1DLLTOOL(1) GNU Development Tools DLLTOOL(1)
2
6 dlltool - Create files needed to build and use DLLs.
7
9 dlltool [-d|--input-def def-file-name]
10 [-b|--base-file base-file-name]
11 [-e|--output-exp exports-file-name]
12 [-z|--output-def def-file-name]
13 [-l|--output-lib library-file-name]
14 [-y|--output-delaylib library-file-name]
15 [--export-all-symbols] [--no-export-all-symbols]
16 [--exclude-symbols list]
17 [--no-default-excludes]
18 [-S|--as path-to-assembler] [-f|--as-flags options]
19 [-D|--dllname name] [-m|--machine machine]
20 [-a|--add-indirect]
21 [-U|--add-underscore] [--add-stdcall-underscore]
22 [-k|--kill-at] [-A|--add-stdcall-alias]
23 [-p|--ext-prefix-alias prefix]
24 [-x|--no-idata4] [-c|--no-idata5]
25 [--use-nul-prefixed-import-tables]
26 [-I|--identify library-file-name] [--identify-strict]
27 [-i|--interwork]
28 [-n|--nodelete] [-t|--temp-prefix prefix]
29 [-v|--verbose]
30 [-h|--help] [-V|--version]
31 [object-file ...]
32
34 dlltool reads its inputs, which can come from the -d and -b options as
35 well as object files specified on the command line. It then processes
36 these inputs and if the -e option has been specified it creates a
37 exports file. If the -l option has been specified it creates a library
38 file and if the -z option has been specified it creates a def file.
39 Any or all of the -e, -l and -z options can be present in one
40 invocation of dlltool.
41 When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary
43 to have three other files. dlltool can help with the creation of these
44 files.
45 The first file is a .def file which specifies which functions are
47 exported from the DLL, which functions the DLL imports, and so on.
48 This is a text file and can be created by hand, or dlltool can be used
49 to create it using the -z option. In this case dlltool will scan the
50 object files specified on its command line looking for those functions
51 which have been specially marked as being exported and put entries for
52 them in the .def file it creates.
53 In order to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to
55 have an -export:<name_of_function> entry in the .drectve section of the
56 object file. This can be done in C by using the asm() operator:
57 asm (".section .drectve");
59 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");
60 int my_func (void) { ... }
62 The second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file. This file
64 is linked with the object files that make up the body of the DLL and it
65 handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world. This is a
66 binary file and it can be created by giving the -e option to dlltool
67 when it is creating or reading in a .def file.
68 The third file needed for DLL creation is the library file that
70 programs will link with in order to access the functions in the DLL (an
71 `import library'). This file can be created by giving the -l option to
72 dlltool when it is creating or reading in a .def file.
73 If the -y option is specified, dlltool generates a delay-import library
75 that can be used instead of the normal import library to allow a
76 program to link to the dll only as soon as an imported function is
77 called for the first time. The resulting executable will need to be
78 linked to the static delayimp library containing __delayLoadHelper2(),
79 which in turn will import LoadLibraryA and GetProcAddress from
80 kernel32.
81 dlltool builds the library file by hand, but it builds the exports file
83 by creating temporary files containing assembler statements and then
84 assembling these. The -S command line option can be used to specify
85 the path to the assembler that dlltool will use, and the -f option can
86 be used to pass specific flags to that assembler. The -n can be used
87 to prevent dlltool from deleting these temporary assembler files when
88 it is done, and if -n is specified twice then this will prevent dlltool
89 from deleting the temporary object files it used to build the library.
90 Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file dll.c and also
92 creating a program (from an object file called program.o) that uses
93 that DLL:
94 gcc -c dll.c
96 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
97 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
98 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program
99 dlltool may also be used to query an existing import library to
101 determine the name of the DLL to which it is associated. See the
102 description of the -I or --identify option.
103
105 The command line options have the following meanings:
106 -d filename
108 --input-def filename
109 Specifies the name of a .def file to be read in and processed.
110 -b filename
112 --base-file filename
113 Specifies the name of a base file to be read in and processed. The
114 contents of this file will be added to the relocation section in
115 the exports file generated by dlltool.
116 -e filename
118 --output-exp filename
119 Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.
120 -z filename
122 --output-def filename
123 Specifies the name of the .def file to be created by dlltool.
124 -l filename
126 --output-lib filename
127 Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.
128 -y filename
130 --output-delaylib filename
131 Specifies the name of the delay-import library file to be created
132 by dlltool.
133 --export-all-symbols
135 Treat all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object
136 files as symbols to be exported. There is a small list of symbols
137 which are not exported by default; see the --no-default-excludes
138 option. You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using
139 the --exclude-symbols option.
140 --no-export-all-symbols
142 Only export symbols explicitly listed in an input .def file or in
143 .drectve sections in the input object files. This is the default
144 behaviour. The .drectve sections are created by dllexport
145 attributes in the source code.
