Can you link your C++ project's dependencies using their .objs (and make a single dll)?

Question

Hello,

I have a C++/CLI project in VS 2008 that has a direct dependency on a native C++ library that, in turn, has four additional native C and C++ library dependencies; some of these dependent projects rely on each other as well. I have source code for all of the libraries and can build them all successfully as separate libraries, but instead of having a multitude of assemblies to distribute, I would really like to consolidate all of them into a single dll containing my managed and unmanaged code.

The dependency projects are rather large (~2000 source and header files) so merging them into a 'super-project' is a bit unwieldy. Given some of the blog posts and articles I've read it does seem possible to link them all together; my challenge thus far has been the lack of documentation or first-person accounts of anyone actually trying this.

Is this something that can reasonably be done? If not, what alternatives should I consider? Is there a strategy in the building and/or linking process(es) that needs to be considered?

Answer 1

I assume since you are talking about separate libraries you mean DLLs. Since you have the source and can build them, you could add a build output of static library. Then all the static libraries would be linked into your final C++/CLI assembly dll.

I've done this quite a bit with native C++ - put the logic into a static library, add a "real" dll for distribution, and a unit test exe for testing. I don't see why the same pattern won't work for C++/CLI.

Answer 2

I don't think this is a particularly trivial thing to do. There certainly isn't some linker switch you can use to magically combine the DLLs into one, so you don't have much choice but to create a new project or projects. There are also a few issues you may encounter, such as namespace collisions and differing compiler directives. You'll also have to merge the entry points for all five DLLs somehow in your final DLL.