Adding Bonjour (dns_sd.h) library to Qt in Windows

Question

I\'ve been trying to properly add the open source dns_sd.h library provided by Apple. I am writing a program that uses the BonjourRegistrar class as demonstrated here: link

Answer 1

Try adding

DEFINES += _WIN32

to your project file.

Answer 2

I figured it out, you need to use reimp and dll tool to modify the lib library to a .a

Answer 3

The .lib distributed by Apple can be used only if you are compiling the Qt application with the MSVC compiler.

Otherwise, like you said, you need a GCC-compatible library (.a). To do that you need to do the following steps:

1. Run the reimp tool [0] on the .lib: reimp dnssd.lib. A file DLLStub.obj will be generated.
2. Run the gendef tool [1] on the .dll: gendef dnssd.dll. A file dnssd.def will be generated. The .dll can be obtained from: C:\Windows\System32 if you are using the 32 bit or from C:\Windows\SysWOW64 for the 64 bit version.
3. Assemble the final .a: dlltool -k -d dnssd.def -l libdnssd.a.
4. Add the right path int the .pro file, to the newly created library: LIBS += -L"/path/to/the/library/file" -ldnssd

[0] - http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/MinGW/Extension/mingw-utils/mingw-utils-0.4-1/

[1] - http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/MinGW/Extension/gendef/gendef-1.0.1346/ - gendef is a better alternative to pexports, because it can convert the stdcall-type libraries from MSVC to the GCC ones, so you can get a proper .def file.

PS: I know the author got it working, but I felt there should be some more detailed instructions on how to get it done -- the information is scattered around the internet.