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ExtUtils::CBuilder(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide ExtUtils::CBuilder(3perl)

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.

SUPPORT
ExtUtils::CBuilder is maintained as part of the Perl 5 core. Please submit any bug
reports via the perlbug tool included with Perl 5. Bug reports will be included in the
Perl 5 ticket system at <http://rt.perl.org>.

The Perl 5 source code is available at <http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git> and ExtUtils-
CBuilder may be found in the dist/ExtUtils-CBuilder directory of the repository.

AUTHOR
Ken Williams, kwilliams AT cpan.org

Additional contributions by The Perl 5 Porters.

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.