Hi, fresh install of TurboC++, threw the allegro files in there and tried to run a sample and it said:

[C++ Error] al386vc.h(51): E2108 Improper use of typedef 'BITMAP'
[C++ Fatal Error] al386vc.h(51): F1001 Internal code generator error

Something tells me that's not normal. I'm rather new to C++, trying to build a game after having determined that Java will not work (ever tried to make AWT/Swing thread safe? Not pretty). I've had experience with C++ before, so I'm not exactly one with the word "n00b" plastered all over my forehead, however, I'd like to use TurboC++ because it seems stable and has a long history of being stable and quite mediocre. It's not weird like MSVC++ is, and isn't dated like DEVC++. However, this is a significant pitfall. I think I didn't install it correctly. I downloaded the msvc80 version for a lack of something labeled "Borland" and threw the various files and directories from the allegro download into their respective locations in the Borland C++ directory (merged the two file trees).

This is the Hello-World I tried to run:

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------

#include <allegro.h>

#pragma hdrstop

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------

#pragma argsused
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
allegro_init();
set_gfx_mode(GFX_SAFE, 640, 480, 0, 0);
install_keyboard();
textout_ex(screen, font, "Hello World!", 1, 1, 10, -1);
textout_ex(screen, font, "Press ESCape to quit.",1,12,11,-1);
while(!key[KEY_ESC]);
allegro_exit();
return 0;

}

As you can see, it's partially autogenerated by the IDE. I'm not sure if I'm to fault or if I didn't set it up correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Turbo C++ ? The DOS one ? Wow.
It IS dated, and nobody ported Allegro to it, sorry. There's no way you can compile with allegro on it.
If you're running DOS, you can use DJGPP : with the IDE "RHIDE" it looks very much like TC++. Use an Allegro version before 4.1 though, as the later versions seem to have a less accurate keyboard handler for DOS.

I don't have an answer, but I'm pretty sure the original poster is referring to the new Turbo C++ and not the ancient DOS one from prehistory. Which I'm still a little fond of.

Precisely.

I say DEVC++ is dated because it hasn't moved from version 4.9.9.2 in about three years or so. It's by far one of my favorite compilers, but it's just getting old and showing it.

The TurboC++ Explorer uses the Borland compiler (I think), so it should work (I think).

TurboC++ for DOS... maybe all the Java junkies were right about how dated you C++ people are... ducks

I'm sorry I mispoke. I am aware of the difference between compiler and IDE, however, I'm electing to not use DEVC++/MINGW/GCC because the development environments (IMHO) suck. TC++(Explorer) is more suited to my tastes. I will not use VC++ because it sucks worse. If I ever need to port... VC++ isn't C99 compliant and isn't showing any signs of being C++0x compliant. MSFT is moving VC++ towards being a more runtimed language focused on one platform. I'll let you guess which.

Borland is C99 compliant, so if I'm careful and don't use any platform-specific code or obfuscate it through wrapper classes I can easily port it to other platforms. I'm using Windows at the moment because my windows box is plugged into my 20" widescreen monitor. I like coding with it. Otherwise I'd use Linux and emacs/vi in a heartbeat.

I repent of calling DEVC++ a compiler. Can I get out of the doghouse now?

No, it just hasn't changed. TC++ has many useful features and IDE improvements which I value, whereas DEVC++ doesn't have much going for it. I know they managed to get some kind of autocompletion going in it, but it still isn't enough to make me use it when there are better tools.

I've used KDevelop on Linux quite extensively, however, that doesn't work on windows.

Frankly, I'm not willing to see Microsoft put the Malicious Software Removal Tool into work on my OSS applications. I can feel MSFT growling at OpenOffice and GIMP already.

I've done that before, however, the rdesktop doesn't support the higher screen resolutions. I'm always stuck at 1024x768 in rdesktop, even though my NEC is capable of 1680x1050. It was quite disappointing.

Tried a few more tricks.

I tried every distribution of Allegro (excepting the MinGW ones, which would obviously would not have worked) without success. I don't think Allegro works with Borland. Perhaps this support was phased out sometime in the past?

I'll leave this open to anyone who knows better and can tell me where I erred. For now I guess I'm stuck with DevC++. Pray MSFT doesn't notice. They've threatened to terminate my license key before for using OSS.

Something tells me that by the end of this I'll have every IDE known to man and seven known only to aliens installed.

I'll look into codeblocks, though I already have DevC++ installed and working.

CodeBlocks isn't behaving with Allegro at all. At this point I'll continue to try to get it to work, but continue using DevC++ for the moment.

I've found that my OSS software has a habit of disappearing without my using the uninstaller. It scares me, too, because no one else has access to my workstation.

No, I'm talking about using a Windows box to connect to a Linux box.

Preaching to the choir there boy. There is very little I say that isn't from experience. The rest of it's usually me being sardonic.

Bah. And all this time I thought Allegro hadn't yet done that.

So then why is there still support for MSVC? Who uses that crap? I know for a fact that even MS itself doesn't use it unless it is constrained to do so.

So Borland and Allegro are a loosing match. Problem solved (sort of.) Using DevC++ until CodeBlocks behaves.

Thanks. I hope to be able to use Allegro to actually make something (you know, worthwhile).

And yet 4.2.2 still has support for Borland Builder.

fix bcc32
make

And not to mention support for DMC, MSVC 6,7,8, Watcom, DJGPP, etc. The fact is if there's people or more accurately a person (that means you, as in the person reading this post) out there willing to maintain it, it will be supported. There are no magical elves that do this stuff.

It's his way of telling us to ignore him.

Well, strictly speaking, Dev-C++ isn't cross platform either.

Are you doing C++ or C? C99 only matters for the most part, IIRC, in C. I, and I'm pretty sure many others, have had no or little issues with that.

Well, the code is cross platform. Who cares about the compiler? Since when does Borland run on Linux? You're not going to burn later for using VC++, because most of the platform specifics you will encounter are there with MinGW anyway. Regular testing of your code on other platforms will make sure it keeps running crossplatform.

So Microsoft throws in code in your projects and deletes random stuff from your computer, and you still use Windows? The next time a UFO lands in your back yard, ask the aliens exactly just how we staged the moon landing.