WinSocket Error Help

[blackhat11907]

I get this error when i compile the code to start a winsocket program
'In fucntion 'WinSocketStart':
'Linker Error, unidentified reference to WSAStartup@8'
id returned 1 exit status

i think it means i don't have a library linked. but for winsock 2.0 i don't know how to link it with Dev-C++ any help would be great.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <winsock2.h>

void WinSockStart(void);
         
int main(void)
{
    WinSockStart();
    
    getchar();
    return 0;
}


void WinSockStart(void)
{
     //all this is required for any socket programming app
         WSADATA wsaData;
         
         if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2,0), &wsaData) !=0) {
            fprintf(stderr, "WSAStartup Failed.\n");
            exit(1);
            }
}

[tabstop]

If you look up the WSAStartup page on MSDN, it will tell you what library you need: Ws2_32.dll. You add that library in the big box labeled "libaries" in your compiler options. (You usually don't put the .dll part.)

[AndrewHunter]

You are going to need to link with ws2_32.lib (normal windows). You do this by adding the library via Input\Additional Dependencies field on the Linker tab/folder of the project Properties.

[blackhat11907]

with Dev-C++ i only get to pick a Dir not a file. and im not sure were the file is

[CommonTater]

A small modification will get you more details and give you a cleaner exit.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <winsock2.h>

void WinSockStart(void);
         
int main(void)
{
    if(!WinSockStart())
      exit(1);
    
    getchar();
    return 0;
}


BOOL WinSockStart(void)
{
     //all this is required for any socket programming app
         WSADATA wsaData;
         
         if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2,0), &wsaData)) {
            fprintf(stderr, "WSAStartup Failed with error code %d.\n", WSAGetLastError());
            return FALSE;
            }
     return TRUE;
}

WSAGetLastError function (Windows)

Windows Sockets Error Codes (Windows)

[AndrewHunter]

If you downloaded the SDK, it should be somewhere in the folders it installed. You could always try to find it with windows explorer.

[blackhat11907]

i wasn't able to find it at all. is there a place you can manually donwload it and just stick it inside C:\Dev-CPP\lib ?

[CommonTater]

with Dev-C++ i only get to pick a Dir not a file. and im not sure were the file is

Look at your linker options... there will be a list of .lib and/or .dll files there someplace... ws2_32.lib should be added...

i wasn't able to find it at all. is there a place you can manually donwload it and just stick it inside C:\Dev-CPP\lib ?

It should be in your windows lib directory... If it's not there, you may actually have a version of the compiler that precedes Winsock2 .... Run a Windows for ws*.lib search starting at the installation folder for your compiler, if it's in there that will find it. You'll get lots of hits but it will be on the list if it's there, as will the previous 1.0 version wsock32.lib.

(Aside:This is one of those nifty things I like about Pelles C... there's a #define WIN32_DEFAULT_LIBS ... when you load a header it automatically includes the correct lib files... and yes it has full winsock support.)

[tabstop]

with Dev-C++ i only get to pick a Dir not a file. and im not sure were the file is

If that's what you see, you are not looking anywhere near the proper place to put a library.

[blackhat11907]

im under compiler options and under that theres libraries and it only lets me pick a dir

[blackhat11907]

ok i fixed it by manually adding it to the linker commands but now when i run the program it compiles it with no errors but when i run it it says that source file not compiled ?

[blackhat11907]

ok false alarm it didnt fix it. :/ wow this is very irritating

[tabstop]

I'll quote upstream, since I no longer have Dev-C++ installed and can't check:

You do this by adding the library via Input\Additional Dependencies field on the Linker tab/folder of the project Properties.

If you don't have a project set up, there was a place you could add libraries that were always added. You might be in the right place, perhaps; does the top say "library search path" or just "link libraries"? If the latter, you're just supposed to type the library names in the box.

EDIT: Just for you, I have put Dev back on this box. The box is even easier than I remembered; right on the front page of options, "Add the following commands when calling compiler" you need "-lws2_32" without the quotes. The box you are looking at has "Directories" highlighted on the top, which is why it's only letting you specify a directory.

[blackhat11907]

i go under tools->compiler options then under that thers a tap with Directory's and under that tab there i binary's, Libraries, C includes and C++ includes. they all make me pick Dir's instead of a file

[CommonTater]

i go under tools->compiler options then under that thers a tap with Directory's and under that tab there i binary's, Libraries, C includes and C++ includes. they all make me pick Dir's instead of a file

Do you have a spot for linker options?

But I should think you would first want to confirm that ws2_32.lib and ws2_32.dll actually exist on your setup.