Cannot open file 'sfml-system-d.lib' - C++ - c++

First off, I understand the inconveniences that may come with asking this kind of question and would like to at least state that for a relatively experienced C++ console programmer learning GUI in C++ is tasking compared to other languages like Java and Python (then again, what isn't tasking?).
Anyways, before I ramble on. The question (problem that needs a solution) is how do I get my template SFML program (https://www.sfml-dev.org/tutorials/2.5/start-vc.php) working in Visual Studio when I receive this error message in the console:
LNK1104 cannot open file 'sfml-system-d.lib'
I've followed multiple tutorials about a dozen times now leading to more frustration with this minor challenge each time I get this exact reason my first SFML program not working.
I've searched for the file sfml-system-d.lib as well and found absolutely nothing.
I'm using SFML v2.4.0 for Windows 32-Bit applications and also using MinGW's GCC v6.3.0 to compile my C++ console programs.
For additional references, here's what I got so far:
GitHub Repository - https://github.com/LapysDev/Learn/tree/master/C%2B%2B/GUI/sfml-visual%20studio/demo.v2
I know this question is off the mark here and I fully expect to be put in my place.
Anyways, thanks for reading through this far; And again my apologies for taking up anyone's time.

Related

Execute Command not working in Geany (Windows 10)

I am really new to programming (actually trying to get this to work for my 1000 level intro C++ class) so I apologize for bad descriptions and lack of terminology.
I am having trouble getting a "Hello World" program to work on Geany. I have followed the instructions here http://wiki.geany.org/howtos/win32/getting-started , pretty much to the letter. My program gets a successful message when I hit compile/build. When I hit execute the terminal pops up but it is blank.
There is a flashing cursor in the spot where I would expect Hello World to be but instead it is blank, and I cannot type anything in the window. From what I've researched I think it may be a similar problem from here How do you make Execute do anything in Geany? but searches on changing the terminal form to work for windows has not yielded any results.
In fact, I have not found much help for Geany on windows at all, so if there is a better set of software to use that is pretty basic I would be interested, I am only really attached to Geany because that is what we will be using in class (on a Linux operating system)
Thanks for the help!
John
Avast Antivirus does, in fact, cause Geany to fail execution of the program. Windows 10 Pro 64-bit using Geany 1.26 full installer with MinGW. I just shut down shields for 10 mins and this allowed the program to execute.
Thanks.

Visual Studio 2013 Profiling a Cinder project, not a single function call shows up

I recently upgraded to Visual Studio 2013, and found myself in the unusual position of suddenly needing to make use of a new aspect of VS that I've never worked with before. The profiler!
Long story short - I'm working a with a simple GUI framework I've designed, that recently had gesture support added. To my horror I found what worked more or less fine in one project, bogged down my main app quite horribly. I have a fairly good idea of what's causing it, but I'd still like confirmation - and since I will likely be working quite a bit more on the framework I'm building, it certainly doesn't help to have some profiling tools in place to remove eventual bottlenecks.
I ran the Visual studio performance wizard and was surprised to see (in the 'Call Tree' view) that the output consists of essentially nothing but calls to my TTD.exe (main application) and a bunch to ntdll.dll as well as few other DLLs I'm using.
That's fine and dandy - but I was expecting a much more granular report. As in - which of my functions were being used X percent of the time and the likes. Not a single function is mentioned anywhere...
Googling a bit, I found this particular link:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/scarroll/archive/2005/04/13/407984.aspx
but I highly doubt that I need to use an additional server just to serve up my - possibly missing - symbols?
I'm a bit at a loss where to begin. Perhaps the issue is that I'm using Cinder and it does a bunch of stuff behind the scenes when starting up the app? To clarify - I'm not running my app from a std. main function. Cinder essentially provides a base framework called through a macro and then my app takes over via a number of setup(), draw() and update() calls. I'd just expect to see these littered all about.
But no... O_o
Has anyone encountered anything similar?
Regards,
Gazoo
You need to link your executable and DLLs with debug symbols.
In Debug builds this is on by default but in Release builds it's off by default.
Project properties->Linker->Debugging->Generate Debug Info = Yes (/DEBUG)

How to solve OpenCV Error "function not implemented (called functionality is disabled for current build or platform) when using VideoWriter_GPU?

