path: root/lib/stdlib/doc/src/beam_lib.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE erlref SYSTEM "erlref.dtd">

<erlref>
  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>2000</year><year>2016</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
      you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
      You may obtain a copy of the License at
 
          http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

      Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
      distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
      See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
      limitations under the License.

    </legalnotice>

    <title>beam_lib</title>
    <prepared>Hans Bolinder</prepared>
    <docno></docno>
    <date>1999-10-30</date>
    <rev>PA1</rev>
  </header>
  <module>beam_lib</module>
  <modulesummary>An interface to the BEAM file format.</modulesummary>
  <description>
    <p>This module provides an interface to files created by
      the BEAM Compiler ("BEAM files"). The format used, a variant of
      "EA IFF 1985" Standard for Interchange Format Files, divides data
      into chunks.</p>

    <p>Chunk data can be returned as binaries or as compound terms.
      Compound terms are returned when chunks are referenced by names
      (atoms) rather than identifiers (strings). The recognized names
      and the corresponding identifiers are as follows:</p>

    <list type="bulleted">
      <item><c>atoms ("Atom")</c></item>
      <item><c>attributes ("Attr")</c></item>
      <item><c>compile_info ("CInf")</c></item>
      <item><c>debug_info ("Dbgi")</c></item>
      <item><c>exports ("ExpT")</c></item>
      <item><c>imports ("ImpT")</c></item>
      <item><c>indexed_imports ("ImpT")</c></item>
      <item><c>labeled_exports ("ExpT")</c></item>
      <item><c>labeled_locals ("LocT")</c></item>
      <item><c>locals ("LocT")</c></item>
    </list>
  </description>

  <section>
    <marker id="debug_info"></marker>
    <title>Debug Information/Abstract Code</title>
    <p>Option <c>debug_info</c> can be specified to the Compiler (see
      <seealso marker="compiler:compile#debug_info"><c>compile(3)</c></seealso>)
      to have debug information, such as <seealso marker="erts:absform">Erlang
      Abstract Format</seealso>, stored in the <c>debug_info</c> chunk.
      Tools such as Debugger and Xref require the debug information to
      be included.</p>

    <warning>
      <p>Source code can be reconstructed from the debug information.
        To prevent this, use encrypted debug information (see below).</p>
    </warning>

    <p>The debug information can also be removed from BEAM files
      using <seealso marker="#strip/1"><c>strip/1</c></seealso>,
      <seealso marker="#strip_files/1"><c>strip_files/1</c></seealso>, and/or
      <seealso marker="#strip_release/1"><c>strip_release/1</c></seealso>.</p>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Reconstruct Source Code</title>
    <p>The following example shows how to reconstruct Erlang source code from
      the debug information in a BEAM file <c>Beam</c>:</p>

    <code type="none">
{ok,{_,[{abstract_code,{_,AC}}]}} = beam_lib:chunks(Beam,[abstract_code]).
io:fwrite("~s~n", [erl_prettypr:format(erl_syntax:form_list(AC))]).</code>
    </section>

  <section>
    <title>Encrypted Debug Information</title>
    <p>The debug information can be encrypted to keep
      the source code secret, but still be able to use tools such as
      Debugger or Xref.</p>

    <p>To use encrypted debug information, a key must be provided to
      the compiler and <c>beam_lib</c>. The key is specified as a string.
      It is recommended that the string contains at least 32 characters and
      that both upper and lower case letters as well as digits and
      special characters are used.</p>

    <p>The default type (and currently the only type) of crypto
      algorithm is <c>des3_cbc</c>, three rounds of DES. The key string
      is scrambled using
      <seealso marker="erts:erlang#md5/1"><c>erlang:md5/1</c></seealso>
      to generate the keys used for <c>des3_cbc</c>.</p>

    <note>
      <p>As far as we know by the time of writing, it is
        infeasible to break <c>des3_cbc</c> encryption without any
        knowledge of the key. Therefore, as long as the key is kept
        safe and is unguessable, the encrypted debug information
        <em>should</em> be safe from intruders.</p>
    </note>

