SPRUIG8J January 2018 – March 2024
A special symbol, denoted by a dot (.), represents the current value of the section program counter (SPC) during allocation. The SPC keeps track of the current location within a section. The . symbol can be used only in assignment statements within a SECTIONS directive because . is meaningful only during allocation and SECTIONS controls the allocation process. (See Section 12.5.5.)
The . symbol refers to the current run address, not the current load address, of the section.
A special type of assignment assigns a value to the . (dot) symbol. This adjusts the SPC within an output section and creates a hole between two input sections. Any value assigned to . to create a hole is relative to the beginning of the section, not to the address actually represented by the . symbol. Holes and assignments to . are described in Section 12.5.10.