Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!mcdchg!ddsw1!ddsw1!vpnet!hb
From: hb@vpnet.UUCP (hank barta)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: What is "__fltused" symbol?
Message-ID: <25da2b6b:900.1comp.unix.i386;1@vpnet.UUCP>
Date: 15 Feb 90 08:00:13 GMT
References: <204@ncrday.Dayton.NCR.COM>
Lines: 16

Could it mean "floating point used?" 

Some compilers generate these symbols to cause portions
of libraries to be loaded when they are otherwise not referenced.
For example, the compiler could use a floating point emulator
(software) and then compile instructions for the 80387. Then
when the code runs on a machine w/o the 80387, the instructions
cause a trap. The trap handler passes control to the floating point
emulator which then does the computation in software. But the
trap operation does not require an address the way a subroutine call
would, so the compiler puts an unresolved (an otherwise do nothing)
reference in the object which is resolved by the particular
library module.

Disclaimer: The above is an educated guess. Perhaps there is another
reason for this symbol.

						Hank