146 --exclude-symbols list
148 Do not export the symbols in list. This is a list of symbol names
149 separated by comma or colon characters. The symbol names should
150 not contain a leading underscore. This is only meaningful when
151 --export-all-symbols is used.
152 --no-default-excludes
154 When --export-all-symbols is used, it will by default avoid
155 exporting certain special symbols. The current list of symbols to
156 avoid exporting is DllMain@12, DllEntryPoint@0, impure_ptr. You
157 may use the --no-default-excludes option to go ahead and export
158 these special symbols. This is only meaningful when
159 --export-all-symbols is used.
160 -S path
162 --as path
163 Specifies the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be
164 used to create the exports file.
165 -f options
167 --as-flags options
168 Specifies any specific command line options to be passed to the
169 assembler when building the exports file. This option will work
170 even if the -S option is not used. This option only takes one
171 argument, and if it occurs more than once on the command line, then
172 later occurrences will override earlier occurrences. So if it is
173 necessary to pass multiple options to the assembler they should be
174 enclosed in double quotes.
175 -D name
177 --dll-name name
178 Specifies the name to be stored in the .def file as the name of the
179 DLL when the -e option is used. If this option is not present,
180 then the filename given to the -e option will be used as the name
181 of the DLL.
182 -m machine
184 -machine machine
185 Specifies the type of machine for which the library file should be
186 built. dlltool has a built in default type, depending upon how it
187 was created, but this option can be used to override that. This is
188 normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor, when
189 the contents of the DLL are actually encode using Thumb
190 instructions.
191 -a
193 --add-indirect
194 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
195 add a section which allows the exported functions to be referenced
196 without using the import library. Whatever the hell that means!
197 -U
199 --add-underscore
200 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
201 prepend an underscore to the names of all exported symbols.
202 --add-stdcall-underscore
204 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
205 prepend an underscore to the names of exported stdcall functions.
206 Variable names and non-stdcall function names are not modified.
207 This option is useful when creating GNU-compatible import libs for
208 third party DLLs that were built with MS-Windows tools.
209 -k
211 --kill-at
212 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
213 not append the string @ <number>. These numbers are called ordinal
214 numbers and they represent another way of accessing the function in
215 a DLL, other than by name.
216 -A
218 --add-stdcall-alias
219 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
220 add aliases for stdcall symbols without @ <number> in addition to
221 the symbols with @ <number>.
222 -p
224 --ext-prefix-alias prefix
225 Causes dlltool to create external aliases for all DLL imports with
226 the specified prefix. The aliases are created for both external
227 and import symbols with no leading underscore.
228 -x
230 --no-idata4
231 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports and library
232 files it should omit the ".idata4" section. This is for
233 compatibility with certain operating systems.
234 --use-nul-prefixed-import-tables
236 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports and library
237 files it should prefix the ".idata4" and ".idata5" by zero an
238 element. This emulates old gnu import library generation of
239 "dlltool". By default this option is turned off.
240 -c
242 --no-idata5
243 Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports and library
244 files it should omit the ".idata5" section. This is for
245 compatibility with certain operating systems.
246 -I filename
248 --identify filename
249 Specifies that dlltool should inspect the import library indicated
250 by filename and report, on "stdout", the name(s) of the associated
251 DLL(s). This can be performed in addition to any other operations
252 indicated by the other options and arguments. dlltool fails if the
253 import library does not exist or is not actually an import library.
254 See also --identify-strict.
255 --identify-strict
257 Modifies the behavior of the --identify option, such that an error
258 is reported if filename is associated with more than one DLL.
259 -i
261 --interwork
262 Specifies that dlltool should mark the objects in the library file
263 and exports file that it produces as supporting interworking
264 between ARM and Thumb code.
265 -n
267 --nodelete
268 Makes dlltool preserve the temporary assembler files it used to
269 create the exports file. If this option is repeated then dlltool
270 will also preserve the temporary object files it uses to create the
271 library file.
272 -t prefix
274 --temp-prefix prefix
275 Makes dlltool use prefix when constructing the names of temporary
276 assembler and object files. By default, the temp file prefix is
277 generated from the pid.
278 -v
280 --verbose
281 Make dlltool describe what it is doing.
282 -h
284 --help
285 Displays a list of command line options and then exits.
286 -V
288 --version
289 Displays dlltool's version number and then exits.
290 @file
292 Read command-line options from file. The options read are inserted
293 in place of the original @file option. If file does not exist, or
294 cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not
295 removed.
296 Options in file are separated by whitespace. A whitespace
298 character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
299 option in either single or double quotes. Any character (including
300 a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
301 included with a backslash. The file may itself contain additional
302 @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.
303
305 The Info pages for binutils.
306
308 Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
309 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free
310 Software Foundation, Inc.
311 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
313 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
314 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
315 Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
316 Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
317 Free Documentation License".
318binutils-2.20 2009-10-16 DLLTOOL(1)