Compilation and Linking

To build a Fastgraph executable (EXE) file, you must:

• link with one or more Fastgraph libraries if using C or C++

• specify one of Fastgraph's unit file names in your program's uses statement if using Delphi

• include one of Fastgraph's module files in your project if using Visual Basic

• specify one of Fastgraph's include file names in an #INCLUDE statement if using PowerBASIC

The specific library, unit, module files must be in a directory where the linker or IDE searches for such files. Furthermore, if you're using C or C++, the file FGWIN.H must be in a directory where the compiler searches for include files.

The exact method of compilation and linking of course varies between compilers, and most offer more than one way to perform these tasks. For example, Borland C++ lets you build EXE files with the integrated development environment (IDE), from the DOS command line, or with a MAKE utility. For each supported compiler, we'll discuss how to compile and link Fastgraph programs using each compiler's IDE. We'll also show the simplest ways to do this from the DOS command line. In any case, just remember that building a Fastgraph EXE file is really no different from building an ordinary Windows EXE file; you just link with the required Fastgraph libraries in addition to any other libraries your program needs.

There are two Fastgraph libraries for each supported compiler. The native library has a name of the form FGWxxx, and the DirectX library is named FGWxxxD (that is, the same name as the native library with a "D" appended to the name). Because these libraries contain identically named functions, you cannot specify both library files when linking.

The Fastgraph compilation and linking sequences are described for all supported compilers:

Borland C++

Borland C++Builder

Delphi

Microsoft Visual Basic

Microsoft Visual C++

PowerBASIC PB/DLL

Symantec C++

Watcom C/C++

The example compilation and linking commands use these notational conventions: