220 lines
6.2 KiB
Groff
220 lines
6.2 KiB
Groff
.\"
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.\" The Mono Linker manual page.
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.\"
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.\" Author:
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.\" Jb Evain <jbevain@novell.com>
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.\"
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.\" Copyright (C) 2007 Novell, Inc (http://www.novell.com)
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.\"
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.de Sp \"
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.if t .sp .5v
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.if n .sp
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..
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.TH CIL Linker "monolinker"
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.SH NAME
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Mono CIL Linker
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.PP
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.B monolinker [-o output_directory][-l i18n_assemblies][-c skip | copy | link] -x descriptor | -a assembly | -i info_file ...
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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\fImonolinker\fP is a CIL Linker.
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.PP.
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The linker is a tool one can use to only ship the minimal possible set of
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functions that a set of programs might require to run as opposed to the full
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libraries.
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.PP
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The linker analyses the intermediate code (CIL) produced by every
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compiler targeting the Mono platform like mcs, gmcs, vbnc, booc or
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others. It will walk through all the code that it is given to it, and
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remove all the unused methods and classes. This is done using a mark
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and sweep operation on all the code that it is referenced.
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.PP
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The generated output from the monolinker can be later processed by the
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.I mkbundle
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tool to generate small native self-contained executables.
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.PP
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Do not confuse this with the Assembly Linker (al) which creates
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assemblies from manifests, modules and resource files.
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.I "-d search_directory"
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Specify a directory to the linker where to look for assemblies.
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.TP
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.I "-o output_directory"
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Specify the output directory, default is 'output'.
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.Sp
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If you specify the directory `.', please ensure that you won't write over
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important assemblies of yours.
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.TP
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.I "-b true | false"
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Specify whether to generate debug symbols or not, default is false.
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.TP
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.I "-g true | false"
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Specify whether to generate a new guid for each linked module or reuse the
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existing one, default is true.
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.TP
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.I "-l i18n_assemblies"
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Specify what to do with the region specific assemblies
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.Sp
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Mono have a few assemblies which contains everything region specific:
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.nf
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I18N.CJK.dll
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I18N.MidEast.dll
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I18N.Other.dll
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I18N.Rare.dll
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I18N.West.dll
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.fi
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.Sp
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By default, they will all be copied to the output directory, but you can
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specify which one you want using this command. The choice can
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either be: none, all, cjk, mideast, other, rare or west. You can
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combine the values with a comma.
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.TP
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.I "-c action"
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Specify the action to apply to the core assemblies.
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.Sp
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Core assemblies are the assemblies that belongs to the base class library,
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like mscorlib.dll, System.dll or System.Windows.Forms.dll.
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.Sp
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The linker supports three operations on these assemblies, you can
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specify one of the following actions:
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.RS
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.ne 8
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.TP
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.I skip
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This instructs the linker to skip them and do nothing with them.
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.TP
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.I copy
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This instructs the linker to copy them to the output directory,
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.TP
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.I link
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This instructs the linker to apply the linking process and reduce
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their size.
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.ne
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.RE
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.Sp
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.TP
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.I "-p action assembly"
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Specify per assembly which action to apply.
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.TP
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.I "-x descriptor"
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Use an XML descriptor as a source for the linker.
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.Sp
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Here is an example that shows all the possibilities of this format:
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.Sp
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.nf
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<linker>
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<assembly fullname="Library">
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<type fullname="Foo" />
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<type fullname="Bar" preserve="nothing" required="false" />
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<type fullname="Baz" preserve="fields" required="false" />
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<type fullname="Gazonk">
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<method signature="System.Void .ctor(System.String)" />
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<field signature="System.String _blah" />
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<field name="someFieldName" />
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</type>
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</assembly>
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</linker>
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.fi
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.Sp
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In this example, the linker will link the types Foo, Bar, Baz and Gazonk.
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.Sp
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The preserve attribute ensures that all the fields of the type Baz will be
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always be linked, not matter if they are used or not, but that neither the
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fields or the methods of Bar will be linked if they are not used. Not
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specifying a preserve attribute implies that we are preserving everything in
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the specified type.
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.Sp
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The required attribute specifies that if the type is not marked, during the
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mark operation, it will not be linked.
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.Sp
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The type Gazonk will be linked, as well as its constructor taking a string as a
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parameter, and it's _blah field.
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.Sp
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You can have multiple assembly nodes.
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.TP
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.I "-a assemblies"
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use an assembly as a source for the linker.
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.Sp
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The linker will walk through all the methods of the assembly to generate only what
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is necessary for this assembly to run.
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.TP
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.I "-i info_file"
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use a .info xml file as a source for the linker.
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.Sp
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An info file is a file produced by the tool mono-api-info. The linker will use it to
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generate an assembly that contains only what the public API defined in the info file
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needs.
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.TP
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.I "-s [StepBefore:]StepFullName,StepAssembly[:StepAfter]"
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.Sp
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You can ask the linker to execute custom steps by using the -s command. This command
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takes the standard TypeFullName,Assembly format to locate the step. You can customize
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its position in the pipeline by either adding it before a step, or after.
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.Sp
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Example:
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.Sp
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.nf
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using System;
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using Mono.Linker;
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using Mono.Linker.Steps;
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namespace Foo {
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public class FooStep : IStep {
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public void Process (LinkContext context)
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{
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foreach (IStep step in context.Pipeline.GetSteps ()) {
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Console.WriteLine (step.GetType ().Name);
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}
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}
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}
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}
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.fi
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.Sp
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If you compile this custom against monolinker to a Foo.dll assembly, you
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can use the
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.I -s
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switch as follows. To add the FooStep at the end of the pipeline:
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.Sp
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.nf
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monolinker -s Foo.FooStep,Foo -a program.exe
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.fi
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.Sp
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This commanand will add the FooStep after the MarkStep:
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.Sp
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.nf
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monolinker -s MarkStep:Foo.FooStep,Foo -a program.exe
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.fi
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.Sp
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This command will add the FooStep before the MarkStep:
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.Sp
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.nf
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monolinker -s Foo.FooStep,Foo:MarkStep -a program.exe
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.fi
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.Sp
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This command will add the FooStep before the MarkStep
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.TP
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.I "-m CustomParam ParamValue"
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Specify a parameter for a custom step.
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.SH COPYRIGHT
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Copyright (C) 2007 Novell, Inc (http://www.novell.com)
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.SH BUGS
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Bugs report are welcome at http://bugzilla.ximian.com
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.PP
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Product Mono Tools, Component linker.
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.SH MAILING LISTS
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Mailing lists are listed at http://www.mono-project.com/Mailing_Lists
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.SH WEB SITE
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http://www.mono-project.com/Linker
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.SH AUTHORS
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The linker has been written by Jb Evain, and have been partially founded by
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the Google Summer of Code.
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.SH LICENSE
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The linker is licensed under the MIT/X11 license. Please read the accompayning
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MIT.X11 file for details.
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.SH SEE ALSO
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.BR al(1),mkbundle(1),mono(1),mcs(1).
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