Preferred Executable Format

Preferred Executable Format

Container for	PowerPC executable and object code

The Preferred Executable Format is a file format that specifies the format of executable files and other object code. PEF executables are also called Code Fragment Manager files (CFM).

PEF was developed by

applications ported from earlier versions for classic Mac OS, so that the same binary could be run on classic Mac OS and Mac OS X.

BeOS on PowerPC systems also uses PEF, although x86 systems do not.

See also

• Comparison of executable file formats
• Fat binary

External links

• PEF Structure - documentation at developer.apple.com via web.archive.org
• Mac OS Runtime Architectures For System 7 Through Mac OS 9 - PDF from developer.apple.com (see chapter 8, PEF Structure)
• dumppef Documentation - description of what is in a PEF file, such as allowed sections the string table.