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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
+
+Working with Pre-Built Libraries
+********************************
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+Some library vendors do not release source code for their software but do
+release pre-built binaries. When shared libraries are built, they should
+be versioned (see `this article
+<https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Program-Library-HOWTO/shared-libraries.html>`__
+for some background), but sometimes this is not done.
+
+To summarize, a versioned library must meet two conditions:
+
+#.    The filename must have the version appended, for example: ``libfoo.so.1.2.3``.
+#.    The library must have the ELF tag ``SONAME`` set to the major version
+      of the library, for example: ``libfoo.so.1``. You can check this by
+      running ``readelf -d filename | grep SONAME``.
+
+This section shows how to deal with both versioned and unversioned
+pre-built libraries.
+
+Versioned Libraries
+===================
+
+In this example we work with pre-built libraries for the FT4222H USB I/O chip.
+Libraries are built for several target architecture variants and packaged in
+an archive as follows::
+
+   ├── build-arm-hisiv300
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-arm-v5-sf
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-arm-v6-hf
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-arm-v7-hf
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-arm-v8
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-i386
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-i486
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-mips-eglibc-hf
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-pentium
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── build-x86_64
+   │   └── libft4222.so.1.4.4.44
+   ├── examples
+   │   ├── get-version.c
+   │   ├── i2cm.c
+   │   ├── spim.c
+   │   └── spis.c
+   ├── ftd2xx.h
+   ├── install4222.sh
+   ├── libft4222.h
+   ├── ReadMe.txt
+   └── WinTypes.h
+
+To write a recipe to use such a library in your system:
+
+-  The vendor will probably have a proprietary licence, so set
+   :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS` in your recipe.
+-  The vendor provides a tarball containing libraries so set :term:`SRC_URI`
+   appropriately.
+-  Set :term:`COMPATIBLE_HOST` so that the recipe cannot be used with an
+   unsupported architecture. In the following example, we only support the 32
+   and 64 bit variants of the ``x86`` architecture.
+-  As the vendor provides versioned libraries, we can use ``oe_soinstall``
+   from :ref:`ref-classes-utils` to install the shared library and create
+   symbolic links. If the vendor does not do this, we need to follow the
+   non-versioned library guidelines in the next section.
+-  As the vendor likely used :term:`LDFLAGS` different from those in your Yocto
+   Project build, disable the corresponding checks by adding ``ldflags``
+   to :term:`INSANE_SKIP`.
+-  The vendor will typically ship release builds without debugging symbols.
+   Avoid errors by preventing the packaging task from stripping out the symbols
+   and adding them to a separate debug package. This is done by setting the
+   ``INHIBIT_`` flags shown below.
+
+The complete recipe would look like this::
+
+   SUMMARY = "FTDI FT4222H Library"
+   SECTION = "libs"
+   LICENSE_FLAGS = "ftdi"
+   LICENSE = "CLOSED"
+
+   COMPATIBLE_HOST = "(i.86|x86_64).*-linux"
+
+   # Sources available in a .tgz file in .zip archive
+   # at https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/libft4222-linux-1.4.4.44.zip
+   # Found on https://ftdichip.com/software-examples/ft4222h-software-examples/
+   # Since dealing with this particular type of archive is out of topic here,
+   # we use a local link.
+   SRC_URI = "file://libft4222-linux-${PV}.tgz"
+
+   S = "${WORKDIR}"
+
+   ARCH_DIR:x86-64 = "build-x86_64"
+   ARCH_DIR:i586 = "build-i386"
+   ARCH_DIR:i686 = "build-i386"
+
+   INSANE_SKIP:${PN} = "ldflags"
+   INHIBIT_PACKAGE_STRIP = "1"
+   INHIBIT_SYSROOT_STRIP = "1"
+   INHIBIT_PACKAGE_DEBUG_SPLIT = "1"
+
+   do_install () {
+           install -m 0755 -d ${D}${libdir}
+           oe_soinstall ${S}/${ARCH_DIR}/libft4222.so.${PV} ${D}${libdir}
+           install -d ${D}${includedir}
+           install -m 0755 ${S}/*.h ${D}${includedir}
+   }
+
+If the precompiled binaries are not statically linked and have dependencies on
+other libraries, then by adding those libraries to :term:`DEPENDS`, the linking
+can be examined and the appropriate :term:`RDEPENDS` automatically added.
