlling the Preprocessor
      1. 2.5.1  Predefined Macro Names
      2. 2.5.2  The Search Path for #include Files
        1. 2.5.2.1 Adding a Directory to the #include File Search Path (--include_path Option)
      3. 2.5.3  Support for the #warning and #warn Directives
      4. 2.5.4  Generating a Preprocessed Listing File (--preproc_only Option)
      5. 2.5.5  Continuing Compilation After Preprocessing (--preproc_with_compile Option)
      6. 2.5.6  Generating a Preprocessed Listing File with Comments (--preproc_with_comment Option)
      7. 2.5.7  Generating Preprocessed Listing with Line-Control Details (--preproc_with_line Option)
      8. 2.5.8  Generating Preprocessed Output for a Make Utility (--preproc_dependency Option)
      9. 2.5.9  Generating a List of Files Included with #include (--preproc_includes Option)
      10. 2.5.10 Generating a List of Macros in a File (--preproc_macros Option)
    6. 2.6  Passing Arguments to main()
    7. 2.7  Understanding Diagnostic Messages
      1. 2.7.1 Controlling Diagnostic Messages
      2. 2.7.2 How You Can Use Diagnostic Suppression Options
    8. 2.8  Other Messages
    9. 2.9  Generating Cross-Reference Listing Information (--gen_cross_reference_listing Option)
    10. 2.10 Generating a Raw Listing File (--gen_preprocessor_listing Option)
    11. 2.11 Using Inline Function Expansion
      1. 2.11.1 Inlining Intrinsic Operators
      2. 2.11.2 Inlining Restrictions
      3. 2.11.3 Unguarded Definition-Controlled Inlining
        1. 2.11.3.1 Using the Inline Keyword
      4. 2.11.4 Guarded Inlining and the _INLINE Preprocessor Symbol
        1. 2.11.4.1 Header File string.h
        2. 2.11.4.2 Library Definition File
    12. 2.12 Using Interlist
    13. 2.13 About the Application Binary Interface
    14. 2.14 Enabling Entry Hook and Exit Hook Functions
    15. 2.15 Live Firmware Update (LFU)
  5. 3 Optimizing Your Code
    1. 3.1  Invoking Optimization
    2. 3.2  Controlling Code Size Versus Speed
    3. 3.3  Performing File-Level Optimization (--opt_level=3 option)
      1. 3.3.1 Creating an Optimization Information File (--gen_opt_info Option)
    4. 3.4  Program-Level Optimization (--program_level_compile and --opt_level=3 options)
      1. 3.4.1 Controlling Program-Level Optimization (--call_assumptions Option)
      2. 3.4.2 Optimization Considerations When Mixing C/C++ and Assembly
    5. 3.5  Automatic Inline Expansion (--auto_inline Option)
    6. 3.6  Link-Time Optimization (--opt_level=4 Option)
      1. 3.6.1 Option Handling
      2. 3.6.2 Incompatible Types
    7. 3.7  Using Feedback Directed Optimization
      1. 3.7.1 Feedback Directed Optimization
        1. 3.7.1.1 Phase 1 -- Collect Program Profile Information
        2. 3.7.1.2 Phase 2 -- Use Application Profile Information for Optimization
        3. 3.7.1.3 Generating and Using Profile Information
        4. 3.7.1.4 Example Use of Feedback Directed Optimization
        5. 3.7.1.5 The .ppdata Section
        6. 3.7.1.6 Feedback Directed Optimization and Code Size Tune
        7. 3.7.1.7 Instrumented Program Execution Overhead
        8. 3.7.1.8 Invalid Profile Data
      2. 3.7.2 Profile Data Decoder
      3. 3.7.3 Feedback Directed Optimization API
      4. 3.7.4 Feedback Directed Optimization Summary
    8. 3.8  Using Profile Information to Analyze Code Coverage
      1. 3.8.1 Code Coverage
