Language - C

From Phidgets Support
Revision as of 17:55, 12 March 2026 by Mparadis (talk | contribs)


Get Started

With the Phidget22 library, it's easy to create C or C++ applications that work with Phidget devices.

C Libraries

If you've installed the Phidget drivers for Windows, MacOS, or Linux, then you already have the files you need for your C project.

Windows Considerations

When adding directories for your project dependencies, add

C:/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22

And for the linker, you can add

C:/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22/phidget22.lib (for 64-bit systems)

C:/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22/x86/phidget22.lib (for 32-bit systems)


MacOS Considerations

The Phidget framework will be found in

/Library/Frameworks

And the headers can be found in

/Library/Frameworks/Phidget22.framework/Headers

Linux Considerations

Linux restricts access to USB devices to the root user. To run your C application as a regular user, you'll need to set up udev rules on your system.

Library Files

If you would like to manually manage the Phidget22 library files, you can download them here.

Development Environment Configuration

GCC

Instructions

The most common tool for C development is GCC, whether used in the command line or through an IDE. GCC is packaged with many other IDEs and programs, so you may already have it installed. Type gcc -v in the terminal to check.

Windows

We recommend installing Cygwin or MinGW, ensuring you select all gcc packages when prompted by the installer.

To compile your code, go to the folder where your code is and open the command prompt by typing 'cmd' in the address bar.

The specific command you will use depends on your compiler of choice:

#Cygwin x86:
gcc example.c -o example -I"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22"-L"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22/x86" -lphidget22

#Cygwin x64:
gcc example.c -o example -I"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22" -L"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22" -lphidget22

#MinGW:
gcc example.c -o example -I"C:/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22" -L"C:/Program Files/Phidgets/Phidget22/x86" -lphidget22

After running the commands above for either Cygwin or MinGW, an executable file called example.exe will be created. Enter the following command to run the program:

example.exe

MacOS

If you don't already have gcc installed, you can get it by installing Xcode.

To compile the program, enter the following command in the terminal, substituting "example" for the name of your C file:

gcc example.c -o example -F /Library/Frameworks -framework Phidget22 -I /Library/Frameworks/Phidget22.framework/Headers

Finally, run the program by entering the following command in the terminal:

./example

Success! The project is now running with Phidgets.

Linux

On Linux, gcc is installed through the package manager:

apt-get install gcc

To compile the program, enter the following command in the terminal, substituting "example" for the name of your C file:

gcc example.c -o example -lphidget22

After compiling, you can run the program by entering the following command in the terminal:

./example

Success! The project is now running with Phidgets.

Visual Studio

Instructions
If you want to jump right into a pre-configured project, you can download one on our Code Sample Generator page.
Language C VSProject.jpg
To configure a new project, follow these steps.
First, create a new Win32 Console Application:
Language C VS step1.jpg
If you are using a 64-bit machine, select x64, otherwise, select x86:
Language C VS step2.jpg
Next, right click on the source folder and click New Item:
Language C VS step3.jpg
Give the source file a name and click Add:
Language C VS step4.jpg
Right click your project and access its properties:
Language C VS step5.jpg
Go to Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> General and add this to the additional include directories:
C:\Program Files\Phidgets\Phidget22
Language C VS step6.jpg
Go to Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Input and add the appropriate line to additional dependencies:
C:\Program Files\Phidgets\Phidget22\phidget22.lib #(for 64-bit systems)
C:\Program Files\Phidgets\Phidget22\x86\phidget22.lib #(for 32-bit systems)
Language C VS step7.jpg
Lastly, include the Phidget library at the beginning of your program:
#include < phidget22.h >


Example Code

Navigate to our Code Sample Generator to view and download code samples that are tailored to your specific device.

Language c codesample.png

Phidget Programming Basics

To learn more about the structure of the example code, visit our Phidget Programming Basics guide.

API

Phidget22 API