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/*************************************************************************/ TLINK.TXT TURBO ASSEMBLER This file contains details on using TLINK with TASM. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - - - - - - - TLINK basics TLINK.CFG Response files TLINK options Module-definition file reference CODE statement DATA statement DESCRIPTION statement EXETYPE statement EXPORTS statement IMPORTS statement LIBRARY statement NAME statement SEGMENTS statement STACKSIZE statement STUB statement Module-definition file defaults -------------------------------------------------------------------- TLINK and TLINK32 are command-line tools that combine object modules (.OBJ files) and library modules (.LIB files) to produce executable files. The IDE uses built-in versions of the linkers. Because the compiler automatically calls the linker, you don't need to use TLINK unless you suppress the linking stage of compiling (see the -c compiler option). Unless otherwise specified, instructions and options for TLINK also apply to TLINK32. TLINK basics ============ TLINK uses a configuration file called TLINK.CFG (TLINK32.CFG for TLINK32), a response file (optional), and command-line options to link object modules, libraries, and resources into an executable file (.EXE or .DLL). The IDE linker uses the options specified in the Project Options dialog box in the Linker section. The syntax for TLINK is: TLINK [@respfile][options] startupfile myobjs, exename, [mapfile], [mylibs] runtimelib [import], [deffile], [resfiles] o 'options' are TLINK options that control how TLINK works. For example, options specify whether to produce an .EXE or a DLL file. TLINK options must be preceded by either a slash (/) or a hyphen (-). To turn off a default option, place a hyphen after the option (for example, -P-). o 'startupfile' is a Borland initialization module for executables or DLLs that arranges the order of the various segments of the program. The initialization module must appear first in the object file list. If it isn't first, the program segments might not be placed in memory properly, which could cause some frustrating program bugs. Failure to link the correct initialization module usually results in a long list of error messages telling you that certain identifiers are unresolved, or that no stack has been created. o 'myobjs' are the .OBJ files you want linked. Specify the path if the files aren't in the current directory. o 'exename' is the name you want given to the executable file (.EXE or .DLL). If you don't specify an executable file name, TLINK derives the name of the executable by appending .EXE or .DLL to the first object file name listed. Be sure you give an explicit name for the executable file name on the TLINK command line. Otherwise, your program name will be something like C02.EXE--which probably isn't what you wanted. o 'mapfile' (optional) is the name you want given to the map file. If you don't specify a name, the map file name is given the same as exefile (but with the .MAP extension). o 'mylibs' (optional) are the library files you want included at link time. If these files aren't in the current directory or the search path (see the /L option) then you must include their paths. o 'runtimelib' is the Borland run-time library. If no libraries are included, none are linked. o 'importlib' is the Windows import library, which provides access to the Microsoft Windows API functions. o 'deffile' is the module-definition file (.DEF) for a Windows executable. If you don't specify a .DEF file, TLINK creates an application based on default settings. o 'resfiles' are a list of .RES files to bind to the executable. TLINK assumes or appends these extensions to file names that have none: o .OBJ for object files o .EXE for executable files o .DLL for dynamic-link libraries o .MAP for map files o .LIB for library files o .DEF for module-definition files o .RES for resource files TLINK.CFG --------- TLINK uses a configuration file called TLINK.CFG (or TLINK32.CFG) for options that you'd normally type at the command-line (note that TLINK.CFG can only be options, not file names). Configuration files let you save options you use frequently, so that you don't have to continually retype them. TLINK looks for TLINK.CFG in the current directory, then in the directory from which TLINK was loaded. The following TLINK.CFG file tells TLINK to look for libraries first in the directory C:\BC4\LIB and then in C:\WINAPPS\LIB, to include debug information in the executables it creates, to create a detailed segment map, and to produce a Windows executable (.EXE