Questions tagged [linker]
The linker is part of the toolchain for producing executables from source code written in compiled programming languages. It takes compiled object code in multiple files and produces a single, "linked", executable file from them.
linker
14,090
questions
725
votes
18
answers
511k
views
Embedding DLLs in a compiled executable
Is it possible to embed a pre-existing DLL into a compiled C# executable (so that you only have one file to distribute)? If it is possible, how would one go about doing it?
Normally, I'm cool with ...
- 8,916
594
votes
11
answers
255k
views
Why does the order in which libraries are linked sometimes cause errors in GCC?
Why does the order in which libraries are linked sometimes cause errors in GCC?
- 15.5k
521
votes
5
answers
296k
views
How does the compilation/linking process work?
How does the compilation and linking process work?
(Note: This is meant to be an entry to Stack Overflow's C++ FAQ. If you want to critique the idea of providing an FAQ in this form, then the posting ...
377
votes
5
answers
240k
views
Difference between shared objects (.so), static libraries (.a), and DLL's (.so)?
I have been involved in some debate with respect to libraries in Linux, and would like to confirm some things.
It is to my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong and I will edit my post later),...
- 19k
300
votes
5
answers
120k
views
What do 'statically linked' and 'dynamically linked' mean?
I often hear the terms 'statically linked' and 'dynamically linked', often in reference to code written in C, C++ or C#. What are they, what exactly are they talking about, and what are they linking?
- 89.3k
290
votes
6
answers
234k
views
Resolving LNK4098: defaultlib 'MSVCRT' conflicts with
This warning:
LINK : warning LNK4098: defaultlib 'MSVCRT' conflicts
with use of other libs; use /NODEFAULTLIB:library
is a fairly common warning in Visual Studio. I'd like to understand the exact ...
- 77.7k
281
votes
18
answers
266k
views
g++ undefined reference to typeinfo
I just ran across the following error:
(.gnu.linkonce.[stuff]): undefined
reference to [method] [object
file]:(.gnu.linkonce.[stuff]):
undefined reference to `typeinfo for
[classname]'
Why might one ...
- 70.5k
274
votes
16
answers
659k
views
libpthread.so.0: error adding symbols: DSO missing from command line
When I'm compiling openvswitch-1.5.0, I've encountered the following compile error:
gcc -Wstrict-prototypes -Wall -Wno-sign-compare -Wpointer-arith
-Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wformat-...
- 9,041
211
votes
11
answers
199k
views
"/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lz"
I am trying to compile Android source code under Ubuntu 10.04. I get an error saying,
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lz
Can you please tell me how can I fix it? What does cannot find -lz mean? Here's ...
- 108k
208
votes
6
answers
238k
views
How to print the ld(linker) search path
What is the way to print the search paths that in looked by ld in the order it searches.
- 21.3k
202
votes
5
answers
182k
views
What's an object file in C?
I am reading about libraries in C but I have not yet found an explanation on what an object file is. What's the real difference between any other compiled file and an object file?
I would be glad if ...
- 19.5k
199
votes
5
answers
89k
views
What do linkers do?
I've always wondered. I know that compilers convert the code you write into binaries but what do linkers do? They've always been a mystery to me.
I roughly understand what 'linking' is. It is when ...
- 16.1k
199
votes
7
answers
204k
views
How can I link to a specific glibc version?
When I compile something on my Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 PC it gets linked against glibc. Lucid uses 2.11 of glibc. When I run this binary on another PC with an older glibc, the command fails saying there's ...
- 3,533
193
votes
2
answers
315k
views
Telling gcc directly to link a library statically
It feels strange to me to use -Wl,-Bstatic in order to tell gcc which libraries I want to link with statically. After all I'm telling gcc directly all other information about linking with libraries (-...
- 33.2k
190
votes
3
answers
131k
views
What happens to global and static variables in a shared library when it is dynamically linked?
I'm trying to understand what happens when modules with globals and static variables are dynamically linked to an application.
By modules, I mean each project in a solution (I work a lot with visual ...
- 2,986
183
votes
9
answers
742k
views
ld cannot find an existing library
I am attempting to link an application with g++ on this Debian lenny system. ld is complaining it cannot find specified libraries. The specific example here is ImageMagick, but I am having similar ...
- 5,099
179
votes
24
answers
273k
views
error LNK2038: mismatch detected for '_ITERATOR_DEBUG_LEVEL': value '0' doesn't match value '2' in main.obj
I have read a lot of solutions to my problem but none helped. I tried clean, rebuild. Reinstalled visual 2010 and change from professional to ultimate. But still I dont know why I have this error.
