Very Computer

Hey all!

The newbie got the complilers to work, even found the <stdio.h> header
in one of the redhat 5.1 rpm's.  I am able to compile a simple "hello
world" c source file but I cannot get it to execute (a.out).  I am
running the bash shell.  I change the permissions tochmos 777 a.out (rwx
to all groups), but when I try to run it, I get "bash: a.out unknown
command"

Can you help?  I think is is something so simple that it is under my
nose!

JL
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./a.out

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard S. Lumpkin, Ph.D.                            Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry                                     256-890-6365
University of Alabama in Huntsville                     fax 256-890-6349
Huntsville, AL 35899                          http://chromophore.uah.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indeed, it's simple :)

./a.out should do the job for you :)

--
        fg

"Computers are like air conditioners - they stop working properly when
you open Windows"

Try ./a.out instead of a.out

-- Mike Selders, Network Administrator
______________________________________
Clark & Thompson Online Services, Inc.
        http://www.ctos.com

Thanks all for the tip!  One question though, most other executable files
don't need to use the ./ header to run an executable or am I wrong on this
also and still thinking in M$FT mode?

JL
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The directory you have a.out in is not in your $PATH, so the system
doesn't know what to do with the apparent command since it only looks
for commands in the directories that are in the $PATH.  The ./ says
execute the following command (a.out) that is in this directory.  That
is at least my interpretation, someone else may have a more accurate
description for you, if so let's hear it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard S. Lumpkin, Ph.D.                            Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry                                     256-890-6365
University of Alabama in Huntsville                     fax 256-890-6349
Huntsville, AL 35899                          http://chromophore.uah.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would *hope* that . is not in your path!  This would cause /severe/
security
problems. . . .

The other executables that you are able to run are also in directories
that
are listed in your path. . .

Hope this helps!
Sanjay

The difference here is that DOS (or Windows for that matter) includes the
present working directory in the paths that get searched for commands.  Linux
doesn't do this, but you have a few options.

1)  Edit the file .bash_profile in your home directory to include directories
in your search path.
2)  Copy, move, or symbolic link your new executable into a directory that is
already in your search path.
3)  Preface the command with ./ anytime you want to execute something from the
present working directory.
4)  Use the absolute path to your executable.  ie:
/home/user/work/newfile/a.out

By "most other executables" I am guessing that you mean those that your system
installed as part of your distribution.  Things like ls & df are found in /bin,
while gcc & the like are found in /usr/bin.  Take a peek at that .bash_profile
and I think you'll find that /bin & /usr/bin are already part of your search
path, which is why you don't need to preface them with ./ or any such thing.

I like to create a bin in my home directory for simple scripts or executables
I've created or installed  just to try out.

Hope this helps.

-- Mike Selders, Network Administrator
______________________________________
Clark & Thompson Online Services, Inc.
        http://www.ctos.com