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(bfd.info)Looking Up or Entering a String

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Looking up or entering a string
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   The function `bfd_hash_lookup' is used both to look up a string in
the hash table and to create a new entry.

   If the CREATE argument is `false', `bfd_hash_lookup' will look up a
string.  If the string is found, it will returns a pointer to a `struct
bfd_hash_entry'.  If the string is not found in the table
`bfd_hash_lookup' will return `NULL'.  You should not modify any of the
fields in the returns `struct bfd_hash_entry'.

   If the CREATE argument is `true', the string will be entered into
the hash table if it is not already there.  Either way a pointer to a
`struct bfd_hash_entry' will be returned, either to the existing
structure or to a newly created one.  In this case, a `NULL' return
means that an error occurred.

   If the CREATE argument is `true', and a new entry is created, the
COPY argument is used to decide whether to copy the string onto the
hash table objalloc or not.  If COPY is passed as `false', you must be
careful not to deallocate or modify the string as long as the hash table
exists.