Re: [xml] Mac OS-X: Why are binaries linked against libxml2.dylib?

[Nathanael Noblet <nathanael gnat ca>]

On Jun 3, 2005, at 10:17 AM, Rush Manbert wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have built the 2.6.19 version of thew library and installed it in a 
> non-standard location. I need to do this because I'm building an 
> application that uses this library version, and I can't use whatever 
> happens to be installed with the OS on my customer's machines. I want 
> to keep my OS installation as it was (2.6.16) but link statically 
> against the library version of my choice (2.6.19).
>
> Because of the way I did this, I discovered that xmllint has been 
> linked against libxml2.dylib. I see that the library contains a string 
> that specifies the path where it will be installed (i.e. 
> prefix/lib/libxml2.dylib). When xmllint gets linked against the 
> library, xmllint ends up containing the same path string. As long as I 
> go ahead and run the make install, I can run the xmllint that the 
> build created and it will find the dylib.
>
> My problem is that I'm using the make install locations as a staging 
> area, then moving files to their final locations in my development 
> tree. Needless to say, this makes it so that I no longer link against 
> 2.6.19, but it tries the other default paths and finds 2.6.16 in 
> /usr/lib.
>
> I have two questions:
> 1) Is there some way to force the binary utilities to be linked 
> statically against libxml2.a? The configure help doesn't mention 
> anything, but the Windows version does this. I have also done it by 
> hand by capturing the make output, copying the link line, and changing 
> libxml2.dylib to libxml2.a. It works just fine and the resulting 
> xmllint always tells me 2.6.19.
>
> 2) Doesn't linking statically to libxml2 make more sense than linking 
> dynamically? You downloaded a specific package, so I would assume that 
> you would want to use it. I certainly do.

Can't you use the appropriate LD flags during various build stages to 
set where the compiler & link look for particular libraries and thus 
make it find the right ones at the right time?
--
Nathanael D. Noblet
Gnat Solutions
204 - 131 Gorge Road E
Victoria, BC V9A 1L1

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