An image in plain binary format is a sequence of bytes to be loaded into memory at a known address. How this address is communicated to the loader, and where to enter the loaded image, are not the business of the linker.

In order to produce a plain binary output there must be:

• no unresolved symbolic references between the input objects, (each reference must resolve directly or via an input library);
• an absolute base address (given by the -Base option to armlink);
• complete performance of all relocation directives.

Input areas having the read-only attribute are placed at the low-address end of the image; initialised writable areas follow; 0-initialised areas are consolidated at the end of the file where a block of zeroes of the appropriate size is written.