ld --base-file option, dlltool generated exp files

[Nick Clifton]

Hi Tom,

> What I found through lots of experimentation is that either the base file
> generated by ld or the exp file generated by dlltool is off and is making 
> a DLL that causes our applications to crash 

> The reason I say it's either the base file or the exp file is that I can
> take my export definition file (a .def file) and generate an import library 
> and exp file using Microsoft's lib tool, and that exp file makes the final 
> link produce a DLL that does not have an issue.

> I have a way around the problem without using a base file (just pass the
> .def file directly to ld so that an export table is generated), but I 
> wanted to report this issue.

Thank you for doing this.  It always helps when problems are reported, even
if we do not have a solution available.

Please could you file a bug report here:

   https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=binutils


> What would be most useful for a reproducer?  I think I am going to have a
> difficult time paring our code down to an MRE, and I'm reluctant to 
> release IP object code

Understood.  A stand alone reproducer would be ideal, but if that is not
possible then some further details on the problem would definitely help.
For example - are you able to identify what is wrong the the DLLs being
produced by the linker ?  Do any of the various PE-file checker programs
that are out there report any problems ?

Also - do you know if they problem happens with older versions of the
binutils, eg 2.35 or 2.36 ?  Possibly the problem is due to a (relatively)
recent change to the linker.

I cannot make any guarantees, but I will definitely look at any bug reports
you file.

Cheers
   Nick