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/ORDER (Put Functions in Order)



A text file specifying the linking order for COMDAT functions.

The /ORDER option tells LINK to optimize your program by placing certain COMDATs into the image in a predetermined order. LINK places the functions in the specified order within each section in the image.

Specify the order in filename, which is a text file (response file) that lists the COMDATs in the order you want to link them. Each line in filename contains the name of one COMDAT. An object contains COMDATs if it has been compiled with the /Gy option. Function names are case sensitive.

LINK uses decorated forms of identifiers. The compiler decorates an identifier when it creates the .obj file. Use the DUMPBIN tool to get the decorated form of an identifier when you need to specify it to the linker. For more information on decorated names, see Decorated Names.

If more than one /ORDER specification is used, the last one specified takes effect.

Ordering allows you to optimize your program's paging behavior through swap tuning by grouping a function with the functions it calls. You can also group frequently called functions together. These techniques increase the probability that a called function is in memory when it is needed and will not have to be paged from disk.

The linker will prepend an underscore (_) to every decorated name in filename unless the name starts with a question mark (?) or at sign (@). For example, if an object file contains extern "C" int func(int) and int main(void), DUMPBIN /SYMBOLS will list these decorated names:

009 00000000 SECT3  notype ()    External     | _func
00A 00000008 SECT3  notype ()    External     | _main

However, the name specified in the order file should be func and main.

The /ORDER option disables incremental linking.


LINK cannot order static functions because static function names are not public symbol names. When /ORDER is specified, linker warning LNK4037 is generated for each symbol, in the order file, that is either static or not found.

To set this linker option in the Visual Studio development environment


  2. Click the Linker folder.

  3. Click the Optimization property page.

  4. Modify the Function Order property.

To set this linker option programmatically

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