Compiling Windows program in Dev-C++ gives error

Question

I'm just learning to program Windows Programs in C++ and use the Dev-C++ IDE. The first program I'm trying to compile is the following example from the MSDN site:

#ifndef UNICODE
#define UNICODE
#endif 

#include <windows.h>

LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);

int WINAPI wWinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE, PWSTR pCmdLine, int nCmdShow)
{
    // Register the window class.
    const wchar_t CLASS_NAME[]  = L"Sample Window Class";

    WNDCLASS wc = { };

    wc.lpfnWndProc   = WindowProc;
    wc.hInstance     = hInstance;
    wc.lpszClassName = CLASS_NAME;

    RegisterClass(&wc);

    // Create the window.

    HWND hwnd = CreateWindowEx(
        0,                              // Optional window styles.
        CLASS_NAME,                     // Window class
        L"Learn to Program Windows",    // Window text
        WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,            // Window style

        // Size and position
        CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT,

        NULL,       // Parent window    
        NULL,       // Menu
        hInstance,  // Instance handle
        NULL        // Additional application data
        );

    if (hwnd == NULL)
    {
        return 0;
    }

    ShowWindow(hwnd, nCmdShow);

    // Run the message loop.

    MSG msg = { };
    while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0))
    {
        TranslateMessage(&msg);
        DispatchMessage(&msg);
    }

    return 0;
}

LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    switch (uMsg)
    {
    case WM_DESTROY:
        PostQuitMessage(0);
        return 0;

    case WM_PAINT:
        {
            PAINTSTRUCT ps;
            HDC hdc = BeginPaint(hwnd, &ps);

            FillRect(hdc, &ps.rcPaint, (HBRUSH) (COLOR_WINDOW+1));

            EndPaint(hwnd, &ps);
        }
        return 0;

    }
    return DefWindowProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
}

But when I try to compile it I get the following error:

C:\Dev-Cpp\lib/libmingw32.a(main.o)(.text+0x106):main.c: undefined reference to `WinMain@16'

Ben Voigt · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-20 01:56:21Z

2

It looks like the mingw runtime isn't correctly configured for Unicode support, because you've provided the Unicode wWinMain and it's looking for the ANSI version.

You could switch to Unicode-neutral programming (define _tWinMain and use LPTSTR instead of LPWSTR, also _T("string") instead of L"string").

To do that, you must also #include <tchar.h>.

answered Mar 20, 2011 at 1:56

Ben Voigt

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:29:11Z

0

For old versions of MinGW, you can use a wrapper.

For new versions of MinGW, you should use the -municode option.

For details, see:

wWinmain, Unicode, and Mingw

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:29

CommunityBot

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answered Jul 29, 2012 at 8:36

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Comments

sam · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-31 15:51:21Z

-1

you wrote int "WINAPI wWinMain." delete the extra w. it should be "WINAPI WinMain"

answered Mar 31, 2013 at 15:51

sam

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