Question Intro
I'm running an opencv project in Visual Studios 2010 and have implemented cuda support (refer to my previous question for precise info on my set-up). All cuda-functionalities are working fine - to the best of my knowledge - and are indeed improving speed on the image processing.
However, I now also wanted to attemp to speed up the video-writing function in this project by replacing the current cv::VideoWriter with the gpu::VideoWriter_GPU function. The reason for this is that the cv::VideoWriter seems to somehow cause processes running outside of the scope in which the VideoWriter is called to be slowed down, resulting in images available at the DirectShow driver being dropped by the VideoCapture-function, hence messing up an algorithm I've implemented.
Problem
To attempt to solve this issue, I've now replaced the VideoWriter-calls with VideoWriter_GPU-functionality (and corresponding syntax), but when I run my project (Compile & Run in Debug-mode), I get the following error-message (directly originating atthe calling of gpu::VideoWriter_GPU):
OpenCv Error: The function/feature is not implemented (The called functionality
is disabled for current build or platform) in unknown function, file
c:slave\builds\wininstallermegapack\opencv\modules\gpu\src\precomp.hpp, line 131.
and the program then ends with
code -529697949 (0xe06d7363)
I've purposely currently not included any of my code because the error-message originates so clearly from the call to the gpu::VideoWriter_GPU, which is making me think it's not a coding or syntax problem. (Please comment if you feel my code is necessary for answering this question.
My steps so far
I miss the natural gift of understanding what precisely this message means or how to interpret it. Does my opencv v2.4.4 simply not support what I want...? Does this function simply not work on my windows 7, 64bit system...?
I've checked out as many available google-hits I could find (relating to this error message and combinations of searchterms like "opencv, gpu, VideoWriter_GPU, disabled for current build") but have not understood what the problem is or how to solve it.
Corresponding header-file and error message can also be found here.
This post and this post suggest the error message is trying to tell me that opencv simply does not provide the option of using the function or functionality I am aiming to use. Or maybe even that cuda is not at all supported.. But that's all against my experience as every single opencv gpu-function I've tried to use has seemed to work fine.
Question
Could someone please explain to me why this is not working for me, and more importantly share with me what I should do to make the VideoWriter_GPU work?
Many thanks!
Maybe this link can give you a little idea of what the problem is: VideoReader_GPU not available, but built with NVCUVID?.
It seems to be that the problem is the CUDA_DISABLER var.

