Index

JWlink

About JWlink

JWlink is a linker for x86 that can create 16-, 32- and 64-bit binaries. It's a fork of Open Watcom Wlink. The goal was to make it support 64-bit and, as far as Windows is concerned, to make the resulting binaries more compatible with what's produced by the MS linker (the cmdline syntax is still quite different).

In JWlink's readme there's a list of what has been changed compared to Wlink. A manual is also available, in HTMLHelp format for Windows or plain HTML for DOS and Linux.

JWlink's source code is released under the Sybase Open Watcom Public License,

Examples

The JWlink commandline options are vast and the syntax, which is inherited from Wlink, is a bit strange. As a start, here are some examples for the most common cases:
- Win32/Win64 console application,
one object module (sample.obj): 		jwlink format windows pe file sample.obj
- Win32/Win64 GUI application,
one object module (sample.obj): 		jwlink format windows pe runtime windows file sample.obj
- Win32/Win64 dynamic link library,
one object module (sample.obj): 		jwlink format windows pe dll file sample.obj
- Win32/Win64 console application with multiple object modules,
file1.obj and file2.obj, name of the resulting binary will be sample.exe: 		jwlink format windows pe dll file file1.obj, file2.obj name sample.exe
- Win32/Win64 console application with one object module,
emit symbolic debugging info and create a map file: 		jwlink debug c format windows pe file sample.obj op cvp, map
- Win32/Win64 console application without base relocations: jwlink format windows pe file sample.obj op noreloc
- Win32/Win64 dll and set the preferred base address: jwlink format windows pe dll file sample.obj op offset=0x20000000
- Win32/Win64 dll and write an import library: jwlink format windows pe dll file sample.obj op implib=sample.lib
- Win32 console application compiled with MS VC++: jwlink format windows pe file sample.obj op eliminate, start=_mainCRTStartup, noreloc
- 32- or 64-bit ELF application: jwlink format elf file sample.obj op noreloc

Hints for MS Link and PoLink Users

If you're used to MS link or PoLink, the following table should give an idea about how the arguments are to be translated for JWlink.

MS Link ArgumentJWlink Equivalent
/ALIGN:n OP OBJALIGN=n
/BASE:n OP OFFSET=n
/DEBUG DEBUG C OP CVP
/DLL FORMAT WIN PE DLL
/ENTRY:symbol OP START=symbol
/EXPORT:name EXPORT name
/FILEALIGN:n OP ALIGNMENT=n
/FIXED OP NORELOCS
/FORCE:multiple OP REDEFSOK
/HEAP:res,comm OP HEAPSIZE=res COMMIT HEAP=comm
/IMPLIB:name OP IMPLIB=name
/INCLUDE:symbol REFERENCE symbol
/LARGEADDRESSAWAREOP LARGEADDRESSAWARE
/LIBPATH:path LIBPATH path
/MAP OP MAP
/NODEFAULTLIB OP NODEFAULTLIBS
/NXCOMPAT OP NXCOMPAT
/OSVERSION:maj,minOP OSVERSION=maj.min
/OUT:name NAME name
/SECTION:segm,... SEGMENT segm ...
/STACK:res,comm OP STACK=res COMMIT STACK=comm
/STUB:filename OP STUB=filename
/SUBSYSTEM:system RUNTIME system
library.LIB LIBRARY library
module.OBJ FILE module

There's no direct replacement for MS link's /DEF option, which tells the linker to scan a so-called Module Definition File. However, since the main usage of such files is to define exports, it's simple to replace them with standard linker directive files.

Here's an example. Module Definition File MYDLL.DEF: 

    LIBRARY MYDLL
    EXPORTS
     MyFunction1
     MyFunction2
     MyFunction3

can be replaced by linker directive file MYDLL.RSP: 

    OP MODNAME=MYDLL
    OP FUZZYEXPORT
    EXPORT {
     MyFunction1
     MyFunction2
     MyFunction3
    }

and that file is added to JWlink's commandline with the @ directive:

jwlink format win pe dll file mydll.obj @MYDLL.RSP

Support

Downloads


Binary Windows
Binary Linux
Binary DOS
Source
JWlink v1.9 beta 11 23.04.2013 JWlink_v19b11_win32 JWlink_v19b11_linux JWlink_v19b11_dos JWlink_v19b11_src

See also: JWasm