Re: gcc compile problem: error: stray \168 in program

[tmcd at panix dot com]

On Sun, 22 Feb 2009, Dave Korn <dave.korn.cygwin@googlemail.com> wrote:
> grip wrote:
>
> > gcc test.c -o test.
> >
> > I  get  some strange errors which  goes like:
> >
> > test.c: In function `main':
> > test.c:5: error: stray '\168' in program
> > test.c:5: error: `Test' undeclared (first use in this function)
> > test.c:5: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
> > test.c:5: error: for each function it appears in.)
> > test.c:5: error: parse error before "this"
> > test.c:5: error: stray '\168' in program
> >
> >
> > Had this got something to do  with unrecognised double quotes?
>
> Yes.  "\168" is the "Diaeresis" mark, not any kind of quote at
> all.

Yabbut \nnn should represent an octal escape (right?), but 8 is not an
octal digit.  168 decimal is indeed umlaut (octal 250, hex A8).

> > Can someone provide some  guidance on how to resolve this.
>
>   Don't use Microsoft Word to write C source files?  The real
> question is, how did the file get to be that way in the first place?

In particular, what about the quotation marks?  Are they Microsoft
so-called "smart quotes", octal 223 = decimal 147 = hex 93 for open
curly double quotes and all those plus 1 for closing?  I'd try going
into a non-word processor program, like vi or maybe Notepad, delete
the double-quotes, retype them, and see if the result shows on the
screen as vertical or identical quotation marks.  -- I have to admit
that that doesn't fit the "stray \168" error message, so it's a long
shot, but at least it's quick and harmless to try it.

-- 
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd@panix.com

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