Re: on how to install gnutls dlls on windows

[Óscar Fuentes]

Wayne Harris via Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor
<help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> writes:

>>> Doesn't emacs.exe depend on LIBGNUTLS-30.DLL?
>>
>> Emacs loads certain dlls at runtime, only when you use a feature that
>> requires them.
>
> Hm, I thought all DLLs were equivalent to UNIX shared objects.  But I
> guess DLL means both shared object and those archives whose names always
> end in ``.a'' as in ``mylib.a'' to be linked against at link-time.

foo.dll.a is an import library, a helper file that is used by the linker to
know that such and such symbol is defined in foo.dll.

Usually, DLLs are loaded automatically when the executable starts. The
executable lists the dlls required to run. But, once running, the
application can use an API to request from the OS "I want to open
foo.dll and then I want the addresses of such and such functions defined
on that dll". That's runtime dynamic linking.

BTW, UNIX shared objects also provide those possibilities.

>> Dependency Walker, by default, only shows dlls that were required at
>> link-time (when the Emacs executable was created) although it also has a
>> method for running an application and watching the dlls that it opens at
>> runtime.
>>
>> Please note that Dependency Walker might be problematic on 64 bit
>> applications.
>
> What sort of problems does it have, if I may ask?  I'd hate to spend
> hours trying to do something it doesn't do.

AFAIK Dependency Walker was never fully transitioned to 64 bit. Some
features can fail.

>> Process Explorer displays all running processes and the dlls that they
>> are using (among other information).
>
> Indeed.  I discovered that yesterday.  I've been studying such tools.
>
> Thank you!

You're welcome.