Common Object File Format
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The Common Object File Format (COFF) is a format for executable, object code, and shared library computer files used on Unix systems. It was introduced in Unix System V, replaced the previously used a.out format, and formed the basis for extended specifications such as XCOFF and ECOFF, before being largely replaced by ELF, introduced with SVR4. COFF and its variants continue to be used on some Unix-like systems, on Microsoft Windows (Portable Executable), in UEFI environments and in some embedded development systems.
Key facts
- File format.name
- COFF
- File format.extension
- none, , ,
- File format.magic
- for i386 for AMD64 for Itanium
- File format.owner
- AT&T Corporation
- File format.genre
- Binary, executable, object, shared libraries
- File format.extendedto
- XCOFF, ECOFF, Portable Executable, Executable and Linkable Format
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- Stack Exchange tag
- stackoverflow.com/tags/coff
- media type
- application/x-coffexec
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Article
9 sectionsContents
- History
- Features
- Symbolic debugging information
- Relative virtual address
- Problems
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Common Object File Format (COFF) is a format for executable, object code, and shared library computer files used on Unix systems. It was introduced in Unix System V, replaced the previously used a.out format, and formed the basis for extended specifications such as XCOFF and ECOFF, before being largely replaced by ELF, introduced with SVR4. COFF and its variants continue to be used on some Unix-like systems, on Microsoft Windows (Portable Executable), in UEFI environments and in some embedded development systems.
==History== The original Unix object file format a.out is unable to adequately support shared libraries, foreign format identification, or explicit address linkage. As development of Unix-like systems continued both inside and outside AT&T, different solutions to these and other issues emerged.