# stripaif

Separates AIF file from symbols file.

### Synopsis

`stripaif`

### Description

`Stripaif` is an MPW tool that must be run after armlink. `Stripaif` takes a standard AIF file and generates two new files:

- a smaller AIF file with no symbolic information
- a file with only the symbolic information (extension .sym)

You only need to download the small application file to the 3DO Station. The Debugger is capable of using an external symbols file: If an application needs to be debugged and the AIF file does not include symbolic information, the Debugger looks for a symbol file with the name of the application and the extension .sym.

When you compile and link a program, all symbolic information generated by the armcc, armasm, and armlink tools is saved in the ARM Image File (AIF), along with the application code. As applications grow, this results in oversized application files that, when launched, require more time and more memory on the 3DO Station than necessary. To avoid that, you would need a link option that separates symbols from actual code, generating two files instead of one. Since this option is not currently available, the Debugger provides a `stripaif` tool that gives similar results.

### Arguments

None

### Return Value

None

### Caveats

None.