not .DLL). TLINK TLINK32 ----- ------- /Lc:\bc4\lib;c:\winapps\lib /Lc:\bc4\lib;c:\winapps\lib /v /s /v /s /Twe /Tpe Response files -------------- Response files are ASCII files of options and file names for TLINK.EXE (and TLINK32.EXE) that you would normally type at the command line. Response files let you have a longer command line than most operating systems allow. Response files can include the same information as configuration files (command-line options), but they can also contain file names. Unlike the command line, a response file can be several lines long. To use more than one line in your response file, end each line with a plus character (+). Note that if a line ends with an option that uses the plus to turn it on (such as /v+), the + isn't treated as a line continuation character (to continue the line, use /v++). If you separate command-line components (such as .OBJ files from .LIB files) by lines in a response file, you must leave out the comma used to separate them on the command line. For example: /c c0ws+ myprog,myexe mymap mylib cws leaves out the commas you'd have to type if you put the information on the command line: TLINK /c c0ws myprog, myexe, mymap, mylib cws To use response files: 1) Type the command-line options and file names into an ASCII text file and save the file. 2) Type TLINK @[path]RESFILE.RSP, where RESFILE.RSP is the name of your response file. You can specify more than one response file as follows: TLINK /c @listobjs, myexe, mymap, @listlibs If you use a response file in addition to command-line options, the command-line options will override any options in the response file. For example, if you include -v in a response file, but you use -v- at the command-line, TLINK uses the command-line option -v-. TLINK options ============= Unless otherwise specified, options work with both TLINK and TLINK32. Options are case-sensitive and must be preceded by either a slash (/) or a hyphen (-). To turn off a default option, place a hyphen after the option at the command-line (for example, -P- or /P-). You can place options anywhere in the command line. You don't need spaces after options (/m/f/c is the same as /m /f /c), but you must separate options and files with a space. The following table lists the TLINK options. A more detailed explanation of options follows the table. Option For Description ------ --- ----------- /3 16-bit Accepts and links 32-bit code produced by TASM or a compatible assembler. /ax 32-bit Specifies application type, where /aa targets Windows applications /ap targets console applications. /A:dd 16/32-bit Specifies page alignment within .EXE file. /B:xxx 32-bit Specifies image base address (in hexadecimal). /c 16/32-bit Treats case as significant in symbols. /C 16-bit Treats case as significant in EXPORTS and IMPORTS section of module-definition file. /d 16-bit Warns you if there are duplicate symbols in libraries. /E 16-bit Enables processing of extended dictionaries in libraries. /Enn 32-bit Specifies maximum errors before termination. /e 16-bit Ignores extended dictionaries in libraries. This is the opposite of the /E option. /f 16-bit Inhibits optimization of far calls to near data. /Gn 16-bit Discard nonresident name table. /Gr 16-bit Transfer Resident names to nonresident names table. /Gm 16/32-bit Put Mangled names in map file. /i 16-bit Initializes all segments. /l 16-bit Includes source line numbers (lowercase L). /L 16/32-bit Specifies library search paths. /m 16/32-bit Creates map file with publics. /n 16-bit Don't use default libraries. /o 16-bit Overlays modules or libraries. /P 16-bit Packs code segments. /R 16-bit Sends options to RLINK.EXE. Possible options are /Re, /Rk, /Rl, /m, /Rp, and /Rv. /Rexxx 32-bit Renames the executable to xxx. /S:xxx 32-bit Specifies stack size (in hexadecimal). /s 16-bit Creates detailed map of segments. /t 16-bit Creates a tiny-model DOS .COM file. /Tdx 16-bit Specifies application target, where /Tde means build a DOS .EXE file. /Tpx 32-bit Specifies application target, where /Tpe means build a 32-bit .EXE file. /Tpd means build a 32-bit DLL. /Twx 16-bit Specifies Windows 3.x target application, where /Twe builds a Windows .EXE file. /Twd builds a Windows DLL. /v 16/32-bit Includes full symbolic debug information. /wxxx 32-bit Enable or disable warnings. /x 16/32-bit Doesn't create a map file. /ye 16-bit Uses expanded memory for swapping. /yx 16-bit Configures TLINK's use of extended memory swapping. /3 (32-bit code) lets you link 32-bit DOS object modules produced by TASM or a compatible assembler. This option increases the memory requirements for TLINK and slows down linking. /a (application type) lets you specify the type of EXE image: o /aa targets Windows applications. o /ap targets console applications that can be run in a window. /A:dd (align pages) specifies page alignment for code and data within the executable file where dd must be a decimal power of 2. For example, if you specify an alignment value of /A:12, the sections in the image are stored on 4096-byte boundaries. The operating system seeks pages for loading based on this alignment value. The default is /A:9, which means sections are aligned on 512-byte boundaries within the executable file. /B:xxxxxx (base address) specifies an image base address for an application. If this option is used, internal fixups are removed from the image, and the requested load address of the first object is set to the hexadecimal number given with the option. All successive objects are aligned on 64K linear address boundaries. This option makes applications smaller on disk, and improves both load-time and run-time performance since the operating system no longer has to apply internal fixups. Because NT loads all .EXE images at 64K, you're advised to link all .EXEs with /B:0x10000. /c (case sensitivity) makes the case significant in public and external symbols. /C (case sensitivity) makes the case significant in the EXPORTS and IMPORTS sections in module-definition files. /d (duplicate symbols) warns you if a symbol appears in more than one library file. If the symbol must be included in the program, TLINK uses the symbol from the first file containing the symbol that is specified on the command line (or in a response file). This option also warns you if symbols appear in both an .OBJ file and a .LIB file (TLINK uses the first one linked in and ignores the others). /Enn (maximum errors) specifies the maximum number of errors the linker reports before terminating. /E0 (the default) reports an infinite number of errors (that is, as many as possible). /E (extended dictionaries) processes extended dictionaries. The library files in Borland C++ contain an extended dictionary with information that lets TLINK use less memory and link faster with those libraries. You can add the extended dictionary to other library files using TLIB's /E option. Avoid using /E with programs linked with libraries that have been built without an extended dictionary (third-party libraries that have been provided without source code, for example). To use extended dictionaries, all linked libraries must have extended dictionaries. /e (ignore extended dictionaries) ignores extended dictionaries. This is the opposite of the /E option, and is the default. /f (inhibit far optimizations) inhibits the optimization of far calls to near data. /Gx (Goodies) are options where x can be n = Discard nonresident name table. (16-bit only) r = Transfer resident names to nonresident table. (16-bit only) m = (TLINK32) Put mangled names in map file; this can help you identify how names are mangled. /i (uninitialized trailing segments) outputs uninitialized trailing segments into the executable file even if the segments don't contain data records. /l (line numbers) creates a section in the .MAP file for source-code line numbers. Linked .OBJ files must be compiled with debug information using -y or -v. If you use /x to suppress map file creation, the /l (lowercase L) option has no effect. /L (library search paths) lets you list directories for TLINK to search if you don't type an explicit path for a library or the C or C++ initialization module. TLINK searches the current directory first (where you typed TLINK). For example: TLINK /Lc:\BC4\lib;c:\mylibs splash logo,,,utils .\logolib first searches the current directory for UTILS.LIB, then searches C:\BC4\LIB, then C:\MYLIBS. Because @WORD(LOGOLIB) explicitly names the current directory, TLINK doesn't search the libraries specified with the /L option to find LOGOLIB.LIB. /m (detailed map file) creates a more complete map than TLINK normally does by adding a list of sorted public symbols to the map file. This kind of map file is useful in debugging. Many debuggers can use the list of public symbols, which lets you refer to symbolic addresses when you're debugging. If you don't specify map file options (/m, /s, or /x), then the option Map File|Segments is used. See also /s. /M (map mangled) maps with mangled public names. /n (ignore default libraries) ignores default libraries specified by some compilers. Use this option when linking modules that are written in another language. /o (overlays) overlays code in all the modules or libraries that follow the option on the command line (this option works for DOS applications