Shared libraries and object files when upgrading to Gen 8.6 IT on Linux

Products

• Gen
• Gen - Host Encyclopedia
• Gen - Run Time Distributed
• Gen - Workstation Toolset

Issue/Introduction

When upgrading from 7.x or 8.x to 8.6.  Certain shared libs are not present in the 8.6 installation, only the static versions are available. In 8.0 both static and dynamic versions were available.   What has happened to the shared versions?

For example Gen shared libraries:

$IEFH/obj/common_c_sver.o
$IEFH/obj/dprt_sver.o
$IEFH/obj/exit_c_sver.o
$IEFH/obj/mbyte_sver.o
$IEFH/obj/gx_sver.o

 

 

Environment

Release : 8.6

Resolution

The files noted are object files that are used for versioning and were removed from the Gen shared libraries (but still exist for archive libraries), these are not shared libraries.  From prior releases, there were numerous changes to the build scripts along with the omission of the use of the *sver.o object files. 

All libraries, both archived and shared exist in $IEFH/lib.  Users should see both .so and .a files in $IEFH/lib for Gen 8.6.  Object files, such as the ' version' object files, exist in the $IEFH/obj directory.  

Regarding the 'version' object files, in Gen 8.x, there were pairs of version object files for each library (For example: common_c_aver.o and common_a_sver.o).   All *aver.o files were linked to load modules when building with archive libraries, and all *sver.o files were linked to load modules when building with shared libraries.   As of Gen 8.5, Gen now includes the logic that was once in the *sver.o object files within the shared libraries, so users no longer need to link them into the load modules.

Note:  If  customizations were done to the build scripts in Gen 8.x or 7.x, users will need to apply the customizations made in the Gen 8.x Implementation Toolset (IT) build scripts to the Gen 8.6 IT build scripts.  It is suggested that users check difference between the 'GA' version of the Gen 8.x build scripts and the customized versions of the build scripts, then apply those changes/customizations to the Gen 8.6 version(s) of the build scripts.