How do I include header files in visual C++ to a given source file?

How do I include header files in visual C++ to a given source file?

Authoritive Information from Microsoft

1. #include Directive (C/C++)

The #include directive tells the preprocessor to treat the contents of a specified file as if those contents had appeared in the source program at the point where the directive appears.

2. VC++ Directories Property Page

Hands-on Knowledge

3. How do I include header files in visual C++ to a given source file?

Try this #include "files/myheader.h"


It will work if the header is in a files folder in the same directory as the current source.

If you're trying to include a 3rd party library and not your own header, I'd suggest you to save the library headers in a particular path (say C:\Library\headers). (If there are static libraries put them in some other path like C:\Library\lib).

1. Go to VC++ Directories on the left and choose Include Directories in the right, and enter the path(s) in the textbox separated by a ;. You can also use the drop down and use the Dialog box to add the paths if you'd prefer to browse to each path separately
2. Add the library path the same way to Library Directories
3. Save the changes using the Save button on the Property Manager Pane's toolbox.

You will then be able to access the header file contained in the directory you added by something like:

#include <myheader >

This approach will help, because it won't matter where the headers saved. The header path is not hard-coded.

so my understanding is: once searching path is set up in the include directories, then we can use bracket to include header files.

My Note is: set up include path, we can also use the relative path based on project base root (where .cxproj file resides?).

4. Where does Visual Studio look for C++ header files?

I checked out a copy of a C++ application from SourceForge (HoboCopy, if you're curious) and tried to compile it.

Visual Studio tells me that it can't find a particular header file. I found the file in the source tree, but where do I need to put it, so that it will be found when compiling?

Are there special directories?

5. candera / hobocopy

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Misc. Knowledge from Microsoft

6. General Property Page (Project)

When you right-click on a project node in in Solution Explorer, and select Properties, the General property page under the Configuration Properties node in the left pane displays two sections of properties: General Project Defaults.

7. Working with Project Properties

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8. Property Pages (C++)

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9. Linker Property Pages

This topic discusses the following properties on the General linker property page:.

• Ignore Import Library

Tells the linker not to try to link any .lib output generated from this build into any dependent project. This allows the project system to handle .dll files that do not produce a .lib file when built. If a project depends on another project that produces a DLL, the project system automatically will link the .lib file produced by that child project. This may not be needed by projects that are producing COM DLLs or resource-only DLLs; these DLLs do not have any meaningful exports. If a DLL has no exports, the linker will not generate a .lib file. If no export .lib file is present on the disk, and the project system tells the linker to link with this (missing) DLL, the link will fail.

Use Ignore Import Library to resolve this problem. When set to Yes, the project system will ignore the presence or absence of that .lib file and cause any project that depends on this project to not link with the nonexistent .lib file. To programmatically access this property, see IgnoreImportLibrary.
• Register Output

Run regsvr32.exe /s $(TargetPath), which is valid only on .dll projects. For .exe projects, this property is ignored. If you want to register an .exe output, set a postbuild event on the configuration to do the custom registration that is always required for registered .exe files.

To programmatically access this property, see RegisterOutput.

• Per-user Redirection

Registration in Visual Studio has traditionally been done in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR). With Windows Vista, to access HKCR you must run Visual Studio in elevated mode. Developers do not always want to run in elevated mode but still must work with registration. Per-user redirection allows you to register without having to run in this mode.

Warning There is an known issue with per-user redirection in Visual Studio 2010. For the workaround, see this forum post. Per-user redirection will force any writes to HKCR to be redirected to HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU). If per-user redirection is turned off, it can cause Project Build Error PRJ0050 when the program tries to write to HKCR.
• Link Library Dependencies

Gives you the choice of linking in the .lib files that are produced by dependent projects. Typically, you will want to link in the .lib file.

You can also specify a .obj file by providing the file name and relative path, for example ..\..\MyLibProject\MyObjFile.obj. If the source code for the .obj file #includes a precompiled header, for example pch.h, then pch.obj file is located in the same folder as MyObjFile.obj and you must also add pch.obj as an additional dependency.

• Use Library Dependency Inputs

In a large project, when a dependent project produces a .lib file, incremental linking is disabled. If there are many dependent projects that produce .lib files, building the application can take a long time. When this property is set to Yes, the project system links in the .obj files for .libs produced by dependent projects, thus enabling incremental linking.

• C/C++ Property Pages

The following property pages are found under Project > Properties > Configuration Properties > C/C++:

• MIssing C/C++ option under property pages - configuration properties

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