Why does my MSYS2/MinGW64 setup link SDL2 without a -l directive, but not SDL2_ttf? - codeblocks

Question

I have MSYS2 and MinGW64 installed. I also have Code::Blocks installed and have pointed it's toolchain configuration to the executables in MinGW64's bin. To keep things clean, I have only installed libraries using pacman from the MinGW64 shell.
$ pacman -Sl | grep SDL2
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2 2.0.9-1
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2_gfx 1.0.4-1
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2_image 2.0.4-1
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2_mixer 2.0.4-1
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2_net 2.0.1-1
mingw32 mingw-w64-i686-SDL2_ttf 2.0.14-1
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2 2.0.9-1 [installed]
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2_gfx 1.0.4-1 [installed]
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2_image 2.0.4-1 [installed]
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2_mixer 2.0.4-1 [installed]
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2_net 2.0.1-1 [installed]
mingw64 mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2_ttf 2.0.14-1 [installed]
Using Code::Blocks, I can compile and link a sample that initializes SDL2, pops a window, and exits on an SDL_Quit event. The sample project has NO additional compiler or linker configuration. In fact, Code::Blocks global settings do not configure search directories, either. I suppose GCC has INCLUDE and LIB already set in its default environment.
The problem occurs when I try to use SDL2_ttf. I can include it, and Code::Blocks finds it well-enough to offer some code completion. But builds fail on "Undefined reference to TTF_Init".
-------------- Build: Debug in TV Tennis (compiler: GNU GCC Compiler)---------------
g++.exe -LD:\msys64\mingw64\lib -o "bin\Debug\TV Tennis.exe" obj\Debug\main.o -lmingw32 -lSDL2main -lSDL2.dll -luser32 -lgdi32 -lwinmm -ldxguid
obj\Debug\main.o: In function `SDL_main':
H:/Datacenter/Source/TVTennis/C++/TV Tennis/main.cpp:45: undefined reference to `TTF_Init'
H:/Datacenter/Source/TVTennis/C++/TV Tennis/main.cpp:59: undefined reference to `TTF_OpenFont'
H:/Datacenter/Source/TVTennis/C++/TV Tennis/main.cpp:109: undefined reference to `TTF_CloseFont'
H:/Datacenter/Source/TVTennis/C++/TV Tennis/main.cpp:110: undefined reference to `TTF_Quit'
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Process terminated with status 1 (0 minute(s), 0 second(s))
5 error(s), 0 warning(s) (0 minute(s), 0 second(s))
If I add "-lSDL2_ttf" to the project's linker options, the problem goes away.
My question is, why do I get that automatic linking magic for SDL2, but not for SDL2_ttf?

Answer 1

I found out how SDL2 was "magically" linked in without any visible configuration or explicit directive.
When I created the Code::Blocks project, I specified it as an SDL2 project. Code::Blocks then adds a bunch of libraries to the project by default via the project's *.cbp file (Code::Blocks Project).
<Compiler>
<Add option="-Wall" />
<Add directory="D:/msys64/mingw64/include" />
</Compiler>
<Linker>
<Add library="mingw32" />
<Add library="SDL2main" />
<Add library="SDL2.dll" />
<Add library="user32" />
<Add library="gdi32" />
<Add library="winmm" />
<Add library="dxguid" />
<Add directory="D:/msys64/mingw64/lib" />
</Linker>
<ExtraCommands>
<Add after="XCOPY $(#sdl2)\bin\*.dll $(TARGET_OUTPUT_DIR) /D /Y" />
</ExtraCommands>
Honestly, this is why I hate starting with project templates; especially when I am new to a language, IDE, or library. And in this case, I am new to all three.