How Do I Use Eclipse to Debug a C++ Program on Linux? - c++

I don't use Eclipse as an IDE, and have no interest in doing so. However, I do like its source-level debugging.
Is there any way I can use it to debug a C++ Linux app without going through the ritual of creating a project? (In effect, can I just use it like a frontend to gdb?)
If not, what are the steps I need to follow to create a project that I can use to just debug an existing C++ program that is built using Makefiles or other tools (SCons, CMake, etc.). I don't want to be able to "develop" in Eclipse; all I need to do is debug.

Take a look at this question. Create a C/C++-project, use your project's source directory as project directory, select to use the external builder, and change "make" to whatever tool you want.
The tricky part is to get the indexer to work correctly and find all your header files.
EDIT: CMake 2.6.x has support for generating CDT project files, which might be a more straightforward solution.

I don't know if this has changed in the 4+ years since the question was posted, but there's a much easier way to do this. I'm on Eclipse Luna (4.4.2).
> eclipse&
then
File > Import > C/C++ > C/C++ Executable > Next > browse to executable > Next > choose a project name > Finish
No other project setup required, no source paths (which should be in the object code). Just like running gdb/insight/etc. Almost makes it worth installing Java.

Configuration for debugging in Eclipse.
In eclipse,
Go to Window->preferences
A popup will appear then select C/C++ , click on drop down arrow ,then select Debug and click on drop down arrow.
Select Source Lookup Path and then click on Add.
After clicking on Add, click on Path Mapping and then click on OK.
Specify the mapping path name and then click on Add .
In compilation path select Cygwin path (need to install) and then click ok .
In debug option,click on source Lookup Path and select Path Mapping:Project source and click on apply and then ok.

Related

How to exclude a source file from being build in eclipse (C++)?

I am trying to follow some insane complicated steps in order to be able to create C++ unit-tests for C++ code in eclipse (I am utterly new to eclipse). These steps state to exclude some source files from using in the built - which makes sense to me. However, in my eclipse I do not see any Exclude from built option when right-clicking on the source file. Also, neither this answer nor this answer do work, as I do not see the mentioned options in the list of things when I right-click on the source file.
So how to exclude a source file from a built?
P.S. The Version of eclipse seems to be Luna 4.4.0.
(Or, even better: If anyone knows an easier way to set up eclipse with ANY unit-testing framework in a SIMPLE way,- or knows a different Linux framework to start developing C++ projects with unit-testing right away without trying to set up things in unknown and complicated ways for weeks before starting to actually code something - ideas are VERY VERY welcome...)
I ran into a similar problem.
The C/C++ perspective of Eclipse Luna (4.4) is missing the contextual menu "Exclude from build".
I solve my problem by using the java perpective:
Window -> Open Perspective -> Other... -> Java(default)
Navigate to the file/folder you want to exclude
Right Click -> Resource -> Exclude from build
Then you can switch back to the C/C++ CDT perspective
Project Properties> C/C++ General> Path and Symbols
Tab Source Location
Select the source folder
Click the Edit Filter button
Add the file you want to exclude
I've tried this and it worked on Eclipse:
Right Click the file > Properties ... > Resource > Attributes : Derived.
(Eclipse Indigo)
Hope that helps.
I am using MARS eclipse version.
You have to create a build configuration for each component you are building.
Here is how to do that: multiple_execs
Then for each source file that you do not want included in that build; you right click on that source file and then select Resource Configuration and select Exclude From Build. Then you check the box of the build configuration you created above that you do not want the source a part of.
Here is YouTube video showing this: exclude files from a build