only). Use /o- on the command line to turn off overlays. If you specify a class name after this option, all the segments in that class are overlaid (you can do this for multiple classes). If you don't specify any name after this option, all segments of classes ending with CODE are overlaid. This option uses the default overlay interrupt number of 3FH. To specify a different interrupt number, use /o#xx, where xx is a two-digit hexadecimal number. /P (pack code segments) combines as many code segments as possible in one physical segment up to (and never greater than) the code-segment packing limit. TLINK starts a new segment if it needs to. The default code-segment packing limit is 8,192 bytes (8K). To change it, use /P=n where n specifies the number of bytes between 1 and 65,536. You would probably want the limit to be a multiple of 4K under 386 enhanced mode because of the paging granularity of the system. Although the optimum segment size in 386 enhanced mode is 4K, the default code-segment packing size is 8K because typical code segments are from 4K to 8K and 8K might pack more efficiently. Because each maintained segment has some system overhead, code-segment packing typically increases performance. /P- turns off code-segment packing (useful if you've turned it on in the configuration file and want to disable it for a particular link). /s (detailed segment map) creates a map file with the same features as the /m option, but adds a detailed segment map. If you don't specify map file options (/m, /s, or /x), then the option Map File|Segments is used. For each segment in each module, this map file includes the address, length in bytes, class, segment name, group, module, and ACBP information. If the same segment appears in more than one module, each module appears as a separate line. Except for the ACBP field, the information in the detailed segment map is self-explanatory. The ACBP field encodes the A (alignment), C (combination), and B (big) attributes into a set of four bit fields, as defined by Intel. TLINK uses only three of the fields, the A, C, and B fields. The ACBP value in the map is printed in hexadecimal. The following values of the fields must be OR'ed together to arrive at the ACBP value printed. Field Value Description ----- ----- ----------- The A field (alignment) 00 An absolute segment. 20 A byte-aligned segment. 40 A word-aligned segment. 60 A paragraph-aligned segment. 80 A page-aligned segment. A0 An unnamed absolute portion of storage. The B field (big) 00 Segment less than 64K. 02 Segment exactly 64K. The C field (combination) 00 Cannot be combined. 08 A public combining segment. With the /s option, public symbols with no references are flagged "idle." An idle symbol is a publicly-defined symbol in a module that wasn't referenced by an EXTDEF record by any other module included in the link. For example, this fragment from the public symbol section of a map file indicates that symbols Symbol1 and Symbol3 aren't referenced by the image being linked: 0002:00000874 Idle Symbol1 0002:00000CE4 Symbol2 0002:000000E7 Idle Symbol3 /S:xxxxxx (stack size) sets the application stack size in hexadecimal where xxxxxx is a hexadecimal string. Specifying the stack size with /S overrides any stack size setting in a module-definition file. /Tdx (DOS target) produces a DOS .EXE (/Tde) file. /Tpx (protected target) produces a protected mode .EXE (/Tpe) or .DLL file (/Tpd). /Twx (target type) produces a Windows .EXE (/Twe) or .DLL file (/Twd). This option isn't necessary if you include a module-definition file with an EXETYPE Windows statement because TLINK creates an application (.EXE) if the module-definition file has a NAME statement or a DLL if the module-definition file has a LIBRARY statement. /v (debugging information) includes debugging information in the executable file. If this option is found anywhere on the command line, debugging information is included in the executable file for all object modules that contain debugging information. You can use the /v+ and /v- options to selectively enable or disable debugging information on a module-by-module basis (but not on the same command line as /v). For example, the command TLINK mod1 /v+ mod2 mod3 /v- mod4 includes debugging information for modules mod2 and mod3, but not for mod1 and mod4. /wxxx (warning control) turns on (/wxxx) or off (/w-xxx) TLINK warnings, where xxx can be one of the following (defaults mean TLINK will send the warning without you specifically turning it on): Option Description ------ ----------- bdl Using based linking in DLLs (might cause the DLL to malfunction) def No .DEF file; using defaults