+
+Non-Versioned Libraries
+=======================
+
+Some Background
+---------------
+
+Libraries in Linux systems are generally versioned so that it is possible
+to have multiple versions of the same library installed, which eases upgrades
+and support for older software. For example, suppose that in a versioned
+library, an actual library is called ``libfoo.so.1.2``, a symbolic link named
+``libfoo.so.1`` points to ``libfoo.so.1.2``, and a symbolic link named
+``libfoo.so`` points to ``libfoo.so.1.2``. Given these conditions, when you
+link a binary against a library, you typically provide the unversioned file
+name (i.e. ``-lfoo`` to the linker). However, the linker follows the symbolic
+link and actually links against the versioned filename. The unversioned symbolic
+link is only used at development time. Consequently, the library is packaged
+along with the headers in the development package ``${PN}-dev`` along with the
+actual library and versioned symbolic links in ``${PN}``. Because versioned
+libraries are far more common than unversioned libraries, the default packaging
+rules assume versioned libraries.
+
+Yocto Library Packaging Overview
+--------------------------------
+
+It follows that packaging an unversioned library requires a bit of work in the
+recipe. By default, ``libfoo.so`` gets packaged into ``${PN}-dev``, which
+triggers a QA warning that a non-symlink library is in a ``-dev`` package,
+and binaries in the same recipe link to the library in ``${PN}-dev``,
+which triggers more QA warnings. To solve this problem, you need to package the
+unversioned library into ``${PN}`` where it belongs. The following are the abridged
+default :term:`FILES` variables in ``bitbake.conf``::
+
+   SOLIBS = ".so.*"
+   SOLIBSDEV = ".so"
+   FILES:${PN} = "... ${libdir}/lib*${SOLIBS} ..."
+   FILES_SOLIBSDEV ?= "... ${libdir}/lib*${SOLIBSDEV} ..."
+   FILES:${PN}-dev = "... ${FILES_SOLIBSDEV} ..."
+
+:term:`SOLIBS` defines a pattern that matches real shared object libraries.
+:term:`SOLIBSDEV` matches the development form (unversioned symlink). These two
+variables are then used in ``FILES:${PN}`` and ``FILES:${PN}-dev``, which puts
+the real libraries into ``${PN}`` and the unversioned symbolic link into ``${PN}-dev``.
+To package unversioned libraries, you need to modify the variables in the recipe
+as follows::
+
+   SOLIBS = ".so"
+   FILES_SOLIBSDEV = ""
+
+The modifications cause the ``.so`` file to be the real library
+and unset :term:`FILES_SOLIBSDEV` so that no libraries get packaged into
+``${PN}-dev``. The changes are required because unless :term:`PACKAGES` is changed,
+``${PN}-dev`` collects files before `${PN}`. ``${PN}-dev`` must not collect any of
+the files you want in ``${PN}``.
+
+Finally, loadable modules, essentially unversioned libraries that are linked
+at runtime using ``dlopen()`` instead of at build time, should generally be
+installed in a private directory. However, if they are installed in ``${libdir}``,
+then the modules can be treated as unversioned libraries.
+
+Example
+-------
+
+The example below installs an unversioned x86-64 pre-built library named
+``libfoo.so``. The :term:`COMPATIBLE_HOST` variable limits recipes to the
+x86-64 architecture while the :term:`INSANE_SKIP`, :term:`INHIBIT_PACKAGE_STRIP`
+and :term:`INHIBIT_SYSROOT_STRIP` variables are all set as in the above
+versioned library example. The "magic" is setting the :term:`SOLIBS` and
+:term:`FILES_SOLIBSDEV` variables as explained above::
+
+   SUMMARY = "libfoo sample recipe"
+   SECTION = "libs"
+   LICENSE = "CLOSED"
+
+   SRC_URI = "file://libfoo.so"
+
+   COMPATIBLE_HOST = "x86_64.*-linux"
+
+   INSANE_SKIP:${PN} = "ldflags"
+   INHIBIT_PACKAGE_STRIP = "1"
+   INHIBIT_SYSROOT_STRIP = "1"
+   SOLIBS = ".so"
+   FILES_SOLIBSDEV = ""
+
+   do_install () {
+           install -d ${D}${libdir}
+           install -m 0755 ${WORKDIR}/libfoo.so ${D}${libdir}
+   }
+