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. The sample will be compiled in the system tempdir
or, if that fails for some reason, in the current directory.
- have_cplusplus
- Just like have_compiler but for C++ instead of C.
- 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.
- "C++"
- Specifies that the source file is a C++ source file and
sets appropriate compiler flags
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 | 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)