ranlib -- Command

Create index for object library
ranlib library ...

The   ranlib is  a  ``directory'' that  appears  at the  beginning of  each
library.  It contains the name  of each global symbol (i.e., function name)
that appears within the library, and  a pointer to the module in which that
symbol is defined.  Thus, the ranlib  eliminates the need for the linker to
search the entire library sequentially to find a given global symbol, which
speeds up linking noticeably.

If the  date on the library  file is later than that  in the ranlib header,
the linker  will ignore the ranlib and perform  a sequential search through
the library; the linker will also send the warning message

    Outdated ranlib

to the standard  error device.  This is done to  prevent the accidental use
of an outdated ranlib, which could be disastrous.

The command ranlib  creates a ranlib header for an  archive.  If the header
already exists, ranlib updates it.

Files

__.SYMDEF -- Index module

See Also

ar,
ar.h,
commands,
ld

Diagnostics

ranlib issues appropriate messages for  I/O errors or bad format files.  It
does not rewrite  a library until the last possible  moment, so the library
is  usually unchanged  in  case of  error.  ranlib  processes each  library
independently.  The exit status is  the number of libraries in which errors
were encountered.

ranlib is a link to the archiver ar.

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness