Question

Compiling non-trivial programs

Asked by: another_steve

Hi, I downloaded an some source code and I want to recompile it.  There's a subfolder called "SRC" with a bunch of header files and .cpp files.  There's also a makefile in there.

I tried to compile it with Visual Studio 2005 Express but there was no project solution file.  I also can't just open up the main.cpp file and go to "build" because the option is grayed out.

Then I gave up on VS2005 and I tried using the Makefile.  However, the last time I used a makefile was in UNIX at school so I had very little success using getting it to work in Windows or even Linux (Ubuntu distribution).

My questions are how can I compile this program and can a Makefile also work for other OS besides UNIX?  I know it's a stupid question but I haven't really programmed any non-trivial programs before.

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Steve

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2007-07-19 at 20:00:05ID22708898
Tags

programs

,

trivial

Topics

Open Source Programming

,

Installation

,

Miscellaneous Programming

Participating Experts
2
Points
125
Comments
7

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Unix Makefile
    Does anyone have a Unix Makefile that will compile both JAVA and C/C++. Thanks in advance!
  2. makefile and conditional compilation
    I have an application with *many* source files that can be compiled "normally" or with a "debug" option. The compilation is dependant on the -DDEBUG compiler switch. How can I set up a makefile so that I can type in either: make app_debug (to make the de...
  3. Makefile
    Hi, I'm trying to reuse a makefile, unfortuneatly i'm not that familar with their structure and am utter perplexed. Hopefully someone will be able to lend a hand. The error message I'm getting is: "No rule to make target "test.o" needed by test.x. STOP" ...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: avizitPosted on 2007-07-19 at 20:10:52ID: 19528363

what program you are trying to build ?
if it is written for linux/unix etc and not meant for win machines , it may not be trivial to get it to compile on windows without some modifications.
for example some library functions are only available on linux machnes and vice versa.

if you give the application and from where you downloaded experts here can have a look.

Makefiles can work on other OSes but may not work out of the box.

btw you can also try to instal cygwin so that you can then directly compile linux apps using the normal make/make install  ( in most cases )

 

by: another_stevePosted on 2007-07-19 at 22:08:16ID: 19528848

It's a game called Atomic Tanks: source code can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=72358

if you can show me how to compile this, that would be great

thanks

 

by: avizitPosted on 2007-07-19 at 22:18:44ID: 19528880

do you really need to compile it yourself cos for windows they have precompiled exe files which you can run

http://downloads.sourceforge.net/atanks/Atomic-Tanks-2.4.exe?modtime=1183656966&big_mirror=0

secondly i checked from the website that one of the requirements is Allegro game library i
hope you have installed that already

 

by: another_stevePosted on 2007-07-19 at 22:50:22ID: 19528989

i want to make some modifications to the game, later then i'll have to recompile it

thanks for the heads up about the Allegro game library, i downloaded it and extracted the file to my VS2005 folder but i still can't compile it.  i opened up the files "atank.cpp" and tried compiling but the "start debugging"  option was grayed out

 

by: avizitPosted on 2007-07-19 at 23:02:15ID: 19529027

you simply cannot take a file and build the application.;
you have to take care of the dependencies as in the files need to be compiled in particular order and then all the compiled object files can later be linked to create one application

I notice that there is a Makefile.windows file in the src directory
but since windows dont have a default make program maybe you can try to download and install nmake from
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb&en-us&Q132084=#08293648950946997642

and then later try

make ( or nmake if thats the command ) -f Makefile.windows

note: it may not be the -f options to pass the name of the makefile you would need to look at the documentation

 

by: Computer101Posted on 2007-10-18 at 18:47:18ID: 20106013

Forced accept.

Computer101
EE Admin

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...