Native AOT application linking with external static library or object files

[sneusse]

We currently support linking AOT library functions to third party applications with code like this:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeExports
{
    [UnmanagedCallersOnly(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static int Multiply(int a, int b)
    {
        return a * b;
    }
}

Is there a way to have third party libraries or object files statically linked to an .NET AOT application?

Pseudocode:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeImports
{
    [UnmanagedImpl(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static extern int Multiply(int a, int b); // implemented in multiplylib.obj
}

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Issue Details

---

We currently support linking AOT library functions to third party applications with code like this:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeExports
{
    [UnmanagedCallersOnly(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static int Multiply(int a, int b)
    {
        return a * b;
    }
}

Is there a way to have third party libraries or object files statically linked to an .NET AOT application?

Pseudocode:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeImports
{
    [UnmanagedImpl(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static extern int Multiply(int a, int b); // implemented in multiplylib.obj
}

Author:	sneusse
Assignees:	-
Labels:	area-System.Runtime.InteropServices
Milestone:	-

[agocke]

In short, yes: https://github.com/dotnet/samples/tree/main/core/nativeaot/NativeLibrary#building-static-libraries

However this mode is still somewhat experimental because it's hard to ensure that the compiler tooling versions match up exactly, which is a requirement for most native linkers.

[msftbot]

Tagging subscribers to this area: @agocke, @MichalStrehovsky, @jkotas
See info in area-owners.md if you want to be subscribed.

Issue Details

---

We currently support linking AOT library functions to third party applications with code like this:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeExports
{
    [UnmanagedCallersOnly(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static int Multiply(int a, int b)
    {
        return a * b;
    }
}

Is there a way to have third party libraries or object files statically linked to an .NET AOT application?

Pseudocode:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public static class NativeImports
{
    [UnmanagedImpl(EntryPoint = "multiply")]
    public static extern int Multiply(int a, int b); // implemented in multiplylib.obj
}

Author:	sneusse
Assignees:	-
Labels:	untriaged, area-NativeAOT-coreclr
Milestone:	-

[MichalStrehovsky]

Are you trying to statically link native code into a Native AOT app? If so, this is the doc to look at: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/deploying/native-aot/interop

Basically, you declare a DllImport as usual, but tell the compiler to treat is a a DirectPInvoke, and pass the obj file as NativeLibrary to the linker.

[msftbot]

This issue has been marked needs-author-action and may be missing some important information.

[sneusse]

Awesome, thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for!
I tried a minimal example and thought I'd share it, in case anybody stumbles over this issue :)

https://github.com/sneusse/aot-static-example