Re: several newbie questions (spec files, "pathing", static linking, etc)

["Wolcott, Ken (MED, Compuware)" <Ken dot Wolcott at med dot ge dot com>]

On Thursday 23 October 2003 01:01, Phil Edwards wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 02:40:49PM -0500, Wolcott, Ken (MED, Compuware) 
wrote:
> >   However, my developers would like to have the the cross compiler tool
> > chain to be statically linked rather than dynamically linked.  So is this
> > done via configure --enable-static when compiling gcc and glibc or via
> > configure --disable-shared?  Or do I have to modify the associated
> > Makefiles manually of all components so that LD is given -static?
>
> The --enable/--disable switches affect the kinds of runtime libraries built
> during the bootstrap process, not the capabilities of the new compiler,
> nor the linkage of the new compiler.
>
> This is documented at gcc.gnu.org/install, along with the technique for
> passing arbitrary flags to the bootstrap compiler (the one building your
> new compiler); if you're using gcc as a bootstrap compiler, try adding
> -static to the various CFLAGS.
>
> >   Also, there is some mention of manually modifying the "spec" file(s). 
> > What are the gcc spec files?  What I can tell so far is that this
> > mechanism is used so that gcc subcomponents can be found by gcc.  One of
> > my developers calls this "pathing" and he is concerned that gcc picks up
> > libraries that have nothing to do with the target. Could somebody
> > elaborate on the existence of and the purpose of the spec files?
>
> You have the right idea.  I've never heard it called "pathing" before.
> To see the full command lines of the subcommands run by gcc, add -v to
> the command line.  This will also tell you the location of the primary
> specs file.
>
> If you find that you need to make changes which cannot be done using other
> command-line options, try making a small ancilliary specs file and using
> --specs=filename, rather than editing the primary file.  Be careful in any
> case, as the format is extremely fragile.  (It's meant to be read quickly
> by a program, not edited easily by a human.[*])
>
>
> Phil
> [*]  Analogies with sendmail.cf can be made here.

Hi Phil;

  Thanks for your reply.  I think it will be helpful.

Ken