    <p>The key can be provided in the following two ways:</p>

    <list type="ordered">
      <item>
        <p>Use Compiler option <c>{debug_info_key,Key}</c>, see
          <seealso marker="compiler:compile#debug_info_key"><c>compile(3)</c></seealso>
          and function
          <seealso marker="#crypto_key_fun/1"><c>crypto_key_fun/1</c></seealso>
          to register a fun that returns the key whenever
          <c>beam_lib</c> must decrypt the debug information.</p>
        <p>If no such fun is registered, <c>beam_lib</c> instead
          searches for an <c>.erlang.crypt</c> file, see the next section.</p>
      </item>
      <item>
        <p>Store the key in a text file named <c>.erlang.crypt</c>.</p>
        <p>In this case, Compiler option <c>encrypt_debug_info</c>
          can be used, see
          <seealso marker="compiler:compile#encrypt_debug_info"><c>compile(3)</c></seealso>.
        </p>
      </item>
    </list>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>.erlang.crypt</title>
    <p><c>beam_lib</c> searches for <c>.erlang.crypt</c> in the current
      directory and then the home directory for the current user. If
      the file is found and contains a key, <c>beam_lib</c>
      implicitly creates a crypto key fun and registers it.</p>

    <p>File <c>.erlang.crypt</c> is to contain a single list of tuples:</p>

    <code type="none">
{debug_info, Mode, Module, Key}</code>

    <p><c>Mode</c> is the type of crypto algorithm; currently, the only
      allowed value is <c>des3_cbc</c>. <c>Module</c> is either an
      atom, in which case <c>Key</c> is only used for the module
      <c>Module</c>, or <c>[]</c>, in which case <c>Key</c> is
      used for all modules. <c>Key</c> is the non-empty key string.</p>

    <p><c>Key</c> in the first tuple where both <c>Mode</c> and
      <c>Module</c> match is used.</p>

    <p>The following is an example of an <c>.erlang.crypt</c> file that returns
      the same key for all modules:</p>

    <code type="none"><![CDATA[
[{debug_info, des3_cbc, [], "%>7}|pc/DM6Cga*68$Mw]L#&_Gejr]G^"}].]]></code>

    <p>The following is a slightly more complicated example of an
      <c>.erlang.crypt</c> providing one key for module
      <c>t</c> and another key for all other modules:</p>

    <code type="none"><![CDATA[
[{debug_info, des3_cbc, t, "My KEY"},
 {debug_info, des3_cbc, [], "%>7}|pc/DM6Cga*68$Mw]L#&_Gejr]G^"}].]]></code>

    <note>
      <p>Do not use any of the keys in these examples. Use your own keys.</p>
    </note>
  </section>

  <datatypes>
    <datatype>
      <name name="beam"/>
      <desc>
        <p>Each of the functions described below accept either the
          module name, the filename, or a binary containing the BEAM
          module.</p>
      </desc>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="chunkdata"/>
      <desc>
        <p>The list of attributes is sorted on <c>Attribute</c>
          (in <c>attrib_entry()</c>) and each
          attribute name occurs once in the list. The attribute values
          occur in the same order as in the file. The lists of functions
          are also sorted.</p>
      </desc>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="chunkid"/>
      <desc>
        <p>"Attr" | "CInf" | "Dbgi" | "ExpT" | "ImpT" | "LocT" | "AtU8"</p>
      </desc>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="dataB"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="debug_info"/>
      <desc>
        <p>The format stored in the <c>debug_info</c> chunk.
          To retrieve particular code representation from the backend,
          <c>Backend:debug_info(Format, Module, Data, Opts)</c> must be
          invoked. <c>Format</c> is an atom, such as <c>erlang_v1</c> for
          the Erlang Abstract Format or <c>core_v1</c> for Core Erlang.
          <c>Module</c> is the module represented by the beam file and
          <c>Data</c> is the value stored in the debug info chunk.
          <c>Opts</c> is any list of values supported by the <c>Backend</c>.
          <c>Backend:debug_info/4</c> must return <c>{ok, Code}</c> or
          <c>{error, Term}</c>.</p>

        <p>Developers must always invoke the <c>debug_info/4</c> function
          and never rely on the <c>Data</c> stored in the <c>debug_info</c>
          chunk, as it is opaque and may change at any moment. <c>no_debug_info</c>
          means that chunk <c>"Dbgi"</c> is present, but empty.</p>
      </desc>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="abst_code"/>
      <desc>
        <p>It is not checked that the forms conform to the abstract format
          indicated by <c><anno>AbstVersion</anno></c>. <c>no_abstract_code</c>
          means that chunk <c>"Abst"</c> is present, but empty.</p>
        <p>For modules compiled with OTP 20 onwards, the <c>abst_code</c> chunk
          is automatically computed from the <c>debug_info</c> chunk.</p>
      </desc>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="forms"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="compinfo_entry"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="attrib_entry"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="labeled_entry"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="index"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="label"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="chunkref"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="chunkname"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="chnk_rsn"/>
    </datatype>
    <datatype>
      <name name="info_rsn"/>
    </datatype>
  </datatypes>

