Linking

The linker links specified object files to create one executable file. Invoking the compiler with one of the invocation commands automatically calls the linker unless you specify one of the following compiler options:

• -c
• -E
• -M
• -P
• -S
• -fsyntax-only (-qsyntaxonly)
• -### (-#)
• --help (-qhelp)
• --version (-qversion)

Input files

Object files, unstripped executable files, and library files serve as input to the linker. Object files must have a .o suffix, for example, filename.o. Static library file names have a .a suffix, for example, filename.a. Dynamic library file names typically have a .so suffix, for example, filename.so.

Output files

The linker generates an executable file and places it in your current directory. The default name for an executable file is a.out. To name the executable file explicitly, use the -o file_name option with the compiler invocation command, where file_name is the name you want to give to the executable file. For example, to compile myfile.c and generate an executable file called myfile, enter:

xlc myfile.c -o myfile

If you use the -shared (-qmkshrobj) option to create a shared library, the default name of the shared object created is a.out. You can use the -o option to rename the file and give it a .so suffix.