header recognition

I am trying to compile via GCC a sample of Mesa-7.0 demo-code. The compiler complains that GL/glut.h does not exist. It does exist and I’ve made doubly sure that glut.h is exactly where it’s supposed to be. When I look at glut.h it’s in C code. Should it be compiled to object form before trying to use it as a header? I’m missing something here and my beginner status with Linux isn’t helping much. Can anyone help?

Many Thanks
Mark

THe compiler searches for header files using the include paths. Some paths are already built in (to look for system header files in known locations) e.g. /usr/include.

You can add to the include paths using the -I compiler flag e.g. if your demo code has

#include <GL/glut.h>

and the glut.h file is (for exmaple) in

/usr/local/include/GL/glut.h

then you would add

-I /usr/local/include

to the compiler options. You can add multiple -I paths. Use man gcc and read up on the various options and google for the error you are getting.

–STU!