very new to Dev-C++, can't change program
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Hi,
I am having trouble which is not described in the FAQ: when I write a new
program, or add it to a project, it goes onto the screen but when I try to
compile the new one, it instead compiles the old one that is not on the
screen. I'm not exactly sure what a project is anyway, but I have managed to
create 4 of them. If one of them is on the screen, and I want to change to
another, how do I do it? I have tried to click on the new one but it doesn't
do it; I have to close down Dev-C++ entirely and try to load in the file I
want to compile+run. Thank you in advance.
Dev-C++ allows you to compile and run a single file without creating a
project. It is just a bad idea - always create a project.
You can only have one project open at a time, so your problem is probably one
of understanding. Opening a sourcefile when a project is open will not switch
to building that sourcefile, you have to open the project.
File->New->New Project
So even if I have a project that has more than one tab, I can't switch from
one tab to another and compile/run this new tab? There's an icon on the top
that allows me to add or subtract source files to the project,
but even if I (1) add a different (already stored) file to the project, (2)
click on the newly added file which puts it onto the main window, (3) subtract
the file that was previously in the main window, and (4) press F9, the
original file that I just removed and replaced is run!
It gets worse. I closed down Dev-C++ and then re-opened it and loaded a
totally different project, selected its file, and pressed F9, and it ran and
compiled the file that was there before I shut the program down!
> So even if I have a project that has more than one tab
Multiple tabs and projects are not the same thing. That merely means you have
more than one file open. Are they part of the same project?
When you create a project, you can add one or more source files to it and each
is separately compiled and then linked. They must form a whole program
however. You cannot for example have main() defined in more than one source.
If you create two separate source files that are independent and both contain
main(), you can compile than separately into separate executables while they
are open simultaneously, but you must not have a project loaded in order to do
that, because when you have a project loaded, the open files are irrelevant,
it is only the files that are members of your project that are compiled and
linked.
I don't recommend using that method, because you have no control over how the
program is built. It will be built with whatever steering are set in the
Tools->Compiler options dialog at the time. A project keeps the settings as
well as the source so that it is always built with the same way, regardless of
subsequent changes to the IDE configuration.
It is a deficiency of Dev-C++ that it does not support multiple projects open
simultaneously (although you can probably open more than one instance of
Dev-C++). If you want that capability, try MSVC++ 2008 Express Edition. It
will not allow the 'project-less' quick-and-dirty build method of Dev-C++, but
you can have multiple projects in on 'solution'. It also has a more powerful
IDE and excellent debugger.
I think the behaviour you describe is normal and correct, but that you
misunderstand the project and separate-compilation concept. If you open a
project, what will be built is the project, not merely the sourcefile you
happen to have open. Most non-trivial projects have multiple source files,
often hundreds or even thousands.
Clifford
Brilliant - Sourceforge still not fixed the quote mark-up I see! And still no
edit feature.
Above "steering" should be "settings"
Clifford:
Thank you very much for the enlightening explanation. What I didn't realize is
that it is irrelevant what's in the window, but it's the project that gets
built. Plus at my very novice level, all the C++ files I have written have the
main() function in them, and this means I can't have more than one file in
that project. Thanks again.
This is very difficult for me to understand for some reason. If I have a
project open with only one program (it's listed in the big window on the
right, and the narrow window on the left shows it hanging, by itself, off the
project), I can compile and run it fine. If I subtract the file and try to
compile, DevC++ objects because the project is empty. I thought that made
sense. I then added a completely different file to that project, and when I
tried to compile/run it, it used the original file I had thought i subtracted!
But, if I edit the 'new' file, in the most unsubstantial way,
this new file will compile and run.
It seems to me that when I emptied the project and it wouldn't compile, it was
because DevC++ was looking for something contained in the project and found
nothing. But when I added the new file, it all of a sudden remembers the one I
discarded! This is very confusing. Thank you in advance.
Mary Spellman
What the IDE does for you (and one of the magor reasons for using one over
comman line builds) is generate a makefile. The makefile contains rules for
building your project, and the rules have dependencies - a list of files that
if changed will result in the target of the dependency being rebuilt. The
highest level target is the executable file, which is dependent on one or more
object files, which is dependent in a single C or C++ sourcefile, which may be
dependent on a number of header files. It is possible to have more complex
dependencies, but that is the general case and more or less all Dev-C++ will
handle automatically.
When you added your source file, Dev-C++ may not have correctly regenerated
teh dependencies, it will have seen that all the object files were no older
than the executable file, and will have built nothing. If you took a look at
the Compile Log tab, you will have seen that nothing was compiled. When you
changed the sourcefile, It must have forced a dependency regeneration which
got teh project back into synch.
It is an artefact of Dev-C++'s imperfect dependency tracking when 'unusual'
events occur. If you make significant changes to your project such as adding
or removing files, or changing build options, I suggest that you perform a
"Rebuild All" rather than "Build" operation from the
project menu. This will ensure proper dependency regeneration. At other times,
if you suspect the build is inconsistent, try a "Rebuild All" then
also. If the project is small, performing a "Rebuild All" is
insignificant in any case, on large projects it can take considerable time,
and you would wish to avoid this.
Clifford
Clifford: Thank you again for a very lucid explanation. It's clear that I must
learn about makefiles and building them. I have never yet used 'build', only
compiled and run for single files in projects, using F9.
For my simple projects, which contain only one file, it is very fast to do a
'rebuild all' or to add an empty line which puts the file onto the list making
up the dependencies. If I had a lot of files in the project and wanted to add
one or more others, there's probably a way to speed things up by getting it
into the dependencies list and changing it by adding the new filenames so that
I must only compile the new files. But at my level, 'Rebuild All' does the job
for sure.
M.S.
I wish there were a manual, but all I can find so far are the FAQ's.
I always thing that "Compile and Run" is a bit optimistic. More
often than not, code does not compile first time. Actually I may be
misremembering the menu names. I recall that what Dev-C++ refers to as
"Compiling" is in fact "Compile and link" i.e.
"Building". There is a separate item for "compile this
file", which does compilation only for a single file (rather than a whole
project), and only generates the object file (not the executable).
Reading may help. I wrote it a while back.
: https://sourceforge.net/projects/dev-cpp/forums/forum/48211/topic/1111298?m
essage=2670009
Clifford:
I read your mini-article about compiling and linking and libraries. It was
very interesting. I am wondering if there is somewhere in Dev-C++ that one can
hold previously-compiled code or even libraries made up of .o files written by
theirselves and maybe want to use again.
But I'm still trying to master Classes and Inheritance, anyway. Thank you for
the advice.
MS
File->New->New Project
You will see that there is a template for "Static Library". That is
what you are looking for. It will compile your project files and then instead
of linking an executable with the linker (ld.exe) it will invoke the librarian
(ar.exe) to create a library archive file.
When doing this I suggest you prefix your project name "lib" to
conform with the GNU naming convention. If your project is called libXXX, then
the resulting library will be called libXXX.a, and can be linked to another
project with the -lXXX linker option. The library directories box in the
project settings dialog determine where the linker looks for libraries (it
adds -L<path> options to the build). You need to add the path to your
library repository here. Alternatively you can specify the path and filename
of the library in full - there is a browse button for that in the project
dialog, you can use it for individual object files too.
So to answer your question directly, you can put your libraries and object
files where you please; you just then need to tell the linker where they are.
I strongly suggest that you don't take the 'short-cut' of just dumping your
libraries in the default library path. These are for the standard libraries
and libraries provided with Dev-C++. Using that may make moving your work, or
reinstalling Dev-C++ problematic.
Clifford