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Q156190: FIX: LNK1170 Building Project’s Makefile from Command Line

Article: Q156190
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): 4.0 4.1 4.2
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbVC500fix
Last Modified: 30-JUL-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- The Program Maintenance Utility (NMAKE.EXE), included with:
   - Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 4.0, 4.1 
   - Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition, version 4.2 
   - Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition, version 4.2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

When using the NMAKE utility to build a large project created in Visual C++, you
may encounter the following error:

  fatal error LNK1170: line in command file contains 16383 or more characters

CAUSE
=====

Visual C++ generates the project makefile such that all of the object modules
are placed on one line in an inline response file for LINK. LINK cannot accept
more than 16383 characters on one line.

WORKAROUND
==========

There are two workarounds:

Workaround 1: A New Makefile
----------------------------

Copy the project makefile and edit the copy. The object modules are listed in the
LINK32_OBJS macro. To work around the problem, use macro substitution to insert
newline charaters after each object module so that each object module is
specified on a separate line. You need to use the following macro substitution
in your project makefile: "

     $(LINK32_OBJS:"  "="^
     ")

" (without the quotation marks) For example, a typical link line in a makefile
looks similar to the following:

     "$(OUTDIR)\anapp.exe" : "$(OUTDIR)" $(DEF_FILE) $(LINK32_OBJS)
         $(LINK32) @<<
      $(LINK32_FLAGS) $(LINK32_OBJS)
     <<

Change the third line of the above sample to the following: "

     "$(OUTDIR)\anapp.exe" : "$(OUTDIR)" $(DEF_FILE) $(LINK32_OBJS)
         $(LINK32) @<<
      $(LINK32_FLAGS) $(LINK32_OBJS:"  "="^
     ")
     <<

" (without the quotation marks)NOTE: Two white spaces between the initial set of
quotes.

You need to use the workaround for both the debug build and the release build of
your project. If you have any other project configurations, you need to apply
the workaround to those as well.

Then use NMAKE on the new makefile to build your project.

Workaround 2: Static Libraries
------------------------------

Break up your project into a main top-level project and several static libraries
as sub-projects. Static libraries are simply a collection of object modules. You
can organize your project into several such collections, but you must have at
least one module in your top-level project--the one containing the entry point
of your program.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be an issue in the Microsoft products listed at
the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Visual C++ version 5.0.

REFERENCES
==========

Visual C++ version 4.2, Visual C++ Books Online; click Visual C++ Books, User's
Guides, Visual C++ User's Guide, Working with Projects, Using Projects, and then
click the "Inserting and Deleting Projects" topic.

Visual C++ version 4.2, Visual C++ Books Online; click Visual C++ Books, User's
Guides, Visual C++ User's Guide, NMAKE Reference, and then the "NMAKE Reference"
topic.

Visual C++ version 4.2, Visual C++ Books Online; click Visual C++ Books, User's
Guides, Visual C++ User's Guide, Working with Projects, Managing Project
Workspaces, Creating a Project Workspace, and the "Project Types" topic.

Visual C++ version 4.2, Visual C++ Books Online; click Visual C++ Books, User's
Guides, Visual C++ User's Guide, NMAKE Reference, Macros and NMAKE, Using an
NMAKE Macro, and then click the "Macro Substitution" topic.

Additional query words: kbVC400bug 1.61.6038

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbVC500fix 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbNMAKESearch
Version           : 4.0 4.1 4.2
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

=============================================================================

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