ld: unsupported tapi file type '!tapi-tbd' in YAML file | ParaMonte: Parallel Monte Carlo and Machine Learning Library

Problem

While building the ParaMonte library on a macOS (Darwin) operating system, you may encounter an error of the following nature:

CMake Error at /opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/3.23.1/share/cmake/Modules/CMakeTestFortranCompiler.cmake:61 (message):
  The Fortran compiler

    "/opt/homebrew/bin/gfortran-14"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:

    Change Dir: /Users/unknown/git/paramonte/bld/darwin/arm64/gnu/csvs/release/shared/heap/serial/nocheck/fortran/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp
    
    Run Build Command(s):/usr/bin/make -f Makefile cmTC_f9501/fast && /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/make  -f CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/build
    Building Fortran object CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/testFortranCompiler.f.o
    /opt/homebrew/bin/gfortran-14   -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX13.1.sdk -mmacosx-version-min=12.4 -c /Users/unknown/git/paramonte/bld/darwin/arm64/gnu/csvs/release/shared/heap/serial/nocheck/fortran/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/testFortranCompiler.f -o CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/testFortranCompiler.f.o
    Linking Fortran executable cmTC_f9501
    /opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/3.23.1/bin/cmake -E cmake_link_script CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/link.txt --verbose=1
    /opt/homebrew/bin/gfortran-14  -isysroot /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX13.1.sdk -mmacosx-version-min=12.4 CMakeFiles/cmTC_f9501.dir/testFortranCompiler.f.o -o cmTC_f9501 
    ld: unsupported tapi file type '!tapi-tbd' in YAML file '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX13.1.sdk/usr/lib/libSystem.tbd' for architecture arm64
    collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
    make[1]: *** [cmTC_f9501] Error 1
    make: *** [cmTC_f9501/fast] Error 2

The likely cause of the above or similar errors is that the ld linker application is incompatible with the macOS CommandLineTools SDK.
This is particularly true if there is an Anaconda software installed on the macOS, whose incompatible ld binary shadows the operating system’s default (compatible) ld binary.
This can be checked by searching for all available ld binaries on the command line PATH environmental variable,

which -a ld

which could yield,

/Users/unknown/anaconda3/bin/ld
/usr/bin/ld

Solution

One solution is to reorder the contents of the PATH environmental variable to make the system’s ld binary identifiable before any 3rd-party ld binary.
Alternatively, if the conflicting ld binary belongs to Anaconda software or the Conda package manager, one can temporarily deactivate Anaconda via,
```
conda deactivate
```
To reactivate the Anaconda environment, try:
```
conda activate
```

If you have any questions about the topics discussed on this page, feel free to ask in the comment section below, or raise an issue on the GitHub page of the library, or reach out to the ParaMonte library authors.