Error running make - array type has incomplete element type

I am trying to install libbow library. When i run make file the following error is generated

gcc -c -Ibow -I. -I./argp -DHAVE_LIBNSL=1 -DHAVE_STRERROR=1 -DHAVE_GETTIMEOFDAY=1 -DHAVE_RANDOM=1 -DHAVE_SRANDOM=1 -DHAVE_SETENV=1 -DHAVE_STRCHR=1 -DHAVE_STRRCHR=1 -DHAVE_ALLOCA_H=1 -g -O -Wall -Wimplicit -o array.o array.c
In file included from array.c:22:
./bow/libbow.h:2128: error: array type has incomplete element type
make: *** [array.o] Error 1

The Source of libbow is : (The latest version)

Search results showed it as a compiler problem. How to resolve this? Or is there any other source for libbow?

1 Answer

The error points line 2128 of bow/libbow.h

extern struct argp_child bow_argp_children[]; 

It means that struct argp_child is not defined.

I noticed that in line 1346 there is a forward declaration of the structure.

struct argp_child; /* forward declare this type */

The full declaration of the structure is in line 245 of argp/argp.h

To resolve this issue you can either

• Use include of argp.h in libbow.h

  i.e #include "../argp/argp.h"

• Copy struct argp_child definition in libbow.h (not recommended)

An other thought is that you might compiling array.c from wrong directory and -Ibow -I. -I./argp does not point to the correct directories.