Linker Options In Dev C++

Mar 06, 2018 The instructions here are as per version 4.9.9.2 of Dev C. I don’t think there will be much changes in any older version. So here we go: 1. Go to the Tools menu. In the Tools menu, you should find and option called Compiler Options.

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LINK.exe links Common Object File Format (COFF) object files and libraries to create an executable (.exe) file or a dynamic-link library (DLL).

The following table lists options for LINK.exe. For more information about LINK, see:

On the command line, linker options aren't case-sensitive; for example, /base and /BASE mean the same thing. For details on how to specify each option on the command line or in Visual Studio, see the documentation for that option.

You can use the comment pragma to specify some linker options.

Linker options listed alphabetically

Option	Purpose
@	Specifies a response file.
/ALIGN	Specifies the alignment of each section.
/ALLOWBIND	Specifies that a DLL can't be bound.
/ALLOWISOLATION	Specifies behavior for manifest lookup.
/APPCONTAINER	Specifies whether the app must run within an appcontainer process environment.
/ASSEMBLYDEBUG	Adds the DebuggableAttribute to a managed image.
/ASSEMBLYLINKRESOURCE	Creates a link to a managed resource.
/ASSEMBLYMODULE	Specifies that a Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) module should be imported into the assembly.
/ASSEMBLYRESOURCE	Embeds a managed resource file in an assembly.
/BASE	Sets a base address for the program.
/CGTHREADS	Sets number of cl.exe threads to use for optimization and code generation when link-time code generation is specified.
/CLRIMAGETYPE	Sets the type (IJW, pure, or safe) of a CLR image.
/CLRSUPPORTLASTERROR	Preserves the last error code of functions that are called through the P/Invoke mechanism.
/CLRTHREADATTRIBUTE	Specifies the threading attribute to apply to the entry point of your CLR program.
/CLRUNMANAGEDCODECHECK	Specifies whether the linker will apply the SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity attribute to linker-generated PInvoke stubs that call from managed code into native DLLs.
/DEBUG	Creates debugging information.
/DEBUGTYPE	Specifies which data to include in debugging information.
/DEF	Passes a module-definition (.def) file to the linker.
/DEFAULTLIB	Searches the specified library when external references are resolved.
/DELAY	Controls the delayed loading of DLLs.
/DELAYLOAD	Causes the delayed loading of the specified DLL.
/DELAYSIGN	Partially signs an assembly.
/DEPENDENTLOADFLAG	Sets default flags on dependent DLL loads.
/DLL	Builds a DLL.
/DRIVER	Creates a kernel mode driver.
/DYNAMICBASE	Specifies whether to generate an executable image that's rebased at load time by using the address space layout randomization (ASLR) feature.
/ENTRY	Sets the starting address.
/ERRORREPORT	Deprecated. Error reporting is controlled by Windows Error Reporting (WER) settings.
/EXPORT	Exports a function.
/FILEALIGN	Aligns sections within the output file on multiples of a specified value.
/FIXED	Creates a program that can be loaded only at its preferred base address.
/FORCE	Forces a link to complete even with unresolved symbols or symbols defined more than once.
/FUNCTIONPADMIN	Creates an image that can be hot patched.
/GENPROFILE, /FASTGENPROFILE	Both of these options specify generation of a `.pgd` file by the linker to support profile-guided optimization (PGO). /GENPROFILE and /FASTGENPROFILE use different default parameters.
/GUARD	Enables Control Flow Guard protection.
/HEAP	Sets the size of the heap, in bytes.
/HIGHENTROPYVA	Specifies support for high-entropy 64-bit address space layout randomization (ASLR).
/IDLOUT	Specifies the name of the `.idl` file and other MIDL output files.
/IGNORE	Suppresses output of specified linker warnings.
/IGNOREIDL	Prevents the processing of attribute information into an `.idl` file.
/IMPLIB	Overrides the default import library name.
/INCLUDE	Forces symbol references.
/INCREMENTAL	Controls incremental linking.
/INTEGRITYCHECK	Specifies that the module requires a signature check at load time.
/KEYCONTAINER	Specifies a key container to sign an assembly.
/KEYFILE	Specifies a key or key pair to sign an assembly.
/LARGEADDRESSAWARE	Tells the compiler that the application supports addresses larger than two gigabytes
/LIBPATH	Specifies a path to search before the environmental library path.
/LINKREPRO	Specifies a path to generate link repro artifacts in.
/LINKREPROTARGET	Generates a link repro only when producing the specified target.^16.1
/LTCG	Specifies link-time code generation.
/MACHINE	Specifies the target platform.
/MANIFEST	Creates a side-by-side manifest file and optionally embeds it in the binary.
/MANIFESTDEPENDENCY	Specifies a <dependentAssembly> section in the manifest file.
/MANIFESTFILE	Changes the default name of the manifest file.
/MANIFESTINPUT	Specifies a manifest input file for the linker to process and embed in the binary. You can use this option multiple times to specify more than one manifest input file.
/MANIFESTUAC	Specifies whether User Account Control (UAC) information is embedded in the program manifest.
/MAP	Creates a mapfile.
/MAPINFO	Includes the specified information in the mapfile.
/MERGE	Combines sections.
/MIDL	Specifies MIDL command-line options.
/NATVIS	Adds debugger visualizers from a Natvis file to the program database (PDB).
/NOASSEMBLY	Suppresses the creation of a .NET Framework assembly.
/NODEFAULTLIB	Ignores all (or the specified) default libraries when external references are resolved.
/NOENTRY	Creates a resource-only DLL.
/NOLOGO	Suppresses the startup banner.
/NXCOMPAT	Marks an executable as verified to be compatible with the Windows Data Execution Prevention feature.
/OPT	Controls LINK optimizations.
/ORDER	Places COMDATs into the image in a predetermined order.
/OUT	Specifies the output file name.
/PDB	Creates a PDB file.
/PDBALTPATH	Uses an alternate location to save a PDB file.
/PDBSTRIPPED	Creates a PDB file that has no private symbols.
/PGD	Specifies a `.pgd` file for profile-guided optimizations.
/POGOSAFEMODE	Obsolete Creates a thread-safe PGO instrumented build.
/PROFILE	Produces an output file that can be used with the Performance Tools profiler.
/RELEASE	Sets the Checksum in the `.exe` header.
/SAFESEH	Specifies that the image will contain a table of safe exception handlers.
/SECTION	Overrides the attributes of a section.
/SOURCELINK	Specifies a SourceLink file to add to the PDB.
/STACK	Sets the size of the stack in bytes.
/STUB	Attaches an MS-DOS stub program to a Win32 program.
/SUBSYSTEM	Tells the operating system how to run the `.exe` file.
/SWAPRUN	Tells the operating system to copy the linker output to a swap file before it's run.
/TLBID	Specifies the resource ID of the linker-generated type library.
/TLBOUT	Specifies the name of the `.tlb` file and other MIDL output files.
/TSAWARE	Creates an application that is designed specifically to run under Terminal Server.
/USEPROFILE	Uses profile-guided optimization training data to create an optimized image.
/VERBOSE	Prints linker progress messages.
/VERSION	Assigns a version number.
/WHOLEARCHIVE	Includes every object file from specified static libraries.
/WINMD	Enables generation of a Windows Runtime Metadata file.
/WINMDFILE	Specifies the file name for the Windows Runtime Metadata (winmd) output file that's generated by the /WINMD linker option.
/WINMDKEYFILE	Specifies a key or key pair to sign a Windows Runtime Metadata file.
/WINMDKEYCONTAINER	Specifies a key container to sign a Windows Metadata file.
/WINMDDELAYSIGN	Partially signs a Windows Runtime Metadata (.winmd) file by placing the public key in the winmd file.
/WX	Treats linker warnings as errors.

