Building C code in Visual C++ Express - c++

Question

Quite a while back I was playing around with C code for a POS device. I could develop and build in Visual Studio 2008. Then to test I could go into cygwin, make the code and load onto the device, or use the included simulator. Somewhere along the lines that virtual box was lost.
I want to start up again in dabbling with this device but am having an awful time trying to get the code to build in Visual Studio 2008 C++ Express.
I created a new project from existing code, set it to compile as C code and tried to build. It complained that it could not find system.h, so I added the directory in the include directories under tools.
Now it gives 408 errors. Example as shown below:
------ Build started: Project: TestHelloWorld, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
Compiling...
sysutil.c
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(105) : error C2054: expected '(' to follow '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(105) : error C2085: 'disable_interrupt' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(106) : error C2082: redefinition of formal parameter '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(106) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before 'type'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(106) : error C2085: 'enable_interrupt' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(107) : error C2085: 'call_app_func' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(108) : error C2082: redefinition of formal parameter '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(108) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'DWORD'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(108) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'os_switch_app'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(108) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '('
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(108) : error C2059: syntax error : ')'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(109) : error C2054: expected '(' to follow '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(109) : error C2085: 'app5_call' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(110) : error C2082: redefinition of formal parameter '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(110) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'DWORD'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(110) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'app6_call'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(110) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '('
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(110) : error C2059: syntax error : ')'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(111) : error C2054: expected '(' to follow '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(111) : error C2085: 'app7_call' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(112) : error C2082: redefinition of formal parameter '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(112) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'DWORD'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(112) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'app8_call'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(112) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '('
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(112) : error C2059: syntax error : ')'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(113) : error C2054: expected '(' to follow '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(113) : error C2085: 'app9_call' : not in formal parameter list
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(114) : error C2082: redefinition of formal parameter '__pcs'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(114) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'DWORD'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(114) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ',' before identifier 'app10_call'
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(114) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before '('
c:\cygwin\home\creon_sdk_v2.3\program\lib\system.h(114) : error C2059: syntax error : ')'
Does anybody have any idea how I can get this working.
The code is from the sample code that comes with the SDK for the device.
Also the SDK comes with cygwin which is installed and I can make the sample program no problem, however I am more of a C# developer and so like my IDE. I had this working before but cannot remember how I got it working before.
Please, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Kind regards,
Neill
Edit - As request line 101 - 115 from system.h
#ifndef _SYSTEM_H_
#define _SYSTEM_H_
#include "common.h"
extern __pcs void disable_interrupt();
extern __pcs void enable_interrupt();
extern DWORD call_app_func(void * ptr,DWORD param1,DWORD param2,DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD os_switch_app(BYTE app_id,DWORD param1,DWORD param2,DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app5_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app6_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app7_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app8_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app9_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
extern __pcs DWORD app10_call(DWORD func_no,DWORD param1,DWORD param2, DWORD param3);
Thanks!

Answer 1

This particular compiler error message of the form of error C2054: expected '(' to follow '__pcs' indicates that the compile is attempting to decode the line of source as if __pcs is the beginning of a function name and it is expecting parenthesis to follow the identifier because it is expecting a function parameter list.
Whenever I have seen this it is because there is a define missing which will define __pcs to some function behavior modifier. For instance in Windows you may have something that will specify the calling sequence (C standard versus Pascal) or another one will be for DLL linkage.
I suggest you do a search through your header files looking for a define for __pcs to see where it might be defined.
It really looks like there is some kind of a -D compiler directive to define __pcs or a header file that needs to be included to define __pcs.
Here is a sample header file include dependency graph for a Cygwin application that might be helpful.