.TH ELF_GETSHDRSTRNDX 3 2025-06-30 "Libelf" "Libelf Programmer's Manual"

.SH NAME
elf_getshdrstrndx, elf_getshstrndx \- retrieve the section header string table index
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
#include <libelf.h>

.B int elf_getshdrstrndx("Elf *elf", "size_t *dst");
.B int elf_getshstrndx("Elf *elf", "size_t *dst"); (deprecated)
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.BR elf_getshdrstrndx ()
function retrieves the section header string table index from the ELF descriptor
.IR elf ,
and stores it in the location pointed to by
.IR dst .

A section's name can be aquired with
.BR elf_strptr (3).
This function takes the section header string table index from
.BR elf_getshdrstrndx ()
as well as the
.I sh_name
field from the section's
.I Elf32_Shdr
or
.I Elf64_Shdr
(see
.B elf32_getshdr
and
.BR elf64_getshdr ).

This function handles both standard ELF values and extended section indexing.
In the latter case, if the section header string table index field of the ELF
header contains
.B SHN_XINDEX,
then the true index is stored in the
.B sh_link
field of section 0.

The function
.BR elf_getshstrndx ()
is a deprecated alias for
.BR elf_getshdrstrndx ()
and should not be used in new code (see HISTORY).

.SH PARAMETERS
.TP
.I elf
A pointer to an
.B Elf
descriptor.  The descriptor must have kind
.B ELF_K_ELF .
If
.I elf
is NULL, then this function returns \-1 without setting elf_errno

.TP
.I dst
A pointer to a
.B size_t
location where the index of the section header string table will be stored.
Must not be NULL.

.SH RETURN VALUE
Returns 0 on success and stores the section header string table index in
.IR dst .
Returns \-1 on failure and sets elf_errno (if
.I elf
is not NULL).

.SH SEE ALSO
.BR elf32_getshdr (3),
.BR elf64_getshdr (3),
.BR elf_strptr (3),
.BR libelf (3),
.BR elf (5)

.SH ATTRIBUTES
.TS
allbox;
lbx lb lb
l l l.
Interface	Attribute	Value
T{
.na
.nh
.BR elf_getshdrstrndx (),\~elf_getshstrndx ()
T}	Thread safety	MT-Safe
.TE

.SH REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <elfutils-devel@sourceware.org> or https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/.

.SH HISTORY
.B elf_getshdrstrndx
first appeared in elfutils 0.142.  This function was added due to elf_getshstrndx
return value inconsistencies between different libelf implementations.
.B elf_getshdrstrndx
was introduced to ensure that 0 is returned on success.