        1. 3.8.1.1 Phase1 -- Collect Program Profile Information
        2. 3.8.1.2 Phase 2 -- Generate Code Coverage Reports
      2. 3.8.2 Related Features and Capabilities
        1. 3.8.2.1 Path Profiler
        2. 3.8.2.2 Analysis Options
        3. 3.8.2.3 Environment Variables
    9. 3.9  Special Considerations When Using Optimization
      1. 3.9.1 Use Caution With asm Statements in Optimized Code
      2. 3.9.2 Use the Volatile Keyword for Necessary Memory Accesses
        1. 3.9.2.1 Use Caution When Accessing Aliased Variables
        2. 3.9.2.2 Use the --aliased_variables Option to Indicate That the Following Technique Is Used
        3. 3.9.2.3 On FPU Targets Only: Use restrict Keyword to Indicate That Pointers Are Not Aliased
          1. 3.9.2.3.1 Use of the restrict Type Qualifier With Pointers
          2. 3.9.2.3.2 Use of the restrict Type Qualifier With Pointers
    10. 3.10 Using the Interlist Feature With Optimization
    11. 3.11 Data Page (DP) Pointer Load Optimization
    12. 3.12 Debugging and Profiling Optimized Code
      1. 3.12.1 Profiling Optimized Code
    13. 3.13 Increasing Code-Size Optimizations (--opt_for_space Option)
    14. 3.14 Compiler Support for Re-Entrant VCU Code
    15. 3.15 Compiler Support for Generating DMAC Instructions
      1. 3.15.1 Automatic Generation of DMAC Instructions
      2. 3.15.2 Assertions to Specify Data Address Alignment
      3. 3.15.3 __dmac Intrinsic
    16. 3.16 What Kind of Optimization Is Being Performed?
      1. 3.16.1  Cost-Based Register Allocation
      2. 3.16.2  Alias Disambiguation
      3. 3.16.3  Branch Optimizations and Control-Flow Simplification
      4. 3.16.4  Data Flow Optimizations
      5. 3.16.5  Expression Simplification
      6. 3.16.6  Inline Expansion of Functions
      7. 3.16.7  Function Symbol Aliasing
      8. 3.16.8  Induction Variables and Strength Reduction
      9. 3.16.9  Loop-Invariant Code Motion
      10. 3.16.10 Loop Rotation
      11. 3.16.11 Instruction Scheduling
      12. 3.16.12 Register Variables
      13. 3.16.13 Register Tracking/Targeting
      14. 3.16.14 Tail Merging
      15. 3.16.15 Autoincrement Addressing
      16. 3.16.16 Removing Comparisons to Zero
      17. 3.16.17 RPTB Generation (for FPU Targets Only)
  6. 4 Linking C/C++ Code
    1. 4.1 Invoking the Linker Through the Compiler (-z Option)
      1. 4.1.1 Invoking the Linker Separately
      2. 4.1.2 Invoking the Linker as Part of the Compile Step
      3. 4.1.3 Disabling the Linker (--compile_only Compiler Option)
    2. 4.2 Linker Code Optimizations
      1. 4.2.1 Generating Function Subsections (--gen_func_subsections Compiler Option)
      2. 4.2.2 Generating Aggregate Data Subsections (--gen_data_subsections Compiler Option)
    3. 4.3 Controlling the Linking Process
      1. 4.3.1 Including the Run-Time-Support Library
        1. 4.3.1.1 Automatic Run-Time-Support Library Selection
          1. 4.3.1.1.1 Using the --issue_remarks Option
        2. 4.3.1.2 Manual Run-Time-Support Library Selection
        3. 4.3.1.3 Library Order for Searching for Symbols
      2. 4.3.2 Run-Time Initialization
      3. 4.3.3 Initialization by the Interrupt Vector
      4. 4.3.4 Global Object Constructors
      5. 4.3.5 Specifying the Type of Global Variable Initialization
      6. 4.3.6 Specifying Where to Allocate Sections in Memory
      7. 4.3.7 A Sample Linker Command File
