1ExtUtils::CBuilder(3) User Contributed Perl DocumentationExtUtils::CBuilder(3)
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6 ExtUtils::CBuilder - Compile and link C code for Perl modules
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9 use ExtUtils::CBuilder;
10 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new(%options);
12 $obj_file = $b->compile(source => 'MyModule.c');
13 $lib_file = $b->link(objects => $obj_file);
14
16 This module can build the C portions of Perl modules by invoking the
17 appropriate compilers and linkers in a cross-platform manner. It was
18 motivated by the "Module::Build" project, but may be useful for other
19 purposes as well. However, it is not intended as a general cross-
20 platform interface to all your C building needs. That would have been
21 a much more ambitious goal!
22
24 new Returns a new "ExtUtils::CBuilder" object. A "config" parameter
25 lets you override "Config.pm" settings for all operations performed
26 by the object, as in the following example:
27 # Use a different compiler than Config.pm says
29 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( config =>
30 { ld => 'gcc' } );
31 A "quiet" parameter tells "CBuilder" to not print its system()
33 commands before executing them:
34 # Be quieter than normal
36 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( quiet => 1 );
37 have_compiler
39 Returns true if the current system has a working C compiler and
40 linker, false otherwise. To determine this, we actually compile
41 and link a sample C library. The sample will be compiled in the
42 system tempdir or, if that fails for some reason, in the current
43 directory.
44 have_cplusplus
46 Just like have_compiler but for C++ instead of C.
47 compile
49 Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of
50 the object file is returned. The source file is specified in a
51 "source" parameter, which is required; the other parameters listed
52 below are optional.
53 "object_file"
55 Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the
56 object_file() method will be consulted, passing it the name of
57 the "source" file.
58 "include_dirs"
60 Specifies any additional directories in which to search for
61 header files. May be given as a string indicating a single
62 directory, or as a list reference indicating multiple
63 directories.
64 "extra_compiler_flags"
66 Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler.
67 Should be given as a list reference containing the arguments
68 individually, or if this is not possible, as a string
69 containing all the arguments together.
70 "C++"
72 Specifies that the source file is a C++ source file and sets
73 appropriate compiler flags
74 The operation of this method is also affected by the "archlibexp",
76 "cccdlflags", "ccflags", "optimize", and "cc" entries in
77 "Config.pm".
78 link
80 Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In
81 scalar context, the name of the library file is returned. In list
82 context, the library file and any temporary files created are
83 returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of the
84 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file)
85 or list reference (for one or more files). The following
86 parameters are optional:
87 lib_file
89 Specifies the name of the output library file to create.
90 Otherwise the lib_file() method will be consulted, passing it
91 the name of the first entry in "objects".
92 module_name
94 Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by
95 linking. On platforms that need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2,
96 etc.) this is a required parameter.
97 extra_linker_flags
99 Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.
100 On platforms where need_prelink() returns true, prelink() will be
102 called automatically.
103 The operation of this method is also affected by the "lddlflags",
105 "shrpenv", and "ld" entries in "Config.pm".
106 link_executable
108 Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files.
109 In scalar context, the name of the executable file is returned. In
110 list context, the executable file and any temporary files created
111 are returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of
112 the object files to process, either in a string (for one object
113 file) or list reference (for one or more files). The optional
114 parameters are the same as "link" with exception for
115 exe_file
117 Specifies the name of the output executable file to create.
118 Otherwise the exe_file() method will be consulted, passing it
119 the name of the first entry in "objects".
120 object_file
122 my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);
123 Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an
125 output object file to create from it. For instance, on Unix the
126 source file foo.c would result in the object file foo.o.
127 lib_file
129 my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);
130 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a
132 output library file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X
133 the object file foo.o would result in the library file foo.bundle.
134 exe_file
136 my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);
137 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an
139 executable file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
140 object file foo.o would result in the executable file foo, and on
141 Windows it would result in foo.exe.
142 prelink
144 On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is
145 necessary to perform some actions before invoking the linker. The
146 "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" module does this, writing files used by the
147 linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic
148 extensions. The names of any files written will be returned as a
149 list.
150 Several parameters correspond to ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksymlists()
152 options, as follows:
153 Mksymlists() prelink() type
155 -------------|-------------------|-------------------
156 NAME | dl_name | string (required)
157 DLBASE | dl_base | string
158 FILE | dl_file | string
159 DL_VARS | dl_vars | array reference
160 DL_FUNCS | dl_funcs | hash reference
161 FUNCLIST | dl_func_list | array reference
162 IMPORTS | dl_imports | hash reference
163 VERSION | dl_version | string
164 Please see the documentation for "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" for the
166 details of what these parameters do.
167 need_prelink
169 Returns true on platforms where prelink() should be called during
170 linking, and false otherwise.
171 extra_link_args_after_prelink
173 Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the
174 arguments are the same as for prelink(), with addition of array
175 reference to the results of prelink(); this reference is indexed by
176 key "prelink_res".
177
179 Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of
180 the Windows-specific code from the "Module::Build" project. I'll do
181 that next.
182
184 This module is an outgrowth of the "Module::Build" project, to which
185 there have been many contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted
186 lots of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and helped with various
187 other platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed fixes
188 for OS/2; John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise for
189 VMS.
190
192 ExtUtils::CBuilder is maintained as part of the Perl 5 core. Please
193 submit any bug reports via the perlbug tool included with Perl 5. Bug
194 reports will be included in the Perl 5 ticket system at
195 <https://rt.perl.org>.
196 The Perl 5 source code is available at
198 <https://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git> and ExtUtils-CBuilder may be
199 found in the dist/ExtUtils-CBuilder directory of the repository.
200
202 Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
203 Additional contributions by The Perl 5 Porters.
205
207 Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
208 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
210 under the same terms as Perl itself.
211
213 perl(1), Module::Build(3)
214perl v5.38.0 2023-07-20 ExtUtils::CBuilder(3)