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Getting Started With the NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack

The following short tutorial takes you through some of the basic steps of developing a C or C++ application using the NetBeansTM C/C++ Development Pack. We will create a simple C Application project and a project with an existing makefile. And then we will use some of the advanced editing features to view and edit source files.

This tutorial is designed to get you going as quickly as possible with C and C++ development using the NetBeans IDE. The document covers the following topics:

Creating C and C++ Projects

The NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack lets you create C and C++ Application and Library projects with generated makefiles, as well as C and C++ projects that have existing makefiles.

In this tutorial, we will create a C Application project, add files and folders to the project, set project properties, and build the project. We will also create a project with an existing makefile.

Creating a C/C++ Application Project

With a C/C++ Application, Dynamic Library, or Static Library project, the IDE controls all aspects of how your application is built, run, and debugged. You specify project settings when creating the project and in the Project Properties dialog box. The IDE generates a makefile in which all of your settings are stored.

Creating an Application Project

  1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.

  2. In the wizard, select the C/C++ Development category.

  3. The wizard gives you a choice of four types of new projects: C/C++ Application, C/C++ Dynamic Library, C/C++ Static Library, and C/C++ Project with Existing Makefile. Select C/C++ Application and click Next.

  4. Create a new C/C++ Application project from the wizard using the defaults. You can choose the name of the project and the location of the project.

  5. Click Finish to exit the wizard.

A project is created with four logical folders. A logical folder is not a directory. It is a way for you to organize your files and does not reflect where the files are physically stored on disk. Files added to logical folders are automatically part of the project and are compiled when you build the project.

Files added to the Important Files folder are not part of the project and are not compiled when you build the project. These files are just for reference and are convenient when you have a project with an existing makefile.

Switching Between the Logical View and the Physical View of the Project

A project has both a logical and a physical view. You can switch between the logical view and the physical view of your project.

  1. Select the Files tab. This window shows the physical view of your project. It displays files and folders as they are stored on disk.

  2. Select the Project tab. This window shows the logical view of your project.

Adding Files and Folders to Your Project

You can add logical folders to your project.

  1. Right-click the project node of your Application project (Application1 if you kept the default name) and choose New Folder. A new logical folder is added to the project.

  2. Right-click the new logical folder and select Rename. Type the name you would like to give the new folder.

You can add both files and folders to an existing folder. Logical folders can be nested.

Adding New Files to Your Project

You can add new files to your project.

  1. Right-click the Source Files folder and choose New > File/Folder.

  2. On the Choose File Type page of the New File dialog box, select the C Files category. and the Main C File file type. Click Next.

  3. On the Name and Location page, type main in the File Name field.

  4. Click Finish.

The main.c file is created on disk in the directory specified in the wizard and added to the Source Files folder. You can add any kind of file to this folder, not only source files.

Adding More New Files to Your Project

  1. Right-click the Header Files folder and choose New > File/Folder.

  2. On the Choose File Type page of the New File dialog box, select the C Files category and the C Header File file type. Click Next.

  3. On the Name and Location page, type file in the File Name field.

  4. Click Finish.

The file is created on disk in the directory specified in the wizard and added to the Header Files folder.

Adding Existing Files to Your Project

You can add existing files to your project.

  • Right-click the Source Files folder and choose Add Existing Item. You can point to an existing file on disk using the Select Item dialog box and add the file to the project.

Do not use New > File/Folder to add existing items. The Name and Location panel will tell you the file already exists.

Setting Project Properties

When the project is created, it has two configurations, Debug and Release. A configuration is the project's way of storing the current settings. The Debug configuration builds a version of your application that includes debug information. The Release configuration builds an optimized version.

The Project Properties window contains build and configuration information for your project. To open the Project Properties dialog box:

  • Right-click the project node of the Application project and choose Properties.

You can modify the compiler settings and other configuration settings in the Project Properties dialog box by selecting a node in the left panel and modifying the properties in the right panel. Select some of the nodes and property values and notice the properties you can set. You are setting properties in the currently selected configuration.

Note: Early Access 1 does not have debugging capabilities. However, we still provide a Debug configuration so you can debug from the command line.

Managing Configurations

Properties changed in the Project Properties window are stored in the makefile for the current configuration. You can edit the default configurations or create new ones. To create a new configuration:

  1. Click the Manage Configurations button in the Project Properties dialog box.

  2. In the Configurations dialog box, select the configuration which most closely matches your desired configuration. In this case, select the Release configuration and click the Copy button. Then click Rename.

  3. In the Rename dialog box, rename the configuration to PerformanceRelease. Click OK.

  4. Click OK in the Configurations dialog box.

  5. In the Project Properties dialog box, note that the PerformanceRelease configuration is selected in the Configuration drop-down list.

  6. In the left panel, expand the C/C++ node, and then the GNU C Compiler node, and select the General node.

  7. In the property sheet in the right panel, change the Development Mode from Release to PerformanceRelease. Click OK.

You have created a new configuration that will compile the application with a different set of options.

Setting Source File Properties

When you set the project properties for your C or C++ project, the relevant properties apply to all files in the project. You can set some properties for a specific file.

  1. Right-click the main.c source file and choose Properties. You can override the project compiler settings and other properties on a per file basis. You can also exclude files from a build in a specific configuration.

