Question

I am adding extensions to an (another persons) existing project at my company. Now I want to import an existing library like boost to it. I am using netbeans for debugging the existing project. Now in order to import a library into netbeans usually 2 steps are followed:

1. Include directories
2. Linker-> Add Library.

However when I right click on my existing project the option of Linker->Add Library is not appearing. (Though I have included the directories as that option is there).

Can someone please guide me as to how should I add the library through linker to my existing project? My project is in C++

Answer 1

Assuming you are using unix/linux variants:

Directories for headers and library linking are two different things. Include directories will have the headers needed, but after compilation the actual compiled code that resides in the libraries (*.a, *.so, etc…) might also be required.

For example, if you are using pthreads, apart from the headers which you need to include, you also need libpthread.

When linking, you need to provide the flag for linking with pthread i.e: -lpthread
You can search using find or locate on a unix system to find the libraries. In my case, its in

/usr/lib/libpthread.so

Therefore,

gcc myfile.c -lpthread -o myfile

Will link myfile.c with pthread library

Whereas,

gcc -L/usr/local/lib/

Tells gcc to look under /usr/local/lib to search for the library (not the header!).

Telling netbeans where the headers are, isn’t enough, it will probably give you linking errors. Telling netbeans where the libraries are, may be enough, as it might use the proper flags. If that also fails, then you have to specify both the library flags and the path.

Alternatively, you may use tools like cmake, make, etc which automate this process and provide a bit more control IMO.

See Link 1
See link 2