Using an External Compiler with LabWindows/CVI

To compile in an external compiler, you must set up a compiler configuration, which contains information about the external compiler and compiler options to use. You can specify a compiler configuration on an environment-wide or per-project basis. Use the Active 32-bit compiler or Active 64-bit compiler option in the Build Options dialog box to select an environment-wide compiler configuration. Use the Release Configuration dialog box to specify project-specific compiler settings. When an external compiler is the active compiler for the release configuration and you compile code within the LabWindows/CVI environment, LabWindows/CVI calls the external compiler directly. The LabWindows/CVI linker links the compiled code.

Note  After you change the Active 32-bit compiler or Active 64-bit compiler option in the Build Options dialog box, you can use the __TPC__ macro to instruct external compilers to ignore unrecognized code, such as pragmas specific to LabWindows/CVI.

LabWindows/CVI stores environment-wide compiler configuration settings in a .ecc file and project-specific compiler configuration settings in the .prj file. LabWindows/CVI provides environment-wide compiler configuration templates, .ect files, for the following external compilers. The entries are linked to the Web sites from which you can download or order the current versions of these compilers.

• clang—clang 1.0, clang 2.9, and clang 3.3. The Clang compiler is installed with LabWindows/CVI.
• Intel—Intel C++ 8.1, Intel C++ 9.0, Intel C++ 10.0, and Intel C++ 11.1. Refer to the Intel Web site at www.intel.com to download these compilers.
• Microsoft Visual C++—MSVC 6.0, MSVC 7.1, Visual C++ Toolkit 2003, MSVC 8.0, MSVC 9.0, and MSVC 10.0. Refer to the Microsoft Web site at www.msdn.microsoft.com to download these compilers.

Considerations When Selecting the Active Compiler

You can use an external compiler to compile code for a LabWindows/CVI project only if the project is in the release configuration. LabWindows/CVI always uses its own compiler to compile any debuggable code. You also must consider several other factors to ensure you can successfully compile code that will run in LabWindows/CVI using the configuration you specify.