Subject: Re: Finding Defined Routines In Libraries
From: [email-masked] (Benjamin Riefenstahl)

16 Apr 1998 14:38:21 -0700
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To: Gnu-Win32 list <[email-masked]>

Earnie Boyd wrote:
> ---"Mark H. Wood" <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > I get a feeling (from this and other postings) that the Gnu-Win32
> > binutils understand MS .lib format as well as archive (.a) format.
> Is
> > there something, somewhere, which actually says this, and I just
> missed
> > it?

> > On Tue, 7 Apr 1998, Earnie Boyd wrote:
> I don't know if it is in the FAQ or not but I do know from experience
> that it will work for MS .lib's and not for BORLAND .lib's.
> 
> I also have read, somewhere, that it is by design that things are to
> interwork with MS formats.

MS uses COFF format for it's objects and libs, same as gnu-win32. MS'
version is probably hacked. Also a common object format does not tell
you anything about other ABI issues such as calling conventions, struct
and class object layout, name mangling, exception handling, RTL support,
helper functions etc. So while it's probably more or less easy to get
GNU ld link MS objects, the results may still not work.

Borland uses OMF for object format, so it's not compatible with MS or
gnu-win32. I have heard that they added some compatibility in their
latest Builder release, such as automatic conversion of import libs in
the linker.

Just my 2 cents, benny
======================================
Benjamin Riefenstahl ([email-masked])
Crocodial Communications EntwicklungsGmbH
Ruhrstraße 61, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany
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