Error compiling HDF5 with MinGW and CMake - c

Question

I'm trying to compile HDF5 with MinGW's gcc 4.8.1 and CMake. I followed the instructions in the INSTALL_CMake documentation for Windows and read everything that I found on Google but I still get the following errors:
In file included from c:\mingw32-xy\include\fcntl.h:37:0,
from C:\Users\jicervan.NDC\Downloads\hdf5-1.8.13\hdf5-1.8.13\src\H5private.h:53,
from C:\Users\jicervan.NDC\Downloads\hdf5-1.8.13\hdf5-1.8.13\src\H5detect.c:57:
c:\mingw32-xy\include\io.h:301:1: error: unknown type name 'off64_t'
__CRT_INLINE off64_t lseek64 (int, off64_t, int);
^
c:\mingw32-xy\include\io.h:301:36: error: unknown type name 'off64_t'
__CRT_INLINE off64_t lseek64 (int, off64_t, int);
^
c:\mingw32-xy\include\io.h:302:1: error: unknown type name 'off64_t'
__CRT_INLINE off64_t lseek64 (int fd, off64_t offset, int whence) {
^
c:\mingw32-xy\include\io.h:302:39: error: unknown type name 'off64_t'
__CRT_INLINE off64_t lseek64 (int fd, off64_t offset, int whence) {
^
In file included from C:\Users\jicervan.NDC\Downloads\hdf5-1.8.13\hdf5-1.8.13\src\H5private.h:70:0,
from C:\Users\jicervan.NDC\Downloads\hdf5-1.8.13\hdf5-1.8.13\src\H5detect.c:57:
c:\mingw32-xy\include\unistd.h:65:20: error: unknown type name 'off_t'
int ftruncate(int, off_t);
The errors and warnings go on and on with a long list of warnings and undefines. Does anybody has any suggestions on how to solve this problem? Are there any other alternatives like using the Visual Studio binaries with MinGW maybe?

Answer 1

I finally got it working. My first attempt was to use configure and make according to the documentation in the /release_docs/INSTALL_MinGW.txt file, but it didn't work. I ended up using CMake. For documentation purposes, here's the procedure that I followed:
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 8.1 pro
COMPILER: CMake + MinGW gcc version 4.8.1
HDF5 VERSION: 1.8.13
STEPS:
Uncompress the hdf5-1.8.13.zip file.
Download CMake, and run the GUI.
Set the source folder to <hdf5-location>/hdf5-1.8.13 and the build folder to the folder where you want to place your Makefile.
Click on Configure, and a pop-up window will appear. Choose the MinGW Makefiles option as the generator for your project, and select the Use default native compilers option.
Once the list is populated with options, leave the default checkboxes selected, and also select BUILD_SHARED_LIBRARIES. Now the fun begins; compiling.
Locate the file H5pubconfig.h file in your HDF5 build folder and append the following lines:
// Define Windows 32
#ifndef H5_HAVE_WIN32_API
#ifdef WIN32 /* defined for all windows systems */
#define H5_HAVE_WIN32_API 1
#endif
#endif
// Define MinGW
#ifndef H5_HAVE_MINGW
#ifdef __MINGW32__ /*defined for all MinGW compilers */
#define H5_HAVE_MINGW 1
#endif
#endif
// Redefine _In_ and _Out_ to empty values
#define _In_
#define _Out_
// Redefine off_t and off64_t to match io.h and unistd.h
#define off_t _off_t
#define off64_t _off64_t
On the file io.hlocated in <MyFolder>/MinGW32/include/ change every instance of off64_t to _off64_t.
On the file unistd.hlocated in <MyFolder>/MinGW32/include/ change every instance of off_t to _off_t.
On the MinGW/MSYS command prompt, change directory to the location of your HDF5 Makefile (set on step 3).
Type the command Make and verify that it's compiled correctly.
Don't forget to include the flags -I/<your-HDF5-build-folder>/include/, -L/<your-HDF5-build-folder>/bin/, and -lhdf5 when you compile. Happy coding.