Compiling PHP with external mySQL libraries

1) Does adding 'shared,' as a ./configure option mean the module is compiled as an external, dynamically loaded module as compared to the module being statically linked into the 'exe' file? So that adding 'shared,' means I must add a line in the PHP ini file to load the extension (or load with a funcion call). 2) When configuring PHP with mysql support by something like '--with-mysql=/usr' does it automatically create a shared module? i.e do both these following configs produce the same result '--with-mysql=/usr' and '--with-mysql=shared,/usr'? The reason I ask, is I see many PHP info pages that specify '--with-mysql=[DIR]' without the 'shared,' bit, and they do specify an external library with the [DIR] part, but in the mysql info section 'MYSQL_MODULE_TYPE' shows as 'external'. I thought 'shared,' would have to be added to create an external dynamic loaded module? Thanks for the help! If I posted this in the wrong group, please excuse me.