pkg-config(1) pkg-config(1)
NAME
pkg-config - Return metainformation about installed libraries
SYNOPSIS
pkg-config [--modversion] [--help] [--print-errors] [--silence-errors]
[--cflags] [--libs] [--libs-only-L] [--libs-only-l] [--cflags-only-I]
[--variable=VARIABLENAME] [--define-
variable=VARIABLENAME=VARIABLEVALUE] [--uninstalled] [--exists]
[--atleast-version=VERSION] [--exact-version=VERSION] [--max-
version=VERSION] [LIBRARIES...]
DESCRIPTION
The pkg-config program is used to retrieve information about installed
libraries in the system. It is typically used to compile and link
against one or more libraries. Here is a typical usage scenario in a
Makefile:
program: program.c
cc program.c `pkg-config --cflags --libs gnomeui`
pkg-config retrieves information about packages from special metadata
files. These files are named after the package, with the extension
.pc. By default, pkg-config looks in the directory
prefix/lib/pkgconfig for these files; it will also look in the colon-
separated (on Windows, semicolon-separated) list of directories
specified by the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable.
The package name specified on the pkg-config command line is defined
to be the name of the metadata file, minus the .pc extension. If a
library can install multiple versions simultaneously, it must give
each version its own name (for example, GTK 1.2 might have the package
name "gtk+" while GTK 2.0 has "gtk+-2.0").
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
--modversion
Requests that the version information of the libraries specified
on the command line be displayed. If pkg-config can find all the
libraries on the command line, each library's version string is
printed to stdout, one version per line. In this case pkg-config
exits successfully. If one or more libraries is unknown, pkg-
config exits with a nonzero code, and the contents of stdout are
undefined.
--help
Displays a help message and terminates.
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--print-errors
If one or more of the modules on the command line, or their
dependencies, are not found, or if an error occurs in parsing a
.pc file, then this option will cause errors explaining the
problem to be printed. With "predicate" options such as "--
exists" pkg-config runs silently by default, because it's usually
used in scripts that want to control what's output. This option
can be used alone (to just print errors encountered locating
modules on the command line) or with other options. The
PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW environment variable overrides this option.
--silence-errors
If one or more of the modules on the command line, or their
dependencies, are not found, or if an error occurs in parsing a a
.pc file, then this option will keep errors explaining the
problem from being printed. With "predicate" options such as "--
exists" pkg-config runs silently by default, because it's usually
used in scripts that want to control what's output. So this
option is only useful with options such as "--cflags" or "--
modversion" that print errors by default. The
PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW environment variable overrides this option.
--errors-to-stdout
If printing errors, print them to stdout rather than the default
stderr
The following options are used to compile and link programs:
--cflags
This prints pre-processor and compile flags required to compile
the packages on the command line, including flags for all their
dependencies. Flags are "compressed" so that each identical flag
appears only once. pkg-config exits with a nonzero code if it
can't find metadata for one or more of the packages on the
command line.
--libs
This option is identical to "--cflags", only it prints the link
flags. As with "--cflags", duplicate flags are merged
(maintaining proper ordering), and flags for dependencies are
included in the output.
--libs-only-L
This prints the -L/-R part of "--libs". That is, it defines the
library search path but doesn't specify which libraries to link
with.
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--libs-only-l
This prints the -l part of "--libs" for the libraries specified
on the command line. Note that the union of "--libs-only-l" and
"--libs-only-L" may be smaller than "--libs", due to flags such
as -rdynamic.
--variable=VARIABLENAME
This returns the value of a variable defined in a package's .pc
file. Most packages define the variable "prefix", for example, so
you can say:
$ pkg-config --variable=prefix glib-2.0
/usr/
--define-variable=VARIABLENAME=VARIABLEVALUE
This sets a global value for a variable, overriding the value in
any example, so you can say:
$ pkg-config --print-errors --define-variable=prefix=/foo \
--variable=prefix glib-2.0
/foo
--uninstalled
Normally if you request the package "foo" and the package "foo-
uninstalled" exists, pkg-config will prefer the "-uninstalled"
variant. This allows compilation/linking against uninstalled
packages. If you specify the "--uninstalled" option, pkg-config
will return successfully if any "-uninstalled" packages are being
used, and return failure (false) otherwise. (The
"PKG_CONFIG_DISABLE_UNINSTALLED" environment variable keeps pkg-
config from implicitly choosing "-uninstalled" packages, so if
that variable is set, they will only have been used if you pass a
name like "foo-uninstalled" on the command line explicitly.)
