How to use a static library?

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Specifically, I am trying use the RoBoIO library that comes with the RoBoard. The library consists of two folders: Include, which has all the .h files, and Lib, which has a .a file.

Without using ROS, I can use the functions provided by library by linking it through this MAKEFILE:

test.exe : test.o
    gcc -o test.exe test.o -L../Lib -lRBIO -lstdc++
test.o : test.cpp
    gcc -c test.cpp -I../Include

.PHONY : clean
clean :
    -rm test.o test.exe

What do I need to do if I want the library to linked when I use rosmake to compile my program?? I tried to simply include the .h file, but that didn't work. The library functions became undefined.