using static libraries instead of dynamic libraries in opencv

Question

I have a project in visual studio 2012 which uses opencv dynamic libraries. It compiled, linked and worked well.

I want to change the project so it uses static libraries instead of dynamic libraries.

I changed the library directories in project VC++ directory from

  C:\thirdparty\opencv\build\x86\vc11\lib

to: C:\thirdparty\opencv\build\x86\vc11\staticlib

but when I want to build the project, I am getting a lot of linker error such as:

 Error  110 error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _TIFFWriteScanline    myproject\opencv_highgui245.lib(grfmt_tiff.obj) 

and more importantly a lot of error such as this:

 Error  1   error LNK2038: mismatch detected for 'RuntimeLibrary': value 'MT_StaticRelease' doesn't match value 'MD_DynamicRelease' in myproject.obj    myproject\opencv_core245.lib(system.obj)    

What other changes should I do to convert a project which uses dynamic libraries to use static libraries?

Edit 1

After change /md to /mt and adding some new libraries to the list of input libraries:

opencv_calib3d245.lib
opencv_contrib245.lib
opencv_core245.lib
opencv_features2d245.lib
opencv_flann245.lib
libtiff.lib
libpng.lib
libjpeg.lib
libjasper.lib
IlmImf.lib
zlib.lib
opencv_gpu245.lib
opencv_haartraining_engine.lib
opencv_highgui245.lib
opencv_imgproc245.lib
opencv_legacy245.lib
opencv_ml245.lib
opencv_nonfree245.lib
opencv_objdetect245.lib
opencv_photo245.lib
opencv_stitching245.lib
opencv_ts245.lib
opencv_video245.lib
opencv_videostab245.lib

I am getting some new errors:

Error   9   error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _AVIFileCreateStreamA@12  myproject\opencv_highgui245.lib(cap_vfw.obj)    
Error   8   error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _AVIFileGetStream@16  myproject\opencv_highgui245.lib(cap_vfw.obj)    
Error   5   error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _AVIFileInit@0    myproject\opencv_highgui245.lib(cap_vfw.obj)    
Error   7   error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _AVIFileOpenA@16  myproject\opencv_highgui245.lib(cap_vfw.obj)    

Apparently some library is missing, but which one?

Edit 2 need to add more library to list. Full list of library is as follow:

opencv_calib3d245.lib
opencv_contrib245.lib
opencv_core245.lib
opencv_features2d245.lib
opencv_flann245.lib
libtiff.lib
libpng.lib
libjpeg.lib
libjasper.lib
IlmImf.lib
zlib.lib
opencv_gpu245.lib
opencv_haartraining_engine.lib
opencv_highgui245.lib
opencv_imgproc245.lib
opencv_legacy245.lib
opencv_ml245.lib
opencv_nonfree245.lib
opencv_objdetect245.lib
opencv_photo245.lib
opencv_stitching245.lib
opencv_ts245.lib
opencv_video245.lib
opencv_videostab245.lib
Vfw32.Lib
comctl32.lib

This solved the problem.

Solution 1

I am able to get the static libraries working in VS 2013 by changing the project's Runtime Library to /MTd

and then including these Linker >> Input >> Additional Dependencies:

opencv_core248d.lib
opencv_imgproc248d.lib
opencv_highgui248d.lib
opencv_ml248d.lib
opencv_video248d.lib
opencv_features2d248d.lib
opencv_calib3d248d.lib
opencv_objdetect248d.lib
opencv_contrib248d.lib
opencv_legacy248d.lib
opencv_flann248d.lib
libpngd.lib
libtiffd.lib
zlibd.lib
IlmImfd.lib
libjasperd.lib
libjpegd.lib
comctl32.lib
gdi32.lib
vfw32.lib

Solution 2

If you are building using CMake then it is very simple because it is one of the OpenCV CMake options; just set BUILD_WITH_STATIC_CRT to off. Eg. on the CMake command-line

-DBUILD_WITH_STATIC_CRT=OFF

Solution 3

For Visual Studio 2012 with OpenCV 3.0.0, these problems still apply, and the solutions in this thread are relevant. Here's my setup to get it to work:

Windows' System Environment Variables

Set in Windows' System Environment Variables: OPENCV_DIR = D:\OpenCV\build\x64\v11 (replace D:\OpenCV\ with whatever your path to opencv is. Also, x64 for 64-bit machines, x86 for 32-bit machines).

Use staticlib for AdditionalLibraryDirectories

Set the Additional Library Directories (View > Property Pages > Configuration Properties > Linker > General > Additional Library Directories) to: $(OPENCV_DIR)\staticlib;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)

Runtime Library

Change the Code Generation > Runtime Library to Multi-threaded Debug (/MTd) per uosɐſ's answer, otherwise you'll get this kind of error:

Error   1   error LNK2038: mismatch detected for 'RuntimeLibrary': value
'MTd_StaticDebug' doesn't match value 'MDd_DynamicDebug' in Source.obj
C:\Users\...\documents\visual studio 2012\Projects\OpenCVTest2\OpenCVTest2\opencv_core300d.lib(alloc.obj)   OpenCVTest2

Finally, the Additional Dependencies list

My Additional Dependencies must include all the library names in the staticlib directory. Mind the version numbers; since I'm using OpenCV 3.0.0, the filenames ends with *300d.lib. I believe the comctl32.lib and vfw32.lib are not in the staticlib, but I added them just in case (View > Property Pages > Configuration Properties > Linker > Input > Additional Dependencies):

opencv_calib3d300d.lib
opencv_core300d.lib
opencv_features2d300d.lib
opencv_flann300d.lib
opencv_hal300d.lib
opencv_highgui300d.lib
opencv_imgcodecs300d.lib
opencv_imgproc300d.lib
opencv_ml300d.lib
opencv_objdetect300d.lib
opencv_photo300d.lib
opencv_shape300d.lib
opencv_stitching300d.lib
opencv_superres300d.lib
opencv_ts300d.lib
opencv_video300d.lib
opencv_videostab300d.lib
libtiffd.lib
libpngd.lib
libjpegd.lib
libjasperd.lib
IlmImfd.lib
libwebpd.lib
ippicvmt.lib
zlibd.lib
comctl32.lib
vfw32.lib

x86 vs x64

I also ran into this issue that VS2012 claims the target machine does not match the module machine type like this guy. The solution is given here.

Solution 4

I have build an application which depends on OpenCV 2.4.9 with static linking.

1) I have just added linker additional dependencies:

opencv_core249d.lib opencv_imgproc249d.lib opencv_highgui249d.lib opencv_ml249d.lib opencv_video249d.lib opencv_features2d249d.lib opencv_calib3d249d.lib opencv_objdetect249d.lib opencv_contrib249d.lib opencv_legacy249d.lib opencv_flann249d.lib libpngd.lib libtiffd.lib zlibd.lib IlmImfd.lib libjasperd.lib libjpegd.lib comctl32.lib gdi32.lib vfw32.lib

2) Linker => General => Additional Library Directories => changed $(OPENCV_DIR)\x86\vc12\lib to $(OPENCV_DIR)\x86\vc12\staticlib where OPENCV_DIR is environment variable set to: C:\OpenCV 2.4.9\opencv\build

3) and changed C/C++ => Code Generation => Multi-threaded debug DLL (MD) to Multi-threaded debug (MTd)

and enjoyed the successful build.

the same thing works for release mode (of course link against non-debug libs)

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