ExtUti...uilder(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide ExtUti...uilder(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
<https://rt.perl.org>.
The Perl 5 source code is available at
<https://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@cpan.org
Additional contributions by The Perl 5 Porters.
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)
perl v5.40.1 2026-08-30 ExtUti...uilder(3perl)
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