python ctypes, trying to find library names

Question

I want to use C-functions in my python program and the obvious way is to implement the libraries with "ctypes".

But there is a problem. In C I include different header files that the linker will link with the right libraries. But I only know the name of the header files, but for python I need to know the name of the library files, like "libxyz.so".

So how do I get the linker or whoever to tell me which libraries are used for the different header files?

Answer 1

ctypes dynamically loads the shared object or the DLL, so you need some how the shared object name. You may have a look at ctypes.util.find_library(name). For example:

>>> from ctypes.util import find_library
>>> 
>>> find_library('pthread')
'libpthread.so.0'
>>> 
>>> find_library('ssl')
'libssl.so.0.9.8'
>>> 
>>> find_library('png')
'libpng12.so.0'
>>>