Is it possible to "partially" link static libraries like this

[Paul Fredrickson <qmoto at dsl-only dot net>]

Hi list,

I work for a company that is very zealous about guarding its IP, but is also 
increasing its use of third party vendors for its work.  We routinely deliver 
a static library containing much of our proprietary code to the vendors, who 
then build drivers from it.  The concern came up recently that the static 
library exports everything, not just the limited number functions the vendors 
need, and that makes the paranoid even more nervous.  So it became my job to 
see if we could fix it.

I realize the best solution would be to deliver a dynamically linked library, 
with all the unnecessary symbols stripped, and this is what we're planning to 
do for the next generation of the product.

Is there some way to accomplish something like this for our current delivery?

I'm not completely familiar with all the possible options to all the tools 
available, but I can't seem to construct a solution directly looking at the 
available documentation for ld, objcopy, etc.  I was hoping something like 
this would be possible:

I have the interface functions defined in one set of files:
	interface.c (InterfaceFn1(), InterfaceFn2(), ... )

I have all the proprietary code in a set of implementation files:
	impl1.c (ImplFn1())
	impl2.c (ImplFn2())
	etc.

I compile everything to create a list of object files.  interface.o has 
undefined references to ImplFn1 and ImplFn2.  If I simply created the static 
library at this point, all the symbols would be global and none of them would 
be resolved (the situation I'm faced with today).  On the other hand, if I 
created a libtemp.a from all the impl object files, could I use that to 
create my library using just interface.o, but with as many references as 
possible resolved from libtemp.a?  The ImplFns could be stripped, leaving 
only the InterfaceFn's and undefined references to libc, etc.  Does that 
explain what I'm trying to do at least?  It seems like the new static library 
would be "partially linked", but I hestitate to use that term because I'm not 
positive it means exactly what the docs mean by "partially linked objects".  
If it is, it would be nice to have that confirmed by an expert.

If this list is meant more for tool development rather than discussing unusual 
usage scenarios, I apologize and would appreciate pointers to a more 
appropriate place to ask.

Thanks!

qmoto