Link Edits

This problem occurs only when an ISV's application link edits after installation (i.e., uses the ld command to build itself). If all executables and shared libraries are built on the Reference Platform and pass the Application Compliance Testing tool (ACT), the only possible external interfaces are those specified by the ABI. (Note that ACT does not test manifest constants, such as ioctls compiled into the program.) The ABI interfaces are present on all ABI conforming Operating Systems in the form of dynamic shared libraries. Thus they will be resolved through dynamic linking to the dynamic shared libraries at run-time.

In the case where an application link edits itself after installation, it may expose a incompatibility between non-ABI headers or libraries on the Reference Platform and another vendor's platform. Furthermore, vendors may change the interface or implementation of libraries not covered by the ABI in new operating system releases.

The MIPS ABI Group offers the following guidelines to ISV's whose applications must link edit after installation; they are not meant to be either exhaustive or foolproof:

• Compiler and linker flags are known to differ across the various platforms. To aid the ISV, each vendor has agreed to provide a consistant interface in the wrappers abicc and abild, which are discussed later in this chapter.
• The math routines in libm.a will be consistent across all vendor's platforms.
• libcurses.a is known to depend on private interfaces in libc.so.1 and should not be used.
• Implementations of libucb.a may not be compatible across all vendor's platforms and should not be used.
• ISV's should document the version of any system interface used by their application that is not supported by the ABI. For example, applications using X widgets, X extensions, Motif or other system libraries which must be linked statically should document the release level of these libraries. This will allow customers to compare release levels between the application and their system.

Object Files

Debugging

Compiler and Linker Switches

The abicc wrapper supports the following flags, which are described in the UNIX System V Release 4 Programmer's Reference Manual:

• -A controls #assert mechanisms
• -B symbolic, -Bsymbolic, -B dynamic, -Bdynamic, -B static, -Bstatic controls linking phase library name lookup
• -C controls comment removal
• -c supresses linking phase
• -D controls #define mechanisms
• -dn, -d n, -dy, -d y selects dynamic linking (-dy, -d y)
• -E preprocess only (no compilation or linking)
• -f (obsolete, ignored)
• -G direct linker to produce shared object. Note that on the IRIX Reference Platform, this option is ignored. Shared object generation is controlled by flags to the linker.
• -g generate symbolic debug information
• -H prints include file names as they are processed
• -I controls include file lookup
• -Jsfm not supported, silently ignored
• -Kfpe, -K fpe, -Kmau, -K mau, -Ksd, -K sd, -Ksz, -K sz not supported, silently ignored
• -KPIC, -K PIC generate Position Independent Code
• -Kminabi, -K minabi restrict libraries to ABI definitions
• -L controls library search path at linking phase
• -l search specified library
• -o names output file
• -O controls optimization
• -P perform only preprocessing
• -p generate profiling code
• -Qn, -Q n, -Qy, -Q y generates compiler identification in output
• -q controls generation of profiling code
• -S suppress assembly and linking (leaves assembler file)
• -U causes specified name to be undefined
• -V prints version information
• -W not supported, generates a warning message
• -Xa, -X a, -Xc, -X c, -Xt, -X t controls conformance to ANSI and ISO C standards
• -Y not supported, generates a warning message

The abild wrapper supports the following flags, which are described in the UNIX System V Release 4 Programmer's Reference Manual:

• -a undefined references generate errors (static mode)
• -b controls DSO linkage
• -dn, -d n, -dy, -d y dynamic linking (-dy)
• -e defines entry point
• -h controls dynamic linking name lookup
• -l search the specified library
• -m produce a memory map
• -o names the output file
• -r combine object files
• -s strip symbolic information
• -t supress warning about multiple defined symbols of different sizes
• -u enters named symbol as an undefined
• -zdefs, -z defs, -znodefs, -z nodefs, -ztext, -z text controls handling of undefined symbols
• -Bsymbolic, -B symbolic, -Bdynamic, -B dynamic, -Bstatic, -B static controls library name lookup
• -G produce shared object
• -I specifies an interpreter to be linked with a.out
• -L controls library lookup path
• -M use specified map file
• -Qn, -Q n, -Qy, -Q y add compiler identification strings to output
• -V output a version identifier string
• -Y controls library search list

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