Thread: Some questions about DSO's...

Hi everyone,

I am building a shared library and i'm having some doubts about the whole process of using the library.

Here are some things that are bothering me:

• I know that in windows i must export symbols and stuff, is it better/required that i do this in linux as well? If so, how?
• Is it possible for me to allow a user of my library to use the library classes without having to include the classes original header file? If so, how?
• How does one handle with library versioning in terms of linking compatibility and so on?

Ok, i have googled around but unfortunately i must come to the conclusion that there's not a very good, understandable explanation on these matters.

Thanks to all for your time and help in advance, Cheers

Originally Posted by LinuxCoder

• I know that in windows i must export symbols and stuff, is it better/required that i do this in linux as well? If so, how?

Not required, they are all exported unless declared static. There are some special features of GCC that allow functionality similar to Windows but people don't generally use them because it's not portable.

• Is it possible for me to allow a user of my library to use the library classes without having to include the classes original header file? If so, how?

Well there has to be something that defines the shape of the class or function prototype or whatever.

• How does one handle with library versioning in terms of linking compatibility and so on?

Just look in /usr/lib and you'll see. Usually libraries have the version number in the file name (/usr/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.7).

Thanks for you help codie, i was thinking there could be some way of having header files with only the public methods and variables exposed to the user of a library while allowing the private methods and data to be ocluded from the library user.