Quoth David Ascher, on 29 March 1999:
On windows, it is sometimes needed to specify other files which aren't .c files, but .def files (possibly all can be done with command line options, but might as well build this in). I don't know how these should fit in...
Are they just listed in the command line like .c files? Or are they specified by a command-line option? Would you use these in code that's meant to be portable to other platforms?
Yes, no, and yes. =)
E.g. Python extensions need to declare the 'exported' entry point. This can be done either by modifying the source code (bad for portable code, requires #ifdef's etc.), by specifying a command-line option, or by including a .DEF file.
Just to follow up on this, many obscure options may need to be passed to the Windows linker, but they do require their own option - they are not passed as normal files. Examples are /DEF: - the .def file David mentions, /NOD:lib - to prevent a default library from being linked, /implib:lib to name the built .lib file, etc. It wasnt clear from David's post that these need their own option, and are not passed as a simple filename param to the linker.... Building from what Greg said, I agree that _certain_ command-line params can be mandated - they are designed not to be configurable, as messing them will likely break the build. But there also needs to be a secondary class that are virtually unconstrained. [Sorry - as usual, speaking having kept only a quick eye on the posts, and not having seen the latest code drop...] Mark.