Cannot run multiple C++ files in Visual Studio Code [closed] - c++

Question

Closed. This question needs debugging details. It is not currently accepting answers.
Edit the question to include desired behavior, a specific problem or error, and the shortest code necessary to reproduce the problem. This will help others answer the question.
Closed 1 year ago.
Improve this question
Whenever I try to run my code if I have more than one .cpp file, I get the following message: The preLaunchTask 'C/C++: g++.exe build active file' terminated with code -1.
I can debug anyway, show errors or abort. If I press show errors, nothing happens, it doesn't take me anywhere. If i press debug anyway, I get another message saying: lauch: program 'c:\Users\me\HelloWorld\program.exe' does not exist. I can either cancel, or press open launch.json. If I press the latter, it takes me to the launch.json file as expected, to the line with "name": "g++.exe - Build and debug active file",. I use the Mingw-w64 compiler.
launch.json
{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "g++.exe - Build and debug active file",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": true,
"MIMode": "gdb",
"miDebuggerPath": "C:\\Program Files\\mingw-w64\\x86_64-8.1.0-posix-seh-rt_v6-rev0\\mingw64\\bin\\gdb.exe",
"setupCommands": [
{
"description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
"text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
"ignoreFailures": true
}
],
"preLaunchTask": "C/C++: g++.exe build active file"
}
]
}
tasks.json
{
"tasks": [
{
"type": "cppbuild",
"label": "C/C++: g++.exe build active file",
"command": "C:\\Program Files\\mingw-w64\\x86_64-8.1.0-posix-seh-rt_v6-rev0\\mingw64\\bin\\g++.exe",
"args": [
"-g",
"${workspaceFolder}\\*.cpp",
"-o",
"${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe"
],
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
},
"problemMatcher": [
"$gcc"
],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"detail": "Task generated by Debugger."
}
],
"version": "2.0.0"
}

Answer 1

To build a program that consists of multiple files you need to use sort of a build system. Two most popular ones are make and cmake. You need to get more familiar with them. make comes with mingw. cmake needs to be downloaded and installed separately, and finally also requires either make, ninja or full version of Visual Studio.
Alternatively, you can try to use Visual Studio 2019, where you just add source files to project and VS takes care of compiling everything on its own. However note that VS2019 does not support Mingw/gcc, and uses Microsoft C++ compiler instead. Depending on your task it may or may not work for you.