Compiling netcat on AIX

I have been trying to compile netcat.c on AIX for some time 开发者_C百科(using the command make aix), but the compiler gives me some weird feedback such as :

"netcat.c", line 117.12: 1506-275 (S) Unexpected text 'int' encountered.

when checked the file netcat.c at line 117, I would find the line (second line in code below):

#ifdef HAVE_BIND
extern int h_errno;
/* stolen almost wholesale from bsd herror.c */

even if I changed the int into char for the same of testing, save the file and re-run the command I get the same error

am I missing something in reading the error code?

If you're using xlc (especially older ones), it's normally caused by declarations after statements, something like:

i = i + 1;
int x;

You probably need to give us a little more context, such as 10 or so lines before the error line.

My advice would be to get gcc running on that box if you are using an older xlc. IBM makes some fine compilers now but the earlier ones weren't so crash hot (in my opinion).

When innocent-looking code produces bizarre errors, try running the code through the C preprocessor stage, and looking at it then. Sometimes macros do very funny things.

Also note that a problem on an earlier line (missing semicolon, etc.) might produce an error message on a later line.

The post maybe already a little outdated, but just in case someone else comes along with the same problem ...

Here (AIX 7.1) h_errno is defined as macro in netdb.h.

/usr/include/netdb.h:#define h_errno   (*(int *)h_errno_which())

Therefore the declaration in netcat.c line 117 does not work.

I just changed the line into

#ifndef h_errno
extern int h_errno;
#endif

and the compilation worked smoothly.

@A.Rashad, I moved the HAVE_BIND #ifdef block from line 117 to line 30 which is just under the #include "generic.h" declaration. This permitted the xlc to compile it. The (S)yntax error messages are gone and while there are some (W)arning messages, I do get an nc binary at the end!

hth,

Kevin