Error C1189: #error : ERROR: You must use a GNU Compiler.

Question

Hi everyone!
I have just ran into an error in which I don't know how to resolve. I'm trying to compile some code I have but it gives me the following : error C1189: #error :  ERROR: You must use a GNU Compiler.
Before receiving this error I had received one stating that the header file "_mingw.h" was missing. I located that file and placed it in the correct folder. I also updated the project properties to locate the header file. The error itself says
that I must use a GNU Compiler but I'm not exactly sure how to do this.I do have mingw installed on the PC though
The error points to this part of the code :
#define __MINGW32_VERSION           3.2
#define __MINGW32_MAJOR_VERSION     3
#define __MINGW32_MINOR_VERSION     20
#define __MINGW32_PATCHLEVEL        0
#ifndef __GNUC__
#error ERROR: You must use a GNU Compiler.
#endif
#if (__GNUC__ < 3 || !defined(__GNUC_MINOR__) || (__GNUC__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ < 4) || (__GNUC__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ == 4 && __GNUC_PATCHLEVEL__ < 5))
#error ERROR: You must use a GNU Compiler version >= 3.4.5.
#endif
Also to note, I have the most recent version 4.8.4.1 of the compiler.
Any ideas on what I should so to fix this? Did placing the _mingw.h file in the folder have anything to do with it?
I would appreciate any help!! :-)

Answer 1

It appears that the author of the code you are compiling intended it to be compiled with the GNU compiler, not the Visual C++ compiler.  So they manually inserted an error message (guarded by the #ifndef __GNUC__ check) so that if you compiled it on
Visual Studio, you'd be alerted to that fact.
I'm afraid you are now faced with either porting this code or finding a Windows distribution of it that is compatible with Visual Studio.
*NOT RECOMMENDED*, but to begin the process of porting it , simply delete the #error line from the source code and recompile with visual studio.  You can expect millions of specific issues will need further attention.  After all, it's probably
there for a reason.  If you are new to this, that's probably NOT what you want to do.
On the other hand, what were you trying to compile that needed _mingw.h?  That's the piece that needs to be configured correctly.  You are likely not building it as the author intended.