1 package ExtUtils::CBuilder;
7 use vars qw($VERSION @ISA);
9 $VERSION = eval $VERSION;
11 # Okay, this is the brute-force method of finding out what kind of
12 # platform we're on. I don't know of a systematic way. These values
13 # came from the latest (bleadperl) perlport.pod.
58 # We only use this once - don't waste a symbol table entry on it.
59 # More importantly, don't make it an inheritable method.
68 my @package = split /::/, __PACKAGE__;
70 if (grep {-e File::Spec->catfile($_, @package, 'Platform', $^O) . '.pm'} @INC) {
71 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Platform::$^O");
73 } elsif (exists $OSTYPES{$^O} and
74 grep {-e File::Spec->catfile($_, @package, 'Platform', $OSTYPES{$^O}) . '.pm'} @INC) {
75 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Platform::$OSTYPES{$^O}");
78 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Base");
82 sub os_type { $OSTYPES{$^O} }
89 ExtUtils::CBuilder - Compile and link C code for Perl modules
93 use ExtUtils::CBuilder;
95 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new(%options);
96 $obj_file = $b->compile(source => 'MyModule.c');
97 $lib_file = $b->link(objects => $obj_file);
101 This module can build the C portions of Perl modules by invoking the
102 appropriate compilers and linkers in a cross-platform manner. It was
103 motivated by the C<Module::Build> project, but may be useful for other
104 purposes as well. However, it is I<not> intended as a general
105 cross-platform interface to all your C building needs. That would
106 have been a much more ambitious goal!
114 Returns a new C<ExtUtils::CBuilder> object. A C<config> parameter
115 lets you override C<Config.pm> settings for all operations performed
116 by the object, as in the following example:
118 # Use a different compiler than Config.pm says
119 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( config =>
122 A C<quiet> parameter tells C<CBuilder> to not print its C<system()>
123 commands before executing them:
125 # Be quieter than normal
126 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( quiet => 1 );
130 Returns true if the current system has a working C compiler and
131 linker, false otherwise. To determine this, we actually compile and
132 link a sample C library.
136 Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of the
137 object file is returned. The source file is specified in a C<source>
138 parameter, which is required; the other parameters listed below are
145 Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the
146 C<object_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of the
149 =item C<include_dirs>
151 Specifies any additional directories in which to search for header
152 files. May be given as a string indicating a single directory, or as
153 a list reference indicating multiple directories.
155 =item C<extra_compiler_flags>
157 Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler. Should be
158 given as a list reference containing the arguments individually, or if
159 this is not possible, as a string containing all the arguments
164 The operation of this method is also affected by the
165 C<archlibexp>, C<cccdlflags>, C<ccflags>, C<optimize>, and C<cc>
166 entries in C<Config.pm>.
170 Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In
171 scalar context, the name of the library file is returned. In list
172 context, the library file and any temporary files created are
173 returned. A required C<objects> parameter contains the name of the
174 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file) or
175 list reference (for one or more files). The following parameters are
183 Specifies the name of the output library file to create. Otherwise
184 the C<lib_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of
185 the first entry in C<objects>.
189 Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by linking.
190 On platforms that need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2, etc.) this is a
193 =item extra_linker_flags
195 Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.
199 On platforms where C<need_prelink()> returns true, C<prelink()>
200 will be called automatically.
202 The operation of this method is also affected by the C<lddlflags>,
203 C<shrpenv>, and C<ld> entries in C<Config.pm>.
205 =item link_executable
207 Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files. In
208 scalar context, the name of the executable file is returned. In list
209 context, the executable file and any temporary files created are
210 returned. A required C<objects> parameter contains the name of the
211 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file) or
212 list reference (for one or more files). The optional parameters are
213 the same as C<link> with exception for
220 Specifies the name of the output executable file to create. Otherwise
221 the C<exe_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of the
222 first entry in C<objects>.
228 my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);
230 Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an
231 output object file to create from it. For instance, on Unix the
232 source file F<foo.c> would result in the object file F<foo.o>.
236 my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);
238 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a
239 output library file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
240 object file F<foo.o> would result in the library file F<foo.bundle>.
244 my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);
246 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an
247 executable file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
248 object file F<foo.o> would result in the executable file F<foo>, and
249 on Windows it would result in F<foo.exe>.
254 On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is necessary
255 to perform some actions before invoking the linker. The
256 C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists> module does this, writing files used by the
257 linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic extensions.
258 The names of any files written will be returned as a list.
260 Several parameters correspond to C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksymlists()>
263 Mksymlists() prelink() type
264 -------------|-------------------|-------------------
265 NAME | dl_name | string (required)
266 DLBASE | dl_base | string
267 FILE | dl_file | string
268 DL_VARS | dl_vars | array reference
269 DL_FUNCS | dl_funcs | hash reference
270 FUNCLIST | dl_func_list | array reference
271 IMPORTS | dl_imports | hash reference
272 VERSION | dl_version | string
274 Please see the documentation for C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists> for the
275 details of what these parameters do.
279 Returns true on platforms where C<prelink()> should be called
280 during linking, and false otherwise.
282 =item extra_link_args_after_prelink
284 Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the arguments
285 are the same as for prelink(), with addition of array reference to the
286 results of prelink(); this reference is indexed by key C<prelink_res>.
292 Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of
293 the Windows-specific code from the C<Module::Build> project. I'll do
298 This module is an outgrowth of the C<Module::Build> project, to which
299 there have been many contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted
300 lots of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and helped with various
301 other platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed
302 fixes for OS/2; John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise
307 Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
311 Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
313 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
314 modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
318 perl(1), Module::Build(3)