    4. 4.4 Linking C28x and C2XLP Code
  7. 5 Post-Link Optimizer
    1. 5.1 The Post-Link Optimizer’s Role in the Software Development Flow
    2. 5.2 Removing Redundant DP Loads
    3. 5.3 Tracking DP Values Across Branches
    4. 5.4 Tracking DP Values Across Function Calls
    5. 5.5 Other Post-Link Optimizations
    6. 5.6 Controlling Post-Link Optimizations
      1. 5.6.1 Excluding Files (-ex Option)
      2. 5.6.2 Controlling Post-Link Optimization Within an Assembly File
      3. 5.6.3 Retaining Post-Link Optimizer Output (--keep_asm Option)
      4. 5.6.4 Disable Optimization Across Function Calls (-nf Option )
      5. 5.6.5 Annotating Assembly with Advice (--plink_advice_only option)
    7. 5.7 Restrictions on Using the Post-Link Optimizer
    8. 5.8 Naming the Outfile (--output_file Option)
  8. 6 C/C++ Language Implementation
    1. 6.1  Characteristics of TMS320C28x C
      1. 6.1.1 Implementation-Defined Behavior
    2. 6.2  Characteristics of TMS320C28x C++
    3. 6.3  Data Types
      1. 6.3.1 Size of Enum Types
      2. 6.3.2 Support for 64-Bit Integers
      3. 6.3.3 C28x double and long double Floating-Point Types
    4. 6.4  File Encodings and Character Sets
    5. 6.5  Keywords
      1. 6.5.1 The const Keyword
      2. 6.5.2 The __cregister Keyword
      3. 6.5.3 The __interrupt Keyword
      4. 6.5.4 The restrict Keyword
      5. 6.5.5 The volatile Keyword
    6. 6.6  C++ Exception Handling
    7. 6.7  Register Variables and Parameters
    8. 6.8  The __asm Statement
    9. 6.9  Pragma Directives
      1. 6.9.1  The CALLS Pragma
      2. 6.9.2  The CLINK Pragma
      3. 6.9.3  The CODE_ALIGN Pragma
      4. 6.9.4  The CODE_SECTION Pragma
      5. 6.9.5  The DATA_ALIGN Pragma
      6. 6.9.6  The DATA_SECTION Pragma
        1. 6.9.6.1 Using the DATA_SECTION Pragma C Source File
        2. 6.9.6.2 Using the DATA_SECTION Pragma C++ Source File
        3. 6.9.6.3 Using the DATA_SECTION Pragma Assembly Source File
      7. 6.9.7  The Diagnostic Message Pragmas
      8. 6.9.8  The FAST_FUNC_CALL Pragma
      9. 6.9.9  The FORCEINLINE Pragma
      10. 6.9.10 The FORCEINLINE_RECURSIVE Pragma
      11. 6.9.11 The FUNC_ALWAYS_INLINE Pragma
      12. 6.9.12 The FUNC_CANNOT_INLINE Pragma
      13. 6.9.13 The FUNC_EXT_CALLED Pragma
      14. 6.9.14 The FUNCTION_OPTIONS Pragma
      15. 6.9.15 The INTERRUPT Pragma
      16. 6.9.16 The LOCATION Pragma
      17. 6.9.17 The MUST_ITERATE Pragma
        1. 6.9.17.1 The MUST_ITERATE Pragma Syntax
        2. 6.9.17.2 Using MUST_ITERATE to Expand Compiler Knowledge of Loops
      18. 6.9.18 The NOINIT and PERSISTENT Pragmas
      19. 6.9.19 The NOINLINE Pragma
      20. 6.9.20 The NO_HOOKS Pragma
      21. 6.9.21 The once Pragma
      22. 6.9.22 The RETAIN Pragma
      23. 6.9.23 The SET_CODE_SECTION and SET_DATA_SECTION Pragmas
      24. 6.9.24 The UNROLL Pragma
      25. 6.9.25 The WEAK Pragma
    10. 6.10 The _Pragma Operator
    11. 6.11 Application Binary Interface
    12. 6.12 Object File Symbol Naming Conventions (Linknames)
    13. 6.13 Initializing Static and Global Variables in COFF ABI Mode
      1. 6.13.1 Initializing Static and Global Variables With the Linker
      2. 6.13.2 Initializing Static and Global Variables With the const Type Qualifier
    14. 6.14 Changing the ANSI/ISO C/C++ Language Mode
      1. 6.14.1 C99 Support (--c99)
