Compiling and running GTK+ application on Windows 7 - c++

Question

System: Windows7, 32 bit, GTK 2.24.10, mingw
I am trying to write basic helloworld.c type GTK based application. However, it doesn't run.
These are the steps which I followed.
Install MinGW.
Download GTK+ all in one bundle.
Extract content in C:\gtk folder.
Open cmd and go to C:\gtk\bin directory and run pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-win32-2.0
It prints list of compilation flags, and libraries to link your
project to.
Copy them and create a bath file as follows.
set VAR=FLAGS
start cmd
where VAR = GTK, and FLAGS = output of the previous command (pkg-config).
When you want to compile file use command : gcc foo.c %VAR%
D:\gtk>gcc -o project helloworld.c %GTK%
gcc: %GTK%: No such file or directory
helloworld.c:1:21: error: gtk/gtk.h: No such file or directory
helloworld.c: In function 'main':
helloworld.c:5: error: 'GtkWidget' undeclared (first use in this function)
helloworld.c:5: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
helloworld.c:5: error: for each function it appears in.)
helloworld.c:5: error: 'window' undeclared (first use in this function)
helloworld.c:9: error: 'GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL' undeclared (first use in this function)
D:\gtk>gcc -Wall -g helloworld.c -o helloworld pkg-config --cflags gtk+-2.0 pkg-config --libs gtk+-2.0
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-fcflags"
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-flibs"
batch file in D:\gtk
set GTK=-mms-bitfields -IC:/gtk/include/gtk-2.0 -IC:/gtk/lib/gtk-2.0/include -IC:/gtk/include/atk-1.0 -IC:/gtk/include/cairo -IC:/gtk/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -IC:/gtk/include/pango-1.0 -IC:/gtk/include/glib-2.0 -IC:/gtk/lib/glib-2.0/include -IC:/gtk/include -IC:/gtk/include/freetype2 -IC:/gtk/include/libpng14 -LC:/gtk/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl
start cmd
helloworld.c
#include <gtk/gtk.h>
int main( int argc,
char *argv[] )
{
GtkWidget *window;
gtk_init (&argc, &argv);
window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
gtk_widget_show (window);
gtk_main ();
return 0;
}
Reference : Installing gtk and compiling using gcc under windows?

Answer 1

You could try these manual steps to start with:
1) At your command prompt run the pkg-config command to get your include flags:
c:\dev\gtk224\bin\pkg-config.exe --cflags gtk+-2.0
This is my output:
-mms-bitfields -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gtk-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/gtk-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/atk-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/cairo -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/pango-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/glib-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/glib-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/freetype2 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/libpng14
2) set the output from (1) to a variable GTK_INCLUDES:
C:\dev\1_repo\gtk_scratch>set GTK_INCLUDES=-mms-bitfields -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gtk-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/gtk-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/atk-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/cairo -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/pango-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/glib-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/glib-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/freetype2 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/libpng14
(make sure you use YOUR output from step (1))
3) do the same as step 1 for the library flags:
c:\dev\gtk224\bin\pkg-config.exe --libs gtk+-2.0
This is my output:
-Lc:/dev/gtk224/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl
4) set output from (3) to a variable GTK_LIBS
C:\dev\1_repo\gtk_scratch>set GTK_LIBS=-Lc:/dev/gtk224/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl
(make sure you use YOUR output from step (3))
5) make sure gtk+ and MinGW are on your path:
set PATH=c:\dev\MinGW\bin\;c:\dev\gtk224\bin
(make sure you set your path to YOUR mingw and gtk directories)
6) compile:
c:\dev\MinGW\bin\gcc.exe -g helloworld.c -o helloworld %GTK_INCLUDES% %GTK_LIBS%
7) when you are able to compile OK, copy what you did in steps 2,4,5 and 6 to a batch file so can compile you app just by running the batch file.

Answer 2

The error is right here.
pkg-config is a utility which helps (and I strongly recommend) to determine link and lib flags. The issue you got is that gcc interprets it as a parameter if you pass them like you do - you need to exectue them in a subshell (but I have no clue how to do that under windows shell or cygwin) under bash it is either $(pkconfig --libs gtk-2.0) or with backticks around instead of $(...)
D:\gtk>gcc -Wall -g helloworld.c -o helloworld pkg-config --cflags gtk+-2.0 pkg-config --libs gtk+-2.0
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-fcflags"
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-flibs"

Answer 3

Get same error when running hello, world program. Following solution work for me.
Instead of saving your helloworld.c at any arbitrary place, put it inside of
MinGW > msys > 1.0 > home > "Name of Your home folder" > helloworld.c
Now, open msys.bat and write the command to run program. In my case it was:
gcc hello.c -o hello `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0`
And it works for me!