--exists
--atleast-version=VERSION
--exact-version=VERSION
--max-version=VERSION
These options test whether the package or list of packages on the
command line are known to pkg-config, and optionally whether the
version number of a package meets certain contraints. If all
packages exist and meet the specified version constraints, pkg-
config exits successfully. Otherwise it exits unsuccessfully.
Rather than using the version-test options, you can simply give a
version constraint after each package name, for example:
$ pkg-config --exists 'glib-2.0 >= 1.3.4 libxml = 1.8.3'
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Remember to use --print-errors if you want error messages.
--msvc-syntax
This option is available only on Windows. It causes pkg-config to
output -l and -L flags in the form recognized by the Microsoft
Visual C++ command-line compiler, cl. Specifically, instead of
-Lx:/some/path it prints /libpath:x/some/path, and instead of
-lfoo it prints foo.lib. Note that the --libs output consists of
flags for the linker, and should be placed on the cl command line
after a /link switch.
--dont-define-prefix
This option is available only on Windows. It prevents pkg-config
from automatically trying to override the value of the variable
"prefix" in each .pc file.
--prefix-variable=PREFIX
Also this option is available only on Windows. It sets the name
of the variable that pkg-config automatically sets as described
above.
--static
Output libraries suitable for static linking. That means
including any private libraries in the output. This relies on
proper tagging in the .pc files, else a too large number of
libraries will ordinarily be output.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
PKG_CONFIG_PATH
A colon-separated (on Windows, semicolon-separated) list of
directories to search for .pc files. The default directory will
always be searched after searching the path; the default is
libdir/pkgconfig:datadir/pkgconfig where libdir is the libdir
where pkg-config and datadir is the datadir where pkg-config was
installed.
PKG_CONFIG_DEBUG_SPEW
If set, causes pkg-config to print all kinds of debugging
information and report all errors.
PKG_CONFIG_TOP_BUILD_DIR
A value to set for the magic variable pc_top_builddir which may
appear in .pc files. If the environment variable is not set, the
default value '$(top_builddir)' will be used. This variable
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should refer to the top builddir of the Makefile where the
compile/link flags reported by pkg-config will be used. This
only matters when compiling/linking against a package that hasn't
yet been installed.
PKG_CONFIG_DISABLE_UNINSTALLED
Normally if you request the package "foo" and the package "foo-
uninstalled" exists, pkg-config will prefer the "-uninstalled"
variant. This allows compilation/linking against uninstalled
packages. If this environment variable is set, it disables said
behavior.
PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_CFLAGS
Don't strip -I/usr/include out of cflags.
PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_SYSTEM_LIBS
Don't strip -L/usr/lib out of libs
PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
Modify -I and -L to use the directories located in target
sysroot. this option is usefull when crosscompiling package that
use pkg-config to determine CFLAGS anf LDFLAGS. -I and -L are
modified to point to the new system root. this means that a
-I/usr/include/libfoo will become
-I/var/target/usr/include/libfoo with a PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR
equal to /var/target (same rule apply to -L)
PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR
Replaces the default pkg-config search directory.
WINDOWS SPECIALITIES
If a .pc file is found in a directory that matches the usual
conventions (i.e., ends with \lib\pkgconfig), the prefix for that
package is assumed to be the grandparent of the directory where the
file was found, and the prefix variable is overridden for that file
accordingly.
In addition to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable, the Registry
keys HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\pkgconfig\PKG_CONFIG_PATH and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\pkgconfig\PKG_CONFIG_PATH can be used to
specify directories to search for .pc files. Each (string) value in
these keys is treated as a directory where to look for .pc files.
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AUTOCONF MACROS
FOUND]])
PKG_CHECK_MODULES(VARIABLE-PREFIX,MODULES[,ACTION-IF-FOUND,[ACTION-
IF-NOT-
The macro PKG_CHECK_MODULES can be used in configure.ac to check
whether modules exist. A typical usage would be:
PKG_CHECK_MODULES([MYSTUFF], [gtk+-2.0 >= 1.3.5 libxml = 1.8.4])
This would result in MYSTUFF_LIBS and MYSTUFF_CFLAGS substitution
variables, set to the libs and cflags for the given module list.
