dlltool - create files needed to build and use DLLs

       Copyright (c) 1991-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

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       Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software  Foundation;  with
       no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is
       included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

binutils-2.43.1                                    2024-10-26                                         DLLTOOL(1)

dlltool reads its inputs, which can come from the -d and -b options as well as object files specified on
       the command line.  It then processes these inputs and if the -e option has been specified it creates a
       exports file.  If the -l option has been specified it creates a library file and if the -z option has
       been specified it creates a def file.  Any or all of the -e, -l and -z options can be present in one
       invocation of dlltool.

       When creating a DLL, along with the source for the DLL, it is necessary to have three other files.
       dlltool can help with the creation of these files.

       The first file is a .def file which specifies which functions are exported from the DLL, which functions
       the DLL imports, and so on.  This is a text file and can be created by hand, or dlltool can be used to
       create it using the -z option.  In this case dlltool will scan the object files specified on its command
       line looking for those functions which have been specially marked as being exported and put entries for
       them in the .def file it creates.

       In order to mark a function as being exported from a DLL, it needs to have an -export:<name_of_function>
       entry in the .drectve section of the object file.  This can be done in C by using the asm() operator:

                 asm (".section .drectve");
                 asm (".ascii \"-export:my_func\"");

                 int my_func (void) { ... }

       The second file needed for DLL creation is an exports file.  This file is linked with the object files
       that make up the body of the DLL and it handles the interface between the DLL and the outside world.
       This is a binary file and it can be created by giving the -e option to dlltool when it is creating or
       reading in a .def file.

       The third file needed for DLL creation is the library file that programs will link with in order to
       access the functions in the DLL (an `import library').  This file can be created by giving the -l option
       to dlltool when it is creating or reading in a .def file.

       If the -y option is specified, dlltool generates a delay-import library that can be used instead of the
       normal import library to allow a program to link to the dll only as soon as an imported function is
       called for the first time. The resulting executable will need to be linked to the static delayimp library
       containing __delayLoadHelper2(), which in turn will import LoadLibraryA and GetProcAddress from kernel32.

       dlltool builds the library file by hand, but it builds the exports file by creating temporary files
       containing assembler statements and then assembling these.  The -S command-line option can be used to
       specify the path to the assembler that dlltool will use, and the -f option can be used to pass specific
       flags to that assembler.  The -n can be used to prevent dlltool from deleting these temporary assembler
       files when it is done, and if -n is specified twice then this will prevent dlltool from deleting the
       temporary object files it used to build the library.

       Here is an example of creating a DLL from a source file dll.c and also creating a program (from an object
       file called program.o) that uses that DLL:

                 gcc -c dll.c
                 dlltool -e exports.o -l dll.lib dll.o
                 gcc dll.o exports.o -o dll.dll
                 gcc program.o dll.lib -o program

       dlltool may also be used to query an existing import library to determine the name of the DLL to which it
       is associated.  See the description of the -I or --identify option.

       dlltool - create files needed to build and use DLLs

       The command-line options have the following meanings:

       -dfilename--input-deffilename
           Specifies the name of a .def file to be read in and processed.

       -bfilename--base-filefilename
           Specifies  the  name  of  a base file to be read in and processed.  The contents of this file will be
           added to the relocation section in the exports file generated by dlltool.

       -efilename--output-expfilename
           Specifies the name of the export file to be created by dlltool.

       -zfilename--output-deffilename
           Specifies the name of the .def file to be created by dlltool.

       -lfilename--output-libfilename
           Specifies the name of the library file to be created by dlltool.

       -yfilename--output-delaylibfilename
           Specifies the name of the delay-import library file to be created by dlltool.

       --deterministic-libraries--non-deterministic-libraries
           When creating output libraries in response to either the --output-lib  or  --output-delaylib  options
           either   use   the   value   of   zero   for   any   timestamps,  user  ids  and  group  ids  created
           (--deterministic-libraries)   or   the    actual    timestamps,    user    ids    and    group    ids
           (--non-deterministic-libraries).

       --export-all-symbols
           Treat  all global and weak defined symbols found in the input object files as symbols to be exported.
           There is a small list of symbols which are not exported by  default;  see  the  --no-default-excludes
           option.  You may add to the list of symbols to not export by using the --exclude-symbols option.

       --no-export-all-symbols
           Only  export  symbols  explicitly  listed  in an input .def file or in .drectve sections in the input
           object files.  This is the default  behaviour.   The  .drectve  sections  are  created  by  dllexport
           attributes in the source code.

       --exclude-symbolslist
           Do  not  export  the  symbols  in  list.   This is a list of symbol names separated by comma or colon
           characters.  The symbol names should not contain a leading underscore.  This is only meaningful  when
           --export-all-symbols is used.

       --no-default-excludes
           When  --export-all-symbols  is used, it will by default avoid exporting certain special symbols.  The
           current list of symbols to avoid exporting is DllMain@12, DllEntryPoint@0, impure_ptr.  You  may  use
           the  --no-default-excludes  option  to  go  ahead  and  export  these  special symbols.  This is only
           meaningful when --export-all-symbols is used.

       -Spath--aspath
           Specifies the path, including the filename, of the assembler to be used to create the exports file.

       -foptions--as-flagsoptions
           Specifies any specific command-line options to be passed to the assembler when building  the  exports
           file.  This option will work even if the -S option is not used.  This option only takes one argument,
           and  if  it  occurs  more than once on the command line, then later occurrences will override earlier
           occurrences.  So if it is necessary to pass multiple options to the assembler they should be enclosed
           in double quotes.

