Search entire project for includes in Eclipse CDT - c++

I have a large existing c++ codebase. Typically the users of the codebase edit the source with gvim, but we'd like to start using the nifty IDE features in Eclipse. The codebase has an extensive directory hierarchy, but the source files use include directives without paths due to some voodoo we use in our build process. When I link the source to my project in Eclipse, the indexer complains that it can't find any header files (because we don't specify paths in our includes.) If I manually add the directories from the workspace to the include path then everything works wonderfully, but obviously adding hundreds of directories manually isn't feasible. Would there be a simple method to tell Eclipse to look anywhere in the project for the include files without having to add them one by one? If not, then can anyone suggest a good starting place, like what classes to extend, for writing a plugin to just scan the project at creation/modification and programatically add all directories to the include path?

The way that CDT manages build paths is by looking at the .cdtbuild xml file in the base of your projects directory (it might be a different name on windows... not sure)
In this you should see something like
<option id="gnu.c.compiler.option.include.paths....>
<listoptionValue builtIn="false" value=""${workspace_loc:/some/path}$quot;" />
<listOptionValue ... />
...
</option>
this is where all the build paths that you configure in the gui are placed. It should be pretty easy to add all the directories to this using a simple perl script to walk the project and generate all the listOptionValue entries.
This is obviously not the ideal method. But im curious, what build system are you migrating from, if it is make based you should be able to get eclipse to use your make files.

This feature has already been implemented in the current CDT development stream and will be available in CDT 6.0, which will be released along with Eclipse 3.5 in June 2009.
Basically if you have an #include and the header file exists somewhere in your project then CDT will be able to find it without the need to manually set up include paths.
If you need the feature now you can download and install the latest CDT development build.
Eclipse Bugzilla: https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=213562
Latest CDT 6.0 Builds: http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/builds/6.0.0/index.html

From reading the this Eclipse CDT FAQ entry, it sounds like Eclipse can automatically generate a list of include directories if you start your build from within Eclipse and if your build outputs the gcc / g++ commands before actually starting gcc / g++. You can change how Eclipse starts a build by going under Project Properties then selecting the C/C++ Build category and looking for the Build Command option on the right side of the dialog.

Depending on the amount of voodoo you are doing in your build process, then Eclipse may not be able to correctly parse your source files, especially if you have similarly named headers for different source files. If you really want to take full advantage of Eclipse you're going to need to make sure that with whatever setup you have you aren't going to be confusing the parser. Personally I would recommend having a simple layout and build process.
As for the question at hand, adding the directories one by one is pretty much your best bet.

Related

Build failed with no stated reason on Segger Embedded Studio after adding custom source files

I'm modifying a simple example project (blinky) from the nRF SDK. I added a header file and a .c file in a new folder inside the project directory then added that path ./lib to the common preprocessor user include directories. I then included the header to main.c.
I can compile the new library on its own but when I build the whole project, I get Build failed error with no stated reason to follow up.
Here is an image of that:
Does anyone here know how to beat this?
I haven't used Segger Studio specifically, but it seems to be the CrossWorks IDE underneath.
In CrossWorks, you have to do the following:
Download & install all relevant libs from inside the IDE, under Tools -> Packages -> Install packages. Grab your specific target MCU as well as any specific boards or libraries you'll be using. In case some needed lib is missing here, you will get very weird errors.
In the project, click on the project name itself in "project explorer". Then in the properties window, check settings (this is a bit different in different versions of CrossWorks, might have to right click and pick properties in older versions). Under "user include directories" you should have something like this:
$(DeviceIncludePath)
$(TargetsDir)/NameOfMCU/Include
$(PackagesDir)/CMSIS_4/CMSIS/Include
$(ProjectDir)/NameOfDirectory
Where "NameOfMCU" is the name of the MCU family used, CMSIS should be there in case you are using any ARM, "NameOfDirectory" is the name of your custom directory (you can add several).
Also, get the debug build working first, before switching to release build.

Setting up C++ include settings for a large library such as Paraview and QT in Eclipse

I have an application where I am compiling against the libraries Qt (5.11) and Paraview (5.6). I am developing in C++ and I am also coding in Eclipse.
Yes, I am aware that Paraview is more of an application then a library. However, I will be using it as a library to intergrate Paraview in my application in order to visualize some data. I could use QT creator and that would take care of the QT library. However, I am not very familiar with QT creator as an IDE and my entire workflow has been based around eclipse. For this, I would like to utilize components that I am familiar with.
Now, as many of you know, the QT library is large, very large. So is Paraview. I could create a search path for each folder containing the header files I need in the C++ include settings. If I go in this direction, then my library search path will be long, very long. Also, there might be a situation where I need to change computers (for whatever reason), I would then need to edit the search paths for the new computer and that will take time.I had thought that I could only include the paths to the include files that I needed. And I have started to do that. However, when I compile my application, I noticed that the libraries would use include files that are located in a directory that Eclipse is not even searching in. At the end of the day, I would need to include all of the directories to which the header files are stored in.
I was wondering if there might be a better method to reference all of the files that my project needs? Both come with make files (I believe that Qt includes a QMake file?). Is there a simpler method to include all of the files instead of editing the C++ include path for eclipse? I did see an option for QMake in Eclipse, is there anything that I can do with that feature to compile to QT library with my application?
Thank you and any feedback is appreciated. Also, feel free to suggest edits or clarification so that my description is clear.
Note some good practices when working with eclipse and qt or other large library.
Include the directories with a headers
If you use option "Generate Makefile automatically", add group include path with GUI Eclipse:
copy the directories with a headers (via system explorer);
go to project properties/C/C++Build/Settings/Tool Settings/GCC C++
Compiler/Includes.
paste directories (Ctrl+V) into "Include paths" list.
If you are using a qt-eclipse-integration plugin, you can add folders via the Discovered scanner configuration. You can find it if open: project properties/C/C++ Include Paths and Symbols/Add Contributed...
Create new project
if you already have a customized project, you can use it as a template:
make a copy of the customized project and name "mytempate";
delete all files from "mytempate".
When you want to create a new project, copy the template and specify (in the copy dialog) the path where the source codes are located.
Now you have a finished new project with settings and code.
Change computers
Use one of the ways:
1. Export C/C++ project settings for use in another workspace via project properties/C/C++ General/Paths and symbols/Includes/Export Settings...
2. Pack in the archive eclipse and workspace and copy your another computer.

