To start using lcc-win32, a simple windows application will be used as an example.
Start the editor (Wedit), go to the Project menu, and choose Create. You will be prompted for the name of the new project. Enter a short name, without spaces in it, for instance "test".
The project definition
dialog box appears. You should specify a source directory, where your project
will be built. If that directory does not exist, it will be created. Choose a
Windows application as the type of application, and press the Create button.
You will be prompted if the wizard should write the project skeleton
for you. You should answer: Yes. Wedit minimizes itself, and the wizard
definition dialog box appears. You can select several types of applications, but
to get started easily, maintain always the default settings, and just press Continue
until the wizard informs you that the files have been created. Wedit will
restart, and it will make a ‘Makefile’ from the files generated.
When the ‘Makefile’ has been created, press the F9 key to compile your application. This should go very quickly since the application is very small. Then press Ctrl+F5 to start your new application. An empty window will appear with the name of the application in the title bar.
To know where the IDE stores the executable go to the linker configuration tab and see what is in the "Output file" edit field. There you should find the full path to the generated exe.
You can debug your application by using the F5 key — Wedit’s debugger. Press F4 to go line by line to execute the application. The F8 key is used for stepping into procedure calls. The F4 key skips procedure calls and always stays at the same level.
You can modify the dialog boxes or other types of resources using the integrated resource editor. Go to the Design menu, and choose Open. This will open the resource editor in which you can add new dialog box definitions, menus, resource strings, or other types of resources to your application.
To define a dialog box, choose Design, then New, then dialog box. An
empty dialog box will be created, and the resource editor will automatically
bring up the properties of the dialog box. You can then change the title, style,
etc.
To populate your dialog box with controls, just select a control type in the floating toolbar of Wedit, drag and drop it in the desired position. You can test your dialog box by using the Test option in the Design menu at any time. You can change the properties of any control by double-clicking on the specified control. This also applies to the dialog box as a whole.
By pressing the right mouse button anywhere within the program text, you
can always go to the definition of a symbol, or add special comments to your
code. A quicker way to navigate through your code is to use the F12 key to show
the list of defined functions in the current file. The keys Ctrl+F8 will show
you where the symbol under the cursor is used.
Wedit has many settings for fonts, compiler configuration, links, etc. All of
them are in the Project menu, under Configuration.
If you do not want to create a project, you can load any C source file, and press Compile. Wedit will create a default project for the Windows application if it finds a WinMain procedure or Console application if it finds a main() function. In this case, you should have a file that needs no other source files. You can create a project easily within a few seconds.