Running

Invoking the compiler after installation.

Windows
   The compiler can be manually invoked from the command-line, or 
   automatically by your IDE/Code Editor. If you're using an IDE, you will 
   usually have to tell it where the compiler was installed, so it can find 
   it. How exactly to do that depends on the IDE. 

   To compile manually, you should append the FreeBASIC installation 
   directory to your PATH environment variable, separating it from previous 
   entries using a semi-colon. Now you can simply use "fbc" from the 
   command prompt, instead of always having to type in the full path (e.g. 
   "C:\FreeBASIC\fbc.exe").

   Then, open a console/command prompt/MS DOS prompt, in the same directory 
   as your program. To compile your program, you can use:

      C:\mystuff\myprogram\> fbc myprogram.bas

   and myprogram.exe will be created in the same directory.

   A console can be launched in a specific directory from Explorer by using 
   Microsoft's "Open Command Window Here" PowerToy on Windows XP. On 
   Windows Vista & above you can SHIFT+RightClick on a folder in Explorer 
   to see the 'Open Command Window Here' option. As a last resort, you can 
   also select Start -> Run, type "cmd" and hit Enter, and use the "cd" 
   command to change the current directory.

   Note: You can in fact invoke the compiler from any directory you like, 
   but you have to specifiy the correct path to your program, so the 
   compiler can find it, for example:

      C:\> fbc mystuff\myprogram\myprogram.bas

   The resulting executable will still be put in the same directory as the 
   program.

Linux
   If the install.sh script was successfully executed with enough 
   priviledges, the compiler binary should have been copied 
   /usr/local/bin/fbc, allowing any user access to the compiler from any 
   directory.

   From the prompt, type,

       fbc

   to see a list of options.  To compile the "Hello, world!" example 
   program, navigate to the directory where the FreeBASIC examples were 
   installed (/usr/local/share/freebasic), and type,

      fbc examples/misc/hello.bas

   and a ./hello executable file will be created in the examples/misc 
   directory.

Linux (standalone)
   If the install script install-standalone.sh was successfully executed 
   with enough privileges, a link to the compiler binary should have been 
   created at /usr/bin/fbc, allowing any user access to the compiler from 
   any directory. If it was not possible to create the link, you may want 
   to alter your PATH environmental variable to be able to invoke the 
   compiler from any directory. Navigate to the directory where FreeBASIC 
   was installed.

   From the prompt, type,

       fbc

   to see a list of options. To compile the "Hello, world!" example program 
   type,

      fbc examples/misc/hello.bas

   and a ./hello executable file will be created in the examples/misc 
   directory.

DOS
   Navigate to the directory where FreeBASIC was installed. For example, if 
   FreeBASIC is installed in the directory C:\FB, type,

      C:
      CD FB

   Some DOSes accept "CDD C:\FB" as well. You can also add the FreeBASIC 
   directory to your PATH environment variable (usually something like "SET 
   PATH=C:\FB\;%PATH%") so you can invoke the compiler from any directory.

   At the prompt, type,

      fbc

   to see a list of options. To compile the "Hello, world!" example program 
   type,

      fbc examples\misc\hello.bas

   and a hello.exe executable file will be created in the examples\misc 
   directory.

See also
   * Installing FreeBASIC
   * Compiler Command Line Options
   * Compiler FAQ

