FIX: Linking Large Projects Can Be Very Slow
Article ID: 151501
Article Last Modified on 11/17/2003
APPLIES TO
- The Linker (LINK.EXE), when used with:
- Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 Professional Edition
This article was previously published under Q151501
SYMPTOMS
Linking a large project can take significantly longer than expected.
CAUSE
The linker version 5.00.7022 that was shipped with Visual C++ 5.0 does two
types of optimizations to decrease the image size and increase the program
speed. Transitive COMDAT Elimination(TCE) and Identical COMDAT
Folding(ICF). TCE removes unreferenced COMDATs, while ICF folds identical
COMDATs into one copy. The linker option for TCE is /OPT:REF and the option
for ICF is /OPT:ICF. /OPT:REF, which is the default for the release build,
turns on /OPT:ICF by default. Some applications cause ICF to proceed very
slowly.
RESOLUTION
Turn off Identical COMDAT folding(ICF) by specifying /OPT:NOICF in your
linker options.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed
at the beginning of this article. This bug has been corrected in Visual
Studio 97 Service Pack 1.
For additional information about the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 1,
please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
170365 INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Packs - What, Where, and Why
Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbvs97sp1fix KB151501