| Borland's Free C++ Compiler (v5.5) |
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(Document last modified 2003-04-05) |
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| Disclaimer | ||
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| Introduction | ||
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Recently Borland announced that they were making the command line
version of their C++ v5.5 compiler freely available for personal use.
This compiler is typically used to make Win32 applications that run in
the console window. Borland has also made available a free version of
their standalone Turbo Debugger application which is compatible with
the compiler. This document provides instructions on downloading and installing all the required parts. Note that this compiler doesn't include an IDE (integrated development environment). You will need to use your own editor to edit your source files, run the compiler using the command line, and debug using the standalone debugger. | ||
| The various bits | ||
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You will need the following bits: 1 - The Compiler
The compiler is the tool used to create your application program
from the source code you write. As well as the compiler program
itself, this package includes everything else needed to build the
application (e.g. linker, librarian, C++ header files, and run time
library code).
2 - The Debugger
The debugger tool is used to help you find bugs in your programs.
It allows you to step through your code as it runs and examine or
change the variables, etc. The debugger isn't needed to create your
application but is very useful for getting it working correctly.
3 - The Patches
Patches are updates to the compiler package. They fix problems
that are present in the downloaded version. Currently there are
two patches released for the free v5.5 C++ compiler. You need to
download and install both patches since several of the problems
they fix are important.
4 - The Help Documentation
To reduce the download size, the compiler package comes with only
minimal documentation. Additional help documentation can be downloaded
separately. This extra documentation includes help on the language
and the run time libraries.
5 - The dbld utility
For complicated projects involving more than just a couple of
source files, you need to use a tool to automate building
everything. The compiler package includes a version of the
standard "make" utility. Alteratively you can try my "dbld"
utility. This is a lot easier to use than standard make tools.
See the dtools page for more details
and downloads. Note that you can download rule files for using
this Borland 5.5 compiler from that page.
6 - An Editor
You will need an editor to allow you to write your source code and
save it as a text file. Initially you can use Window's Notepad, but
longer term you should get a proper programming editor. There are
many programming editors available (many are free or low cost).
I'm not going to discuss editors in the rest of this document
(since everyone has there own personal preferences). However it you
don't have your own favourite editor yet then I recommend checking
out UltraEdit (lots of
features, works well, 45 days free trial, low cost to register,
and 1 year free upgrades).
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| Downloading everything | ||
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1 - The Compiler (8727 KB)
Go to web page: http://www.borland.com/bcppbuilder/freecompiler/cppc55steps.html. Click on step 1 and follow the instructions. Create a new community account (or login to your old account if you already have one). Fill in the various questionnaires. Download the "freecommandlinetools.exe" file when prompted. Go to web page: http://www.borland.com/bcppbuilder/turbodebugger/turbodebug55steps.html. Click on step 1 and follow the instructions. Login in to your community account. Fill in the questionnaire. Download the "TurboDebugger.exe" file when prompted. Go to web page: http://www.borland.com/devsupport/bcppbuilder/patches. Scroll down to the section "Borland C++ Compiler 5.5" (near the bottom of the page). Click on the links "Free Compiler Update #1" and "Free Compiler Update #2" and save the files (bcc55sp1.zip and bcc55sp2.exe). Go to web page: http://www.borland.com/techpubs/bcppbuilder/v5/updates/std.html. Download and save the "b5std.zip" file (near the top of the page). | ||
| Installing Everything | ||
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1 - Decide on a base directory for installing the software. Everything will be installed under this base directory. You can use the standard default of "c:\borland\bcc55" unless you have reasons to use some other directory. You need to remember this base directory as it is used in lots of the following steps. 2 - Run the "freecommandlinetools.exe" file (e.g. double click from inside explorer). This will install the compiler, supporting tools and libraries. Fill in the base directory for the software when prompted. 3 - Run the "TurboDebugger.exe" file (e.g. double click from inside explorer). This will install the debugger tool. Fill in the base directory for the software when prompted. 4 - Extract all files from the zip file "bcc55sp1.zip". Extract the files relative to the base directory chosen in step 1 and include extracting directories. Overwrite any file that already exists. 5 - Run the "bcc55sp2.exe" file (e.g. double click from inside explorer). Specify the same base directory as used to install all the other software. When prompted select yes to overwriting existing files. 6 - Extract files from the zip file "b5std.zip". These files should be extracted into the "Help" subdirectory under the base directory. Do not overwrite any files that already exist. | ||
| Setup | ||
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After installing all the packages you will need to set them up: 1 - In the "bin\" directory under the compiler's base directory, create file "bcc32.cfg". This file should specify the compiler's include and lib directories as follows: (change strings appropriately if you used a non-standard base directory)
2 - In the "bin\" directory under the compiler's base directory, create file "ilink32.cfg". This file should specify the compiler's lib directory as follows: (change strings appropriately if you used a non- standard base directory)
3 - If you downloaded dtools, then the instructions for installation are included inside the package. 4 - Add the compiler's bin directory to your PATH environment variable. If you are using dbld then you must also add that directory to the path. If this is the only compiler that you are using then you can do this by changing your autoexec.bat file and rebooting (e.g. add this line to the end; SET PATH=c:\Borland\Bcc55\bin;c:\Borland\Bcc55\bin;%PATH%). If you use multiple compilers then you will need to create a batch file which modifies the path as required for each compiler. | ||
| End Notes | ||
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1 - The starting point for documentation on the compiler is the help
file c:\Borland\Bcc55\help\bcb5.hlp 2 - Documentation on the dbld tools for Borland C++ v5.5 is contained in file c:\Borland\Bcc55\dbld\bcc5.hlp |