Re: Bug in gcc and/or binutils?

[Charles Wilson <cygwin at cwilson dot fastmail dot fm>]

FWIW, this is not a "recent" regression --- nothing "changed" in 
binutils or gcc.  I just installed binutils-20040725-2 from the Cygwin 
Time Machine and got identical output.  This was a surprise to me:

*I* thought that we no longer needed the DATA flag in .def files because 
binutils was smart enough to figure that out on its own -- obviously, it 
does so when auto-EXporting, so why can't it do so when using a .def 
file?  Using .def files turns off the auto-EXport logic (which it 
should, because if you specify a specific set of exports you don't want 
binutils adding a few more on its own).

However, this "turn off the auto-EXport logic" seems to include turning 
off the "is this symbol a DATA item or a function" logic.  I never knew 
that.


So, given my mistaken understanding, I wanted to know if this was a 
recent "regression" in binutils.  But, it's always been like that -- it 
is not a regression at all.

The question is, should binutils be "fixed" to keep the "is this symbol 
a DATA item or a function" logic active even when using .def files?  I'm 
not sure the answer is yes.  Wouldn't this imply giving binutils 
override power, if I marked a *function* symbol with 'DATA' in the .def 
file -- the converse of the case described by Gerritt?  Basically, we'd 
be making binutils IGNORE any 'DATA' (or lack thereof) decoration in the 
.def file, and just "do what it thinks is best".

This doesn't seem to be the path of wisdom, to me.  If I'm using a .def 
file, it's likely because in the specific situation I don't trust 
binutils to "do what it thinks is best"; if I did, I'd let the 
auto-EXport logic do its thing.   So, to me it looks more and more that 
libtool ought to be more careful when creating its .def file...


Which is the long-winded way of saying that I agree with Gerritt.

--
Chuck

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