bss_seg pragma
Specifies the section (segment) where uninitialized variables are stored in the object (.obj) file.
Syntax
#pragma bss_seg([ "section-name" [,"section-class" ] ])
#pragma bss_seg({push|pop} [,identifier ] [,"section-name" [,"section-class" ] ])
Parameters
push
(Optional) Puts a record on the internal compiler stack. A push can have an identifier and section-name.
pop
(Optional) Removes a record from the top of the internal compiler stack. A pop can have an identifier and section-name. You can pop multiple records using just one pop command by using the identifier. The section-name becomes the active BSS section name after the pop.
identifier
(Optional) When used with push, assigns a name to the record on the internal compiler stack. When used with pop, the directive pops records off the internal stack until identifier is removed. If identifier isn't found on the internal stack, nothing is popped.
"section-name"
(Optional) The name of a section. When used with pop, the stack is popped and section-name becomes the active BSS section name.
"section-class"
(Optional) Ignored, but included for compatibility with versions of Microsoft C++ earlier than version 2.0.
Remarks
A section in an object file is a named block of data that's loaded into memory as a unit. A BSS section is a section that contains uninitialized data. In this article, the terms segment and section have the same meaning.
The bss_seg pragma directive tells the compiler to put all uninitialized data items from the translation unit into a BSS section named section-name. In some cases, use of bss_seg can speed load times by grouping uninitialized data into one section. By default, the BSS section used for uninitialized data in an object file is named .bss. A bss_seg pragma directive without a section-name parameter resets the BSS section name for the subsequent uninitialized data items to .bss.
Data allocated using the bss_seg pragma does not retain any information about its location.
For a list of names that shouldn't be used to create a section, see /SECTION.
You can also specify sections for initialized data (data_seg), functions (code_seg), and const variables (const_seg).
You can use the DUMPBIN.EXE application to view object files. Versions of DUMPBIN for each supported target architecture are included with Visual Studio.
Example
// pragma_directive_bss_seg.cpp
int i; // stored in .bss
#pragma bss_seg(".my_data1")
int j; // stored in .my_data1
#pragma bss_seg(push, stack1, ".my_data2")
int l; // stored in .my_data2
#pragma bss_seg(pop, stack1) // pop stack1 from stack
int m; // stored in .my_data1
int main() {
}