The program file specified in the launch configuration does not exist

I am facing some problems regarding eclipse for c/c++. I am trying to create a new project, I provide the code, and after running the code I get this error:
The program file specified in the launch configuration does not exist
C:\Users\elisabeth\workspace\mm\Debug\mm.exe not found
Please notice that I am working with spice toolkit; I set the path for the "include" files and the libraries, but still I can not have a result.
What causes this error and how can I resolve it?
Right click on your project --> Properties
Run/Debug settings
Delete whatever is set as "launch configuration for '........'
Project --> Clean
Project --> Build Project
You can create a run configuration. Go to Run > Run Configurations. Click New button, fill C/C++ Application field, i.e., insert path to your executable. The new configuration will appear in the list which appears when you click to the arrow next to run button.
Of course this assumes your can build without problems, otherwise you won't see an executable to point to.
You can clean the project, build it again and run it as a local C/C++ application. Simplified steps as follows,
Right click on the project
Clean Project
Again Right click on the project
Build Project
Again Right click on the project
Run As ->
Local C/C++ Application
As the error reads:
C:\Users\elisabeth\workspace\mm\Debug\mm.exe not found
First of all you need to check whether there is an executable "mm.exe" in your Debug folder. (Of course, it is not there and that is why the error)
Go to Project > Clean
and you should see some files being deleted from your Debug folder
Go to Project > Build Project
and you should see some new files being generated e.g. mm.d, mm.o, mm. This "mm" is probably the executable you're looking for
Now that you know what your executable is, you should tell eclipse what file to execute instead of mm.exe. Go to Project properties and in run debug settings create a new configuration (or edit an existing configuration, if there is one already). In this configuration, in main tab, in C/C++ Application specify a full path to "mm". Which, in your case is - "C:\Users\elisabeth\workspace\mm\Debug\mm"
A better way to do this in eclipse is:
${project_loc}/"your folder"/"your executable file"
e.g.${project_loc}/Debug/mm
what worked for me is file->refresh
then do the Debug configuration again by choosing the right c/c++ binary again.
Avoid troubles with configuration by going into Project properties > C/C++ build > Refresh Policy and specify your project folder. The configuration option "Search project" will show a correct folder then and you will see whatever you build there - Debug, Release or both. You don't want to specify the folder using Browse option every time you import project or switch configurations.
As this is the first SO discussion that appears for this topic on Google and none of the answers solved the problem my students were having, I would like to mention the solution we eventually found from this answer:
Open project properties (Right click on your project, choose Properties on the menu)
C/C++ Build -> Settings
Click on Binary Parsers tab and check PE Windows Parser
Keep clicking Move Up until it is at the top
This had been set to Elf, even though we were using a freshly downloaded Windows version of Eclipse.
sometime missed closing curly brace can be part of a problem. Make sure prototype your function at the beginning of the file. Then right click your project in the left side bar. click clean project. then click build project and finally run project
I encountered similar issues and their related problems a few days ago. Finally, I found out that, just because I had moved my project folder (workspace folder of Eclipse) to another place so Eclipse could not find what its need as usual.
Solution: I just set the workspace to my new place (Hey Eclipse, my workspace now is here) :
Menu "File" -> "Switch workspace" -> "Other..." -> click "Browse..." button and point to new place then click "Select Folder" button and click "Launch" button.
Nice day.