      2. 6.14.2 C11 Support (--c11)
      3. 6.14.3 Strict ANSI Mode and Relaxed ANSI Mode (--strict_ansi and --relaxed_ansi)
    15. 6.15 GNU and Clang Language Extensions
      1. 6.15.1 Extensions
      2. 6.15.2 Function Attributes
      3. 6.15.3 For Loop Attributes
      4. 6.15.4 Variable Attributes
      5. 6.15.5 Type Attributes
      6. 6.15.6 Built-In Functions
      7. 6.15.7 Using the Byte Peripheral Type Attribute
    16. 6.16 Compiler Limits
  9. 7 Run-Time Environment
    1. 7.1  Memory Model
      1. 7.1.1 Sections
      2. 7.1.2 C/C++ System Stack
      3. 7.1.3 Allocating .econst to Program Memory
      4. 7.1.4 Dynamic Memory Allocation
      5. 7.1.5 Initialization of Variables
      6. 7.1.6 Allocating Memory for Static and Global Variables
      7. 7.1.7 Field/Structure Alignment
      8. 7.1.8 Character String Constants
    2. 7.2  Register Conventions
      1. 7.2.1 TMS320C28x Register Use and Preservation
      2. 7.2.2 Status Registers
    3. 7.3  Function Structure and Calling Conventions
      1. 7.3.1 How a Function Makes a Call
      2. 7.3.2 How a Called Function Responds
      3. 7.3.3 Special Case for a Called Function (Large Frames)
      4. 7.3.4 Accessing Arguments and Local Variables
      5. 7.3.5 Allocating the Frame and Accessing 32-Bit Values in Memory
    4. 7.4  Accessing Linker Symbols in C and C++
    5. 7.5  Interfacing C and C++ With Assembly Language
      1. 7.5.1 Using Assembly Language Modules With C/C++ Code
      2. 7.5.2 Accessing Assembly Language Functions From C/C++
        1. 7.5.2.1 Calling an Assembly Language Function From a C/C++ Program
        2. 7.5.2.2 Assembly Language Program Called by
        3.       261
      3. 7.5.3 Accessing Assembly Language Variables From C/C++
        1. 7.5.3.1 Accessing Assembly Language Global Variables
          1. 7.5.3.1.1 Assembly Language Variable Program
          2. 7.5.3.1.2 C Program to Access Assembly Language From
        2.       266
        3. 7.5.3.2 Accessing Assembly Language Constants
          1. 7.5.3.2.1 Accessing an Assembly Language Constant From C
          2. 7.5.3.2.2 Assembly Language Program for
          3.        270
      4. 7.5.4 Sharing C/C++ Header Files With Assembly Source
      5. 7.5.5 Using Inline Assembly Language
    6. 7.6  Using Intrinsics to Access Assembly Language Statements
      1. 7.6.1 Floating Point Conversion Intrinsics
      2. 7.6.2 Floating Point Unit (FPU) Intrinsics
      3. 7.6.3 Trigonometric Math Unit (TMU) Intrinsics
      4. 7.6.4 Fast Integer Division Intrinsics
    7. 7.7  Interrupt Handling
      1. 7.7.1 General Points About Interrupts
      2. 7.7.2 Using C/C++ Interrupt Routines
    8. 7.8  Integer Expression Analysis
      1. 7.8.1 Operations Evaluated With Run-Time-Support Calls
      2. 7.8.2 Division Operations with Fast Integer Division Support
      3. 7.8.3 C/C++ Code Access to the Upper 16 Bits of 16-Bit Multiply
    9. 7.9  Floating-Point Expression Analysis
    10. 7.10 System Initialization
      1. 7.10.1 Boot Hook Functions for System Pre-Initialization
      2. 7.10.2 Run-Time Stack
      3. 7.10.3 Automatic Initialization of Variables for COFF
        1. 7.10.3.1 Initialization Tables
        2.       291
        3. 7.10.3.2 Autoinitialization of Variables at Run Time for COFF
        4. 7.10.3.3 Initialization of Variables at Load Time for COFF
