Compiling and running GTK+ application on Windows 7

Question

System: Windows7, 32 bit, GTK 2.24.10, mingw
I am trying to write basic helloworld.c type GTK based application. However, it doesn't run.
These are the steps which I followed.

Install MinGW.
Download GTK+ all in one bundle.
Extract content in C:\gtk folder.
Open cmd and go to C:\gtk\bin directory and run pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-win32-2.0
It prints list of compilation flags, and libraries to link your project to. Copy them and create a bath file as follows. set VAR=FLAGS start cmd where VAR = GTK, and FLAGS = output of the previous command (pkg-config). When you want to compile file use command : gcc foo.c %VAR%

D:\gtk>gcc -o project helloworld.c %GTK%
gcc: %GTK%: No such file or directory helloworld.c:1:21: error: gtk/gtk.h: No such file or directory helloworld.c: In function 'main': helloworld.c:5: error: 'GtkWidget' undeclared (first use in this function) helloworld.c:5: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once helloworld.c:5: error: for each function it appears in.) helloworld.c:5: error: 'window' undeclared (first use in this function) helloworld.c:9: error: 'GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL' undeclared (first use in this function)

D:\gtk>gcc -Wall -g helloworld.c -o helloworld pkg-config --cflags gtk+-2.0 pkg-config --libs gtk+-2.0
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
gcc: pkg-config: No such file or directory
gcc: gtk+-2.0: No such file or directory
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-fcflags"
cc1.exe: error: unrecognized command line option "-flibs"

batch file in D:\gtk

set GTK=-mms-bitfields -IC:/gtk/include/gtk-2.0 -IC:/gtk/lib/gtk-2.0/include -IC:/gtk/include/atk-1.0 -IC:/gtk/include/cairo -IC:/gtk/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -IC:/gtk/include/pango-1.0 -IC:/gtk/include/glib-2.0 -IC:/gtk/lib/glib-2.0/include -IC:/gtk/include -IC:/gtk/include/freetype2 -IC:/gtk/include/libpng14  -LC:/gtk/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl
start cmd

helloworld.c

#include <gtk/gtk.h>

int main( int   argc,
          char *argv[] )
{
    GtkWidget *window;

    gtk_init (&argc, &argv);

    window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
    gtk_widget_show  (window);

    gtk_main ();

    return 0;
}

Reference : Installing gtk and compiling using gcc under windows?

Chris Snow Chris Snow · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-12T03:30:24

You could try these manual steps to start with:

1) At your command prompt run the pkg-config command to get your include flags:

c:\dev\gtk224\bin\pkg-config.exe --cflags gtk+-2.0

This is my output:

-mms-bitfields -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gtk-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/gtk-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/atk-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/cairo -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/pango-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/glib-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/glib-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/freetype2 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/libpng14

2) set the output from (1) to a variable GTK_INCLUDES:

C:\dev\1_repo\gtk_scratch>set GTK_INCLUDES=-mms-bitfields -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gtk-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/gtk-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/atk-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/cairo -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/pango-1.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/glib-2.0 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/lib/glib-2.0/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/freetype2 -Ic:/dev/gtk224/include/libpng14

(make sure you use YOUR output from step (1))

3) do the same as step 1 for the library flags:

c:\dev\gtk224\bin\pkg-config.exe --libs gtk+-2.0

This is my output:

-Lc:/dev/gtk224/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl

4) set output from (3) to a variable GTK_LIBS

C:\dev\1_repo\gtk_scratch>set GTK_LIBS=-Lc:/dev/gtk224/lib -lgtk-win32-2.0 -lgdk-win32-2.0 -latk-1.0 -lgio-2.0 -lpangowin32-1.0 -lgdi32 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lpango-1.0 -lcairo -lgobject-2.0 -lgmodule-2.0 -lgthread-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl

(make sure you use YOUR output from step (3))

5) make sure gtk+ and MinGW are on your path:

set PATH=c:\dev\MinGW\bin\;c:\dev\gtk224\bin

(make sure you set your path to YOUR mingw and gtk directories)

6) compile:

c:\dev\MinGW\bin\gcc.exe -g helloworld.c -o helloworld %GTK_INCLUDES% %GTK_LIBS%

7) when you are able to compile OK, copy what you did in steps 2,4,5 and 6 to a batch file so can compile you app just by running the batch file.

Compiling and running GTK+ application on Windows 7

3 Answers