Absolute Beginners C++

Using SCITE Editor with GCC

These instructions refer to the PCs in the Speech Science Laboratory. Instructions on downloading these tools are given in the course overview.

1. Logging on and creating a home directory

Start the computer and log in as 'course'.

Open 'My Computer' icon and locate Disk drive 'L:'

Open the directory called 'abc' on drive 'L:'

Select Menu option 'File/New/Folder'.

Change the name of the folder from 'New Folder' to your own name.

This directory can be used for you to store your programs while the course is running. It will be deleted at the end of the course.

2. Starting SCITE

Double click on the SCITE icon. Expand the window to the full screen.

3. Main SCITE operations:

a. Creating and saving a new program source file

Select menu option File/New. The edit screen will be empty and you can type in your source program. To save a new file for the first time, select menu option File/SaveAs. Remember to change the directory to L:\abc\yourname before saving the file. Always use a '.cpp' file extension for every C++ source file.

b. Opening and saving an existing program source file

Select menu option File/Open. Change the directory to L:\abc\yourname to locate the source files you have previously saved. Select the file and click OK, the source will be displayed for you to edit. After editing, select menu option File/Save to save the changes back to disk.

c. Editing a source file.

The cursor keys, page-up and page-down keys, home and end keys can be used to move the cursor within the edit window. The backspace key and the Del key deletes the previous and the current character respectively. You can also use the mouse to position the cursor.

d. Compiling a program

To compile the program, select the menu option Tools/Compile. If the program has compilation errors, these will be displayed in the lower window. Double-clicking on the error message will locate the point in your source which caused the error. Correct your source code, save the file again and compile again. Repeat until no compilation errors are given.

e. Running a program

If the program simply produces some output with requiring any input or command line options, simply select menu option Tools/Go. If you need to give the program some arguments on the command line, or if you need to type some input into the program, select menu option Tools/Shell, and a separate window will appear. Type in the name of your program (and any arguments) and the program will execute in that window.

f. Printing a program source

Select the menu option Tools/Print. A formatted listing will be sent to the Laboratory printer.

g. Closing the program

To close the program, first ensure any edit changes have been saved and select menu option File/Exit. Alternatively click on the small crossed square at the top right of the window.

3. Logging out

When you have finished, exit SCITE, and delete all your own compiled programs (*.exe files) and all your left-over object files (*.obj files). Leave the C++ source files.