  2. Cancel the Project Properties dialog box.

Setting the Main Project

When you right-click a project node in the Projects window, you get a pop-up menu of actions you can perform on the selected project. If you have multiple projects open at the same time, the pop-up menu for a project node implies you are operating on that project. But what about project-related actions on the menubar and toolbar?

Most of the project-related actions on the menubar and toolbar operate on the main project. The main project node is displayed in bold text in the Project window.

To change the main project in the IDE:

  • Right-click the desired project node and choose Set Main Project. This project is now the main project in the IDE and actions in the menubar and toolbar refer to this project.

Building Your Project

To build your project:

  1. Choose Build > Build Main Project and the project builds. The build output is shown in the Output window.

  2. Switch the configuration from Debug to PerformanceRelease in the configuration drop-down list in the main toolbar. Now the project will be built using the PerformanceRelease configuration.

  3. Choose Build > Build Main Project and the project builds. The build output is shown in the Output window.

You can build, clean, or both clean and build the project by choosing actions from the Build menu. The project also keeps object files and executables from different configurations separate, so you do not have to worry about mixing files from multiple configurations.

Compiling a Single File

To compile a single source file:

  • Right-click on the main.c file and choose Compile File. Only this file is compiled.

Note: Single file compilation is not supported for the project type C/C++ Project with Existing Makefile.

Running a Project

The args program prints command-line arguments. Before running the program, we will set some arguments in the current configuration. Then we will run the program.

To create the Args project, set some arguments, and run the project:

  1. Choose New > New Project.

  2. In the project wizard, expand the Samples category and the C/C++ Development subcategory.

  3. Select the C/C++ subcategory, then select the Args project. Click Next, then click Finish.

  4. Right-click the Args project node and choose Build Project. The project builds.

  5. Right-click the Args project node and choose Properties.

  6. In the Project Properties dialog box, select the Running node.

  7. In the Arguments text field, type 1111 2222 3333. Click OK.

  8. Choose Run > Run Main Project. The application runs. Your arguments are displayed in the Output window.

Creating a C/C++ Project with an Existing Makefile

With a C/C++ Project with Existing Makefile, the IDE relies on your existing makefile for instructions on how to compile and run your application.

Creating a Project With an Existing Makefile

  1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.

  2. Select the C/C++ Development category.

  3. Select C/C++ Project with Existing Makefile and click Next.

  4. On the Project Name and Location page, type Lokin in the Project Name field. Use the defaults for all of the other fields. Click Next.

  5. On the Build Actions page, click the Browse button for the Working Directory field. In the Select Working Directory dialog box, navigate to the loki-0.1.4. Select the src directory (be sure not to double click the src directory as that will descend into the src directory rather than select it). Click Select.

  6. Before you click Next in the wizard, make sure the fields on the Build Actions page show the following: 
    
	    Working Directory: ../loki-0.1.4/src
	    Build Command: make -f Makefile
	    Clean Command: make -f Makefile clean
	    Output: blank
    Click Next.

  7. On the Source File Folders page, click Add. Navigate one level up, select the loki-0.1.4 directory and click Select. Click Finish and the directory is added to the Important Files folder in the Project window.

  8. In the Projects tab, right-click the test folder in the project and choose Remove to delete unneeded files.

The project is created and opened in the Project window. You have created a project that is a thin wrapper around an existing makefile.

Building and Rebuilding Your Project

To build a project:

  • Right-click the project node of the project and choose Build.

To rebuild a project:

  • Right-click the project node of the project and choose Clean and Build Project.

Editing Source Files

The C/C++ Development Pack provides advanced editing features to help you in viewing and modifying your source code.

Folding Blocks of Code in C and C++ Files

For some types of files, you can use the code folding feature to collapse blocks of code so that only the first line of the block appears in the Source Editor.

  1. In the Loki application project, open the Singleton.cpp file in the src folder.

  2. Click the collapse icon in the left margin to fold the code of one of the methods.

  3. Mouse over the {...} symbol to the right of the folded block to display the code in the block.

Using the Class View

The Class View lets you see all of the classes in your project, and the members and fields for each class.

Click here for larger screenshot
  1. Choose Window > Class View to open the Class View, which displays the Loki project.

  2. Expand the Loki node, then expand the Random node. All classes in the project are listed.

  3. Double-click on the seed class to open the Random header file.

Using Code Templates

The Source Editor has a set of customizable code templates for common snippets of C and C++ code. You can generate the full code snippet by typing its abbreviation and pressing the spacebar. For example, in the Singleton.cpp file:

  1. Type uns followed by a space. uns expands to unsigned.

  2. Type iff followed by a space. iff expands to if () {}.

  3. Type ife, followed by a space. ife expands to if () {} else {}.

  4. Type fori followed by a space. fori expands to for (int i = 0; i < ; i++) {}.

Using Pair Completion

When you edit your C and C++ source files, the Source Editor does "smart" matching of pair characters such as brackets, parentheses, and quotation marks. When you type one of these characters, the Source Editor automatically inserts the closing character.

  1. Type (|. The code automatically completes to (|).

  2. Type foo() { and press Return. The code automatically completes to : 
    foo () {
       |
    }
  3. Place the cursor behind a {. The matching character is highlighted. This technique works with the following paired characters: {} () [].