How to create a shared object file from static library

Question

How to create a shared object file from a static library? I am using Cygwin.

Is the following syntax correct?

gcc -shared -o libexample.so libexample.a

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 07 '11 at 10:56

15

gcc -shared -o libexample.so -Wl,--whole-archive libexample.a

Pay attention that often you'll want the objects combined in your .so to be compiled as PIC, something you don't often want for a static library.

answered Jun 07 '11 at 10:56

AProgrammer

Is it also possible to go the other way around an create a static library from a shared object resp. collection of dependent shared objects? – white_gecko Oct 09 '16 at 14:00
Yes -- at least of Unix, a static library is an archive (thus the name .a) of object files with an index. – AProgrammer Oct 10 '16 at 13:10
@AProgrammer and how to do the reverse process then (especially the index part)? – vesperto Aug 16 '21 at 16:55

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 07 '11 at 10:22

6

It might not work but you can always try:

ar -x libexample.a
gcc -shared *.o -o libexample.so

If it complains about -fPIC, then it probably won't work.

answered Jun 07 '11 at 10:22

synthesizerpatel

2 Answers2