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372 Day 10
Application Target
The Application target section specifies whether the project target is an EXE or a DLL. If you
create your projects using the Object Repository, this option is set for you and you don’t have
to worry about it.
Application Type
The Application type section allows you to set the application type. The available choices are
Windows GUI and Console Application. As with the Application target option, if you create
a new project using the Object Repository this option will already be set for you.
Map File
The Map file settings control whether a map file is generated and how much detail is included
in the map file. (A map file is an advanced debugging tool and is something you will not likely
use.)
Linking
The Linking section has three linker options. The Use incremental linker option tells
C++Builder whether it should use the incremental linker. The incremental linker saves a lot
of time when you are developing your applications. For example, let’s say you have a project
with 20 units. If you change one line of a unit, that unit will have to be recompiled and
relinked. When incremental linking is on, only the object file that has changed is relinked.
When incremental linking is off, the linker must relink every binary file in the project,
regardless of whether it has changed since the last link. Linking takes a fair amount of time,
so the incremental linker is a big advantage when working on a project of any significance.
The disadvantage of incremental linking is twofold. First, the initial link takes longer when
incremental linking is enabled. Second, the incremental linker sets up several files in order
to do its thing. These files can get very large (several megabytes) and use up a lot of disk space.
If disk space is a problem, you might want to turn off incremental linking. Otherwise, it’s
probably just as well to leave incremental linking on.
NOTE
There is actually a third disadvantage to using the incremental linker: It
results in slightly larger executable sizes. Before you ship your final
product you should do a Build All with the Use incremental linker
option turned off.