Using Boost Library in Visual Studio Code with Code Runner

Question

I have the program Ex_04.cpp which has this code:

#include <iterator>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <boost/filesystem/fstream.hpp>

#define BOOST_NO_CXX11_SCOPED_ENUMS
#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
#undef BOOST_NO_CXX11_SCOPED_ENUMS


namespace fs = boost::filesystem;

int write_to_file()
{
    const auto dir = "Test.txt";
    fs::path pp{dir};
    try{
        if( create_directory(pp) ){
            rename(pp, dir);
        }
    }catch(fs::filesystem_error &e){
        std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
    }
    return 0;

}

int main()
{
    std::cout << "Hello world!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

My settings.json file looks like this:

{
    "code-runner.executorMap": {
        "cpp": "cd $dir && g++  -L'C:\\boost_1_81_0\\boost_installed\\lib' -I'C:\\boost_1_81_0\\boost_installed\\include\\boost-1_81' -Werror -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -o $fileNameWithoutExt *.cpp  && ./$fileNameWithoutExt.exe"
    },
    "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
        "textMateRules": [
            {
                "scope": "googletest.failed",
                "settings": {
                    "foreground": "#f00"
                }
            },
            {
                "scope": "googletest.passed",
                "settings": {
                    "foreground": "#0f0"
                }
            },
            {
                "scope": "googletest.run",
                "settings": {
                    "foreground": "#0f0"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

I have not changed the files tasks.json, launch.json and c_cpp_properties.json.
The error I get when I try to compile is:

C:/msys64/mingw64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\tvmendes\AppData\Local\Temp\cc1GfM0X.o:Ex_04.cpp:
    (.text$_ZN5boost10filesystem16create_directoryERKNS0_4pathE[_ZN5boost10filesystem16create_directoryERKNS0_4pathE]+0x1f): undefined reference to boost::filesystem::detail::create_directory(boost::filesystem::path const&, boost::filesystem::path const*, boost::system::error_code*)
C:/msys64/mingw64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\tvmendes\AppData\Local\Temp\cc1GfM0X.o:Ex_04.cpp:
    (.text$ZN5boost10filesystem6renameERKNS0_4pathES3[ZN5boost10filesystem6renameERKNS0_4pathES3]+0x22): undefined reference to boost::filesystem::detail::rename(boost::filesystem::path const&, boost::filesystem::path const&, boost::system::error_code*)
C:/msys64/mingw64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\tvmendes\AppData\Local\Temp\cc1GfM0X.o:Ex_04.cpp:
    (.text$_ZNK5boost10filesystem4path9assign_opclIcEEvPKT_S6_PKSt7codecvtIwciE[_ZNK5boost10filesystem4path9assign_opclIcEEvPKT_S6_PKSt7codecvtIwciE]+0x44): undefined reference to boost::filesystem::detail::path_traits::convert(char const*, char const*, std::__cxx11::basic_string<wchar_t, std::char_traits<wchar_t>, std::allocator<wchar_t> >&, std::codecvt<wchar_t, char, int> const*)
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

I tried to change the settings.json file by adding the flag -l like this:

"cd $dir && g++ -L'C:\\boost_1_81_0\\boost_installed\\lib' -I'C:\\boost_1_81_0\\boost_installed\\include\\boost-1_81' -l'C:\\boost_1_81_0\\boost_installed\\lib' -Werror -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -o $fileNameWithoutExt *.cpp && ./$fileNameWithoutExt.exe"

to link the library filesystem but I always get the error:

C:/msys64/mingw64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: cannot find -lC:\boost_1_81_0\boost_installed\lib: Invalid argument
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

I have checked and the filesystem library exists at that directory.

My operation system is Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise.

Answer 1

There are several issues.

Firstly, don't *.cpp unless your files are intended to be linked together (they can't if multiple contain main).

Second, you were indicating library path (-L), but failed to link to a specific library from that path. Add -lboost_filesystem.

When you do, make sure it comes last on the command line.

Finally, you must make sure that the libraries are found at runtime too. The easiest way is to us LD_LIBRARY_PATH but you can consider rpath linker options too.

 "code-runner.executorMap": {
    "cpp": "cd $dir && g++  -L'/home/sehe/custom/superboost/stage/lib' -I'/home/sehe/custom/superboost' -Werror -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic $fileName -o $fileNameWithoutExt.exe -lboost_filesystem -lboost_system -lboost_thread  && LD_LIBRARY_PATH='/home/sehe/custom/superboost/stage/lib' ./$fileNameWithoutExt.exe"
}

See it live:

Side Note

As you can see I [re]moved the

 #define BOOST_NO_CXX11_SCOPED_ENUMS
 #undef BOOST_NO_CXX11_SCOPED_ENUMS

If you use defines like this:

• define them everywhere (the #undef is very suspect)
• define them before the inclusion of any Boost header!

Failing to do so will violate ODR.