[Geany Editor] How to compile multiple C files at the same time

foreword

I have used many kinds of editors, such as Visual Studio, VS Code, Pycharm, Dev c++ , etc. In the end, Geany , a compact editor, is the most convenient. Its biggest advantage is that it is lightweight , and its basic functions are quite comprehensive , so I use it for some simple code exercises.

How to compile a single C file

There is a Build icon in the menu bar of Geany, which looks roughly like this after clicking on it.

Among them, the first column C commands is the place to set compilation, assembly, linking and other operations. It can be seen that the underlying implementation is actually completed by calling the GCC compiler . Here is a brief introduction to the common syntax of GCC.

GCC common commands

• Precompile : macro definition expansion, header file expansion, conditional compilation, delete all comments. No grammar checking is done.
  • command :gcc -E xxx.c -o xxx.i
  • Generate precompiled files , suffix.i
  • -oRefers to the meaning of output, followed by specifying the file name
• Compile : Compile the preprocessed file into an assembly file for syntax checking
  • command :gcc -S xxx.i -o xxx.s
  • Generate assembly file , suffix.s
• Assembly : Convert the assembly file from the previous step into a binary file.
  • command :gcc -c xxx.s -o xxx.o
  • Generate object files , suffix.o
• Link : Generate executable files from all object files + library functions + startup files.
  • command :gcc xxx.o -o xxx.exe
  • Generate executable files , suffix.exe
• execute : execute xxx.exethe file
  • Command : xxx
  • Enter the file name directly to execute

Notice:Each command means that it can be xxx.cdirectly executed from the source file ( ) to the current output format. Therefore, the latter two commands are commonly used. Take a chestnut:

 gcc -c test.c -o test.o //执行预编译+编译+汇编，直接输出test.o文件  
 gcc test.c -o test.exe  //执行预编译+编译+汇编+链接，直接输出test.exe文件

-oSpecify the generated file name later, and the suffix can be omitted (the compiler will automatically generate it).

All the above commands can be run in the console ( cmd ). If an exception is thrown, check two things:

• Whether the GCC system environment is configured . Validation can be entered directly gcc.
• Whether it is in the current c file directory . See the cmdcd command for details.

Compile configuration

Therefore, we return to the Geany configuration, the command corresponding to Compilegcc -Wall -c "%f" is: . -WallAll warning messages can be generated. -cIndicates that this is an assembly command that converts an input file into an object file .o. %fIt is an alternative format in the Geany editor. For details, please refer to: Geany Manual . The common ones are listed as follows:

• %e: The name of the current file without extension or path.
• %f: The name of the current file without a path.

So here "%f"stands for the current file name (with suffix) .
Summary: Click the Compile icon, the assembly operation will be performed, and the target file will be generated in the current directory .o.

Build configuration

Compared with Compile , Build uses more, the command is: gcc -Wall -o "%e" "%f". According to the above, we can see that this is actually inputting the current file ( "%f"), directly precompiling + compiling + assembling + linking to generate the specified executable file ( "%e"), and the file name is consistent.

Execute configuration

The command is: "./%e", ./which represents the current directory and %eis the current file name (without suffix) , so clicking Execute will directly execute the file generated by Build.exe .

How to compile multiple C files

The above method can only compile a single C file. If we write the header file ourselves, Geany's current configuration cannot find the implementation file corresponding to the header file . Of course, using the GCC command directly in cmd can also compile multiple files at the same time, but this article only discusses the implementation in Geany .

solution

Create a new folder to store all the C files to be compiled (you can also choose to create a project , click Project -> New ). At the same time, change the command corresponding to Buildgcc -Wall ./*.c -o "%e" to , so that as long as you click Build, all C files in the current directory will be compiled and the corresponding executable files will be generated.

Summarize

It is quite convenient for Geany to write some scripts , but it does not do a good job in project creation . At least in other IDEs , it may automatically compile the files of the current project. This article provides only one solution.