the prelaunchtask c/c++: gcc build active file terminated with exit code -1

[Yamo406]

Type: Bug

1. Write code in a new file
2. press on run file on the top right.
3. Error: "the prelaunchtask c/c++: gcc build active file terminated with exit code -1"
4. run the file.

Expected result: compile the file and run it.

Not sure if it has to do with the flags, but apparently on linux it doesn't work, I tried another extension which used these flags and it worked like a charm ["-g3", "-Wall", "-Wextra", "${file}", "-o", ""${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}""]

Here is an e.g. from the extension that worked "Executing task: g++ -Wall -Wextra -g3 /run/media/yamo/EDU/Extracurriculars/OSC/S&T/DS/wordOnThePaper.cpp -o /run/media/yamo/EDU/Extracurriculars/OSC/S&T/DS/output/wordOnThePaper
"
Extension name: C/C++ Compile Run

Extension version: 1.18.5
VS Code version: Code 1.86.0 (05047486b6df5eb8d44b2ecd70ea3bdf775fd937, 2024-01-31T10:27:46.147Z)
OS version: Linux x64 6.6.10-1-MANJARO
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	AMD Ryzen 5 4600H with Radeon Graphics (12 x 3984)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: disabled_off
Load (avg)	4, 3, 3
Memory (System)	15.00GB (6.24GB free)
Process Argv	--unity-launch --crash-reporter-id 7162d89c-d2bf-40c9-896e-a9a1c34f045e
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%
DESKTOP_SESSION	plasma
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP	KDE
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP	KDE
XDG_SESSION_TYPE	x11

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[browntarik]

Could you please provide more information about how you are getting this error? It is likely that you have not correctly configured your task.json with the appropriate arguments.

Example:

[Yamo406]

I haven't modified the tasks.json I let the extension do it automatically for me. here is a screenshot of the tasks.json

I am not sure, maybe it has something to do with me using Linux or the path of the file is not detected.

[browntarik]

Can you provide the output from the error window including the command that is generated by the run and debug command?

Example:

[Yamo406]

@browntarik sorry for the late reply.

[browntarik]

It looks like there is an issue because of the '&' character in your path. Could you try renaming your directory to remove it and try the executable again?

If you would like to keep the ampersand you may have to escape it in the file path, but it is generally not recommended practice to use special characters in file paths.

[Yamo406]

@browntarik so it worked when I indeed changed the ampersand character, I have another question when I use the the GCC from the dropdown it doesn't work, that's on a different directory but the g++ works as intended, does that have to do with Linux?

Here are the errors:

[Yamo406]

Here are as well the dropdown menu in case you need it:

[browntarik]

Based on the error you showed me (i.e undefined reference to std::cout) I would guess that you are trying to use the gcc compiler to build a c++ project, please try using the g++ compiler instead.

[Yamo406]

The g++ compiler works just fine.
If I understand correctly the gcc is for c projects and g++ for c++ projects?

[browntarik]

Yes, that is generally the case. You could use explicit linking if you have a specific reason to use gcc. To use explicit linking just add the -lstdc++ to your list of arguments though it is recommended you just use g++.

[Yamo406]

Awesome thanks for taking the time to solve the problem and answer my questions.

[browntarik]

I am glad I was able to help, I will now close this issue but it will be available for future reference.

[dheerajparashar]

Hello there, I am facing the same error but on my Windows laptop.

[dheerajparashar]

Could you please help?

[Yamo406]

@dheerajparashar Hey there, it seems that in your case it's giving permission denied, I would have 2 solutions that I would try first.

1. change the location of the project.
2. change the permission of the folder.

The easiest is to change the project's location as it can be tedious to change the permission of the folder especially since it's in the C: folder and I haven't been having that much luck with permissions on Windows.

[dheerajparashar]

Thanks mate I will try this and let you know what happens.