Re: Linking vs. a *.lib-file on windows (cygwin / MinGW)

[Andre Poenitz]

Lars Uffmann <aral@nurfuerspam.de> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I am trying to use an Ansi-C-compatible API provided by a closed-source 
> software, and I am badly failing to link against the library, which I am 
> willing to blame on my inexperience with linker settings.
> 
> What I have is:
> - the header files for the API
> - the *.dll files in my system32 folder
> - the *.lib file for the one dll that contains the function I want to use.
> 
> My understanding is that I need to
> - include the header files in my source (as if it was my own code and I 
> had the cpp-files also)
> - use the function as intended in my code and as defined in the header
> - link against the libfile
> - have the dll available at runtime
> 
> So how do I link against the libraryname.lib file - which command line 
> option for the g++ linker is that?
> 
> Grateful for any help!

Poking into the dark: Do the C headers have something like 'extern "C"'
mentioned somewhere?

If not, try 

  extern "C" {
  #include "the_software_C_header.h"
  }

A C++ compiler typically "mangles" the function names it enconters, so
the linker might not be able to match them with the symbols from the
library.

Andre'