IMAGE_FILE_HEADER structure

Represents the COFF header format.

Syntax

typedef struct _IMAGE_FILE_HEADER {
  WORD  Machine;
  WORD  NumberOfSections;
  DWORD TimeDateStamp;
  DWORD PointerToSymbolTable;
  DWORD NumberOfSymbols;
  WORD  SizeOfOptionalHeader;
  WORD  Characteristics;
} IMAGE_FILE_HEADER, *PIMAGE_FILE_HEADER;

Members

Machine

The architecture type of the computer. An image file can only be run on the specified computer or a system that emulates the specified computer. This member can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_I386 0x014c	x86
IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_IA64 0x0200	Intel Itanium
IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_AMD64 0x8664	x64

 

NumberOfSections

The number of sections. This indicates the size of the section table, which immediately follows the headers. Note that the Windows loader limits the number of sections to 96.

TimeDateStamp

The low 32 bits of the time stamp of the image. This represents the date and time the image was created by the linker. The value is represented in the number of seconds elapsed since midnight (00:00:00), January 1, 1970, Universal Coordinated Time, according to the system clock.

PointerToSymbolTable

The offset of the symbol table, in bytes, or zero if no COFF symbol table exists.

NumberOfSymbols

The number of symbols in the symbol table.

SizeOfOptionalHeader

The size of the optional header, in bytes. This value should be 0 for object files.

Characteristics

The characteristics of the image. This member can be one or more of the following values.

Value	Meaning
IMAGE_FILE_RELOCS_STRIPPED 0x0001	Relocation information was stripped from the file. The file must be loaded at its preferred base address. If the base address is not available, the loader reports an error.
IMAGE_FILE_EXECUTABLE_IMAGE 0x0002	The file is executable (there are no unresolved external references).
IMAGE_FILE_LINE_NUMS_STRIPPED 0x0004	COFF line numbers were stripped from the file.
IMAGE_FILE_LOCAL_SYMS_STRIPPED 0x0008	COFF symbol table entries were stripped from file.
IMAGE_FILE_AGGRESIVE_WS_TRIM 0x0010	Aggressively trim the working set. This value is obsolete.
IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE 0x0020	The application can handle addresses larger than 2 GB.
IMAGE_FILE_BYTES_REVERSED_LO 0x0080	The bytes of the word are reversed. This flag is obsolete.
IMAGE_FILE_32BIT_MACHINE 0x0100	The computer supports 32-bit words.
IMAGE_FILE_DEBUG_STRIPPED 0x0200	Debugging information was removed and stored separately in another file.
IMAGE_FILE_REMOVABLE_RUN_FROM_SWAP 0x0400	If the image is on removable media, copy it to and run it from the swap file.
IMAGE_FILE_NET_RUN_FROM_SWAP 0x0800	If the image is on the network, copy it to and run it from the swap file.
IMAGE_FILE_SYSTEM 0x1000	The image is a system file.
IMAGE_FILE_DLL 0x2000	The image is a DLL file. While it is an executable file, it cannot be run directly.
IMAGE_FILE_UP_SYSTEM_ONLY 0x4000	The file should be run only on a uniprocessor computer.
IMAGE_FILE_BYTES_REVERSED_HI 0x8000	The bytes of the word are reversed. This flag is obsolete.

 

Requirements

See also

ImageHlp Structures

IMAGE_NT_HEADERS

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Build date: 10/26/2012