^16.1 This option is available starting in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.1.

Library path

The %LIBPATH% environment variable specifies the default path to search for .winmd files.

Compiler options

Option	Description
/ZW /ZW:nostdlib	Enables Windows Runtime language extensions. The `nostdlib` parameter prevents the compiler from using the standard, predefined search path to find assembly and .winmd files. The /ZW compiler option implicitly specifies the following compiler options: - /FI vccorlib.h, which forces inclusion of the vccorlib.h header file that defines many types that are required by the compiler. - /FU Windows.winmd, which forces inclusion of the Windows.winmd metadata file that's provided by the operating system and defines many types in the Windows Runtime. - /FU Platform.winmd, which forces inclusion of the Platform.winmd metadata file that's provided by the compiler and defines most types in the Platform family of namespaces.
/AIdir	Adds a directory, which is specified by the dir parameter, to the search path that the compiler uses to find assembly and .winmd files.
/FUfile	Forces the inclusion of the specified module, or .winmd file. That is, you don't have to specify `#using`file in your source code. The compiler automatically forces the inclusion of its own Windows metadata file, Platform.winmd.
/D 'WINAPI_FAMILY=2'	Creates a definition that enables the use of a subset of the Win32 SDK that's compatible with the Windows Runtime.

Linker options

Option	Description
/APPCONTAINER[:NO]	Marks the executable as runnable in the appcontainer (only).
/WINMD[:{NO\|ONLY}]	Emits a .winmd file and an associated binary file. This option must be passed to the linker for a .winmd to be emitted. NO—Doesn't emit a .winmd file, but does emit a binary file. ONLY—Emits a .winmd file, but doesn't emit a binary file.
/WINMDFILE:filename	The name of the .winmd file to emit, instead of the default .winmd file name. If multiple file names are specified on the command line, the last name is used.
/WINMDDELAYSIGN[:NO]	Partially signs the .winmd file and places the public key in the binary. NO—(Default) Doesn't sign the .winmd file. /WINMDDELAYSIGN has no effect unless /WINMDKEYFILE or /WINMDKEYCONTAINER is also specified.
/WINMDKEYCONTAINER:name	Specifies a key container to sign an assembly. The name parameter corresponds to the key container that's used to sign the metadata file.
/WINMDKEYFILE:filename	Specifies a key or a key pair to sign the assembly. The filename parameter corresponds to the key that's used to sign the metadata file.