My programs are blocked by Avast Antivirus

I'm an amateur programmer, and I'm getting desperate and mad because of a big issue: most of my programs are blocked by Avast Antivirus, while some aren't, and I don't understand why.
The more I try to investigate, the less I understand what the problem could be.
I'm requesting your help to find a solution so that my programs are no longer blocked, or, as a default, at least some strong clues that would explain why it might be the case.
There are already many topics about that on the web. However, most of them give only superficial answers: they just explain how antivirus software works with signatures and detection heuristics, or state that you just have to add the offending application in the white list without asking any other question. While it is certainly correct, it's not acceptable answers in my sense, because I'm still left with my own programs that refuse to work without any concrete idea to start investigating.
First of all, the only antivirus software that blocks my programs is Avast 7.x. No other antivirus software see any inconvenient to run my software. Secondly, I haven't installed Avast myself; it is installed on a friend's machine.
I have Windows 7, and he has Windows XP. I'm completely sure that the problem is avast only: when it is temporarily disabled, or if the program is added to its white list, everything works nicely as expected.
Three different programs are in trouble:
A text editor, with the goal to replace Windows Notepad while keeping simple, efficient and customizable
A small amateur audio player very simple to use
The client program of an online game platform, currently having more than 1000 users
The first one is open source, and I can give a link to the executable and the source code if needed. The two others are closed source but free to use, I can give a link to the executable of the current version only.
The only obvious common things between these three programs are me as a developer, my Windows 7 machine that compiled them, the compiler family which is MinGW/GCC, and they are all Win32 GUI applications without any framework (no MFC, no WPF, no Qt, wxWidgets or whatever; just pure Win32/C GUI applications).
Here are my observations and thoughts so far:
Versions 1.1, 1.2.1 and 1.3 of my text editor are blocked. They are in C, not C++, have been compiled with GCC 3.4.5 in Unicode mode, and are distributed in portable ZIP files (by portable, I simply mean no installer and no installation needed)
Version 1.4.1 of the same text editor isn't blocked. It has been compiled with GCC 4.7.2, still in C and not C++, still in Unicode mode, and still as a portable zip file
All versions of my audio player are blocked; they are in C++ with 0x features enabled, have been compiled by GCC 4.7.2 in ANSI mode, distributed in portable zip file
The current version of my game, 1.7.2, isn't blocked. it is in C, has been compiled with GCC 3.4.5 in ANSI mode, and is distributed as an Inno Setup 5 installer.
The new version of my game, 2.0.0, which is currently a private beta, is blocked. It is in C++ with 0x features enabled, has been compiled with GCC 4.7.2 in Unicode mode. I share it with my private beta-testing team as zip files within a private Dropbox folder
The problem is caused by Avast 7.x auto-sandbox. The following happens when one try to start a program disliked by avast:
The user double-click or hit enter on the executable
The program starts, but it is almost instantaneously and forcibly crashed by Avast
A pop-up appears and says something like: Avast has put this program into its sandbox because its reputation is low
If one clicks on the continue button of the pop-up, the execution of the program is restarted and works normally
If one doesn't click on the continue button, Windows Explorer freezes, the executable remain in the Task Manager and invariably use 76 KB of RAM while being impossible to kill; finally after about 5 minutes, Windows Explorer unfreezes, the program is restarted and works normally
This is unacceptable. Newbie users of my program, especially the game, don't know how antivirus software works; don't know how to put it into the white list and why it will unblock it; don't know how to change settings of their antivirus software; if they see the pop-up, won't understand it and will end up being afraid or disappointed because they can't play without knowing why; and if they don't see the pop-up, I can't expect them to wait 5 minutes with a half-freezing computer. each time they want to play.
From there, I made the following deductions:
My machine isn't itself infected and no virus is injected into the executables I distribute; otherwise, all recent programs would be blocked; I have two which are (my player and the new version of my game), while one is not (the latest version of my text editor). The 1.7.2 of the game has been compiled in march 2012, while the 1.4.1 of the text editor is from October 2012.
The newest version of GCC 4.7.2 is not in cause, by the same reasoning; same for ANSI vs Unicode compiling.
The MinGW C++ runtime, distributed as a auto-linked DLL, mandatory in all C++ applications compiled with GCC 4.7.2, is probably not the cause, because many well-known programs use it; and my text editor is blocked and is in C, and thus don't use it.
My audio player and my game have the audio library in common; this later is not the cause, because the version 1.7.2 of my game works and the newest private beta not. And of course, that audio library is also used in many other known or less known applications that aren't blocked.
Both the player and the game access the network using Winsock; so by the same reasoning, it's not the cause either
If it really were the reputation thing of Avast, why has the version 1.4.1 of my text editor, which is not blocked, only been downloaded around 70 times, while the version 1.3 which is blocked has been downloaded more than 300 times? It looks completely illogical. Are 70 users sufficient to claim something about reputation? Is it more with 300 users? I really don't think so... probably a critical mass of a dozens thousands users is necessary.
Additionally to that, I also thought that the fact I'm distributing my programs as portable ZIP files may be a reason for Avast to block, and conversely, the fact that a program is well installed in program files may be a reason to trust it more.
So I made a simple experience: I compiled a new Inno Setup 5 installer for the beta 2.0.0 of my game, as well as one for the version 1.3 of my text editor, and discover that the installers themselves were blocked!
I made another experience with my friend, where I tried to find exactly the place where the programs crash, based on using MessageBeep (MessageBox is also blocked!). I didn't noticed anything problematic. The game is blocked when SetDlgItemText is called for the first time in the login dialog box, but if I remove all SetDlgItemText it is blocked further down. In the text editor, it is blocked while populating the menu bar...
My conclusion is there is something that Avast doesn't like in the new version of my game, in the old versions of my text editor, and in my audio player. Something that is absent in the newest version of my text editor. What could it be? Do you have any clue? Do you have only an idea on how I could proceed to find what it is so that I can hope to fix it? Is there only a way to analyse such a problem, or is the whole world screwed by Avast?
Note that I'm a single person and not a company, all those programs are free to use, I have not pay any IDE to develop them, and I'm not paid by the users when they use them, so I assume that a certificate is probably not affordable at all. Moreover, I don't know if it's a true solution, how to sign an application compiled with GCC, and I really don't want to switch to an "usine à gaz" like Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC). I would prefer strongly forget that option if there is any other solution, even a very dirty one.
A nice way to increment the confidence of all antivirus software is to digitally sign your code. Thawte has the cheapest well-recognized certificates starting below 100 € / year.
Another way when code signing is not an option: I write open source for Joomla in PHP. After I received the first indications that Avast marked my file as a (false) positive, I contacted them and they whitelisted my file within hours.
In order to make my life easier, I am creating a separate file with the supposedly "dangerous" function, so that future changes to the program won't require to resubmit it for whitelisting.
Possibly the speed in their response was helped by the fact that reading a short PHP file is faster than reverse engineering compiled code; nonetheless they were kind, quick and effective.
Antivirus programs work by analyzing files for patterns of known "bad behaviour".
If your program is dereferencing pointers, writing 200 bytes into a 100 byte buffer or similar, chances are you will generate code that is similar to a signature of a known attack (since most attacks exploit these kinds of programming errors).
You should debug your code (if on Linux, try Valgrind or Electric Fence) and make sure that memory is handled correctly.
You can be interested in the article The Case of Evil WinMain.
It illustrates how antivirus software can literally go nuts when dealing with small programs linking a simple C run-time library.
The only thing you can do is signal the problem to the antivirus makers and hope in a fair behavior from them.
All right, I figured it out. Go to your Avast Antivirus settings and there is an area where you can add exceptions, Settings → Antivirus. Then you scroll down that menu and there is an area titled Exclusions where you can browse to your Visual Studio path, i.e., C: → john → Documents → VisualStudio2010 → projects.
Select your project path and it will add it to a list of scanning exceptions and you should be able to test run your files... it worked well for me. I also disabled deep scan in the same menu due to a suggestion from another member.
I recently encountered an issue where some of my applications would not run. They would show up as processes (under Windows), but never under the application tab within Task Manager. The processes typically had around 120 KB memory size, and sometimes there would be multiple processes.
The culprit is Avast DeepScreen. From Avast:
The DeepScreen Technology allows Avast to make real-time decisions when an unknown file is executed.
In my case, MATLAB was blocked, as were some other applications.
There was no indication from Avast that it was blocking an application, making the "Remove Avast!" comment above quite appropriate.
Avast has a feature called cybercapture/deep scan.
This is what's causing your troubles.
It doesn't even bother with the heuristics.
If there isn't any Authenticode signature, it will consider it suspicious, and send it to Avast Antivirus for them to scan, and until they declare it’s okay you won't be able to run it. Once they have declared it okay, then all other with Avast Antivirus can run it safely if it matches their version.
Most of the antivirus programs give options to enable exceptions.
Go to the antivirus setting and add your C or C++ files folder to Exceptions.
Here is how you can use PowerShell to exclude your applications from Windows Defender and Microsoft realtime protection:
// Create Windows Defender exclusion
string cmd = "powershell -Command \"Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath '" + GetAppPath() + "'";
Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo() { FileName = "cmd.exe", Arguments = "/c " + cmd, CreateNoWindow = true, WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden }).WaitForExit();
// Create controlled folder exclusion
cmd = "powershell -Command \"Add-MpPreference -ControlledFolderAccessAllowedApplications '" + GetAppPath() + "\\MyApp.exe" + "'";
Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo() { FileName = "cmd.exe", Arguments = "/c " + cmd, CreateNoWindow = true, WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden }).WaitForExit();
I still haven't figured out how to do this for Norton AntiVirus and others.
Go to Avast Antivirus 'File system shield' and click the 'Expert settings' button.
Then find and click the 'Exclusions' option from the menu on the left side. Add your project folder in the file exclusion list. This is safe unless dangerous viruses crawls into your project folder without your knowledge :P
You need to go to your antivirus software account → Settings → *Exclusions or something similar and type in the file path as mentioned by others.
I did it with Avast Antivirus. The first time around it didn't work, so I uninstalled and installed. Then I went to exclusions and it works now.