Eclipse indexing not working

I am using CDT in Eclipse 3.5.2 Galileo in Ubuntu.
My eclipse's indexer doesn't work at times. By that I mean when I ctrl click a function it says Could not find symbol in index. Also, F3 button click results in the same error message. Actually most of the places it is not working and works in very few places.
I have seen some other versions of Eclipse where under File menu a menu item listed for Indexing. Like File->Indexer->Rebuild.... But in my File menu there is no such menu item for the Indexer.
Will the only way be to use some other release of Eclipse or am missing something? Any pointers regarding this would be helpful.
In my case nothing has worked and at last I did the following:
1) Close the project
2) Delete the project(do not check from disk option)
3) create new project with existing code(use the deleted project path)
4) Successfully indexed my c++ code
To add paths containing code to parse, follow these steps :
1. Right click on the project
2. Select Properties
3. Go to C/C++ General
4. Go to Path and Symbols
5. If the paths are missing, add paths.
To re-parse the code follow these steps :
1. Right click on the project
2. Select Index
3. Rebuild
If this doesn't work, then you are out of luck. c++ is very difficult language to parse.
If your indexer is stuck and it hangs for infinite time, you can delete the indexer related files of your project from .metadata. Make sure eclipse is not running in the meanwhile.
The .metadata directory is located as a hidden folder in the path of your workspace.
There you can navigate to:
<workspace_path>/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.core.runtime/.settings/
Inside the .settings/ directory there are .prefs files which store the preferences of each project individually.
For example: org.eclipse.cdt.core.prj-test-project.prefs stores the preferences of the project test-project
Open this file with the text editor and remove all the lines starting with indexer. This will reset the indexer settings for this specific project to the default.
Alternatively, you can remove all the lines starting with indexer from org.eclipse.cdt.core.prefs; doing this will reset the indexer settings for the whole workspace.
I believe you can clear the index by running:
rm .metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.jdt.core/*.index
And then restarting Eclipse. It will then rebuild its index.
This worked for me in a Java project, but I imagine its the same index for all (most?) project types.
Right click on the project.
Select New->Convert to a C++ Project.
Select your configuration. And then Next
Indexer will start indexing all the files.
For me this worked:
Right click and close the project
Open the project again
Right click and select Index->Rebuild
I hope it helps anybody.
You can try rebuilding the index.
Right-click on the project in Project View. Then Index -> Rebuild.
Here is the solution I used after Project->C++ Index->Rebuild failed. This trick avoid deleting your current project :
1) Copy the current project (Right click->Copy from Project Explorer)
2) Paste it (Right click->Paste from Project Explorer) and give the copy another name
3) The indexer should now start and index both projects
4) When indexation is complete, you can delete the copy
PS: Make sure your original project is an actual C++ Project or this will obviously not work.
Convert a project to C or C++ nature:
Right click on project: New >  Convert to C/C++ Project
In "Convert to C or C++": Choose C/C++ Project
In "Project options": Check "Specify Project Type"
...Project Type: Choose "Makefile project"
...Toolchains: Gross GCC
I was having the same problem and it turns out that the index folder was owned by root (I must have run Eclipse as a root once for some reason) I reclaimed the project folder using sudo chown -R username projectfolderpath and problem solved.
Execute eclipse.exe -clean -refresh where the eclipse is installed.
Create a new C/C++ Project in Eclipse with Given Source code folder path. (Not with New Project based on existing workspace)
Above steps worked for me.
For me it was issue that when creating a project indexer was chosen as none. Deleted the project and while creating the project again I chose the indexer options as per my need "LINUX_GCC", then it worked for me
Just came across the same problem in my C++ ARM Cross GCC project. I'm developing on Windows, using Makefile and an Ubuntu Docker image with GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain to build the project.
The solution to get rid of the unresolved symbols, in my case, could be divided into two parts:
The CDT Arm Cross GCC Built-in Compiler Settings didn't have the path to the compiler.
In the Project Properties -> C/C++ General -> Preprocessor Include Paths -> Providers(tab) the path to the compiler must be provided.
Using the GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain, the entry for the Command to get compiler specs: I currently use is:
C:\GNU_Arm_Embedded_Toolchain\9-2020-q2-update\bin\arm-none-eabi-g++.exe ${FLAGS} ${cross_toolchain_flags} -E -P -v -dD "${INPUTS}"
Note: Yes, I am having installed the same toolchain on my Windows machine as I'm using in the Docker image.
To verify, that the call is correct, you can tick the Allocate console in the Console View, which will provide hlepful output to the Console. Also, in the Entries tab, when you unroll the CDT Arm Cross GCC Built-in Compiler Settings you should see the includes and symbols included.
Missing symbol in the Project Properties -> C/C++ General -> Paths and Symbols menu.
As I have my defines in the Makefile, I forgot to add the define of my MCU also here.
Hope this helps to someone! :)
For the most part, the other answers tackle the situation wherein one "had" a working index earlier and things have gone astray for some reason.
On the other hand, I faced a problem wherein I needed to install everything from scratch (eclipse, workspace, c++ project etc.) and the indexing just wouldn't work. I finally found the solution here: https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php/t/1109004/
The key inputs from the above page are:
You need to setup include paths for the Indexer just as you would need
to for the compiler. The Indexer and compiler are completely independent.
The Indexer include paths are set by
Project -->Properties --> C/C++ General --> Preprocessor Include Paths, Macros etc. --> Entries tab --> CDT UserSettings Entries ...
and
You could try using
Project --> Properties --> C/C++ General --> Paths and Symbols
That's supposed to merge telling the compiler and Indexer
in one place.
However, this latter part of the suggestion did not work for me.

Change output directory of an Eclipse CDT project

I cannot find the possibility to change the output of the built files. The only I've found deactivates the whole generated makefile process, which I don't want to.
Right-click on your project and choose Properties.
Go under C/C++ Build, under Settings.
Click on the Build Artifact tab.
Under "Output prefix", enter the directory that you want to contain your built file (including a trailing slash).
It looks like you'll also need to modify your Run / Debug Settings with the updated path.
(However, writing your own makefile really isn't hard, especially if you use Eclipse's generated makefiles as a starting point, and it can give you a lot more flexibility.)

Using eclipse CDT without creating a project

I am currently learning c++.My first language was python.I am used to coding in eclipse in pydev.
I learn a language by writing a lot of code snippets and use the debugger extensively to understand what is actually happening.
Now,I downloaded CDT for eclipse,since I am used to the interface.
But now,I am forced to create a project for every c++ file I write. I want a way to easily execute the files(very small,max 300 lines) in fast manner,and without creating new projects again and again.Any ideas?
Currently I use eclipse like a text editor,and use g++ for compiling the files.
I suggest you create one project containing all your files (assuming each one has its own main function), and inside this project, create one 'Build configuration' per program by using :
Project > Properties > C/C++ Build > Configuration > Manage... > New
To avoid multiple definition of main in each 'Build configuration', you will have to exclude each cpp file from the 'Build configurations' it doesn't belong to. For this, in the Navigator view :
Right click on the cpp file > Properties > C/C++ Build, and check 'Exclude from build' for each 'Build configuration' the source file does not belong to.
When everything compiles fine, you will be able to run or debug each program separately inside Eclipse by selecting the matching 'Build configuration'.
More info in this answer :
What files belong to a build target in CDT managed build?
I hope this will help!