Single file program with PDCurses fails to compile with "undefined reference to" - c

Question

I have some problems compiling my test program using PDCurses library. I have compiled PDCurses 3.4 with MinGW compiler 8.2.0. In output I have 2 files panel.a and pdcurses.a. I copied them to C:\MinGW\lib plus the header file curses.h in C:\MinGW\include. But when I try to compile test program I have errors. It seems I have done everything correctly according to instructions and how-to`s.
Some testing C code:
#include <C:\MinGW\include\curses.h>
int main () {
initscr();
mvprintw( 5, 5, "Hello, World!" );
getch();
endwin();
return 0;
}
ERRORS:
c:/Users/username/Dropbox/rakshasa/main.c:4: undefined reference to `initscr'
c:/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/mingw32/8.2.0/../../../../mingw32/bin/ld.exe: c:/Users/username/Dropbox/rakshasa/main.c:5: undefined reference to `mvprintw'
c:/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/mingw32/8.2.0/../../../../mingw32/bin/ld.exe: c:/Users/username/Dropbox/rakshasa/main.c:6: undefined reference to `stdscr'
c:/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/mingw32/8.2.0/../../../../mingw32/bin/ld.exe: c:/Users/username/Dropbox/rakshasa/main.c:6: undefined reference to `wgetch'
c:/mingw/bin/../lib/gcc/mingw32/8.2.0/../../../../mingw32/bin/ld.exe: c:/Users/username/Dropbox/rakshasa/main.c:7: undefined reference to `endwin'
I have no idea why it is not compiling properly. It looks like compiler cant find libraries in linking stage but I do not know why.
I was try to compile like
gcc -g main.c -o main.exe
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Never use absolute paths in #include directives. Instead of #include <C:\MinGW\include\curses.h> you should put #include <curses.h> and compile with -IC:\MinGW\include flag if needed.
Next you need to link with the relevant library using -lpdcurses. If needed you can add the location of the library using -LC:\MinGW\lib.
So if we split compilation and linking steps you need the following commands:
gcc -g main.c -c -o main.o -IC:\MinGW\include
gcc main.o -o main.exe -lpdcurses -LC:\MinGW\lib
though I think you can leave out the -I and -L flags as they point to the location of your compiler's include and lib folders.
Finally: MinGW is a bit outdated and so is GCC 8.2.0. I recommend you switch to MinGW-w64 (which supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows). To get a more recent MinGW-w64 GCC build, you can try the standalone builds from https://winlibs.com/.