The compiler processes the source files in the order in which they
are displayed. If the compiler cannot find a specified source file,
it produces an error message and the compiler proceeds to the next
specified file. However, the linker does not run and temporary object
files are removed.
By default, the compiler preprocesses and compiles all the specified
source files. Although you usually want to use this default, you can
use the compiler to preprocess the source file without compiling;
see Preprocessing for details.
You can input the following types of files to the
XL C compiler:
- C source files
- These are files containing C source
code.
To use the C compiler to compile a C language source file,
the source file must have a .c (lowercase c) suffix, unless you compile
with the -qsourcetype=c option.
- Preprocessed source files
- Preprocessed source files have a .i suffix, for example, file_name.i. The compiler sends the preprocessed
source file, file_name.i, to the compiler
where it is preprocessed again in the same way as a .c file. Preprocessed files are useful for
checking macros and preprocessor directives.
- Object files
- Object files must have a .o suffix, for example, file_name.o. Object files, library files, and unstripped executable files serve as input to the linker. After compilation,
the linker links all of the specified object files to create an executable
file.
- Assembler files
- Assembler files must have a .s suffix, for example, file_name.s, unless you compile with the -qsourcetype=assembler option. Assembler files are assembled to create an object
file.
- Unpreprocessed assembler files
- Unpreprocessed assembler files must have a .S suffix, for example, file_name.S, unless you compile with the -qsourcetype=assembler-with-cpp option. The compiler compiles all source files with a .S extension
as if they are assembler language source files that need preprocessing.
- Shared library files
- Shared library files generally have a .a suffix, for example, file_name.a, but they can also have a .so suffix,
for example, file_name.so.
- Unstripped executable files
- Extended Common Object File Format (XCOFF) files that have not been stripped with the operating system strip command can be used as input to the compiler. See the strip command in the AIX® Commands Reference and the description of a.out file
format in the AIX Files Reference for more information.