dpl Warn duplicate symbol in .LIB dup Duplicate symbol (warning for .OBJs) ent No entry point imt Import doesn't match previous definition srf Self-relative fixup overflowed /x (no map file) tells TLINK to not generate a map file. TLINK usually creates map files that list segments in the program, the program start address, and any TLINK warning or error messages (the Map File|Segments option, which has no command-line option, is on by default). /ye (expanded memory) controls TLINK's use of expanded memory for I/O buffering. If TLINK needs more memory for active data structures (while reading object files or writing the executable file), it either clears buffers or swaps them to expanded memory. When reading files, TLINK clears the input buffer so that its space can be used for other data structures. When creating an executable, it writes the buffer to its correct place in the executable file. In both cases, you can substantially increase the link speed by swapping to expanded memory. By default, swapping to expanded memory is enabled, and swapping to extended memory is disabled. If swapping is enabled and no appropriate memory exists in which to swap, then swapping doesn't occur. This option has several forms, shown below: o /ye or /ye+ enables expanded memory swapping (this is the default). o ye- disables expanded memory swapping (this is off by default). /yx (extended memory) controls TLINK's use of extended memory for I/O buffering. By default, TLINK can use up to 8MB of extended memory. You can change TLINK's use of extended memory with one of the following forms of this option: o /yx+ uses all available extended memory up to 8MB. o /yxn uses only up to n KB extended memory. Module-definition file reference ================================ This section describes module-definition files and the statements that appear in them. A module-definition file provides information to TLINK about the contents and system requirements of a Windows application. More specifically, a module-definition file does the following: o Names the .EXE or .DLL. o Identifies the application type. o Lists imported and exported functions. o Describes the code and data segment attributes, and lets you specify attributes for additional code and data segments. o Specifies the size of the stack. o Provides for the inclusion of a stub program. CODE statement -------------- CODE defines the default attributes of code segments. Code segments can have any name, but must belong to segment classes whose name ends in CODE (such as CODE or MYCODE). The syntax is: TLINK TLINK32 CODE [FIXED|MOVEABLE] [PRELOAD|LOADONCALL] [DISCARDABLE|NONDISCARDABLE] [EXECUTEONLY|EXECUTEREAD] [PRELOAD|LOADONCALL] o 'FIXED' (the default) means the segment remains at a fixed memory location; 'MOVEABLE' means the segment can be moved. o 'PRELOAD' means code is loaded when the calling program is loaded. 'LOADONCALL' (the default) means the code is loaded when called by the program. o 'DISCARDABLE' means the segment can be discarded if it is no longer needed (this implies MOVABLE). 'NONDISCARDABLE' (the default) means the segment can't be discarded. o 'EXECUTEONLY' means a code segment can only be executed. 'EXECUTEREAD' (the default) means the code segment can be read and executed. o 'PRELOAD' means the segment is loaded when the module is first loaded. 'LOADONCALL' (the default) means the segment is loaded when called. DATA statement -------------- DATA defines attributes of data segments. The syntax is: DATA [NONE | SINGLE | MULTIPLE] [READONLY | READWRITE] [PRELOAD | LOADONCALL] [SHARED | NONSHARED] o 'NONE' means that there is no data segment created. This option is available only for libraries. 'SINGLE' (the default for .DLLs) means a single data segment is created and shared by all processes. 'MULTIPLE' (the default for .EXEs) means a data segment is created for each process. o 'READONLY' means the data segment can be read only. 'READWRITE' (the default) means the data segment can be read and written to. o 'PRELOAD' means the data segment is loaded when a module that uses it is first loaded. 'LOADONCALL' (the default) means the data segment is loaded when it is first accessed (this is ignored for 32-bit applications). o 'SHARED' (the default for 16-bit .DLLs) means one copy of the data segment is shared among all processes. 