My ...
- 1,863
176
votes
6
answers
144k
views
Linking static libraries to other static libraries
I have a small piece of code that depends on many static libraries (a_1-a_n). I'd like to package up that code in a static library and make it available to other people.
My static library, lets call ...
- 12.3k
173
votes
5
answers
340k
views
Why am I getting "undefined reference to sqrt" error even though I include math.h header? [duplicate]
I'm very new to C and I have this code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
int main(void)
{
double x = 0.5;
double result = sqrt(x);
printf("The square root of %lf is %lf\n", x, ...
- 13.7k
163
votes
6
answers
123k
views
How do I determine the target architecture of static library (.a) on Mac OS X?
I'm interested in verifying if a given iPhone static library has been built for ARM or Intel.
It's more curiosity than anything. Is there some kind of Mac OS X or BSD specific tool to do this? This ...
- 15k
162
votes
6
answers
55k
views
Objective-C categories in static library
Can you guide me how to properly link static library to iPhone project. I use static library project added to app project as direct dependency (target -> general -> direct dependencies) and all works ...
- 7,731
159
votes
10
answers
116k
views
Is it feasible to compile Python to machine code? [closed]
How feasible would it be to compile Python (possibly via an intermediate C representation) into machine code?
Presumably it would need to link to a Python runtime library, and any parts of the Python ...
- 6,561
158
votes
3
answers
33k
views
Is it safe to link C++17, C++14, and C++11 objects
Suppose I have three compiled objects, all produced by the same compiler/version:
A was compiled with the C++11 standard
B was compiled with the C++14 standard
C was compiled with the C++17 standard
...
- 2,722
139
votes
2
answers
143k
views
What is the -fPIE option for position-independent executables in gcc and ld?
How will it change the code, e.g. function calls?
- 91.9k
139
votes
2
answers
18k
views
Small Haskell program compiled with GHC into huge binary
Even trivially small Haskell programs turn into gigantic executables.
I've written a small program, that was compiled (with GHC) to the binary with the size extending 7 MB!
What can cause even a ...
user181351
139
votes
9
answers
118k
views
Visual C++: How to disable specific linker warnings?
I'm using a library from CGAL which during the linking stage of my code compilation produces a lot of linking warnings of this form:
warning LNK4099: PDB 'vc80.pdb' was not found with 'gmp-vc80-mt-...
- 77.3k
138
votes
4
answers
106k
views
Can I change 'rpath' in an already compiled binary?
I have an old executable that's scheduled for the scrap heap, but it's not there yet. It relies on some libs that have been removed from my environment, but I have some stub libs someplace where it ...
- 1,865
137
votes
27
answers
533k
views
Why does fatal error "LNK1104: cannot open file 'C:\Program.obj'" occur when I compile a C++ project in Visual Studio?
I've created a new C++ project in Visual Studio 2008. No code has been written yet; Only project settings have been changed.
When I compile the project, I receive the following fatal error:
...
- 4,054
137
votes
7
answers
986k
views
What does "collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status" mean?
I see the error collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status very often. For example, I was trying to build the following snippet of code:
void main() {
char i;
printf("ENTER i");
scanf(...
- 1,373
136
votes
4
answers
170k
views
How do I make a fully statically linked .exe with Visual Studio Express 2005?
My current preferred C++ environment is the free and largely excellent Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express edition. From time to time I have sent release .exe files to other people with pleasing ...
- 6,227
134
votes
1
answer
67k
views
What does the -all_load linker flag do?
I can't find anywhere what the -all_load flag does when compiling Objective-C code.
I have some issues uploading binaries to Apple. They say it's because I didn't use this flag. However, my code ...
- 3,500
131
votes
8
answers
173k
views
static linking only some libraries
How can I statically link only a some specific libraries to my binary when linking with GCC?
gcc ... -static ... tries to statically link all the linked libraries, but I haven't got the static ...
- 25.8k
122
votes
3
answers
90k
views
Why do I get "unresolved external symbol" errors when using templates? [duplicate]
When I write C++ code for a class using templates and split the code between a source (CPP) file and a header (H) file, I get a whole lot of "unresolved external symbol" errors when it comes to ...
- 8,761
121
votes
14
answers
244k
views
What is compiler, linker, loader?
I wanted to know in depth meaning and working of compiler, linker and loader.
