"windows.h" availability in Visual C++

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Is windows.h header file available in Visual C++? If not where can I get it, can it be downloaded?

Posted 13-Sep-13 18:31pm

Member 10243685

Updated 14-Sep-13 14:08pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

v3

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[no name] 14-Sep-13 0:43am

Have you tried #include "windows.h"?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 1:05am

No, it should be:
#include <windows.h>

I answered, please see.
—SA

[no name] 14-Sep-13 1:24am

I deliberately began with the more general. As yet OP is silent.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 20:05pm

I did not get it. None of the variants is more general than another, only in Visual Studio standard settings angular brackets actually work, as always with standard libraries...
—SA

[no name] 14-Sep-13 20:23pm

You are correct if the libraries and headers are in the right location. Using quotations will cause the compiler to look in more directories. I agree it would not have helped in this case but it is a small point as I was merely trying to assist the Op to find the header.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 20:28pm

It is small, but I seriously suspect that this was the cause of the problem OP has.
—SA

[no name] 14-Sep-13 20:30pm

How?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 20:38pm

If you create a Win32 Visual Studio project from a template and add #include "windows.h", it will immediately show "file not found" error. If you use angular brackets, it will immediately compile successfully. Do I even have to explain why? :-)
—SA

[no name] 15-Sep-13 2:38am

That is not so and why should it be?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 15-Sep-13 11:34am

It is so. Try it. I checked it up before posting my answer.
Why? Because "" means the file found in the appropriate directory of a project, but angular brackets denote "system" include directories, which are set up by Visual Studio template.
—SA

[no name] 15-Sep-13 21:26pm

When I tested with vs2010 (before responding) not so. I've never seen the behaviour you refer to. A quoted "" #include is in my understanding implementation specific but is usually resolved by looking in the current directory first then others including system. The angle bracket resolves to system directory which I agree is where the header should be. If a copy exists elsewhere that is the first found using "" which could cause problems. My original suggestion was intended to find the header wherever it was and it was correct.
This seems to be definative and justifies my assertion that "" is more general.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/36k2cdd4.aspx

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 15-Sep-13 21:52pm

"More general" is something which is not true or false, it is not applicable to this simple problem. The textbooks on C++ clearly explain the difference. And the article you referenced also explains it, without any hint to "more general".

I have no idea how did you managed not to observer what I described.
—SA

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-13T19:04:00

Solution 1

It is available, but this is not just the include file.

Including a header file itself does not make libraries accessible. You also need to link them. With Visual Studio, you can set all appropriate options (in particular, telling the compiler and the linker to look for certain files in certain directories) just by using one of the available Win32-related project template. If you create a project from a template, everything will be set for you. Then you can look for linker and compiler options and find out where it what.

Make sure you include the header files correctly. For "windows.h" it should be:

C++

#include <windows.h>
// NOT '#include "windows.h"' as this is a "system" directory

Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows.h[^].

—SA

Posted 13-Sep-13 19:04pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 14-Sep-13 14:06pm

v2

Comments

CPallini 14-Sep-13 2:43am

5.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 20:05pm

Thank you, Carlo.
—SA

CHill60 14-Sep-13 20:37pm

5

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 20:38pm

Thank you very much.
—SA

H.Brydon 14-Sep-13 20:39pm

I count 15. :-)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Sep-13 21:41pm

Thank you, Harvey.
—SA

pasztorpisti 15-Sep-13 16:53pm

+5. Quotes should be used for headers that include files from the solution itself. Angle brackets should be used to include stuff from the (system) directories listed in "project_property_page/Configuration Properties/VC++ Directories" (at least in VS2010). For example if I install boost on my machine then I write the boost include dir into my VC++ directory list (to make it accessible for all solutions) and in that case the inclusion is done with angle brackets. I've seen several opensource projects that use only angle brackets incorrectly.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 15-Sep-13 18:38pm

Exactly. This is a good example, with boost.
Thank you.
—SA