Linker error LNK2019 on including SDL.h

Question

I'm trying to get my program to allow me to use C++'s input and output streams for debugging purposes but it won't work?

My code:

#include <SDL.h>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;


int main()
{
    cout << "I work!";

    return 0;
}

That is all I have and it won't work. I plan to use SDL to make a small checkers game but I'd like to use <iostream> to debug.

Here's my errors:

error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _SDL_main referenced in function _main_utf8

fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals

Try adding `#undef main` after your `#include` directives. If that fixes the problem, the SDL header has `#define main something` in it, and you need to link against SDL libraries for things to link successfully. — Praetorian, Dec 22 '16 at 04:27
Well, you need to link against some SDL library. Their documentation should have that information, and Google can help you figure out how to link libraries in Visual Studio' — Praetorian, Dec 22 '16 at 04:32
Are you linking against the old `SDL_main`? Shouldn't you link with `SDL2_main`? — Ivan Rubinson, Dec 22 '16 at 06:21

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 22 '16 at 12:15

This is covered by FAQ:

Make sure that you are declaring main() as:

int main(int argc, char *argv[])

Since SDL_main is not special name known to C++ compiler, it mangles it by general rules. SDL have forward declaration with correct linking flags (at least extern "C") only for int SDL_main(int, char**).

Linker error LNK2019 on including SDL.h

1 Answers1