Cannot get SOFA to work on external code

[FrancescoRusin]

Hello.
I have installed SOFA on my Windows 11 computer via the binaries for version 24.12.00; I have run the internal runSofa.exe file and it works.
However, when I tried to link the framework to external code with CMake, I ran into various problems.
I actually had to install the various dependencies separately (in particular, Qt, Eigen, and Boost), and after doing that and checking that CMake finds everything it needs, all I was able to get is a build that, despite resulting successful, had the following message:

Problems were encountered while collecting compiler information:
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /MP: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /wd4250: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /wd4251: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /wd4275: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /wd4675: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /wd4661: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /Zc:__cplusplus: No such file or directory
	cc1plus.exe: fatal error: /bigobj: No such file or directory

Trying to run the code on that build resulted in the following error:

In file included from C:/Users/Francesco/SOFA/v24.12.00/include/Sofa.Simulation.Core/sofa/simulation/config.h:24,
                 from C:/Users/Francesco/SOFA/v24.12.00/include/Sofa.Simulation.Core/sofa/simulation/Simulation.h:24,
                 from C:/Users/Francesco/SOFA/v24.12.00/include/Sofa.Simulation.Graph/sofa/simulation/graph/DAGSimulation.h:23,
                 from C:/Users/Francesco/CLionProjects/SOFA-test/Main.cpp:22:
C:/Users/Francesco/SOFA/v24.12.00/include/Sofa.Component.ODESolver.Forward/sofa/component/odesolver/forward/EulerSolver.h:26:1: error: expected constructor, destructor, or type conversion before '(' token
   26 | SOFA_HEADER_DEPRECATED("v24.12", "v25.06", "sofa/component/odesolver/forward/EulerExplicitSolver.h")
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

along with some warnings.

This is my CMakeLists.txt file:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.28)
project(SOFA-test)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "")
set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "")

list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "../../SOFA/v24.12.00")
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "C:/Qt/5.15.2/mingw81_64")
set(BOOST_ROOT "C:/local/boost_1_86_0")
set(EIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIR "C:/local/eigen-3.4.0")
find_package(Sofa.Framework REQUIRED)
find_package(Sofa.Simulation REQUIRED)
find_package(Sofa.Component REQUIRED)
find_package(Sofa.GUI REQUIRED)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} Main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(${CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME} Sofa.Simulation.Graph)
target_link_libraries(${CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME} Sofa.Component)
target_link_libraries(${CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME} Sofa.GUI)

add_compile_options(-Wall)
if(${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} STREQUAL "Release")
    add_compile_options(-o3)
elseif (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} STREQUAL "Debug")
    add_compile_options(-g)
    include(PrintVariables.txt)
endif()

PrintVariables.txt is a short file containing code that prints the values for all the variables, which I use for debugging and shouldn't make any difference (I get the same error when I build for release instead of debug anyway).
Also, this is the code I'm trying to run:

/******************************************************************************
*                 SOFA, Simulation Open-Framework Architecture                *
*                    (c) 2006 INRIA, USTL, UJF, CNRS, MGH                     *
*                                                                             *
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it     *
* under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free  *
* Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)   *
* any later version.                                                          *
*                                                                             *
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT *
* ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or       *
* FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for    *
* more details.                                                               *
*                                                                             *
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along     *
* with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.              *
*******************************************************************************
* Authors: The SOFA Team and external contributors (see Authors.txt)          *
*                                                                             *
* Contact information: contact@sofa-framework.org                             *
******************************************************************************/
#include <sofa/simulation/graph/DAGSimulation.h>
#include <sofa/simulation/graph/init.h>
#include <sofa/simulation/Node.h>
#include <sofa/component/statecontainer/MechanicalObject.h>
#include <sofa/component/mass/UniformMass.h>
#include <sofa/component/odesolver/forward/EulerSolver.h>
#include <sofa/component/visual/VisualStyle.h>
#include <sofa/core/objectmodel/Context.h>
#include <sofa/component/collision/geometry/SphereModel.h>
#include <sofa/core/VecId.h>
#include <sofa/gui/common/GUIManager.h>

#include <sofa/helper/accessor.h>

#include <sofa/component/init.h>
#include <sofa/gui/init.h>



using sofa::component::odesolver::forward::EulerExplicitSolver;
using namespace sofa::component::collision;
using sofa::core::objectmodel::Data;
using sofa::helper::ReadAccessor;
using sofa::helper::WriteAccessor;
using sofa::core::VecId;
using sofa::core::objectmodel::New;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// ---
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    SOFA_UNUSED(argc);
    sofa::component::init();

    // The graph root node
    sofa::simulation::graph::init();
    sofa::simulation::Node::SPtr groot = sofa::simulation::getSimulation()->createNewGraph("root");
    groot->setGravity({ 0,-10,0 });

    // One solver for all the graph
    auto solver = sofa::core::objectmodel::New<EulerExplicitSolver>();
    solver->setName("solver");
    solver->f_printLog.setValue(false);
    groot->addObject(solver);

