Copyright Y.

Daniel Liang, 2007

1
Supplement I.C
Creating, Compiling and Running C++ Programs from
the Command Window
For Introduction to C++ Programming
By Y. Daniel Liang

Thi s suppl ement cover s t he f ol l owi ng t opi cs:

Openi ng a Command Wi ndow ( 1. 2) .
Usi ng Si mpl e DOS Commands ( cr eat e, change di r ect or i es,
di spl ay f i l es, del et e f i l es and di r ect or i es) ( 1. 3) .
Cr eat i ng and Edi t i ng Pr ogr ams Usi ng Not epad and Wor dPad
( 1. 4) .
Compi l i ng and Runni ng Pr ogr ams ( 1. 5) .

1.1 Introduction

Devel opi ng C++ pr ogr ams f r omt he command wi ndows, you have
t o t ype t he commands. Assume you have successf ul l y i nst al l ed
a C++ compi l er . St ar t a Command wi ndow by cl i cki ng t he
Wi ndows St ar t but t on and choosi ng Run t o open t he Run di al og
box, as shown i n Fi gur e 1. 1. Ent er cmd i n t he Open f i el d and
cl i ck OK t o di spl ay a command wi ndow, as shown i n Fi gur e
1. 2.



Figure 1.1
You can start the command window from the Windows Start
button.
The Run dialog

Copyright Y. Daniel Liang, 2007

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You wi l l see t he command pr ompt wi ndow di spl ayed as shown i n
Fi gur e 1. 2.



Figure 1.2
You can type the commands in the command window.
Now t ype g++ i n t he DOS pr ompt . I f your C++ compi l er i s
conf i gur ed pr oper l y, t he command di spl ays t he message, as i n
Fi gur e 1. 3. Ot her wi se, an er r or message i s di spl ayed t o
i ndi cat e t hat t he command i s not f ound, as shown i n Fi gur e
1. 4. To f i x t hi s pr obl em, add c: \ Mi nGW\ bi n t o your Wi ndows
PATH envi r onment var i abl e.



Figure 1.3
The g++ command compiles C++ programs.



Figure 1.4
The g++ command is not found if the command is not in the
PATH.
1.3 Simple DOS Commands

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To wor k wi t h J DK on Wi ndows, you need t o know some si mpl e
DOS commands. Her e ar e sever al f r equent l y needed commands:

dir - - Li st s al l f i l es i n t he di r ect or y.
mkdir dirName - - Cr eat es a new di r ect or y named
di r Name.
cd dirName - - Changes t o t he speci f i ed di r ect or y. For
exampl e, cd c:\ changes t o t he di r ect or y c: \
cd . . - - Changes t o t he par ent di r ect or y.
del filename Del et es a f i l e. For exampl e, del
Test.cpp del et es t he f i l e named Test . cpp i n t he cur r ent
di r ect or y.
del *.* Del et es al l f i l es i n t he di r ect or y. [ Caut i on:
f i l es del et ed f r omt he command wi ndow cannot be
r ecover ed. ]
rmdir dirName Del et es t he speci f i ed di r ect or y
di r Name.
type filename.cpp Di spl ays t he cont ent s of t he
speci f i ed f i l e.

1.4 Creating and Editing Programs Using Notepad and WordPad

You can cr eat e pr ogr ams usi ng Wi ndows Not epad or Wor dPad. To
do so, f i r st open a command wi ndow; change t he di r ect or y t o
wher e your pr ogr ams shoul d be st or ed, and t ype notepad
filename.cpp or write filename.cpp t o cr eat e a f i l e f or C++
sour ce code. For exampl e, t he f ol l owi ng command st ar t s
Not epad t o cr eat e or edi t Wel come. cpp:

notepad Welcome.cpp

I f Wel come. cpp does not exi st , a di al og box i s di spl ayed t o
al er t you t hat i t i s a new f i l e, as shown i n Fi gur e 1. 5.


Figure 1.5
The Notepad alerts you that the specified file is new.
Cl i ck Yes t o cr eat e a new f i l e. You can t ype t he code f or
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t he pr ogr ami n t he Not epad, as shown i n Fi gur e 1. 6. Choose
File, Save t o save t he f i l e.


Figure 1.6
You can use Notepad to create and edit C++ source files.

1.5 Compiling and Running Programs

To compi l e t he sour ce code, use t he bcc32 command. For
exampl e, t he f ol l owi ng command compi l es Wel come. cpp:
g++ Welcome.cpp

I f compi l ed successf ul l y, t he execut abl e f i l e Wel come. exe i s
cr eat ed. To r un t he f i l e, si mpl y t ype Welcome, as shown i n
Fi gur e 1. 7.

Figure 1.7
Compile and execute programs.