        5. 7.10.3.4 Global Constructors
      4. 7.10.4 Automatic Initialization of Variables for EABI
        1. 7.10.4.1 Zero Initializing Variables
        2. 7.10.4.2 Direct Initialization for EABI
        3. 7.10.4.3 Autoinitialization of Variables at Run Time for EABI
        4. 7.10.4.4 Autoinitialization Tables for EABI
          1. 7.10.4.4.1 Length Followed by Data Format
          2. 7.10.4.4.2 Zero Initialization Format
          3. 7.10.4.4.3 Run Length Encoded (RLE) Format
          4. 7.10.4.4.4 Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Szymanski Compression (LZSS) Format
        5. 7.10.4.5 Initialization of Variables at Load Time
        6. 7.10.4.6 Global Constructors
  10. 8 Using Run-Time-Support Functions and Building Libraries
    1. 8.1 C and C++ Run-Time Support Libraries
      1. 8.1.1 Linking Code With the Object Library
      2. 8.1.2 Header Files
      3. 8.1.3 Modifying a Library Function
      4. 8.1.4 Support for String Handling
      5. 8.1.5 Minimal Support for Internationalization
      6. 8.1.6 Support for Time and Clock Functions
      7. 8.1.7 Allowable Number of Open Files
      8. 8.1.8 Library Naming Conventions
    2. 8.2 The C I/O Functions
      1. 8.2.1 High-Level I/O Functions
        1. 8.2.1.1 Formatting and the Format Conversion Buffer
      2. 8.2.2 Overview of Low-Level I/O Implementation
        1.       open
        2.       close
        3.       read
        4.       write
        5.       lseek
        6.       unlink
        7.       rename
      3. 8.2.3 Device-Driver Level I/O Functions
        1.       DEV_open
        2.       DEV_close
        3.       DEV_read
        4.       DEV_write
        5.       DEV_lseek
        6.       DEV_unlink
        7.       DEV_rename
      4. 8.2.4 Adding a User-Defined Device Driver for C I/O
        1. 8.2.4.1 Mapping Default Streams to Device
      5. 8.2.5 The device Prefix
        1.       add_device
        2.       339
        3. 8.2.5.1 Program for C I/O Device
    3. 8.3 Handling Reentrancy (_register_lock() and _register_unlock() Functions)
    4. 8.4 Reinitializing Variables During a Warm Start
    5. 8.5 Library-Build Process
      1. 8.5.1 Required Non-Texas Instruments Software
      2. 8.5.2 Using the Library-Build Process
        1. 8.5.2.1 Automatic Standard Library Rebuilding by the Linker
        2. 8.5.2.2 Invoking mklib Manually
          1. 8.5.2.2.1 Building Standard Libraries
          2. 8.5.2.2.2 Shared or Read-Only Library Directory
          3. 8.5.2.2.3 Building Libraries With Custom Options
          4. 8.5.2.2.4 The mklib Program Option Summary
      3. 8.5.3 Extending mklib
        1. 8.5.3.1 Underlying Mechanism
        2. 8.5.3.2 Libraries From Other Vendors
  11. 9 C++ Name Demangler
    1. 9.1 Invoking the C++ Name Demangler
    2. 9.2 Sample Usage of the C++ Name Demangler
  12. 10CLA Compiler
    1. 10.1 How to Invoke the CLA Compiler
      1. 10.1.1 CLA-Specific Options
    2. 10.2 CLA C Language Implementation
      1. 10.2.1 Variables and Data Types
      2. 10.2.2 Pragmas, Keywords, and Intrinsics
      3. 10.2.3 Optimizations with the CLA Compiler
      4. 10.2.4 C Language Restrictions
      5. 10.2.5 Memory Model - Sections
      6. 10.2.6 Function Structure and Calling Conventions
  13.   A Glossary
    1.     369
  14.   B Revision History
  15.   B Earlier Revisions

