Normally, the Arm^® compiler places the data it generates in sections like .data and .bss. However, you might require additional data sections or you might want a variable to appear in a special section, for example, to map to special hardware.

If you use the section attribute, read-only variables are placed in RO data sections, writable variables are placed in RW data sections.

To place ZI data in a named section, the section must start with the prefix .bss.. Non-ZI data cannot be placed in a section named .bss.

Example

/* in RO section */
const int descriptor[3] __attribute__((section ("descr"))) = { 1,2,3 };
/* in RW section */
long long rw_initialized[10] __attribute__((section ("INITIALIZED_RW"))) = {5};
/* in RW section */
long long rw[10] __attribute__((section ("RW")));
/* in ZI section */
int my_zi __attribute__((section (".bss.my_zi_section")));