Prof A Olowofoyeku (The African Chief) wrote:
If you have something like this: function foo : integer; external 'bar' name 'foo'; you get a warning that the library name in 'external' is ignored. Is it possible, instead of ignoring the library name, to generate an implicit call to link it? For example, the example above would resolve to an implicit '-lbar' (i.e., it would be the equivalent of '{$l bar}').
Is this feasible, and is there any reason why it would be a bad idea?
I don't think the purpose of the construct "external 'bar' name 'foo'" should be to automatically link in library bar, but rather to record that the function foo is located in library bar, to be more precise, to indicate that with the external declaration the function foo in the library bar is meant and not an eventual function of the same name in another library, c.f. <http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/DeveloperTools/ TwoLevelNamespaces.html> and <http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Porting/Conceptual/ PortingUnix/compiling/chapter_4_section_6.html>.
Regards,
Adriaan van Os