Link multiple DLLs from one import library (lib)

Question

In the CRT description on MSDN, there is the following sentence: "For binary compatibility, more than one DLL file may be specified by a single import library."
What does this mean?

Assuming I manually link msvcp140.dll and msvcp140_1.dll, does adding a single msvcprt.lib to dependencies mean that both DLLs will be linked?

For this, I looked into some options related to lib.exe (Microsoft Library Manager) and realized that it is impossible to create a single import library (lib) through multiple .def files.
However, I confirmed that it is possible to link multiple dlls through a single lib by merging the Import Library (lib) generated when building two DLLs using the lib.exe command.

I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it.

How does msvcprt.lib work so that both msvcp140.dll and msvcp140_1.dll can be linked?

Additionally, I found that the C++ Builder solution provided by codegear(?) has a utility called implib and a method to create a single lib using multiple custom defs, but this is not a Microsoft standard. (However, it is compatible with MVSC.)

I'm a newbie to this area, so I'd appreciate some concrete examples, rather than just a simple answer like "look at msdn".

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi,

You can use lib.exe. The tool merges the contents of the two libs.

LIB.EXE /OUT:c.lib a.lib b.lib

Check the contents by dumbin.

Best regards,

Minxin Yu

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