gcc -l option and .la library files

Question

Could you please explain, how linking with -l option against .la files works?

As far as my experience reaches - i have only linked against static library (.a) files.

Now i took a look at some Qt generated Makefiles and cant figure out, how linker figures out to use/open libQtCore.la file, when -l QtCore switch is specified, instead of looking for libQtCore.a.

Also - gcc manual states, that -l[library name] switch will include lib[library name].a, not lib[libraryname].la.

I'm not familiar with the extension `.la`. What does `file yourfile.la` say? Maybe it's just the same as an object archive and can be renamed to `.a` — sellibitze, Jun 18 '10 at 12:36

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 18 '10 at 13:51

16

.la files are as far as I know libtool junk and shouldn't be linked to manually. They are used internally by libtool for whatever reason it needs them. You should link to the *.a file. In a Qt install/build there should be *.a files to link to.

answered Jun 18 '10 at 13:51

rubenvb

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how to compile with .la in order to create static library e.g example.la – Hafiz Muhammad Shafiq Feb 26 '14 at 06:59
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@Muhammad As I said, `*.la` files are junk. They are not static libraries. Open one up, you'll see it's a bunch of text. You want the `*.a` files. – rubenvb Feb 26 '14 at 08:19

gcc -l option and .la library files

1 Answers1