Compiling A Shared library

I have a library that I've been writing for the past couple years, and I finally decided to port it to C from C++. After doing all this and making sure the syntax was right in all the code, I now have come across an error I can't seem to figure out. When I try to compile the library without a main function, it tells me that main is undefined and fails. But, if I put a main function in, it compiles and builds. But attempting to link something to it will result in a redefinition of main error. I can't seem to do either of the two, and am stumped. I am using GCC in Linux, if it makes a difference.

If this is a library, so you shouldn't need a main function. Sounds like a problem with your Makefile. You should not be attempting to link this into an application (which requires a main function for an entry point).

What does your Makefile look like?

I use no makefile to do this; rather, just source and compiler. The commands I do use are:

gcc -fPIC -c libectara.c
gcc -O3 -g3 -shared -lm -ldl -Wall -Wl,-soname,libectara.so.1 -o libectara.so.1.1 *.o

Congrats on 3k posts, by the way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ectara

I use no makefile to do this; rather, just source and compiler. The commands I do use are:

gcc -fPIC -c libectara.c
gcc -O3 -g3 -shared -lm -ldl -Wall -Wl,-soname,libectara.so.1 -o libectara.so.1.1 *.o

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I thought the error occurred when you where compiling the library as C++ code. Do you get the same error with your original C code as well?

The link command you have there shouldn't require a main function.

I rewrote the library in C89, so no part of it is C++ anymore. There is a second library that I wrote that depends on this library, and it happens to be written in C++, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter what uses it after it's compiled. More specifically, I can compile the C code, and it gives no errors, and produces a shared object, but then the C++ project that depends on it complains that there is no main function. If there is a main added to the C++ library, it compiles and produces a shared object, but linking a test program against that will result in a redefinition of main, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense, is why the C++ library demands there be a main function.

Turns out I'm an idiot, and made a typo:

g++ -fPIC -c libectarica.cpp
g++ -O2 -g3-shared -lm -ldl -lectara -lSDL -lGL -lGLU -Wall -Wl,-soname,libectarica.so.0 -o libectarica.so.0.8 *.o

Instead of

g++ -fPIC -c libectarica.cpp
g++ -O2 -g3 -shared -lm -ldl -lectara -lSDL -lGL -lGLU -Wall -Wl,-soname,libectarica.so.0 -o libectarica.so.0.8 *.o


Thanks for your help, anyway.