1 package ExtUtils::CBuilder;
7 use vars qw($VERSION @ISA);
9 $VERSION = eval $VERSION;
11 # Okay, this is the brute-force method of finding out what kind of
12 # platform we're on. I don't know of a systematic way. These values
13 # came from the latest (bleadperl) perlport.pod.
59 # We only use this once - don't waste a symbol table entry on it.
60 # More importantly, don't make it an inheritable method.
69 my @package = split /::/, __PACKAGE__;
71 if (grep {-e File::Spec->catfile($_, @package, 'Platform', $^O) . '.pm'} @INC) {
72 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Platform::$^O");
74 } elsif (exists $OSTYPES{$^O} and
75 grep {-e File::Spec->catfile($_, @package, 'Platform', $OSTYPES{$^O}) . '.pm'} @INC) {
76 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Platform::$OSTYPES{$^O}");
79 $load->(__PACKAGE__ . "::Base");
83 sub os_type { $OSTYPES{$^O} }
90 ExtUtils::CBuilder - Compile and link C code for Perl modules
94 use ExtUtils::CBuilder;
96 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new(%options);
97 $obj_file = $b->compile(source => 'MyModule.c');
98 $lib_file = $b->link(objects => $obj_file);
102 This module can build the C portions of Perl modules by invoking the
103 appropriate compilers and linkers in a cross-platform manner. It was
104 motivated by the C<Module::Build> project, but may be useful for other
105 purposes as well. However, it is I<not> intended as a general
106 cross-platform interface to all your C building needs. That would
107 have been a much more ambitious goal!
115 Returns a new C<ExtUtils::CBuilder> object. A C<config> parameter
116 lets you override C<Config.pm> settings for all operations performed
117 by the object, as in the following example:
119 # Use a different compiler than Config.pm says
120 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( config =>
123 A C<quiet> parameter tells C<CBuilder> to not print its C<system()>
124 commands before executing them:
126 # Be quieter than normal
127 my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( quiet => 1 );
131 Returns true if the current system has a working C compiler and
132 linker, false otherwise. To determine this, we actually compile and
133 link a sample C library.
137 Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of the
138 object file is returned. The source file is specified in a C<source>
139 parameter, which is required; the other parameters listed below are
146 Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the
147 C<object_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of the
150 =item C<include_dirs>
152 Specifies any additional directories in which to search for header
153 files. May be given as a string indicating a single directory, or as
154 a list reference indicating multiple directories.
156 =item C<extra_compiler_flags>
158 Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler. Should be
159 given as a list reference containing the arguments individually, or if
160 this is not possible, as a string containing all the arguments
165 The operation of this method is also affected by the
166 C<archlibexp>, C<cccdlflags>, C<ccflags>, C<optimize>, and C<cc>
167 entries in C<Config.pm>.
171 Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In
172 scalar context, the name of the library file is returned. In list
173 context, the library file and any temporary files created are
174 returned. A required C<objects> parameter contains the name of the
175 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file) or
176 list reference (for one or more files). The following parameters are
184 Specifies the name of the output library file to create. Otherwise
185 the C<lib_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of
186 the first entry in C<objects>.
190 Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by linking.
191 On platforms that need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2, etc.) this is a
194 =item extra_linker_flags
196 Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.
200 On platforms where C<need_prelink()> returns true, C<prelink()>
201 will be called automatically.
203 The operation of this method is also affected by the C<lddlflags>,
204 C<shrpenv>, and C<ld> entries in C<Config.pm>.
206 =item link_executable
208 Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files. In
209 scalar context, the name of the executable file is returned. In list
210 context, the executable file and any temporary files created are
211 returned. A required C<objects> parameter contains the name of the
212 object files to process, either in a string (for one object file) or
213 list reference (for one or more files). The optional parameters are
214 the same as C<link> with exception for
221 Specifies the name of the output executable file to create. Otherwise
222 the C<exe_file()> method will be consulted, passing it the name of the
223 first entry in C<objects>.
229 my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);
231 Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an
232 output object file to create from it. For instance, on Unix the
233 source file F<foo.c> would result in the object file F<foo.o>.
237 my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);
239 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a
240 output library file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
241 object file F<foo.o> would result in the library file F<foo.bundle>.
245 my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);
247 Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an
248 executable file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
249 object file F<foo.o> would result in the executable file F<foo>, and
250 on Windows it would result in F<foo.exe>.
255 On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is necessary
256 to perform some actions before invoking the linker. The
257 C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists> module does this, writing files used by the
258 linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic extensions.
259 The names of any files written will be returned as a list.
261 Several parameters correspond to C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksymlists()>
264 Mksymlists() prelink() type
265 -------------|-------------------|-------------------
266 NAME | dl_name | string (required)
267 DLBASE | dl_base | string
268 FILE | dl_file | string
269 DL_VARS | dl_vars | array reference
270 DL_FUNCS | dl_funcs | hash reference
271 FUNCLIST | dl_func_list | array reference
272 IMPORTS | dl_imports | hash reference
273 VERSION | dl_version | string
275 Please see the documentation for C<ExtUtils::Mksymlists> for the
276 details of what these parameters do.
280 Returns true on platforms where C<prelink()> should be called
281 during linking, and false otherwise.
283 =item extra_link_args_after_prelink
285 Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the arguments
286 are the same as for prelink(), with addition of array reference to the
287 results of prelink(); this reference is indexed by key C<prelink_res>.
293 Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of
294 the Windows-specific code from the C<Module::Build> project. I'll do
299 This module is an outgrowth of the C<Module::Build> project, to which
300 there have been many contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted
301 lots of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and helped with various
302 other platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed
303 fixes for OS/2; John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise
308 Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org
312 Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
314 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
315 modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
319 perl(1), Module::Build(3)