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-plat‐
20 form interface to all your C building needs. That would have been a
21 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.
42 compile
44 Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of
45 the object file is returned. The source file is specified in a
46 "source" parameter, which is required; the other parameters listed
47 below are optional.
48 "object_file"
50 Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the
51 "object_file()" method will be consulted, passing it the name
52 of the "source" file.
53 "include_dirs"
55 Specifies any additional directories in which to search for
56 header files. May be given as a string indicating a single
57 directory, or as a list reference indicating multiple directo‐
58 ries.
59 "extra_compiler_flags"
61 Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler.
62 Should be given as a list reference containing the arguments
63 individually, or if this is not possible, as a string contain‐
64 ing all the arguments together.
65 The operation of this method is also affected by the "archlibexp",
67 "cccdlflags", "ccflags", "optimize", and "cc" entries in "Con‐
68 fig.pm".
69 link
71 Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In
72 scalar context, the name of the library file is returned. In list
73 context, the library file and any temporary files created are
74 returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of the
75 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file)
76 or list reference (for one or more files). The following parame‐
77 ters are optional:
78 lib_file
80 Specifies the name of the output library file to create. Oth‐
81 erwise the "lib_file()" method will be consulted, passing it
82 the name of the first entry in "objects".
83 module_name
85 Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by
86 linking. On platforms that need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2,
87 etc.) this is a required parameter.
88 extra_linker_flags
90 Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.
91 On platforms where "need_prelink()" returns true, "prelink()" will
93 be called automatically.
94 The operation of this method is also affected by the "lddlflags",
96 "shrpenv", and "ld" entries in "Config.pm".
97 link_executable
99 Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files.
100 In scalar context, the name of the executable file is returned. In
101 list context, the executable file and any temporary files created
102 are returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of
103 the object files to process, either in a string (for one object
104 file) or list reference (for one or more files). The optional
105 parameters are the same as "link" with exception for
106 exe_file
108 Specifies the name of the output executable file to create.
109 Otherwise the "exe_file()" method will be consulted, passing it
110 the name of the first entry in "objects".
111 object_file
113 my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);
114 Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an
116 output object file to create from it. For instance, on Unix the
117 source file foo.c would result in the object file foo.o.
118 lib_file
120 my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);
121 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a
123 output library file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X
124 the object file foo.o would result in the library file foo.bundle.
125 exe_file
127 my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);
128 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an
130 executable file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
131 object file foo.o would result in the executable file foo, and on
132 Windows it would result in foo.exe.
133 prelink
135 On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is neces‐
136 sary to perform some actions before invoking the linker. The
137 "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" module does this, writing files used by the
138 linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic exten‐
139 sions. The names of any files written will be returned as a list.
140 Several parameters correspond to "ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksym‐
142 lists()" options, as follows:
143 Mksymlists() prelink() type
145 -------------⎪-------------------⎪-------------------
146 NAME ⎪ dl_name ⎪ string (required)
147 DLBASE ⎪ dl_base ⎪ string
148 FILE ⎪ dl_file ⎪ string
149 DL_VARS ⎪ dl_vars ⎪ array reference
150 DL_FUNCS ⎪ dl_funcs ⎪ hash reference
151 FUNCLIST ⎪ dl_func_list ⎪ array reference
152 IMPORTS ⎪ dl_imports ⎪ hash reference
153 VERSION ⎪ dl_version ⎪ string
154 Please see the documentation for "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" for the
156 details of what these parameters do.
157 need_prelink
159 Returns true on platforms where "prelink()" should be called during
160 linking, and false otherwise.
161 extra_link_args_after_prelink
163 Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the
164 arguments are the same as for prelink(), with addition of array
165 reference to the results of prelink(); this reference is indexed by
166 key "prelink_res".
167
169 Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of
170 the Windows-specific code from the "Module::Build" project. I'll do
171 that next.
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174 This module is an outgrowth of the "Module::Build" project, to which
175 there have been many contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted
176 lots of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and helped with various
177 other platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed fixes
178 for OS/2; John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise for
179 VMS.
180
182 Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
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185 Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
186 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
188 under the same terms as Perl itself.
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191 perl(1), Module::Build(3)
192perl v5.8.8 2006-03-25 ExtUtils::CBuilder(3)