ExtUtils::CBuilder(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation ExtUtils::CBuilder(3)
NAME
ExtUtils::CBuilder - Compile and link C code for Perl modules
SYNOPSIS
use ExtUtils::CBuilder;
my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new(%options);
$obj_file = $b->compile(source => 'MyModule.c');
$lib_file = $b->link(objects => $obj_file);
DESCRIPTION
This module can build the C portions of Perl modules by invoking the appropriate compilers and
linkers in a cross-platform manner. It was motivated by the "Module::Build" project, but may be
useful for other purposes as well. However, it is not intended as a general cross-platform interface
to all your C building needs. That would have been a much more ambitious goal!
METHODS
new Returns a new "ExtUtils::CBuilder" object. A "config" parameter lets you override "Config.pm"
settings for all operations performed by the object, as in the following example:
# Use a different compiler than Config.pm says
my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( config =>
{ ld => 'gcc' } );
A "quiet" parameter tells "CBuilder" to not print its "system()" commands before executing them:
# Be quieter than normal
my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( quiet => 1 );
have_compiler
Returns true if the current system has a working C compiler and linker, false otherwise. To
determine this, we actually compile and link a sample C library.
compile
Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of the object file is returned.
The source file is specified in a "source" parameter, which is required; the other parameters
listed below are optional.
"object_file"
Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the "object_file()" method will
be consulted, passing it the name of the "source" file.
"include_dirs"
Specifies any additional directories in which to search for header files. May be given as a
string indicating a single directory, or as a list reference indicating multiple directories.
"extra_compiler_flags"
Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler. Should be given as a list
reference containing the arguments individually, or if this is not possible, as a string
containing all the arguments together.
The operation of this method is also affected by the "archlibexp", "cccdlflags", "ccflags",
"optimize", and "cc" entries in "Config.pm".
link
Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In scalar context, the name of
the library file is returned. In list context, the library file and any temporary files created
are returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of the object files to process,
either in a string (for one object file) or list reference (for one or more files). The
following parameters are optional:
lib_file
Specifies the name of the output library file to create. Otherwise the "lib_file()" method
will be consulted, passing it the name of the first entry in "objects".
module_name
Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by linking. On platforms that
need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2, etc.) this is a required parameter.
extra_linker_flags
Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.
On platforms where "need_prelink()" returns true, "prelink()" will be called automatically.
The operation of this method is also affected by the "lddlflags", "shrpenv", and "ld" entries in
"Config.pm".
link_executable
Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files. In scalar context, the name
of the executable file is returned. In list context, the executable file and any temporary files
created are returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of the object files to
process, either in a string (for one object file) or list reference (for one or more files). The
optional parameters are the same as "link" with exception for
exe_file
Specifies the name of the output executable file to create. Otherwise the "exe_file()"
method will be consulted, passing it the name of the first entry in "objects".
object_file
my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);
Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an output object file to create
from it. For instance, on Unix the source file foo.c would result in the object file foo.o.
lib_file
my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);
Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a output library file to create
from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the object file foo.o would result in the library file
foo.bundle.
exe_file
my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);
Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an executable file to create from
it. For instance, on Mac OS X the object file foo.o would result in the executable file foo, and
on Windows it would result in foo.exe.
prelink
On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is necessary to perform some actions
before invoking the linker. The "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" module does this, writing files used by
the linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic extensions. The names of any
files written will be returned as a list.
Several parameters correspond to "ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksymlists()" options, as follows:
Mksymlists() prelink() type
-------------|-------------------|-------------------NAME -------------|-------------------|------------------NAME
NAME | dl_name | string (required)
DLBASE | dl_base | string
FILE | dl_file | string
DL_VARS | dl_vars | array reference
DL_FUNCS | dl_funcs | hash reference
FUNCLIST | dl_func_list | array reference
IMPORTS | dl_imports | hash reference
VERSION | dl_version | string
Please see the documentation for "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" for the details of what these parameters
do.
need_prelink
Returns true on platforms where "prelink()" should be called during linking, and false otherwise.
extra_link_args_after_prelink
Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the arguments are the same as for
prelink(), with addition of array reference to the results of prelink(); this reference is
indexed by key "prelink_res".
TO DO
Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of the Windows-specific code from
the "Module::Build" project. I'll do that next.
HISTORY
This module is an outgrowth of the "Module::Build" project, to which there have been many
contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted lots of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and
helped with various other platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed fixes for OS/2;
John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise for VMS.
AUTHOR
Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
itself.
SEE ALSO
perl(1), Module::Build(3)
perl v5.8.8 2006-03-25 ExtUtils::CBuilder(3)
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