NAME
    ExtUtils::CBuilder - Compile and link C code for Perl modules

SYNOPSIS
      use ExtUtils::CBuilder;

      my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new(%options);
      $obj_file = $b->compile(source => 'MyModule.c');
      $lib_file = $b->link(objects => $obj_file);

DESCRIPTION
    This module can build the C portions of Perl modules by invoking the
    appropriate compilers and linkers in a cross-platform manner. It was
    motivated by the "Module::Build" project, but may be useful for other
    purposes as well. However, it is *not* intended as a general
    cross-platform interface to all your C building needs. That would have
    been a much more ambitious goal!

METHODS
    new Returns a new "ExtUtils::CBuilder" object. A "config" parameter lets
        you override "Config.pm" settings for all operations performed by
        the object, as in the following example:

          # Use a different compiler than Config.pm says
          my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( config =>
                                           { ld => 'gcc' } );

        A "quiet" parameter tells "CBuilder" to not print its "system()"
        commands before executing them:

          # Be quieter than normal
          my $b = ExtUtils::CBuilder->new( quiet => 1 );

    have_compiler
        Returns true if the current system has a working C compiler and
        linker, false otherwise. To determine this, we actually compile and
        link a sample C library. The sample will be compiled in the system
        tempdir or, if that fails for some reason, in the current directory.

    compile
        Compiles a C source file and produces an object file. The name of
        the object file is returned. The source file is specified in a
        "source" parameter, which is required; the other parameters listed
        below are optional.

        "object_file"
            Specifies the name of the output file to create. Otherwise the
            "object_file()" method will be consulted, passing it the name of
            the "source" file.

        "include_dirs"
            Specifies any additional directories in which to search for
            header files. May be given as a string indicating a single
            directory, or as a list reference indicating multiple
            directories.

        "extra_compiler_flags"
            Specifies any additional arguments to pass to the compiler.
            Should be given as a list reference containing the arguments
            individually, or if this is not possible, as a string containing
            all the arguments together.

        The operation of this method is also affected by the "archlibexp",
        "cccdlflags", "ccflags", "optimize", and "cc" entries in
        "Config.pm".

    link
        Invokes the linker to produce a library file from object files. In
        scalar context, the name of the library file is returned. In list
        context, the library file and any temporary files created are
        returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of the
        object files to process, either in a string (for one object file) or
        list reference (for one or more files). The following parameters are
        optional:

        lib_file
            Specifies the name of the output library file to create.
            Otherwise the "lib_file()" method will be consulted, passing it
            the name of the first entry in "objects".

        module_name
            Specifies the name of the Perl module that will be created by
            linking. On platforms that need to do prelinking (Win32, OS/2,
            etc.) this is a required parameter.

        extra_linker_flags
            Any additional flags you wish to pass to the linker.

        On platforms where "need_prelink()" returns true, "prelink()" will
        be called automatically.

        The operation of this method is also affected by the "lddlflags",
        "shrpenv", and "ld" entries in "Config.pm".

    link_executable
        Invokes the linker to produce an executable file from object files.
        In scalar context, the name of the executable file is returned. In
        list context, the executable file and any temporary files created
        are returned. A required "objects" parameter contains the name of
        the object files to process, either in a string (for one object
        file) or list reference (for one or more files). The optional
        parameters are the same as "link" with exception for

        exe_file
            Specifies the name of the output executable file to create.
            Otherwise the "exe_file()" method will be consulted, passing it
            the name of the first entry in "objects".

    object_file
         my $object_file = $b->object_file($source_file);

        Converts the name of a C source file to the most natural name of an
        output object file to create from it. For instance, on Unix the
        source file foo.c would result in the object file foo.o.

    lib_file
         my $lib_file = $b->lib_file($object_file);

        Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of a
        output library file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
        object file foo.o would result in the library file foo.bundle.

    exe_file
         my $exe_file = $b->exe_file($object_file);

        Converts the name of an object file to the most natural name of an
        executable file to create from it. For instance, on Mac OS X the
        object file foo.o would result in the executable file foo, and on
        Windows it would result in foo.exe.

    prelink
        On certain platforms like Win32, OS/2, VMS, and AIX, it is necessary
        to perform some actions before invoking the linker. The
        "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" module does this, writing files used by the
        linker during the creation of shared libraries for dynamic
        extensions. The names of any files written will be returned as a
        list.

        Several parameters correspond to
        "ExtUtils::Mksymlists::Mksymlists()" options, as follows:

            Mksymlists()   prelink()          type
           -------------|-------------------|-------------------
            NAME        |  dl_name          | string (required)
            DLBASE      |  dl_base          | string
            FILE        |  dl_file          | string
            DL_VARS     |  dl_vars          | array reference
            DL_FUNCS    |  dl_funcs         | hash reference
            FUNCLIST    |  dl_func_list     | array reference
            IMPORTS     |  dl_imports       | hash reference
            VERSION     |  dl_version       | string

        Please see the documentation for "ExtUtils::Mksymlists" for the
        details of what these parameters do.

    need_prelink
        Returns true on platforms where "prelink()" should be called during
        linking, and false otherwise.

    extra_link_args_after_prelink
        Returns list of extra arguments to give to the link command; the
        arguments are the same as for prelink(), with addition of array
        reference to the results of prelink(); this reference is indexed by
        key "prelink_res".

TO DO
    Currently this has only been tested on Unix and doesn't contain any of
    the Windows-specific code from the "Module::Build" project. I'll do that
    next.

HISTORY
    This module is an outgrowth of the "Module::Build" project, to which
    there have been many contributors. Notably, Randy W. Sims submitted lots
    of code to support 3 compilers on Windows and helped with various other
    platform-specific issues. Ilya Zakharevich has contributed fixes for
    OS/2; John E. Malmberg and Peter Prymmer have done likewise for VMS.

AUTHOR
    Ken Williams, kwilliams@cpan.org

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.

    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO
    perl(1), Module::Build(3)

