Using the GSL-GNU scientific library in Windows with Code::Blocks

[cadalso]

The GSL-GNU scientific library can be compiled under Windows and linked to your applications using Code::Blocks. The following instructions are based on the 32 bit MingGW compiler. I did not try to use the 64 bit compiler. I have linked the GSL-GNU library statically. I have not tried dynamic linking.
In a nutshell the process consists of three steps: 1) installing MinGW using MSYS, 2) compile GSL-GNU using MSYS-MinGW, 3) configure Code::Blocks to use the MinGW compiler and link to the compiled GSL-GNU library.


1. Install MSYS

Download and install MSYS including the mingw-developer-toolkit, mingw32-base, mingw32-gcc-g++ and msys-base packages in the basic setup. MSYS can be obtained from

http://www.mingw.org/wiki/MSYS


2. Compile GSL-GNU using MingGW under MSYS

Download the latest version of GSL-GNU (named gsl.latest.tar.gz) from the webpage

ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gsl/

Copy this file into the root directory of MSYS. In my computer the root directory is

C:\MinGW\msys\1.0\home\user

Please note that user is my username in Windows. The username will vary depending on your local installation.

Open MSYS by navigating to the folder

C:\MinGW\msys\1.0\

and doing a double click to the file msys.bat. The MSYS command window opens. Type the following commands to unzip and compile the GSL-GNU library:

Code

tar xf gsl*
cd gsl-2.4
./configure --prefix=C:/MinGW
make
make install

Compilation takes a while. I have assumed that the number version of GNU-GSL is 2.4 although this will vary if you have downloaded a different version of the library. Verify the number of your local installation. If you have successfully completed this step you can now link the GNU-GSL library to your programs.

You can test your local installation by compiling the following example program, which is included with the GNU-GSL library (https://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/doc/html/usage.html#an-example-program). Create a program with the name bessel.cpp and write it to the MSYS root directory. The code is

Code

#include <stdio.h>
#include <gsl/gsl_sf_bessel.h>

int
main (void)
{
  double x = 5.0;
  double y = gsl_sf_bessel_J0 (x);
  printf ("J0(%g) = %.18e\n", x, y);
  return 0;
}

Test your GNU-GSL by typing the following commands into the MSYS command window.

Code

mingw32-gcc -Wall -I/usr/local/include -c bessel.cpp
mingw32-gcc -L/usr/local/lib -o bessel.exe bessel.o -llibgsl -llibgslcblas -lm

Note that the compiler is instructed to find the GNU-GSL header files in the /usr/local/include folder and link the library in /usr/local/lib. These paths are relative to your local MSYS installation. If everything is fine the compiler creates the executable file bessel.exe in the MSYS root directory. Note also that I have not used Code::Blocks up to know.


3. Configure Code::Blocks

Install Code::Block with the MinGW compiler. Go to the Settings > Compiler menu of Code::Blocks. In the Toolchains executables tab the MinGW compiler has to be selected. In my computer the Compiler's instalation directory is C:\Program Files (x86)\CodeBlocks\MinGW.

Tell Code::Blocks where the GNU-GSL header files are. Go to Settings > Compiler menu. Go to the tab Search directories > Compiler, and add the path C:\MinGW\include.

Tell Code::Blocks where the GNU-GSL library is. Go to Settings > Compiler menu. Go to the tab Search directories > Linker settings, and add the path C:\MinGW\lib.

Tell the linker where the compiled library is. Go to Settings > Compiler menu. Go to the tab Linker settings, and add the paths C:\MinGW\lib\libgsl.a and C:\MinGW\lib\libgslcblas.a.

Now you can open the bessel.cpp program in Code::Blocks and built it to test your installation.

[sodev]

Don't compile the library with the msys2 mingw compiler but the application with the codeblocks mingw compiler, this is asking for a lot of trouble.

Also don't specify link libraries with an absolute path, just use the name, without lib and without extension.