Hello

I am currently having an application package which provides some applications.
however API's for the same will be provided by third party.
Currently i am using a dummy functions in my code.
Now i have a release by the third party for the first Api version.
They have given a set of .so libraries.
How do i integrate this with my application?
Also i need an idea in general to how to go ahead with programming in such a development scenario where in it is distribued?

Thanks and Regards,
Ashish

The library files, by themselves, are not sufficient. You also need the header file(s) which define the API functions' correct argument syntax (so your compilation can be properly checked), and (usually) the vendor's API documentation.

Then all you need to do is put the so file(s) in either a standard location (e.g., /lib or /lib64) or specify the library location to the linker with a -l or -L. If you're using gcc you could also add the directory in which the so files are located to the LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. See man gcc or info gcc for more details about the compiler options.

About distribution: You first will need a license from the API developer permitting you to distribute, and then either distribute a statically-linked binary, or (if you're doing a FOSS development project) distribute your source code from a source code repository. (www.sourceforge.net is a fairly standard choice for code development and distribution.)

Hi PTrenholme,

Thanks for the reply. This was really useful.
i would also like to have insight into such a development scenario.
if it doesnt take much effort of yours can you suggest me some site or tutorial where i can see such a way of developing being implemented.

Sorry, but I've never done commercial development for any Linux system, so I wouldn't know where to suggest you look. If you're using a propitiatory API, perhaps the API vendor could suggest something. Otherwise, try a Google search.