Re: [Mingw-users] library name

[Julien L. <ju...@fa...>]

On 20/03/2006 14:45, Michael Gerdau quoted Marcio Hermes:
>> I want to suggest a naming rule for gcc libraries:
>>
>> static library -> libNAME.a
>> dynamic library -> libNAME.dll.a
>>
>> where:
>> - static library is an archive with a set of routines/functions.
>> - dynamic library will link routine/function calls to NAME.dll file.
>>
>> a bad example:
>> -libopengl32.a will link to opengl32.dll and have a static library name.
> 
> Just for me to understand what you mean:
> When you write 'dynamic library' you actually mean 'import library'

I support this idea of having static libraries '.a' and import libraries 
as '.dll.a'
My system is currently set up this way, and I haven't had issues with it.

> And while I'm at it:
> What is the rationale behind this proposal ?

First, developper friendliness, by looking at an extension, we know 
right away if it's an import library or a static library.
Geeks like me assign different icons to each extension ;-)

Also, this doesn't affect gcc's linking order, it inforces the 
difference between static and shared, and actually gives more priority 
to linking with a import library.

Examples of search orders (`gcc -Wl,--verbose foo.c')
gcc.exe (GCC) 3.4.5 (mingw special):
- libfoo.dll.a
- foo.dll.a
- libfoo.a
- libfoo.dll
- foo.dll
- libfoo.a (duplicate, shouldn't this be 'foo.a' ???)

Because of this, we can ensure that the program will be linked against a 
dll if using -lfoo.dll:
- libfoo.dll.dll.a
- foo.dll.dll.a
- libfoo.dll.a (the one we want)
- libfoo.dll.dll
- foo.dll.dll

The naming of .dll.a and .a is also a convention that is respected by 
more and more packages because of the use of libtool in such packages.
When creating dlls, libtool places the dll in /bin, and creates 
'.dll.a', '.a' and '.la' in /lib
Even if we're not to use libtool for w32api and mingw-runtime; we could 
respect libtool's defaults in naming.

The only caveat I found is that the specs file needs to be reviewed if 
using `gcc -Wl,-dn' or `gcc -Wl,-dy' (ie, linking only to static/shared 
libraries)
The fix is simple: change every occurance of -lfoo to -lfoo.dll if the 
library had been renamed (eg: libkernel.a to libkernel.dll.a)

Julien