'NONSHARED' (the default for programs and 32-bit .DLLs) means a copy of the data segment is loaded for each process needing to use the data segment. DESCRIPTION statement --------------------- DESCRIPTION (optional) inserts text into the application module and is typically used to embed author, date, or copyright information. The syntax is: DESCRIPTION 'Text' 'Text' is an ASCII string delimited with single quotes. EXETYPE statement ----------------- EXETYPE defines the default executable file (.EXE) header type for 16-bit application. You can leave this section in for 32-bit application for backward compatibility, but if you need to change the EXETYPE, refer to the NAME statement. The syntax for EXETYPE is: EXETYPE WINDOWS EXPORTS statement ----------------- EXPORTS defines the names and attributes of functions to be exported. The EXPORTS keyword marks the beginning of the definitions. It can be followed by any number of export definitions, each on a separate line. The syntax is: EXPORTS ExportName [Ordinal] [RESIDENTNAME] [Parameter] o 'ExportName' specifies an ASCII string that defines the symbol to be exported: EntryName [=InternalName] 'InternalName' is the name used within the application to refer to this entry. 'EntryName' is the name listed in the executable file's entry table and is externally visible. o 'Ordinal' defines the function's ordinal value as follows: @ordinal where 'ordinal' is an integer value that specifies the function's ordinal value. When an application or DLL module calls a function exported from a DLL, the calling module can refer to the function by name or by ordinal value. It's faster to refer to the function by ordinal because string comparisons aren't required to locate the function. To use less memory, export a function by ordinal (from the point of view of that function's DLL) and import/call a function by ordinal (from the point of view of the calling module). When a function is exported by ordinal, the name resides in the nonresident name table. When a function is exported by name, the name resides in the resident name table. The resident name table for a module is in memory whenever the module is loaded; the nonresident name table isn't. o 'RESIDENTNAME' specifies that the function's name must be resident at all times. This is useful only when exporting by ordinal (when the name wouldn't be resident by default). o 'Parameter' is an optional integer value that specifies the number of words the function expects to be passed as parameters. IMPORTS statement ----------------- IMPORTS defines the names and attributes of functions to be imported from DLLs. Instead of listing imported DLL functions in the IMPORTS statement, you can do the following: o Specify an import library for the DLL in the TLINK command line, or o Include the import library for the DLL in the project manager in the IDE. If you're programming for 32-bits, you must write your own indirection to import any function, class, or data you want imported. The following is an example of importing data with TASM32: _TEXT segment dword public 'CODE' extrn _foo:dword ;This is an imported integer _bar PROC mov eax, -foo mov eax, [eax] ret _bar ENDP _TEXT ends end The IMPORTS keyword marks the beginning of the definitions; it is followed by any number of import definitions, each on a separate line. The syntax is: IMPORTS [InternalName=]ModuleName.Entry o 'InternalName' is an ASCII string that specifies the unique name the application uses to call the function. o 'ModuleName' specifies one or more uppercase ASCII characters that define the name of the executable module containing the function. The module name must match the name of the executable file. For example, the file SAMPLE.DLL has the module name SAMPLE. o 'Entry' specifies the function to be imported--either an ASCII string that names the function or an integer that gives the function's ordinal value. LIBRARY statement ----------------- LIBRARY defines the name of a DLL module. A module-definition file can contain either a LIBRARY statement to indicate a DLL or a NAME statement to indicate a program. A library's module name must match the name of the executable file. For example, the library MYLIB.DLL has the module name MYLIB. The syntax is: LIBRARY LibraryName [INITGLOBAL | INITINSTANCE] o 'LibraryName' (optional) is an ASCII string that defines the name of the library module. If you don't include a LibraryName, TLINK uses the file name with the extension removed. If the module-definition file includes neither a NAME nor a LIBRARY statement, TLINK assumes a NAME statement without a ModuleName parameter. o 'INITGLOBAL' means the library-initialization routine is called only when the library module is first loaded into memory. 