Chilkat C/C++ Library Downloads
for MinGW-w64 and TDM-GCC

Getting Started: Compiling and Linking

1Unzip the download

Each download is a .zip; unzip it anywhere (the examples below assume C:\chilkat). There is nothing to install or register.

libchilkat.a	The Chilkat static library. Everything is in this one file; your .exe has no Chilkat DLL dependency.
include/	One header per class: CkZip.h, CkHttp.h, ... for C++, and C_CkZip.h, C_CkHttp.h, ... for C. Include only the headers for the classes you use.
linkSample.cpp linkSample.sh	A minimal C++ program and the g++ command that builds it (run the .sh from an MSYS2 or Git Bash shell, or copy the command into a Command Prompt).
c_Sample.c c_sampleBuild.sh	The same for C: compile with gcc, link with g++.

2Write a small test program

Your application must call UnlockBundle once, at startup, each time it runs. Any string works for the 30-day trial; a purchased unlock code replaces it later without other changes.

// example.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "include/CkGlobal.h"
#include "include/CkZip.h"

bool unlockChilkat()
{
    CkGlobal glob;
    if (!glob.UnlockBundle("Anything for 30-day trial")) {
        std::cout << glob.lastErrorText() << std::endl;
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

int main()
{
    if (!unlockChilkat()) return 1;

    CkZip zip;
    std::cout << "Chilkat version: " << zip.version() << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

3Build from the command line

Link with libchilkat.a plus the three Windows system libraries Chilkat depends on: crypt32, ws2_32, and dnsapi. Always link with g++ (even for a C program) so the C++ runtime is pulled in.

# C++ program
g++ example.cpp -o example.exe -L. -lchilkat -lcrypt32 -lws2_32 -ldnsapi -Wl,--gc-sections

# C program: compile with gcc, link with g++
gcc -c c_example.c -o c_example.o
g++ c_example.o -o c_example.exe -L. -lchilkat -lcrypt32 -lws2_32 -ldnsapi -Wl,--gc-sections

Replace -L. with the directory containing libchilkat.a if it is not the current directory. -Wl,--gc-sections is optional but recommended: the Chilkat library is built with one section per function, so this lets the linker discard every Chilkat function your program does not use, which can make the .exe considerably smaller. Add -static if you don't want to ship the MinGW runtime DLLs (libstdc++-6.dll, libgcc_s_seh-1.dll, libwinpthread-1.dll) alongside your .exe.

4Or add Chilkat to your IDE project

Qt (qmake .pro file)

INCLUDEPATH += C:/chilkat
LIBS += -LC:/chilkat -lchilkat -lcrypt32 -lws2_32 -ldnsapi
QMAKE_LFLAGS += -Wl,--gc-sections

Qt 6 or Code::Blocks (CMakeLists.txt)

target_include_directories(myapp PRIVATE C:/chilkat)
target_link_directories(myapp PRIVATE C:/chilkat)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE chilkat crypt32 ws2_32 dnsapi)
target_link_options(myapp PRIVATE -Wl,--gc-sections)

Code::Blocks (classic .cbp project): open Project → Build options. Under Search directories → Compiler add the folder you unzipped to; under Linker settings → Link libraries add the full path to libchilkat.a, then crypt32, ws2_32, and dnsapi; optionally add -Wl,--gc-sections under Linker settings → Other linker options.

5If the link fails