       -Dname--dll-namename
           Specifies the name to be stored in the .def file as the name of the DLL when the -e option  is  used.
           If  this  option is not present, then the filename given to the -e option will be used as the name of
           the DLL.

       -mmachine-machinemachine
           Specifies the type of machine for which the library file should be built.  dlltool  has  a  built  in
           default  type, depending upon how it was created, but this option can be used to override that.  This
           is normally only useful when creating DLLs for an ARM processor, when the contents  of  the  DLL  are
           actually encode using Thumb instructions.

       -a--add-indirect
           Specifies  that  when  dlltool  is creating the exports file it should add a section which allows the
           exported functions to be referenced without using the import library.  Whatever the hell that means!

       -U--add-underscore
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should prepend an underscore to the names
           of all exported symbols.

       --no-leading-underscore--leading-underscore
           Specifies whether standard symbol should be forced to be prefixed, or not.

       --add-stdcall-underscore
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports file it should prepend an underscore to the names
           of exported stdcall functions. Variable names and non-stdcall function names are not modified.   This
           option  is  useful when creating GNU-compatible import libs for third party DLLs that were built with
           MS-Windows tools.

       -k--kill-at
           Specifies that @<number> suffixes should be omitted from the names of stdcall functions that will  be
           imported  from  the  DLL.   This  is  useful  when creating an import library for a DLL which exports
           stdcall functions but without the usual @<number> symbol name suffix.

           This does not change the naming of symbols provided by the import library to programs linked  against
           it, but only the entries in the import table (ie the .idata section).

       -A--add-stdcall-alias
           Specifies  that  when  dlltool is creating the exports file it should add aliases for stdcall symbols
           without @<number> in addition to the symbols with @<number>.

       -p--ext-prefix-aliasprefix
           Causes dlltool to create external aliases for all DLL imports with the specified prefix.  The aliases
           are created for both external and import symbols with no leading underscore.

       -x--no-idata4
           Specifies that when dlltool is creating the exports and library files it should  omit  the  ".idata4"
           section.  This is for compatibility with certain operating systems.

       --use-nul-prefixed-import-tables
           Specifies  that when dlltool is creating the exports and library files it should prefix the ".idata4"
           and ".idata5" by zero an element. This emulates old gnu import library generation  of  "dlltool".  By
           default this option is turned off.

       -c--no-idata5
           Specifies  that  when  dlltool is creating the exports and library files it should omit the ".idata5"
           section.  This is for compatibility with certain operating systems.

       -Ifilename--identifyfilename
           Specifies that dlltool should inspect the  import  library  indicated  by  filename  and  report,  on
           "stdout",  the  name(s)  of  the  associated  DLL(s).  This can be performed in addition to any other
           operations indicated by the other options and arguments.  dlltool fails if the  import  library  does
           not exist or is not actually an import library. See also --identify-strict.

       --identify-strict
           Modifies  the  behavior  of  the  --identify  option,  such  that an error is reported if filename is
           associated with more than one DLL.

       -i--interwork
           Specifies that dlltool should mark the objects in the library file and exports file that it  produces
           as supporting interworking between ARM and Thumb code.

       -n--nodelete
           Makes  dlltool  preserve  the  temporary assembler files it used to create the exports file.  If this
           option is repeated then dlltool will also preserve the temporary object files it uses to  create  the
           library file.

       -tprefix--temp-prefixprefix
           Makes  dlltool  use  prefix  when constructing the names of temporary assembler and object files.  By
           default, the temp file prefix is generated from the pid.

       -v--verbose
           Make dlltool describe what it is doing.

       -h--help
           Displays a list of command-line options and then exits.

       -V--version
           Displays dlltool's version number and then exits.

       @file
           Read command-line options from file.  The options read are inserted in place of  the  original  @file
           option.   If  file  does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and
           not removed.

           Options in file are separated by whitespace.  A whitespace character may be included in an option  by
           surrounding  the  entire  option  in  either  single  or  double  quotes.  Any character (including a
           backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash.  The file  may
           itself contain additional @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.

       The Info pages for binutils.

       dlltool [-d|--input-defdef-file-name]
               [-b|--base-filebase-file-name]
               [-e|--output-expexports-file-name]
               [-z|--output-defdef-file-name]
               [-l|--output-liblibrary-file-name]
               [-y|--output-delayliblibrary-file-name]
               [--export-all-symbols] [--no-export-all-symbols]
               [--exclude-symbolslist]
               [--no-default-excludes]
               [-S|--aspath-to-assembler] [-f|--as-flagsoptions]
               [-D|--dllnamename] [-m|--machinemachine]
               [-a|--add-indirect]
               [-U|--add-underscore] [--add-stdcall-underscore]
               [-k|--kill-at] [-A|--add-stdcall-alias]
               [-p|--ext-prefix-aliasprefix]
               [-x|--no-idata4] [-c|--no-idata5]
               [--use-nul-prefixed-import-tables]
               [-I|--identifylibrary-file-name] [--identify-strict]
               [-i|--interwork]
               [-n|--nodelete] [-t|--temp-prefixprefix]
               [-v|--verbose]
               [-h|--help] [-V|--version]
               [--no-leading-underscore] [--leading-underscore]
               [--deterministic-libraries] [--non-deterministic-libraries]
               [object-file ...]