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NAME

       dlltool - Create files needed to build and use DLLs.

SYNOPSIS

       dlltool [-d--input-def def-file-name]
               [-b--base-file base-file-name]
               [-e--output-exp exports-file-name]
               [-z--output-def def-file-name]
               [-l--output-lib library-file-name]
               [--export-all-symbols] [--no-export-all-symbols]
               [--exclude-symbols list]
               [--no-default-excludes]
               [-S--as path-to-assembler] [-f--as-flags options]
               [-D--dllname name] [-m--machine machine]
               [-a--add-indirect] [-U--add-underscore] [-k--kill-at]
               [-A--add-stdcall-alias]
               [-p--ext-prefix-alias prefix]
               [-x--no-idata4] [-c--no-idata5] [-i--interwork]
               [-n--nodelete] [-t--temp-prefix prefix]
               [-v--verbose]
               [-h--help] [-V--version]
               [object-file ...]

DESCRIPTION

       dlltool  reads its inputs, which can come from the -d and -b options as
       well as object files specified on the command line.  It then  processes
       these  inputs  and  if  the  -e  option has been specified it creates a
       exports file.  If the -l option has been specified it creates a library
       file  and  if  the  -z option has been specified it creates a def file.
       Any or all of the  -e,  -l  and  -z  options  can  be  present  in  one
       invocation of dlltool.

       When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary
       to have three other files.  dlltool can help with the creation of these
       files.

       The  first  file  is  a  .def  file which specifies which functions are
       exported from the DLL, which functions the  DLL  imports,  and  so  on.
       This  is a text file and can be created by hand, or dlltool can be used
       to create it using the -z option.  In this case dlltool will  scan  the
       object  files specified on its command line looking for those functions
       which have been specially marked as being exported and put entries  for
       them in the .def file it creates.

       In  order  to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to
       have an -export:<name_of_function> entry in the .drectve section of the
       object file.  This can be done in C by using the asm() operator:

                 asm (".section .drectve");
                 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");

                 int my_func (void) { ... }

       The  second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file.  This file
       is linked with the object files that make up the body of the DLL and it
       handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world.  This is a
       binary file and it can be created by giving the -e  option  to  dlltool
       when it is creating or reading in a .def file.

       The  third  file  needed  for  DLL  creation  is  the library file that
       programs will link with in order to access the functions  in  the  DLL.
       This  file can be created by giving the -l option to dlltool when it is
       creating or reading in a .def file.

       dlltool builds the library file by hand, but it builds the exports file
       by  creating  temporary  files containing assembler statements and then
       assembling these.  The -S command line option can be  used  to  specify
       the  path to the assembler that dlltool will use, and the -f option can
       be used to pass specific flags to that assembler.  The -n can  be  used
       to  prevent  dlltool from deleting these temporary assembler files when
       it is done, and if -n is specified twice then this will prevent dlltool
       from  deleting the temporary object files it used to build the library.

       Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file dll.c and  also
       creating  a  program  (from  an object file called program.o) that uses
       that DLL:

                 gcc -c dll.c
                 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
                 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
                 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program

OPTIONS

       The command line options have the following meanings:

       -d filename
       --input-def filename
           Specifies the name of a .def file to be read in and processed.

       -b filename
       --base-file filename
           Specifies the name of a base file to be read in and processed.  The
           contents  of  this  file will be added to the relocation section in
           the exports file generated by dlltool.

       -e filename
       --output-exp filename
           Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.

       -z filename
       --output-def filename
           Specifies the name of the .def file to be created by dlltool.

       -l filename
       --output-lib filename
           Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.

       --export-all-symbols
           Treat all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object
           files  as symbols to be exported.  There is a small list of symbols
           which are not exported by default;  see  the  --no-default-excludes
           option.   You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using
           the --exclude-symbols option.

