New .h file in /usr/include linux - c

I developed small c application in linux. For this application i placed .h file in
linux standard path (/usr/include). Again i am compiling the same program
Output:
FATA ERROR : xyz.h(my own header file) not found
Do i need to update any variable in gcc or way to solve this problem
Thank You

Place the header file in the same directory as your .c file and use -I. when compiling
gcc -I. main.c -o myprog
You shouldn't place your header files in /usr/include that is meant for the system headers.
Note: you don't actually need the -I. because the current directory is searched by default, nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to add it.

Files specified by include directives are meant to be located in one of the search paths of the complier which are specified with the -I option in many cases (at least for gcc, is it the same for other compilers?). The search paths are verified in the order of definition in the command line.
There are 2 kinds of include directives:
double quoted ones (#include "xyz.h")
angle bracket ones (#include <xyz.h>)
IIRC, the default and first search path for the former is the working directory. For the later, it's compiler dependant, but it's usually /usr/include/.
Depending of the include directive you used, you should pick the right location for your file. Or better, put your file in a good location (say the same place as the including file), and add a search path to your gcc command.

You should separate your header .h files, from system and repository built headers so you don't break anything.
I would recommend making a folder in your home directory called include and just adding it to your path, that way you never have to worry about it again and no need for the -I/flag

Related

C source includes file in some dir (like dir/header.h), but header is in another dir

Are there any compiler options to deal with it? Without patching sources.
You can tell gcc to look in another include directory with -I:
gcc -I/home/bob/includes
This will add /home/bob/includes to the location that gcc searches. Your best bet is to create the tree that gcc is expecting there - for example, if /home/bob/includes was the directory where the headers really were, and the code asks for dir/header.h, then put the headers in /home/bob/includes/dir

C Header Files with the same declarations but different implementations

I have two sets of header files and .c files in my project i will only ever be including one of these headers but i want the option to quickly swap the header im including. Both header files have some declarations that are exactly the same but the implementations in the .c files are different. Basically what I need is way to tell the compiler to only compile the .c file that is associated with the header im including elsewhere in my program.
You could always specify the .c or .o file that you're going to link against at compile/link time for instance
gcc -o myexe file1.c/file1.o
or
gcc -o myexe file2.c/file2.o
you could even make this a different make directive if you have a makefile if you have the same header file but 2 different implementations. I would recommend just using 1 header file and changing the underlying implementation, no point in having 2 headers with similar declarations.
If both header files are exactly the same then you don't need to maintain two header files. You can keep only one copy. Whichever code includes the header file can include this single header file only.
You can always specify which .c file you want to compile while compiling. In gcc, you can mention the C file to be compiled in the command line. In Visual Studio, you can include the correct C file.
I guess you should maintain only one header file and include that in your code. Introduce a flag to the makefile to link which implementation to be linked. You have not mentioned what are you using to build.

how to do include within include statement

I wanted to include a file say a.h in my program which is located at some location say (/ws/uname/bd/lib) & that file in turn has different include statements whose files are located in vastly different locations.
How can i do that by just including the file with "/ws/uname/bd/lib/a.h".
I dont want to change any of the header file.
Appreciate your help
What compiler are you using? If it's clang or gcc, you can use the -I flag to add search paths for header files. From the gcc(1) man page:
-Idir
Add the directory dir to the head of the list of directories to be searched for header files. This can be used to override a system header file, substituting your own version, since these directories are searched before the system header file directories. However, you should not use this option to add directories that contain vendor-supplied system header files (use -isystem for that). If you use more than one -I option, the directories are scanned in left-to-right order; the standard system directories come after.

Including a library (lsusb) in a C program

I am still fairly new to programming with C and I am working on a program where I want to control the power to various ports on a hub I have. That is, however, not the issue I am having right now.
I found a program online that does what I want I am trying to compile it. However it uses #include<lsusb.h>. lsusb is located in a totally different folder than the file I am wanting to run (and not in a sub folder) and when I try to compile it, I, logically enough, get the error that the file lsusb.h is not found.
How can I link to this file so that it can be found?
This is more of a GCC toolchain question than a C question (although most C compilers do use the same Unixy flags).
The braces around the include file (<>) indicate you want the compiler to search its standard search path for the include file. So you can get access to that new include file either by putting it into a directory on your standard include file search path yourself, or by adding its directory to the file search path. With GCC you do the latter by giving gcc the flag -I"directoryname" where "directoryname" is the full file path to where you are keeping that new include file of yours.
Once your compiler finds it, your linker may have the exact same problem with the library file itself ("liblsusb.a"?). You fix that the same way. The flag GCC's linker will want is -L instead of -I.
See the "-I" parameter in the gcc man page. It allows you specify a directory in which to find a header file. See also -l and -L.
Or try #include "../../path_to_the_file/lsusb.h"

How to link a non-standard header file into a C compiler

I'm trying to use a non-standard header file (http://ndevilla.free.fr/gnuplot). Its used in lots of codes in various different places on my computer. Currently I have to put the header file and the object file in every folder which its needed with the preprocessor directive:
#include "gnuplot_i.h"
In the file. Is there a way by which I can put the header file in one place so I can reference it like other standard header file. Cheers.
Compile with -I<directory>
E.g.
compile with -I/usr/local/gnuplot/inc.
Also it might be worth your reading up on include paths and the difference between:
#include <include_file.h>
and
#include "include_file.h"
Linking in an object file needs to be done explicitly the same way as a C file, which means (I believe) that you need a full path. However if you archive it into a proper library then you can use -l<library name> and -L<library path> instead. E.g.
gcc -I/usr/local/gnuplot/inc -L/usr/local/gnuplot/lib -lgnuplot -o my_prog my_prog.c
Most compilers have a flag -I that lets you add a directory of your choosing to the search path for include files.

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