Is -static a link-only switch?

[Gary Funck]

Does the -static switch play any role during compilation, or is it
a link-only switch?  A quick review of gcc.c, indicates that -static
may play a role on some targets:

/* %{static:} simply prevents an error message if the target machine
   doesn't handle -static.  */

However, the info documentation shows the following:

     *Note Options for Linking: Link Options. 
          OBJECT-FILE-NAME  -lLIBRARY  
          -nostartfiles  -nodefaultlibs  -nostdlib  
          -s  -static  -static-libgcc  -shared  -shared-libgcc  -symbolic 
          -Wl,OPTION  -Xlinker OPTION  
          -u SYMBOL.


I can think of target OS's that might define a different ABI for procedure calls
for programs compiled with -static asserted, than when compiled for a dynamic
linking environment, but can't quite tell if in fact -static has any effect
during compilation.