Can CDT recursively add include paths from subdirectories

Working on large scale projects where we get like 2k folders with sources in the project, providing all these folders manually as include paths for CDT is not really feasible.
Does CDT provide such a feature that adding the root folder of the project as an include path, it knows to search in all the sub-directories of the project?
There isn't an explicit feature for doing this, but I've found that checking Allow heuristic resolution of includes in Preferences | C/C++ | Indexer has the effect that the indexer will look for include files in all subdirectories of the project.
(This doesn't help you if you're adding the includes for the purposes of building in a Managed Build project. I would suggest using an external build system (make, CMake, ninja, etc.) in that case, as CDT Managed Build is mostly unmaintained these days anyways.)

Eclipse can't find header file, even though include paths are set

This was an issue we've been dealing with for a while now - we're building a C++ project using the Cygwin toolchain, and no matter what we add in the C++ compiler include paths under project settings, Eclipse can't seem to find the necessary header files.
We have done everything the Stackoverflow community has suggested so far;
Made sure include paths were workspace-relative
Tried backslashes and forward slashes
Tried using Cygwin-specific paths (/cygdrive/c instead of C:/)
Checked the compiler output to verify include paths are there
Checked the generated makefiles to make sure they're correct
Rebuilt the index
Deleted the debug folder entirely
restarted Eclipse
Basically nothing short of changing the #include <...> code itself to use a full path (C:/.../file.h) worked. This doesn't work for our needs as we need multiple developers to be able to work on this project, and the files themselves are generated dynamically as a result of some of our build procedures.
So here's a fun little detail about Eclipse we didn't know - specific source files themselves can have their own settings.
If you look at your source files and see the following wrench icon, this means that file has some settings which may be contrary to your project-specific settings.
As a result, our source-specific settings were overriding the include paths, so for those files, none of the headers could be found. The best part is that Eclipse doesn't tell you in any way more explicit than this - the wrench icon does not offer a tool-tip to explain what's going on.
Simply right click on the file > go to Resource Configurations > Reset to Default...
Your header files will be found now, provided that you've written the correct include paths in your project settings.
For reference, we're using Eclipse Kepler - I'm not sure if they fixed this and added more info for users in newer versions.

setup include path in eclipse CDT in mac os (headers from framework)

for example I need to include a header
#include <OpenGL/glext.h>
while it is actually a header file glext.h under OpenGL.framework/Headers/.
Therefore it is no way to give eclipse a physical path about "OpenGL/glext.h", and I always get unresolved inclusion warning.
I can still build and run them (with managed makefile project) but it is impossible to browse the functions or definitions from those "resolved" header files.
is there any solution?
While not ideal, my solution to this has been to create a folder "/Developer/Framework Headers" (though the name isn't important), and link from e.g. "/System/Library/Frameworks/Foo.framework/Headers" to "Foo" under said folder. Then in Eclipse I add "/Developer/Framework Headers" to a project's includes.
I say not ideal because apart from having to create links for the frameworks you need and add an include to each project, Eclipse seems to have trouble in certain cases such as nested frameworks (e.g. CoreGraphics beneath ApplicationServices), but YMMV.
Yes there is one. Right click on the project in "Project Explore" window and click on the "property". In there Open "C/C++ General" column and choose "Path and symbols". Now you see all of the include library path for this project. If your using C then add the OpenGL library into GNU C, or if you use C++ then add it into GNU C++. Unfortunately you have to do this for every new project. I have been searching for a while how to do this by default but nothing really useful. Hope this help you get rid of those annoying yellow wave lines.
Since current Eclipse CDT releases don't perform sub-framework header inclusion correctly, you can avoid sub-framework problems (like those generated by the CoreServices header files) by creating symbolic links to the include directories of each sub-framework. I elaborated on this subject, which stems from danhan answer on this question, in this blog post.
In order to automate this process, I've created a Z shell script which automates this process and creates the symlink to the specified frameworks' header directory, together with the links to the include directory of each one of their sub-frameworks. The script can be found in this GitHub repository.
Hope this helps.