If a module is missing or has the wrong version, by default
configure will abort with a message. To replace the default
action, specify an ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND. PKG_CHECK_MODULES will
not print any error messages if you specify your own ACTION-IF-
NOT-FOUND. However, it will set the variable MYSTUFF_PKG_ERRORS,
which you can use to display what went wrong.
Note that if there is a possibility the first call to
PKG_CHECK_MODULES might not happen, you should be sure to include
an explicit call to PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG in your configure.ac
PKG_PROG_PKG_CONFIG([MIN-VERSION])
Defines the PKG_CONFIG variable to the best pkg-config available,
useful if you need pkg-config but don't want to use
PKG_CHECK_MODULES.
PKG_CHECK_EXISTS(MODULES, [ACTION-IF-FOUND], [ACTION-IF-NOT-
FOUND])
Check to see whether a particular set of modules exists. Similar
to PKG_CHECK_MODULES(), but does not set variables or print
errors.
Similar to PKG_CHECK_MODULES, make sure that the first instance
of this or PKG_CHECK_MODULES is called, or make sure to call
PKG_CHECK_EXISTS manually
METADATA FILE SYNTAX
To add a library to the set of packages pkg-config knows about, simply
install a .pc file. You should install this file to libdir/pkgconfig.
Here is an example file:
# This is a comment
prefix=/home/hp/unst # this defines a variable
exec_prefix=${prefix} # defining another variable in terms of the first
libdir=${exec_prefix}/lib
includedir=${prefix}/include
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Name: GObject # human-readable name
Description: Object/type system for GLib # human-readable description
Version: 1.3.1
URL: http://www.gtk.org
Requires: glib-2.0 = 1.3.1
Conflicts: foobar <= 4.5
Libs: -L${libdir} -lgobject-1.3
Libs.private: -lm
Cflags: -I${includedir}/glib-2.0 -I${libdir}/glib/include
You would normally generate the file using configure, of course, so
that the prefix, etc. are set to the proper values.
Files have two kinds of line: keyword lines start with a keyword plus
a colon, and variable definitions start with an alphanumeric string
plus an equals sign. Keywords are defined in advance and have special
meaning to pkg-config; variables do not, you can have any variables
that you wish (however, users may expect to retrieve the usual
directory name variables).
Note that variable references are written "${foo}"; you can escape
literal "${" as "$${".
Name:
This field should be a human-readable name for the package. Note
that it is not the name passed as an argument to pkg-config.
Description:
This should be a brief description of the package
URL: An URL where people can get more information about and download
the package
Version:
This should be the most-specific-possible package version string.
Requires:
This is a comma-separated list of packages that are required by
your package. Flags from dependent packages will be merged in to
the flags reported for your package. Optionally, you can specify
the version of the required package (using the operators =, <, >,
>=, <=); specifying a version allows pkg-config to perform extra
sanity checks. You may only mention the same package one time on
the Requires: line. If the version of a package is unspecified,
any version will be used with no checking.
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Conflicts:
This optional line allows pkg-config to perform additional sanity
checks, primarily to detect broken user installations. The
syntax is the same as Requires: except that you can list the same
package more than once here, for example "foobar = 1.2.3, foobar
= 1.2.5, foobar >= 1.3", if you have reason to do so. If a
version isn't specified, then your package conflicts with all
versions of the mentioned package. If a user tries to use your
package and a conflicting package at the same time, then pkg-
config will complain.
Libs:
This line should give the link flags specific to your package.
Don't add any flags for required packages; pkg-config will add
those automatically.
Libs.private:
This line should list any private libraries in use. Private
libraries are libraries which are not exposed through your
library, but are needed in the case of static linking.
Cflags:
This line should list the compile flags specific to your package.
Don't add any flags for required packages; pkg-config will add
those automatically.
AUTHOR
pkg-config was written by James Henstridge, rewritten by Martijn van
Beers, and rewritten again by Havoc Pennington. Tim Janik, Owen
Taylor, and Raja Harinath submitted suggestions and some code.
gnome-config was written by Miguel de Icaza, Raja Harinath and various
hackers in the GNOME team. It was inspired by Owen Taylor's gtk-
config program.
BUGS
pkg-config does not handle mixing of parameters with and without =
well. Stick with one.
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