Is there a flag to *statically* link SQLCipher?

[aguynamedben]

Hi, I'm building an Electron app with SQLCipher. Following the README instructions for SQLCipher, everything worked in development, but when I deployed the new version of my app, it failed because SQLCipher was dynamically linked and my users haven't installed SQLCipher on their computer.

I learned through trial and error that if I modify ./node_modules/sqlite3/binding.gyp to change:

            "libraries": [
               "-l<(sqlite_libname)"
            ],

to

            "libraries": [
                "<(sqlite)/lib/libsqlcipher.a"
            ],

That static linking seems to be enabled.

Would it be a valid feature to add a --static-linking flag to enable this? I.e. I could then run something like...

npm rebuild sqlite3 --build-from-source --sqlite_libname=sqlcipher --sqlite=`brew --prefix` --static-linking --runtime=electron --target=2.0.11 --dist-url=https://atom.io/download/electron```

Thoughts?

Resources:

• Original issue that led to SQLCipher support
• node-sqlite3's binding.gyp
• How to tweak binding.gyp to statically link instead of dynamically link
• Maybe some other useful info on static vs. dynamic linking via gcc flags

[springmeyer]

Yes, it is reasonable to add an option for this. The link to the static library will need to be completed to be absolute to work right.

[aguynamedben]

@springmeyer Thanks for the feedback.

I'm still testing this within the context of my app, but I submitted a PR that allows --sqlite-static-library=/full/path/to/libsqlcipher.a to be defined. Let me know if something looks off in there or you prefer another way of passing the static library path.

[aguynamedben]

@springmeyer My final effort toward making static linking for Electron+SQLCipher users is here: #1069 It's a docs-only PR that explains the problem.

Providing docs to explain this issue to Electron+SQLCipher users seems like a better solution than to further complicate logic in binding.gyp. Plus I'm a n00b when it comes to gyp, compiler flags, and linkers.

This is an issue isolated to Electron+SQLCipher users, and it's simple to overwrite ./node_modules/sqlite3/binding.gyp with a modified version, rebuild, and package.