GNU Libtool

For version 1.4.2, 10 September 2001

Gordon Matzigkeit
Alexandre Oliva
Thomas Tanner
Gary V. Vaughan


(1)

If you don't specify an rpath, then libtool builds a libtool convenience archive, not a shared library (see section Linking static libraries).

(2)

However, you should avoid using `-L' or `-l' flags to link against an uninstalled libtool library. Just specify the relative path to the `.la' file, such as `../intl/libintl.la'. This is a design decision to eliminate any ambiguity when linking against uninstalled shared libraries.

(3)

Don't accidentally strip the libraries, though, or they will be unusable.

(4)

AC_PROG_LIBTOOL requires that you define the `Makefile' variable top_builddir in your `Makefile.in'. Automake does this automatically, but Autoconf users should set it to the relative path to the top of your build directory (`../..', for example).

(5)

GNU Image Manipulation Program, for those who haven't taken the plunge. See http://www.gimp.org/.

(6)

We used to recommend __P, __BEGIN_DECLS and __END_DECLS. This was bad advice since symbols (even preprocessor macro names) that begin with an underscore are reserved for the use of the compiler.

(7)

HP-UX, to be different, uses a function named shl_load.

(8)

LIBPATH on AIX, and SHLIB_PATH on HP-UX.

(9)

This is used for the host dependent module loading API -- shl_load and LoadLibrary for example

(10)

Even if libltdl is installed, `AC_LIBLTDL_INSTALLABLE' may fail to detect it, if libltdl depends on symbols provided by libraries other than the C library. In this case, it will needlessly build and install libltdl.

(11)

All code compiled for the PowerPC and RS/6000 chips (powerpc-*-*, powerpcle-*-*, and rs6000-*-*) is position-independent, regardless of the operating system or compiler suite. So, "regular objects" can be used to build shared libraries on these systems and no special PIC compiler flags are required.


This document was generated on 7 October 2001 using the texi2html translator version 1.54.