6.15.4 Variable Attributes

The following variable attributes are supported:

  • aligned
  • blocked and noblocked
  • deprecated
  • location
  • mode
  • noinit (EABI only)
  • persistent (EABI only)
  • preserve
  • retain
  • section
  • transparent_union
  • unused
  • update
  • used
  • weak (EABI only)

The aligned attribute used on a variable has the same effect as the DATA_ALIGN pragma. See Section 6.9.5

The blocked and noblocked attributes can be used to control blocking on specific variables, including arrays and structs. See Section 3.11 for reasons to block or unblock variables. These attributes must be used on both the definition and declaration of the variable. It is recommend that these attributes be used in the header file where a variable is declared. For example:

__attribute__((blocked))
extern int my_array[];
__attribute__((noblocked))
extern struct_type my_struct;

The noblocked attribute can also be used to reference data defined in assembly or in a CLA translation unit that is not blocked.

The linker provides a diagnostic message if data access that treats a variable as blocked is attempted on non-blocked data.

The location attribute has the same effect as the LOCATION pragma. See Section 6.9.16. For example:

__attribute__((location(0x100))) extern struct PERIPH peripheral;

If the address specified with the location attribute is in the lower 16 bits of memory, more efficient instructions with fewer DP loads are used.

Alternately, syntax that specifies an address when dereferencing a literal can be used to allow the compiler to select more efficient instructions for handing addresses in the lower 16 bits of memory. For example, either of the following could be used:

#define peripheral (*((struct PERIPH)(0x100)))

struct EPWM_REGS volatile* const epwm1 = (struct EPWM_REGS *)(0x4000);

The noinit and persistent attributes (for EABI only) apply to the ROM initialization model and allow an application to avoid initializing certain global variables during a reset. The alternative RAM initialization model initializes variables only when the image is loaded; no variables are initialized during a reset. See the "RAM Model vs. ROM Model" section and its subsections in the TMS320C28x Assembly Language Tools User's Guide.

The noinit attribute can be used on uninitialized variables; it prevents those variables from being set to 0 during a reset. The persistent attribute can be used on initialized variables; it prevents those variables from being initialized during a reset. By default, variables marked noinit or persistent will be placed in sections named .TI.noinit and .TI.persistent , respectively. The location of these sections is controlled by the linker command file. Typically .TI.persistent sections are placed in FRAM for devices that support FRAM and .TI.noinit sections are placed in RAM. Also see Section 6.9.18.

The preserve and update attributes are used with the Live Firmware Update (LFU) capability, which supports the ability to perform a "warm start" to upgrade firmware without taking a system offline. Both attributes use the symbol address list obtained from the reference ELF image that was specified when the executable was compiled and linked. See Section 2.15 for more about LFU, which is supported for EABI only.

  • The preserve attribute causes a global or static variable to retain its address and value from prior to the warm start. The address of this symbol remains the same as the address in the reference ELF image. Each such symbol has a .TI.bound section. If the .TI.bound sections are contiguous in memory, the linker can coalesce them into a single output section, which reduces the number of CINIT records required to initialize them. The following examples use the preserve attribute:
    int __attribute__((preserve))        gvar_bss_preserve;
int __attribute__((preserve))        gvar_0 = 0x30;
static int __attribute__((preserve)) svar_0 = 0x50;
  • The update attribute causes a global or static variable to be re-initialized during a warm start. The address of such variables may change compared to the address in the reference ELF image. Such symbols are collected by the linker into a single .TI.update output section. This section defaults to copy compression (that is, no decompression is required during a warm start), which reduces the LFU image switchover time. The following examples use the update attribute:
    int __attribute__((update))        gvar_bss_update;
int __attribute__((update))        gvar_1 = 0x50;
static int __attribute__((update)) svar_1 = 0x70;

The retain attribute has the same effect as the RETAIN pragma (Section 6.9.22). That is, the section that contains the variable will not be omitted from conditionally linked output even if it is not referenced elsewhere in the application.

The section attribute when used on a variable has the same effect as the DATA_SECTION pragma. See Section 6.9.6

The used attribute is defined in GCC 4.2 (see http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-4.2.4/gcc/Variable-Attributes.html#Variable-Attributes).

The weak attribute has the same effect as the WEAK pragma (Section 6.9.25).