'INITINSTANCE' means the library-initialization routine is called each time a new process uses the library. NAME statement -------------- NAME is the name of the application's executable module. The module name identifies the module when exporting functions. For 32-bit applications, NAME must appear before EXETYPE. If NAME and EXETYPE don't specify the same target type, the type listed with NAME is used. The syntax is: NAME ModuleName [WINDOWSAPI] | [WINDOWCOMPAT] o 'ModuleName' (optional) specifies one or more uppercase ASCII characters that name the executable module. The name must match the name of the executable file. For example, an application with the executable file SAMPLE.EXE has the module name SAMPLE. If ModuleName is missing, TLINK assumes the module name matches the file name of the executable file. For example, if you don't specify a module name and the executable file is named MYAPP.EXE, TLINK assumes the module name is MYAPP. If the module-definition file includes neither a NAME nor a LIBRARY statement, TLINK assumes a NAME statement without a ModuleName parameter. o 'WINDOWAPI' is a Windows executable, and is equivalent to the TLINK32 option /aa. o 'WINDOWCOMPAT' is a Windows-compatible character-mode executable, and is equivalent to the TLINK32 option /ap. SEGMENTS statement ------------------ SEGMENTS defines the segment attributes of additional code and data segments. The syntax is: SEGMENTS SegmentName [CLASS 'ClassName'] [MinAlloc] [SHARED | NONSHARED] [PRELOAD | LOADONCALL] o 'SegmentName' is a character string that names the new segment. It can be any name, including the standard segment names _TEXT and _DATA, which represent the standard code and data segments. o 'ClassName' (optional) is the class name of the specified segment. If no class name is specified, TLINK uses the class name CODE. o 'MinAlloc' (optional) is an integer that specifies the minimum allocation size for the segment. TLINK and TLINK32 ignore this value. o 'SHARED' (the default for 16-bit .DLLs) means one copy of the segment is shared among all processes. 'NONSHARED' (the default for programs and 32-bit .DLLs) means a copy of the segment is loaded for each process needing to use the data segment. o 'PRELOAD' means that the segment is loaded immediately; 'LOADONCALL' means that the segment is loaded when it is accessed or called (this is ignored by TLINK32). The resource compiler might override the LOADONCALL option and preload segments instead. STACKSIZE statement ------------------- STACKSIZE defines the number of bytes needed by the application for its local stack. An application uses the local stack whenever it makes function calls. Don't use the STACKSIZE statement for dynamic-link libraries. The syntax is: STACKSIZE bytes bytes is an integer value that specifies the stack size in bytes. STUB statement -------------- STUB appends a DOS executable file specified by FileName to the beginning of the module. The executable stub displays a warning message and terminates if the user attempts to run the executable stub in the wrong environment (running a Windows application under DOS, for example). Borland C++ adds a built-in stub to the beginning of a Windows application unless a different stub is specified with the STUB statement. You shouldn't use the STUB statement to include WINSTUB.EXE because the linker does this automatically. The syntax is: STUB 'FileName' 'FileName' is the name of the DOS executable file to be appended to the module. The name must have the DOS file name format. If the file named by FileName isn't in the current directory, TLINK searches for the file in the directories specified by the PATH environment variable. Module-definition file defaults ------------------------------- The module-definition file isn't strictly necessary to produce a Windows executable under borland C++. If no module-definition file is specified, the following defaults are assumed: CODE PRELOAD MOVEABLE DISCARDABLE DATA PRELOAD MOVEABLE MULTIPLE (for applications) PRELOAD MOVEABLE SINGLE (for DLLs) HEAPSIZE 4096 STACKSIZE 5120 (1048576 for TLINK32) To replace the EXETYPE statement, the Borland C++ linker can discover what kind of executable you want to produce by checking settings in the IDE or options on the command line. You can include an import library to substitute for the IMPORTS section of the module definition file. If you're coding in C or C++, you can use the _export keyword in the definitions of export functions to remove the need for an EXPORTS section. Note, however, that if _export is used to export a function, that function is exported by name rather than by ordinal (ordinal is usually more efficient). If you want to change various attributes from the default, you'll need to have a module-definition file. /**************************** END OF FILE ********************************/