  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name name="all_chunks" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Read all chunks from a BEAM file or binary</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Reads chunk data for all chunks.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="build_module" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Create a BEAM module from a list of chunks.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Builds a BEAM module (as a binary) from a list of chunks.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="chunks" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Read selected chunks from a BEAM file or binary.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Reads chunk data for selected chunks references. The order of
          the returned list of chunk data is determined by the order
          of the list of chunks references.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="chunks" arity="3"/>
      <fsummary>Read selected chunks from a BEAM file or binary.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Reads chunk data for selected chunks references. The order of
          the returned list of chunk data is determined by the order
          of the list of chunks references.</p>
        <p>By default, if any requested chunk is missing in
          <c><anno>Beam</anno></c>, an <c>error</c> tuple is returned.
          However, if option <c>allow_missing_chunks</c> is specified,
          a result is returned even if chunks are missing.
          In the result list, any missing chunks are represented as
          <c>{<anno>ChunkRef</anno>,missing_chunk}</c>.
          Notice however that if chunk <c>"Atom"</c> is missing, that is
          considered a fatal error and the return value is an <c>error</c>
          tuple.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="clear_crypto_key_fun" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Unregister the current crypto key fun.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Unregisters the crypto key fun and terminates the process
          holding it, started by
          <seealso marker="#crypto_key_fun/1"><c>crypto_key_fun/1</c></seealso>.
        </p>
        <p>Returns either <c>{ok, undefined}</c> if no crypto key fun is
          registered, or <c>{ok, Term}</c>, where <c>Term</c> is
          the return value from <c>CryptoKeyFun(clear)</c>, see
          <c>crypto_key_fun/1</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="cmp" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Compare two BEAM files.</fsummary>
      <type name="cmp_rsn"/>
      <desc>
        <p>Compares the contents of two BEAM files. If the module names
          are the same, and all chunks except for chunk <c>"CInf"</c>
          (the chunk containing the compilation information that is
          returned by <c>Module:module_info(compile)</c>)
          have the same contents in both files,
          <c>ok</c> is returned. Otherwise an error message is returned.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="cmp_dirs" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Compare the BEAM files in two directories.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Compares the BEAM files in
          two directories. Only files with extension <c>".beam"</c> are
          compared. BEAM files that exist only in directory
          <c><anno>Dir1</anno></c> (<c><anno>Dir2</anno></c>) are returned in
          <c><anno>Only1</anno></c> (<c><anno>Only2</anno></c>).
          BEAM files that exist in both directories but
          are considered different by <c>cmp/2</c> are returned as
          pairs {<c><anno>Filename1</anno></c>, <c><anno>Filename2</anno></c>},
          where <c><anno>Filename1</anno></c> (<c><anno>Filename2</anno></c>)
          exists in directory <c><anno>Dir1</anno></c>
          (<c><anno>Dir2</anno></c>).</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="crypto_key_fun" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Register a fun that provides a crypto key.</fsummary>
      <type name="crypto_fun"/>
      <type name="crypto_fun_arg"/>
      <type name="mode"/>
      <desc>
        <p>Registers an unary fun
          that is called if <c>beam_lib</c> must read an
          <c>debug_info</c> chunk that has been encrypted. The fun
          is held in a process that is started by the function.</p>
        <p>If a fun is already registered when attempting to
          register a fun, <c>{error, exists}</c> is returned.</p>
        <p>The fun must handle the following arguments:</p>
        <code type="none">
CryptoKeyFun(init) -> ok | {ok, NewCryptoKeyFun} | {error, Term}</code>
        <p>Called when the fun is registered, in the process that holds
          the fun. Here the crypto key fun can do any necessary
          initializations. If <c>{ok, NewCryptoKeyFun}</c> is returned,
          <c>NewCryptoKeyFun</c> is registered instead of
          <c>CryptoKeyFun</c>. If <c>{error, Term}</c> is returned,
          the registration is aborted and <c>crypto_key_fun/1</c>
          also returns <c>{error, Term}</c>.</p>
        <code type="none">
CryptoKeyFun({debug_info, Mode, Module, Filename}) -> Key</code>
        <p>Called when the key is needed for module <c>Module</c>
          in the file named <c>Filename</c>. <c>Mode</c> is the type of
