Important Notice

The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

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─────What Is LINK?──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     The Microsoft(R) Segmented-Executable Linker (LINK) combines 80x86
     object files into an executable file or a dynamic-link library
     (DLL). The object-file format is the Microsoft Relocatable Object-
     Module Format (OMF), based on the Intel 8086 OMF. LINK uses
     library files in Microsoft library format.
 
     LINK creates relocatable programs; the operating system can load
     these files in any unused memory. LINK can create DOS executable
     files with up to 1 megabyte of code and data (or up to 16
     megabytes when using overlays). LINK can also create OS/2 and
     Microsoft Windows(TM) programs with up to 16 megabytes.
 
     LINK is a bound application that runs under both DOS and OS/2.
     However, the kind of main output file it produces is determined by
     the way the source code is compiled and by the information
     supplied to LINK. It is not determined by the operating system
     LINK runs under.
 
     LINK displays all of its output messages to standard output.
 
     See: ◄LINK's Output►
     See: ◄Running LINK►
 
     Incremental Linking Using ILINK
 
     ILINK runs much faster than LINK by relinking only those parts of
     your program that have changed. However, if you make major changes
     to your program, you probably need to relink using LINK.
     See: ◄What Is ILINK?► (in ILINK Help)
 
     Binding an OS/2 Program
 
     LINK produces programs that run under DOS only or under OS/2 only,
     but not both. However, if an OS/2 program limits its OS/2 function
     calls to the Family API subset, the BIND utility can modify the
     OS/2 executable file to run under both OS/2 and DOS.
     See: ◄What Is BIND?► (in BIND Help)
 
     Examining the Program after Linking
 
     You can examine the information that LINK puts in the file's
     header by using the EXEHDR utility.
     See: ◄What Is EXEHDR?► (in Miscellaneous Utilities Help)
 
     NOTE: References to "library" in this help file refer to a static
           library, either a standard library created by the Microsoft
           Library Manager (LIB) or an import library created by the
           Microsoft Import Library Manager (IMPLIB), and not a
           dynamic-link library (DLL).
           See: ◄Dynamic-Link Libraries►
                ◄IMPLIB Summary►
                ◄LIB► (in LIB Help)
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