File: libtool.info,  Node: File name conversion,  Next: Windows DLLs,  Prev: Cross compiling,  Up: Platform quirks

15.3.6 File name conversion
---------------------------

In certain situations, libtool must convert file names and paths between
formats appropriate to different platforms.  Usually this occurs when
cross-compiling, and affects only the ability to launch host platform
executables on the build platform using an emulation or API-enhancement
environment such as Wine.  Failure to convert paths (*note File Name
Conversion Failure::) will cause a warning to be issued, but rarely
causes the build to fail--and should have no effect on the compiled
products, once installed properly on the host platform.  For more
information, *note Cross compiling::.

   However, file name conversion may also occur in another scenario:
when using a Unix emulation system on Windows (such as Cygwin or MSYS),
combined with a native Windows compiler such as MinGW or MSVC. Only a
limited set of such scenarios are currently supported; in other cases
file name conversion is skipped.  The lack of file name conversion
usually means that uninstalled executables can't be launched, but only
rarely causes the build to fail (*note File Name Conversion Failure::).

   libtool supports file name conversion in the following scenarios:

build platform     host platform      Notes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MinGW (MSYS)       MinGW (Windows)    *note Native MinGW File Name Conversion::
                                      
Cygwin             MinGW (Windows)    *note Cygwin/Windows File Name Conversion::
                                      
Unix + Wine        MinGW (Windows)    Requires Wine.
                                      *Note Unix/Windows File Name Conversion::.
                                      
MinGW (MSYS)       Cygwin             Requires ‘LT_CYGPATH’.
                                      *Note LT_CYGPATH::.  Provided for
                                      testing purposes only.
                                      
Unix + Wine        Cygwin             Requires both Wine and
                                      ‘LT_CYGPATH’, but does not yet
                                      work with Cygwin 1.7.7 and
                                      Wine-1.2.
                                      *Note Unix/Windows File Name Conversion::,
                                      and *note LT_CYGPATH::.

* Menu:

* File Name Conversion Failure::  What happens when file name conversion fails
* Native MinGW File Name Conversion::  MSYS file name conversion idiosyncrasies
* Cygwin/Windows File Name Conversion::  Using ‘cygpath’ to convert Cygwin file names
* Unix/Windows File Name Conversion::  Using Wine to convert Unix paths
* LT_CYGPATH::                  Invoking ‘cygpath’ from other environments
* Cygwin to MinGW Cross::       Other notes concerning MinGW cross