Dependency walker (depends.exe) shows a ‘Hint’ column for exported functions. As far as I understand the Portable Executable format, exported functions do not have hint. Can someone tell me whether or not exported functions have hint? Actually, only imported functions should have hint..
I finally found the answer to my question…:
In dependency Walker (as well as in Dumpbin), the “Hint” is the position of the Exported Function in the EAT (Export Address Table)! This position has been named “Hint” since the the Loader will use this position when searching for the Functions from the IAT (Import Address Table). As, simple as that!
thanks.
Apparently not – see here. I suspect Dependency Walker is calculating the hint for the export ‘to be nice’.