          crypto algorithm; currently, the only possible value is
          <c>des3_cbc</c>. The call is to fail (raise an exception) if
          no key is available.</p>
        <code type="none">
CryptoKeyFun(clear) -> term()</code>
        <p>Called before the fun is unregistered. Here any cleaning up
          can be done. The return value is not important, but is passed
          back to the caller of <c>clear_crypto_key_fun/0</c> as part
          of its return value.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="diff_dirs" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Compare the BEAM files in two directories.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Compares the BEAM files in two directories as
          <seealso marker="#cmp_dirs/2"><c>cmp_dirs/2</c></seealso>, but the
          names of files that exist in only one directory or are different are
          presented on standard output.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="format_error" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Return an English description of a BEAM read error reply.
      </fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>For a specified error returned by any function in this module,
          this function returns a descriptive string
          of the error in English. For file errors, function
          <seealso marker="kernel:file#format_error/1"><c>file:format_error(Posix)</c></seealso>
          is to be called.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="info" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Information about a BEAM file.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Returns a list containing some information about a BEAM file
          as tuples <c>{Item, Info}</c>:</p>
        <taglist>
          <tag><c>{file, <anno>Filename</anno>} | {binary,
            <anno>Binary</anno>}</c></tag>
          <item>
            <p>The name (string) of the BEAM file, or the binary from
              which the information was extracted.</p>
          </item>
          <tag><c>{module, <anno>Module</anno>}</c></tag>
          <item>
            <p>The name (atom) of the module.</p>
          </item>
          <tag><c>{chunks, [{<anno>ChunkId</anno>, <anno>Pos</anno>,
            <anno>Size</anno>}]}</c></tag>
          <item>
            <p>For each chunk, the identifier (string) and the position
              and size of the chunk data, in bytes.</p>
          </item>
        </taglist>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="md5" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Read the module version of the BEAM file.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Calculates an MD5 redundancy check for the code of the module
          (compilation date and other attributes are not included).</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="strip" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Remove chunks not needed by the loader from a BEAM file.
      </fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Removes all chunks from a BEAM
          file except those needed by the loader. In particular,
          the debug information (chunk <c>debug_info</c> and <c>abstract_code</c>)
          is removed.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="strip_files" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Removes chunks not needed by the loader from BEAM files.
      </fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Removes all chunks except
          those needed by the loader from BEAM files. In particular,
          the debug information (chunk <c>debug_info</c> and <c>abstract_code</c>)
          is removed. The returned list contains one element for each
          specified filename, in the same order as in <c>Files</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="strip_release" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Remove chunks not needed by the loader from all BEAM files of
        a release.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Removes all chunks
          except those needed by the loader from the BEAM files of a
          release. <c><anno>Dir</anno></c> is to be the installation root
          directory. For example, the current OTP release can be
          stripped with the call
          <c>beam_lib:strip_release(code:root_dir())</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="version" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Read the module version of the BEAM file.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Returns the module version or versions. A version is defined by
          module attribute <c>-vsn(Vsn)</c>. If this attribute is
          not specified, the version defaults to the checksum of
          the module. Notice that if version <c>Vsn</c> is not a list,
          it is made into one, that is <c>{ok,{Module,[Vsn]}}</c> is
          returned. If there are many <c>-vsn</c> module attributes,
          the result is the concatenated list of versions.</p>
        <p><em>Examples:</em></p>
        <pre>
1> <input>beam_lib:version(a).</input> % -vsn(1).
{ok,{a,[1]}}
2> <input>beam_lib:version(b).</input> % -vsn([1]).
{ok,{b,[1]}}
3> <input>beam_lib:version(c).</input> % -vsn([1]). -vsn(2).
{ok,{c,[1,2]}}
4> <input>beam_lib:version(d).</input> % no -vsn attribute
{ok,{d,[275613208176997377698094100858909383631]}}</pre>
      </desc>
    </func>
  </funcs>
</erlref>