mingw-users

[Mingw-users] MinGW syntax error near unexpected token '('

[Kbam7 <kyl...@gm...>]

Hi there,

I have been learning C for the past month now and I have managed to set up a
local environment to compile and execute basic programs as I go along with
the C tutorial I am following. Everything was working fine until yesterday.
Suddenly, for a reason unknown to me, the compiler started to give me the
following error:
< --------------------------------------

./hello.c: line 3: syntax error near unexpected token '('
./hello.c: line 3: 'int main ()'

-------------------------------------- >

The file hello.c contains basic code to print "Hello World!" in the command
prompt window. The code is pasted below for your reference:

< --------------------------------------

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
/* Print "Hello World" on screen */
printf("Hello, World!\n");

 return 0; 
}

-------------------------------------- >

As you can see there is nothing wrong with the code. So for some reason,
something went wrong with MinGW i think. I have done a search on Google and
ended up at  this post on Stack Exchange
<http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17585748/unexpected-syntax-error-from-mingw-compiling-a-simple-c-program>  
but I did not find a solution there either. One person there suggested the
use of Dev-C++ which I downloaded and installed but I have no clue what to
do with it. 

I am using the Windows 8 OS and have installed MinGW and MSYS. When I open
MSYS, it opens the command prompt window with MinGW32 in the window title. I
then type 'cd /mysources' which takes me to the required directory and the I
type 'gcc hello.c -o hello' and then the program is compiled. I then type
'hello' and press enter which executes the hello.exe and should print "Hello
World!" in the command prompt window.

Could anyone assist me in any way with this problem?

Thanks in advance!



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Re: [Mingw-users] MinGW syntax error near unexpected token '('

[Benjamin R. <b.r...@tu...>]

Hi Kbam7,

Kbam7 writes:
> ./hello.c: line 3: syntax error near unexpected token '('
> ./hello.c: line 3: 'int main ()'
>
>[...]
>
> #include <stdio.h>
>
> int main()
> {
> /* Print "Hello World" on screen */
> printf("Hello, World!\n");
>
>  return 0; 
> }

The last thing before the line with the error is the include.  Is it
possible that you have looked at the compiler headers with your editor
and inadvertantly changed something there?  I have that problem from
time to time.  Maybe it's not in the file stdio.h itself, system headers
are usually a tangled mess of includes, sub-includes and
sub-sub-includes (not a style to be emulated ;-().

benny

Re: [Mingw-users] MinGW syntax error near unexpected token '('

[Keith M. <kei...@us...>]

On 20/12/15 08:07, Kbam7 wrote:
> I have been learning C for the past month now and I have managed to set up a
> local environment to compile and execute basic programs as I go along with
> the C tutorial I am following. Everything was working fine until yesterday.
> Suddenly, for a reason unknown to me, the compiler started to give me the
> following error:
> 
> ./hello.c: line 3: syntax error near unexpected token '('
> ./hello.c: line 3: 'int main ()'

This doesn't look like an error reported by the compiler; it DOES look
EXACTLY like the error the bash shell would produce, if you were to
attempt to execute trivial C source as a shell script[*]:

  $ cat foo.c
  #include <stdio.h>
  int main (){ return 0; }

  $ chmod +x foo.c

  $ ./foo.c
  ./foo.c: line 2: syntax error near unexpected token `('
  ./foo.c: line 2: `int main (){ return 0; }'

[*] This is run in bash shell on Linux, hence the 'chmod +x foo.c' to
(bogusly) make the C source APPEAR to be executable.

> The file hello.c contains basic code to print "Hello World!" in the command
> prompt window. The code is pasted below for your reference:
> 
> < --------------------------------------
> 
> #include <stdio.h>
> 
> int main()
> {
> /* Print "Hello World" on screen */
> printf("Hello, World!\n");
> 
>  return 0; 
> }
> 
> -------------------------------------- >
> 
> As you can see there is nothing wrong with the code.

No, there doesn't appear to be.  However, my example is a reduced
equivalent, insofar as it exhibits identical incorrect behaviour when it
is used inappropriately, as I have suggested.  You need to paste the
EXACT sequence of commands you used, to confirm whether or not you have
misused your source in an equivalent manner, in bash shell in MSYS.

> So for some reason, something went wrong with MinGW i think.

I think not!  Why would you think this, (unless YOU have modified your
MinGW installation in some detrimental way)?  Software isn't subject to
mechanical wear-and-tear, which might degrade its behaviour over time;
given identical conditions of use, it will produce identically the same
results time after time.

> I have done a search on Google [finding this] on Stack Exchange
> <http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17585748/unexpected-syntax-error-from-mingw-compiling-a-simple-c-program>  
> but I did not find a solution there either.

Be VERY cautious, and indeed sceptical, with advice on Stack Exchange;
there may be the occasional pearl of wisdom, but they tend to be bogged
down in a quagmire of misconception, ill advised, and often just plain
incorrect...

> One person there suggested the use of Dev-C++ which I downloaded and
> installed but I have no clue what to do with it.

...and this is just typical of the inappropriateness of much of the
advice you will find there.  No doubt, Dev-C++ may be a good product,
but advising you to use it in no way actually addresses the issue at
hand, so it most definitely is NOT a "solution".

-- 
Regards,
Keith.

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