Using boost.python with make instead of bjam

Question

Hi folks,

I'm just trying to compile the "hello world" example of boost.python WITHOUT using all the bjam magic. My boost.python installation is working, I did succesfully build the example with bjam and passed the test suite.

Now for my project I need to use all this stuff in a plain Make environment. I don't want to port to another build tool.

So my naive approach is of course to just point the include path to the right headers and link against the right library. I built boost python as system-layout, static, runtime-static, which means it is just a libboost_python.a that resides in /usr/local/lib.

Unfortunately, I get unresolved external symbols in the resulting .so library.

Here is my try to build the example from libs/python/example/tutorial/hello.cpp:

$ cat hello.cpp
//  Copyright Joel de Guzman 2002-2004. Distributed under the Boost
//  Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt
//  or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
//  Hello World Example from the tutorial
//  [Joel de Guzman 10/9/2002]

#include <boost/python/module.hpp>
#include <boost/python/def.hpp>

char const* greet()
{
   return "hello, world";
}

BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(hello_ext)
{
    using namespace boost::python;
    def("greet", greet);
}

$ g++ -I/usr/local/include -I/usr/include/python -fpic -c -o hello.o
hello.cpp
$ g++ -shared -Wl,-soname,"libhello.so" -L/usr/local/lib -lboost_python -fpic -o libhello.so hello.o
$ nm -u libhello.so
                 U PyString_Type
                 w _Jv_RegisterClasses
                 U _Py_NoneStruct
                 U _Unwind_Resume@@GCC_3.0
                 U _ZN5boost6python6detail11init_moduleEPKcPFvvE
                 U _ZN5boost6python6detail12gcc_demangleEPKc
                 U
_ZN5boost6python6detail17scope_setattr_docEPKcRKNS0_3api6objectES3_
                 U
_ZN5boost6python7objects15function_objectERKNS1_11py_functionE
                 U _ZN5boost6python7objects21py_function_impl_baseD2Ev
                 U _ZN5boost6python9converter19do_return_to_pythonEPKc
                 U _ZN5boost6python9converter8registry5queryENS0_9type_infoE
                 U
_ZNK5boost6python7objects21py_function_impl_base9max_arityEv
                 U
_ZNK5boost6python9converter12registration25expected_from_python_typeEv
                 U _ZTIN5boost6python7objects21py_function_impl_baseE
                 U _ZTIPKc@@CXXABI_1.3
                 U _ZTIc@@CXXABI_1.3
                 U _ZTVN10__cxxabiv120__si_class_type_infoE@@CXXABI_1.3
                 U _ZTVN5boost6python7objects21py_function_impl_baseE
                 U _ZdlPv@@GLIBCXX_3.4
                 U _Znwm@@GLIBCXX_3.4
                 U __cxa_atexit@@GLIBC_2.2.5
                 w __cxa_finalize@@GLIBC_2.2.5
                 U __cxa_guard_abort@@CXXABI_1.3
                 U __cxa_guard_acquire@@CXXABI_1.3
                 U __cxa_guard_release@@CXXABI_1.3
                 w __gmon_start__
                 U __gxx_personality_v0@@CXXABI_1.3
$ python
>>> import libhello
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: ./libhello.so: undefined symbol:
_ZNK5boost6python7objects21py_function_impl_base9max_arityEv

So what is the big magic of bjam that when bjam links libboost_python.a I get no undefined symbols, but when i do it "by hand" i get these?

Answer 1

Well, I was obiously stupid. To link one has to put the object BEFORE the library with the symbols. So turning

g++ -shared -Wl,-soname,"libhello.so" -L/usr/local/lib -lboost_python -fpic -o libhello.so hello.o

into

g++ -shared -Wl,-soname,"libhello.so" -L/usr/local/lib hello.o -lboost_python -fpic -o libhello.so

Gave me the expected result, after I recompiled boost.python with cxxflags=-fPIC.