[SOLVED] C++ Bulid Error "undefined" for dacap/clip when using MinGW g++ 8.3.0

Issue

I'm trying to debug a C++ program in VSCode, using the microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools extension, but I get an error while the build step.

Reproduction Steps:

1. Clone a library I need to use. git submodule add https://github.com/dacap/clip.git clip on the project directory, let's say C:\pg\cpp_dev_02
2. Create CMakeLists.txt (the content below), as documented on Home · dacap/clip Wiki (the cmake configuration output log below)
3. Click debug on the CMake menu to try to start debugging
4. Fails with an error (the cmake build output log below / the screenshot below)

That's all about the issue I have.

By the way building with cmake outside of VSCode passes.

cd C:\pg\cpp_dev_03\; mkdir build; cd build;
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config Release
C:\pg\cpp_dev_03\build\Release\myproject.exe
echo $? # True

Just in case the versions:

> g++ --version
g++.exe (x86_64-posix-seh, Built by strawberryperl.com project) 8.3.0
Copyright (C) 2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

> Get-ComputerInfo|select WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion

WindowsProductName WindowsVersion
------------------ --------------
Windows 10 Pro     2009

# the exact commit of the the library using
> cd clip; git log
commit 94693e2414a2c69a8ca16f065240c80a94cc6221 (HEAD -> main, tag: v1.7, origin/main, origin/HEAD)

I have no clue what was wrong. I appreciate your help. Thanks.

---

• CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.27)
project(myproject)

# Disable clip examples and tests
set(CLIP_EXAMPLES OFF CACHE BOOL "Compile clip examples")
set(CLIP_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Compile clip tests")

# In case that you have ${PNG_LIBRARY} set to support copy/paste images on Linux
#set(CLIP_X11_PNG_LIBRARY "${PNG_LIBRARY}")

# Add clip subdirectory to compile the library
add_subdirectory(clip)

add_executable(myproject tmp3.cpp)

target_link_libraries(myproject clip)

• tmp3.cpp

#include "clip/clip.h"
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
  clip::set_text("Hello World");

  std::string value;
  clip::get_text(value);
  std::cout << value << "\n";
}

• cmake configuration output log

[main] プロジェクトを構成しています: cpp_dev_02 
[proc] コマンドを実行しています: "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.EXE" --no-warn-unused-cli -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Debug -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS:BOOL=TRUE -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH=C:\Strawberry\c\bin\gcc.exe -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH=C:\Strawberry\c\bin\g++.exe -SC:/pg/cpp_dev_02 -Bc:/pg/cpp_dev_02/build -G "Unix Makefiles"
[cmake] Not searching for unused variables given on the command line.
[cmake] CMake Deprecation Warning at clip/CMakeLists.txt:4 (cmake_minimum_required):
[cmake]   Compatibility with CMake < 3.5 will be removed from a future version of
[cmake]   CMake.
[cmake] 
[cmake]   Update the VERSION argument <min> value or use a ...<max> suffix to tell
[cmake]   CMake that the project does not need compatibility with older versions.
[cmake] 
[cmake] 
[cmake] -- Configuring done (0.2s)
[cmake] -- Generating done (0.1s)
[cmake] -- Build files have been written to: C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/build

• cmake build output log

[main] フォルダーのビルド中: cpp_dev_02 all
[build] ビルドを開始しています
[proc] コマンドを実行しています: "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.EXE" --build c:/pg/cpp_dev_02/build --config Debug --target all -j 10 --
[build] [ 16%] Building CXX object clip/CMakeFiles/clip.dir/clip_win.cpp.obj
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win.cpp:467:19: warning: multi-character character constant [-Wmultichar]
[build]    bi->bV5CSType = LCS_WINDOWS_COLOR_SPACE;
[build]                    ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[build] In file included from C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win.cpp:19:
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win_wic.h: In function 'bool clip::win::read_png(const uint8_t*, UINT, clip::image*, clip::image_spec*)':
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win_wic.h:210:33: error: 'CLSID_WICPngDecoder2' was not declared in this scope
[build]    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WICPngDecoder2,
[build]                                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win_wic.h:210:33: note: suggested alternative: 'CLSID_WICPngDecoder'
[build]    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WICPngDecoder2,
[build]                                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[build]                                  CLSID_WICPngDecoder
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win_wic.h:214:27: error: 'CLSID_WICPngDecoder1' was not declared in this scope
[build]      hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WICPngDecoder1,
[build]                            ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[build] C:/pg/cpp_dev_02/clip/clip_win_wic.h:214:27: note: suggested alternative: 'CLSID_WICPngDecoder'
[build]      hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WICPngDecoder1,
[build]                            ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[build]                            CLSID_WICPngDecoder
[build] gmake.exe[2]: *** [clip/CMakeFiles/clip.dir/build.make:104: clip/CMakeFiles/clip.dir/clip_win.cpp.obj] Error 1
[build] gmake.exe[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:126: clip/CMakeFiles/clip.dir/all] Error 2
[build] gmake.exe: *** [Makefile:91: all] Error 2
[proc] コマンド "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.EXE" --build c:/pg/cpp_dev_02/build --config Debug --target all -j 10 -- はコード 2 で終了しました
[driver] ビルド完了: 00:00:02.763
[build] ビルドが終了コード 2 で終了しました
[main] "undefined" という名前の実行可能ファイルのターゲットを準備できませんでした

• Screenshot

Solution

Seems to be an issue pertaining to CLSID_WICPngDecoder2 and CLSID_WICPngDecoder1 definition not being found. Going through this GitHub issue-35 link tells that you are probably using an old version of MinGW.

Navigate to the clip/clip_win_wic.h:210:33 file and line, and check whether you can go to the definition of CLSID_WICPngDecoder2 and CLSID_WICPngDecoder1, if not, that means the required dependencies of the library, especially windowscodecs library in your case, are not setup properly.

Answered By - Ujjwal Raut

Answer Checked By - Terry (WPSolving Volunteer)