* Win32 issues with Templates and Libs *

[Sean Kelly]

Walter Bright wrote:
> Sean Kelly wrote:
> 
>> Who cares if the object files are bloated, if that's the only workable 
>> option here?
> 
> You'll care <g> once templates get complex enough. It's been a big 
> problem with C++.
> 
>> Or perhaps this suggests the need for a D linker that builds a catalog 
>> of symbols inside libraries before linking instead of the behavior you 
>> describe above?
> 
> Building a linker or object file with non-standard semantics has its own 
> set of problems.

Thanks for the reply.  Your proposed solution finally reminded me that 
we had this exact conversation a few years ago :-)  It's a nasty hack, 
but what if the compiler performed your proposed solution during 
compilation:

 > 1) have another global in module test that gets pulled in, thus also
 > pulling the COMDAT along with it, and resolving the symbol.

In modules containing global template instances, generate a symbol, 
let's say _Dforcelink, which is implicitly referenced in importing 
modules.  Is this possible?


Sean