With reference to any language preferably c++.
- 1,283
121
votes
10
answers
84k
views
What is the equivalent of Linux's ldd on windows? [closed]
What is the equivalent of Linux's ldd on Windows?
- 42.1k
120
votes
5
answers
301k
views
How to specify preference of library path?
I'm compiling a c++ program using g++ and ld. I have a .so library I want to be used during linking. However, a library of the same name exists in /usr/local/lib, and ld is choosing that library over ...
- 6,764
114
votes
6
answers
114k
views
What is __gxx_personality_v0 for?
This is a second-hand question from an OS development site, but it made me curious since I couldn't find a decent explanation anywhere.
When compiling and linking a free-standing C++ program using ...
- 8,544
112
votes
16
answers
116k
views
Splitting templated C++ classes into .hpp/.cpp files--is it possible?
I am getting errors trying to compile a C++ template class which is split between a .hpp and .cpp file:
$ g++ -c -o main.o main.cpp
$ g++ -c -o stack.o stack.cpp
$ g++ -o main main.o stack.o
...
- 2,195
110
votes
6
answers
267k
views
How to add include and lib paths to configure/make cycle?
I need a place to install libraries in a linux box I have no su access to. I'm using ~/local[/bin,/lib,/include], but I don't know how can I tell ./configure to look for libraries there (particularly, ...
- 2,279
110
votes
5
answers
202k
views
What does the "no version information available" error from linux dynamic linker mean?
In our product we ship some linux binaries that dynamically link to system libraries like "libpam". On some customer systems we get the following error on stderr when the program runs:
./authpam: /...
Matt Doran
109
votes
9
answers
200k
views
Compilation fails with "relocation R_X86_64_32 against `.rodata.str1.8' can not be used when making a shared object"
I'm trying to compile this source code from the makefile in a VPS, but its not working. The VPS is a 64 Cent OS
Here's the full error
# make
gcc -c -O3 -w -DLINUX -I../SDK/amx/ ../SDK/amx/*.c
g++ -c ...
- 2,467
106
votes
1
answer
65k
views
What are the --start-group and --end-group command line options?
What is the purpose of those command line options? Please help to decipher the meaning of the following command line:
-Wl,--start-group -lmy_lib -lyour_lib -lhis_lib -Wl,--end-group -ltheir_lib
...
- 14.7k
100
votes
9
answers
39k
views
What happens to static variables in inline functions?
I have a function that is declared and defined in a header file. This is a problem all by itself. When that function is not inlined, every translation unit that uses that header gets a copy of the ...
- 2,577
99
votes
2
answers
67k
views
combine two GCC compiled .o object files into a third .o file
How does one combine two GCC compiled .o object files into a third .o file?
$ gcc -c a.c -o a.o
$ gcc -c b.c -o b.o
$ ??? a.o b.o -o c.o
$ gcc c.o other.o -o executable
If you have access to the ...
- 2,521
97
votes
5
answers
81k
views
What is inside .lib file of Static library, Statically linked dynamic library and dynamically linked dynamic library?
What is inside of a .lib file of Static library, Statically linked dynamic library and dynamically linked dynamic library?
How come there is no need for a .lib file in dynamically linked dynamic ...
- 7,781
95
votes
4
answers
62k
views
Easy check for unresolved symbols in shared libraries?
I am writing a fairly large C++ shared-object library, and have run into a small issue that makes debugging a pain:
If I define a function/method in a header file, and forget to create a stub for it (...
- 6,249
95
votes
3
answers
39k
views
Why is statically linking glibc discouraged?
Most of the sources online state that you can statically link glibc, but discourage from doing so; e.g. centos package repo:
The glibc-static package contains the C library static libraries
for -...
- 2,182
93
votes
8
answers
64k
views
Replacing ld with gold - any experience?
Has anyone tried to use gold instead of ld?
gold promises to be much faster than ld, so it may help speeding up test cycles for large C++ applications, but can it be used as drop-in replacement for ...
- 3,998
89
votes
7
answers
224k
views
shared global variables in C
How can I create global variables that are shared in C? If I put it in a header file, then the linker complains that the variables are already defined. Is the only way to declare the variable in one ...
- 227k
87
votes
1
answer
26k
views
What is the use of .exp and what is the difference between .lib and .dll?
During compilation and linking, what is use of .exp? What is the difference between .lib and .dll? I know that .lib will be used, while linking and .dll will be used when running the program. But what ...
- 4,628