.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"     @(#)nlist.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 06/04/93
.\"
.Dd 
.Dt NLIST 3
.Os BSD 4
.Sh NAME
.Nm nlist
.Nd retrieve symbol table name list from an executable file
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <nlist.h>
.Ft int
.Fn nlist "const char *filename" "struct nlist *nl"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn nlist
function
retrieves name list entries from the symbol table of an
exectutable file. (See
.Xr a.out 5 . )
The argument
.Fa \&nl
is set to reference the
beginning of the list.
The list is preened of binary and invalid data;
if an entry in the
name list is valid, the
.Fa n_type
and
.Fa n_value
for the entry are copied into the list
referenced by
.Fa \&nl .
No other data is copied.
The last entry in the list is always
.Dv NULL .
.Sh RETURN VALUES
The number of invalid entries is returned if successful; otherwise,
if the file
.Fa filename
does not exist or is not exectuable, the returned value is \-1.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr a.out 5
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Fn nlist
function appeared in
.At v6 .