CODEWITHSUNDEEP
clinkerboolean
Lamar
Lamar

Reputation: 651

unknown type name BOOL compile error with Linked Headerfile

I am using the HTParse.c module for one of my C projects. However when compiling with 

gcc -o project project.c -lpthread

I receive the following compiler errors from within the header file:

  In file included from Gserve.c:12:0:
  /usr/local/include/w3c-libwww/HTParse.h:117:8: error: unknown type name ‘BOOL’
  extern BOOL HTURL_isAbsolute (const char * url);
         ^
  /usr/local/include/w3c-libwww/HTParse.h:192:8: error: unknown type    name ‘BOOL’
  extern BOOL HTCleanTelnetString (char * str);
         ^

I have read to include stdbool.h with C99 and that C90 does not support the boolean data type. Even after including this header, the errors persist. I have included these headers as follows:

 #include<stdbool.h>
 #include<w3c-libwww/HTParse.h>

Could something have gone wrong during the install of the library? I didn't see anything suspicious in the when making however I did notice some errors at the end of 'sudo make install'...

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile:660: recipe for target 'libapp_2' failed
make[2]: *** [libapp_2] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory '/usr/local/src/w3c-libwww-       5.4.0/Library/Examples'
Makefile:174: recipe for target 'install-recursive' failed
make[1]: *** [install-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/local/src/w3c-libwww-5.4.0/Library'
Makefile:263: recipe for target 'install-recursive' failed
make: *** [install-recursive] Error 1

I am using Ubuntu 15.10.

Do you guys have any Ideas for fixing this up?

Thanks Much!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 3047

Answers (1)

Mike Kinghan
Mike Kinghan

Reputation: 61610

The cause of this compiler error is that w3c-libwww defines BOOL in the header wwwsys.h, and you are not #includeing it or any of the other w3c-libwww headers that already #includes it. The library's API boilerplate is meant to be declared by:

#include <w3c-libwww/WWWLib.h>

before anything else. Look at the provided Examples either via the online documentation or in the Library/Examples folder in the package.

Correcting this error, however, will not enable you to compile and link a program with the library because you have not succeeded in building and installing the library.

The failure that you noticed from sudo make install means that you have not installed the library. But the error in question:

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile:660: recipe for target 'libapp_2' failed

is not an error of installing the library and its headers to their destination directories: it says that linkage of the library has failed.

make install, therefore, has attempted to make the library, as it will always do as long as library has not yet been built, and that make has failed because the library cannot be linked.

When I attempt myself to build the package, on Ubuntu 15.10, ./configure succeeds but make fails with:

gcc -g -O2 -Wall -o .libs/libapp_2 libapp_2.o  ../src/.libs/libwwwinit.so ../src/.libs/libwwwapp.so ../../Library/src/.libs/libwwwxml.so ../../modules/expat/xmlparse/.libs/libxmlparse.so ../../modules/expat/xmltok/.libs/libxmltok.so ../src/.libs/libwwwhtml.so ../src/.libs/libwwwtelnet.so ../src/.libs/libwwwnews.so ../src/.libs/libwwwhttp.so ../src/.libs/libwwwmime.so ../src/.libs/libwwwgopher.so ../src/.libs/libwwwftp.so ../src/.libs/libwwwdir.so ../src/.libs/libwwwcache.so ../src/.libs/libwwwstream.so ../src/.libs/libwwwfile.so ../src/.libs/libwwwmux.so ../src/.libs/libwwwtrans.so ../src/.libs/libwwwcore.so ../src/.libs/libwwwutils.so -lm ../../modules/md5/.libs/libmd5.so -ldl -Wl,--rpath -Wl,/home/imk/develop/w3c/lib
../src/.libs/libwwwfile.so: undefined reference to `HTDir_addElement'
../src/.libs/libwwwfile.so: undefined reference to `HTDir_free'
../src/.libs/libwwwfile.so: undefined reference to `HTDir_new'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile:660: recipe for target 'libapp_2' failed

No doubt that is what you saw too. You must regard a linkage failure of a library or executable you are trying to build as not merely "suspicious" but entirely fatal. Until you link it, you have no library.

Bottom line: This (14 yearold) package is broken on Ubuntu 15.10. There doesn't seem to be a well-known fix. I suggest you cut your losses.

Upvotes: 1

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