In C programming, what is `undefined reference`error, when compiling?

Question

I have this following simple program I am trying to compile in linux ubuntu.

Main.c:

#include <stdio.h>
#include "Person.h"

int main()
{   
    struct Person1 p1 = Person1_Constructor(10, 1000);
}

Person.c:

#include <stdio.h>
#include "Person.h"

struct Person1 Person1_Constructor(const int age, const int salary)
{
    struct Person1 p;
    p.age = age;
    p.salary = salary;
    return p;
};

Person.h:

struct Person1
{
    int age, salary;
};
struct Person1 Person1_Constructor(const int age, const int salary);

Why do I get the following error ?

/tmp/ccCGDJ1k.o: In function `main':
Main.c:(.text+0x2a): undefined reference to `Person1_Constructor'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

I am using gcc Main.c -o Main to compile.

Solution 1

When you link the program you need to give both Main.o and Person.o as inputs.

Build usually is done in two steps (1) compilation and (2) linking. To compile your sources do:

$ gcc -c -o Main.o Main.c
$ gcc -c -o Person.o Person.c

Or in one line:

$ gcc -c Main.c Person.c

Then the resulting object files must be linked into a single executable:

$ gcc -o Main Main.o Person.o

For small projects, of a few compilation units like yours, both step can be done in one gcc invocation:

$ gcc -o Main Main.c Person.c

both files must be given because some symbols in Person.c are used by Main.c.

For bigger projects, the two step process allows to compile only what changed during the generation of the executable. Usually this is done through a Makefile.

Solution 2

The problem is probably occurring because you're compiling only Main.c when you need to be compiling Main.c and Person.c at the same time. Try compiling it as gcc Main.c Person.c -o MyProgram.

Whenever you have multiple files, they all need to be specified when compiling in order to resolve external references, as is the case here. The compiler will spit out object files that will later be linked into an executable. Check out this tutorial on makefiles: Make File Tutorial It helps to automate this process.