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Modifying .a files

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GMX

Programmer
Mar 21, 2003
33
US
Is there a way to decompile or edit a ".a" library?
 
> decompile
No.
There are some decompilers which work in a limited range of circumstances. But even in ideal conditions, what you get back is little better than shrouded source code. A compiler wouldn't mind, but it would be tough for a human to look at.

A program is like a cake recipe - you can no more decompile a program than you can unbake a cake.

> edit
Depends what you mean by edit.
The librarian program which created the library can usually add, replace, remove individual object files from the library.

Any binary capable editor will allow you to change strings inside the file (say "hello" to "world"), but recognising anything useful apart from strings will again be a lot of hard work.

--
 
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