Works when run from Visual C++ but sometimes not standalone

The actual question: what are the differences between running in Visual C++ 2010 (both release and debug mode) and standalone, excluding anything that couldn't cause the problem stated at the bottom of this post?
I have a very specific problem with my program, so I am not going to post the code. If you would like to know details of the problem to gain some understanding, I post them at the bottom. Instead, I ask: what are the differences in running in visual c++ and standalone?
I am using Visual C++ 2010, and my program is using SFML 2.0. It runs fine in studio (I am calling it studio because it is easier to type), but when run standalone on some computers only a bug will occur within the program, to do with movement being delayed but other parts not. I cannot find any links between the computer specs of the users who test it and whether they work or not.
All dlls and such are included (at least, I think they are - the program runs fine, as detailed at the bottom - maybe some users have some framework installed?). On my computer, it works all the time in studio but not standalone. On my netbook, it works, on my older computer, it doesn't. The only project settings I changed with vc++ directories and linker settings.
Problem details:
All the sounds sound slightly different and there is a possible high pitched background noise. Character movement, enemy movement and space bar delay which is supposed to be 0.5 seconds is increased to about 5 seconds but "generating pixels" (an aspect in the game with the arrow keys isn't.
I'm stressing again that it only happens on SOME COMPUTERS, mine included, but always works when run within studio. A number of people have tested the game, and some reported the problem and others different.
[NOT THE MAIN POINT OF THE QUESTION BUT HERE IS AN EXTRA BIT: If you are so willing to help me that you wish to look through the entire source code, it's here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53835113/EVERYTHING.zip [note: ignore the massive amount of bugs and memory leaks other than the problem described :P]]
EDIT: THE POINT ISN'T THAT I WANT MY PROGRAM DEBUGGED! That is an optional extra. The question: what are the differences in running in visual c++ and standalone?
More edits: Found that the problem is due to the frame time not being correct. Not sure if this provides some insight.
Thanks to anyone who tries to help me!
GetFrameTime() in SFML was removed in a recent version because it returns the time since last frame rather than the time since last update. As a result, the it may return 0.