==> bfd/ChangeLog <==

2009-05-19  Dave Korn  <dave.korn.cygwin@gmail.com>

	* cofflink.c (process_embedded_commands):  Ignore "-aligncomm".

==> gas/ChangeLog <==
2009-05-19  Dave Korn  <dave.korn.cygwin@gmail.com>

	* NEWS:  Mention new feature.
	* config/obj-coff.c (obj_coff_common_parse):  New function.
	(obj_coff_comm):  Likewise.
	(coff_pseudo_table):  Override default ".comm" definition on PE.
	* doc/as.texinfo:  Document new feature.

==> gas/testsuite/ChangeLog <==
2009-05-19  Dave Korn  <dave.korn.cygwin@gmail.com>

	* gas/pe/:  New directory for PE format-specific tests.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-a.d:  New test pattern file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-a.s:  New test source file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-b.d:  New test pattern file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-b.s:  New test source file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-c.d:  New test pattern file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-c.s:  New test source file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-d.d:  New test pattern file.
	* gas/pe/aligncomm-d.s:  New test source file.
	* gas/pe/pe.exp:  New test control script.
	* lib/gas-defs.exp (is_pecoff_format):  New function.

==> ld/ChangeLog <==
2009-05-19  Dave Korn  <dave.korn.cygwin@gmail.com>

	* NEWS:  Mention new feature.
	* deffile.h (def_file_aligncomm):  Add new struct definition.
	(def_file):  Add new def_file_aligncomm member.
	* deffilep.y (%token):  Add new ALIGNCOMM token.
	(command):  Add production rule for ALIGNCOMM.
	(def_file_free):  Free any chained def_file_aligncomm structs.
	(diropts[]):  Add entry for '-aligncomm' .drectve command.
	(def_aligncomm):  New grammar function.
	* ld.texinfo:  Document new feature.
	* pe-dll.c (process_def_file):  Rename from this ...
	(process_def_file_and_drectve):  ... to this, updating all callers,
	and process any aligncomms chained to the def file after scanning
	all .drectve sections.
	(generate_edata):  Updated to match.
	(pe_dll_build_sections):  Likewise.

==> ld/testsuite/ChangeLog <==
2009-05-19  Dave Korn  <dave.korn.cygwin@gmail.com>

	* ld-pe/aligncomm-1.c:  New test source file.
	* ld-pe/aligncomm-2.c:  Likewise.
	* ld-pe/aligncomm-3.c:  Likewise.
	* ld-pe/aligncomm-4.c:  Likewise.
	* ld-pe/aligncomm.d:  New test pattern file.

	* ld-pe/direct.exp:  Deleted, and content moved into ...
	* ld-pe/pe-run.exp:  ... New common file for all PE run tests.

	* ld-pe/vers-script.exp:  Deleted, and content merged into ...
	* ld-pe/pe-compile.exp:  ... New common file for PE tests needing
	a compiler, adding aligned common tests.

	* ld-pe/pe.exp:  Update header comment.

1 files changed, 16 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/gas/doc/as.texinfo b/gas/doc/as.texinfo
index 9871fe2..e4f7984 100644
--- a/gas/doc/as.texinfo
+++ b/gas/doc/as.texinfo
@@ -4308,16 +4308,23 @@ absolute expression.  If @code{@value{LD}} sees multiple common symbols with
 the same name, and they do not all have the same size, it will allocate space
 using the largest size.
 
-@ifset ELF
-When using ELF, the @code{.comm} directive takes an optional third argument.
-This is the desired alignment of the symbol, specified as a byte boundary (for
-example, an alignment of 16 means that the least significant 4 bits of the
-address should be zero).  The alignment must be an absolute expression, and it
-must be a power of two.  If @code{@value{LD}} allocates uninitialized memory
-for the common symbol, it will use the alignment when placing the symbol.  If
-no alignment is specified, @command{@value{AS}} will set the alignment to the
+@ifset COFF-ELF
+When using ELF or (as a GNU extension) PE, the @code{.comm} directive takes
+an optional third argument.  This is the desired alignment of the symbol, 
+specified for ELF as a byte boundary (for example, an alignment of 16 means
+that the least significant 4 bits of the address should be zero), and for PE
+as a power of two (for example, an alignment of 5 means aligned to a 32-byte
+boundary).  The alignment must be an absolute expression, and it must be a 
+power of two.  If @code{@value{LD}} allocates uninitialized memory for the
+common symbol, it will use the alignment when placing the symbol.  If no 
+alignment is specified, @command{@value{AS}} will set the alignment to the
 largest power of two less than or equal to the size of the symbol, up to a
-maximum of 16.
+maximum of 16 on ELF, or the default section alignment of 4 on PE@footnote{This
+is not the same as the executable image file alignment controlled by @code{@value{LD}}'s
+@samp{--section-alignment} option; image file sections in PE are aligned to
+multiples of 4096, which is far too large an alignment for ordinary variables.
+It is rather the default alignment for (non-debug) sections within object
+(@samp{*.o}) files, which are less strictly aligned.}.
 @end ifset
 
 @ifset HPPA