SunStudio 11 cannot link libtiff in Solaris 10 (undefined symbol)

Question

Hello
we are producing a software using multiple external libraries, among them Sam Leffler's TIFF library version 3.6.1
This software compiles and runs well on Solaris 9 / SunStudio 11
But in Solaris 10 / SunStudio we get an 'undefined symbol' error even if the symbol exists!!
I have patched the OS and SunStudio to the latest level required but it's no help
the linker error message is:
CC -compat=4 -I../AGR -I../STA -I../SVI -I../KRN -I../COMMON_APAS -I../CXML -I../SCS -I. -I../INCLUDE -I../AFC -I../ITI -I../IEM -I../MMF -I../MMI -I../ICS -I../EIV -I../TSF -I../TTM -I../TIM -I../MIR -I../INA -I../INX -I../DEC -I../MAR -I../IXA -I../MXR -I../ICO -I../JPEG -I../LTIFF -I../OVS -I../UTIL -I../TRE -I../IRE -I../INR -I../IST -I../IXR -I/opt/SUNWspro/prod/include/CC -I/usr/include -g0 -libmil -xtarget=native -mt -xildoff -keeptmp -verbose=%all -L/usr/lib -L/usr/local/lib -LFPCSolaris10 -L../lib/FPCSolaris10 -L/opt/SUNWspro/prod/lib/rw7/CC4 -L/opt/SUNWspro/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -o FPCSolaris10/MainItls_ils FPCSolaris10/MainItls_ils.o FPCSolaris10/MAIN_Module_ils.o -lICS -lEIV -lMIR -lINA -lDEC -lMAR -lICO -lMXR -lIXA -lOVS -lUtil -ltiff -lSVIils -lSTAils -lKRN -lSCS -lITIils -lIEMils -lAGR -lMMF -lAFC -lMMI -lCXML -lcommon_apas -Bstatic -lrwtool -Bdynamic -lnsl -lposix4 -lsocket -lxnet -ldl -lgen -lcurses -lXm -lXt -lX11 -lxml2
ld: Software Generation Utilities - Solaris Link Editors: 5.10-1.489
ld: warning: symbol `clog' has differing types:
(file /opt/SUNWspro/lib/CC4/libC.so type=OBJT; file /usr/lib/libm.so type=FUNC);
/opt/SUNWspro/lib/CC4/libC.so definition taken
Undefined first referenced
symbol in file
TIFFOpenMem ../lib/FPCSolaris10/libIXA.a(IXA_ImageManager.o)
ld: fatal: Symbol referencing errors. No output written to FPCSolaris10/MainItls_ils
gmake[1]: *** [FPCSolaris10/MainItls_ils] Error 1
But if I analyse the libraries used the missing symbol is actually there:
nm -g ../lib/FPCSolaris10/libtiff.a
../lib/FPCSolaris10/libtiff.a[tif_msrc.o]:
[Index] Value Size Type Bind Other Shndx Name
[26] | 0| 0|FUNC |GLOB |0 |UNDEF |TIFFClientOpen
[22] | 0| 0|FUNC |GLOB |0 |UNDEF |TIFFError
[24] | 416| 161|FUNC |GLOB |0 |2 |TIFFOpenMem
[23] | 0| 0|FUNC |GLOB |0 |UNDEF |free
[25] | 0| 0|FUNC |GLOB |0 |UNDEF |malloc
[21] | 0| 0|FUNC |GLOB |0 |UNDEF |memcpy
Does anybody have an idea of what's wrong ?
Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

The libraries are probably being linked in the wrong order.
Libraries are processed in the order seen on the link command. When the linker sees an archive library (.a), it pulls in any .o files from it that can satisfy existing undefined references. Suppose libA needs f1 from library libtiff, but -lA appears on the command line after -ltiff. The reference will not be resolved.
Move the -ltiff option to a spot later on the command line, after all libraries that use libtiff, but before any libraries that libtiff uses. If libraries have circular references (A uses B which uses A), leave -ltiff where it is, but add another one later on the command line. The library will be searched twice.
Another option is to build libtiff as a shared library (.so). The position on the link command line of a shared library is less sensitive, and references to it from later files can still be resolved. You don't list a shared library twice.
An unrelated question: Why are you using the -compat=4 option? That option is provided to allow linking code that was compiled by C++ 4.2 (shipped in 1996), or compiling code that predates the 1998 C++ Standard.
You usually cannot mix -compat=4 binaries with standard-mode binaries, you can't use the C++ standard library in -compat=4 mode, and code using C++ features introduced after the ARM (1991) won't compile in -compat=4 mode. Unless you are stuck with 10-year-old binaries built with C++ 4.2, it is best to recompile all your code in default standard mode (without -compat=4).
The C++ Migration Guide explains all the issues involved in converting code from old-style to standard C++.
[http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-3689|http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-3689]