Creating .dll and .lib files with the VC++ command line

Question

How can I create .lib files and .dll files in VC++ with cl.exe from the command line?

Answer 1

Visual Studio comes with a library tool called LIB.EXE which can be used to create library files from object files. If you set up the command line so that you have CL.EXE on the path, you should also be able to run LIB.EXE.

E.g.

LIB.EXE /OUT:MYLIB.LIB FILE1.OBJ FILE2.OBJ

To create a dll, you just use LINK.EXE (as for executables) but with the /DLL switch.

E.g.

LINK.EXE /DLL /OUT:MYLIB.DLL FILE3.OBJ FILE4.OBJ

Answer 2

Re making a DLL, these are shorthand form(s) if you have the source files:

cl /LD foo.c bar.c baz.c /FeMyImage.dll

or

cl /LD foo.c bar.c baz.c /link /out:MyImage.dll

are equivalent.