Mex C file generation Linker library error

I'm trying to compile a C-source MEX file I received from a third party. I'm getting a linker error. It looks to me like it can't find zzz.lib, but I can't figure out where it's looking for it. yyy.c zzz.lib, zzz.h and zzz.dll are all in the same (current) folder.

>> mex yyy.C
Building with 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 (C)'.
Error using mex
   Creating library zzz.lib and object zzz.exp
yyy.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol zzz referenced in function mexFunction
zzz.mexw64 : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals

the linker error is clearly generated by MSVC, but I have no idea where it's looking for zzz.lib I can't figure out where it's trying to build the output files. It's not in C:\Users\Rich\source\repos which is the default for MSVC.

I'm confident that zzz.lib is good because I'm using it with C++ code under MSVC.

Any assistance or constructive suggestions appreciated.

Answer 1

[James Tursa]

Do you already have a zzz.lib file? Normally to get your mexFunction code to link to the library you simply include it as part of the mex command. E.g., if yyy.c and zzz.lib are in the current directory,

mex yyy.c zzz.lib

Or if zzz.lib is not in the current directly you could provide the path name as well.

[Rich Osman]

I do already have zzz.lib. After a call with tech suport this morning I learned the answer:

mex -lzzz yyy.c

which yields 'MEX completed successfully.'

I've not tested the result as I have a half-dozen more to compile and some code to write, but I seem to be moving again. I'm not sure how I missed teh -l option.

Thanks for your reply.