       --no-export-all-symbols
           Only export symbols explicitly listed in an input .def file  or  in
           .drectve  sections  in the input object files.  This is the default
           behaviour.   The  .drectve  sections  are  created   by   dllexport
           attributes in the source code.

       --exclude-symbols list
           Do  not export the symbols in list.  This is a list of symbol names
           separated by comma or colon characters.  The  symbol  names  should
           not  contain  a  leading  underscore.  This is only meaningful when
           --export-all-symbols is used.

       --no-default-excludes
           When  --export-all-symbols  is  used,  it  will  by  default  avoid
           exporting  certain special symbols.  The current list of symbols to
           avoid exporting is DllMain@12,  DllEntryPoint@0,  impure_ptr.   You
           may  use  the  --no-default-excludes  option to go ahead and export
           these   special   symbols.    This   is   only   meaningful    when
           --export-all-symbols is used.

       -S path
       --as path
           Specifies  the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be
           used to create the exports file.

       -f options
       --as-flags options
           Specifies any specific command line options to  be  passed  to  the
           assembler  when  building  the exports file.  This option will work
           even if the -S option is not used.   This  option  only  takes  one
           argument, and if it occurs more than once on the command line, then
           later occurrences will override earlier occurrences.  So if  it  is
           necessary  to pass multiple options to the assembler they should be
           enclosed in double quotes.

       -D name
       --dll-name name
           Specifies the name to be stored in the .def file as the name of the
           DLL  when  the  -e  option is used.  If this option is not present,
           then the filename given to the -e option will be used as  the  name
           of the DLL.

       -m machine
       -machine machine
           Specifies  the type of machine for which the library file should be
           built.  dlltool has a built in default type, depending upon how  it
           was created, but this option can be used to override that.  This is
           normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor,  when
           the   contents   of   the  DLL  are  actually  encode  using  Thumb
           instructions.

       -a
       --add-indirect
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it  should
           add  a section which allows the exported functions to be referenced
           without using the import library.  Whatever the hell that means!

       -U
       --add-underscore
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it  should
           prepend an underscore to the names of the exported functions.

       -k
       --kill-at
           Specifies  that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should
           not append the string @ <number>.  These numbers are called ordinal
           numbers and they represent another way of accessing the function in
           a DLL, other than by name.

       -A
       --add-stdcall-alias
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it  should
           add  aliases  for stdcall symbols without @ <number> in addition to
           the symbols with @ <number>.

       -p
       --ext-prefix-alias prefix
           Causes dlltool to create external aliases for all DLL imports  with
           the  specified  prefix.   The aliases are created for both external
           and import symbols with no leading underscore.

       -x
       --no-idata4
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating  the  exports  and  library
           files   it   should  omit  the  ".idata4"  section.   This  is  for
           compatibility with certain operating systems.

       -c
       --no-idata5
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating  the  exports  and  library
           files   it   should  omit  the  ".idata5"  section.   This  is  for
           compatibility with certain operating systems.

       -i
       --interwork
           Specifies that dlltool should mark the objects in the library  file
           and  exports  file  that  it  produces  as  supporting interworking
           between ARM and Thumb code.

       -n
       --nodelete
           Makes dlltool preserve the temporary assembler  files  it  used  to
           create  the  exports file.  If this option is repeated then dlltool
           will also preserve the temporary object files it uses to create the
           library file.

       -t prefix
       --temp-prefix prefix
           Makes  dlltool  use prefix when constructing the names of temporary
           assembler and object files.  By default, the temp  file  prefix  is
           generated from the pid.

       -v
       --verbose
           Make dlltool describe what it is doing.

       -h
       --help
           Displays a list of command line options and then exits.

       -V
       --version
           Displays dlltool’s version number and then exits.

SEE ALSO

       The Info pages for binutils.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright  (c)  1991,  1992,  1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
       2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify  this  document
       under  the  terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
       any later version published by the Free Software  Foundation;  with  no
       Invariant  Sections,  with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ‘‘GNU
       Free Documentation License’’.