    // One node to define the particle
    sofa::simulation::Node::SPtr particule_node = groot.get()->createChild("particle_node");
    // The particule, i.e, its degrees of freedom : a point with a velocity
    using MechanicalObject3 = sofa::component::statecontainer::MechanicalObject<sofa::defaulttype::Vec3Types>;
    auto dof = sofa::core::objectmodel::New<MechanicalObject3>();
    dof->setName("particle");
    particule_node->addObject(dof);
    dof->resize(1);
    // get write access the particle positions vector
    auto positions = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(VecId::position()));
    positions[0] = { 0,0,0 };
    // get write access the particle velocities vector
    auto velocities = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(VecId::velocity()));
    velocities[0] = { 0,0,0 };
    // show the particle
    dof->showObject.setValue(true);
    dof->showObjectScale.setValue(10.);

    // Its properties, i.e, a simple mass node
    using UniformMass3 = sofa::component::mass::UniformMass<sofa::defaulttype::Vec3Types>;
    auto mass = sofa::core::objectmodel::New<UniformMass3>();
    mass->setName("mass");
    particule_node->addObject(mass);
    mass->setMass( 1 );

    // Display Flags
    sofa::component::visual::VisualStyle::SPtr style = sofa::core::objectmodel::New<sofa::component::visual::VisualStyle>();
    groot->addObject(style);
    sofa::core::visual::DisplayFlags& flags = *style->d_displayFlags.beginEdit();
    flags.setShowBehaviorModels(true);
    flags.setShowCollisionModels(true);
    style->d_displayFlags.endEdit();

    sofa::simulation::node::initRoot(groot.get());
    groot->setAnimate(true);

    //======================================
    // Set up the GUI
    sofa::gui::init();
    sofa::gui::common::GUIManager::Init(argv[0], "qt");
    sofa::gui::common::GUIManager::createGUI(groot, "qt");
    sofa::gui::common::GUIManager::SetDimension(800,700);

    //=======================================
    // Run the main loop
    sofa::gui::common::GUIManager::MainLoop(groot);

    sofa::simulation::graph::cleanup();
    return 0;
}

It is an example I took from somewhere in the SOFA GitHub, to check if everything works.
Can you help me?
Thank you in advance.

[olivier-roussel]

Hi @FrancescoRusin,
I let the SOFA core devs complete this, but SOFA binaries for windows are compiled with Visual Studio, and you cannot mix them with GCC under minGW (at least, no without a lot of complications). You have to be on a Visual Studio environment (so use the VS2022 redistributables, see here: https://github.com/sofa-framework/sofa/releases/tag/v24.12.00).
If you have to use Windows, you should use Visual Studio to compile your software that uses SOFA as third party as well.

[FrancescoRusin]

As I do not want to use Visual Studio (I am used to CLion and I do not want to switch), I tried to build SOFA myself instead of using the binaries.
However, I ran into another problem.
I followed the instructions and tried to generate a Makefile; apart from some CMake warnings like CodeBlocks being deprecated, everything worked until I ran Ninja on the terminal, resulting in the following error:

[1/1691] Building CXX object Sofa/framework/Config/CMakeFiles/Sofa.Config.dir/src/sofa/initSofaConfig.cpp.obj
FAILED: Sofa/framework/Config/CMakeFiles/Sofa.Config.dir/src/sofa/initSofaConfig.cpp.obj
C:\msys64\mingw64\bin\c++.exe -DSOFA_BUILD_SOFA_CONFIG -DSOFA_BUILD__CONFIG -DSofa_Config_EXPORTS -IC:/Users/Francesco/sofa/src/Sofa/framework/Config/src -IC:/Users/Francesco/sofa/build/release/include/Sofa.Config -O3 -DNDEBUG -Wno-attributes -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wall -W -Wno-padded -D_USE_MATH_DEFINES -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE /MP /wd4250 /wd4251 /wd4275 /wd4675 /wd4661 /Zc:__cplusplus -MD -MT Sofa/framework/Config/CMakeFiles/Sofa.Config.dir/src/sofa/initSofaConfig.cpp.obj -MF Sofa\framework\Config\CMakeFiles\Sofa.Config.dir\src\sofa\initSofaConfig.cpp.obj.d -o Sofa/framework/Config/CMakeFiles/Sofa.Config.dir/src/sofa/initSofaConfig.cpp.obj -c C:/Users/Francesco/sofa/src/Sofa/framework/Config/src/sofa/initSofaConfig.cpp
c++.exe: warning: /MP: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /MP: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /wd4250: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /wd4250: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /wd4251: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /wd4251: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /wd4275: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /wd4275: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /wd4675: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /wd4675: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /wd4661: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /wd4661: linker input file not found: No such file or directory
c++.exe: warning: /Zc:__cplusplus: linker input file unused because linking not done
c++.exe: error: /Zc:__cplusplus: linker input file not found: No such file or directory

repeated more or less identical 16 times for other files, before the build stopped.
I see the same pattern as the previous error, but I am confused as the documentation specifically says to use this procedure if I want to use SOFA with a different IDE instead of Visual Studio.
I also tried to manually set the compiler and to just use Ninja instead of CodeBlocks - Ninja, but I still run into the same error.
Am I missing something?

[olivier-roussel]

You are still using mingw compiler, so you are having the same error: you can't compile with mingw compiler the SOFA binaries built with MSVC compiler.
Using the MSVC Visual Studio compiler does not involve necessary to use Visual Studio IDE. I am not using nor experienced with CLion IDE, but you should be able to use the Visual Studio MSVC compiler in CLion.
You can use Ninja as makefile generator (so using Ninja + Visual Studio MSVC compiler), this is independant of your problem (using the right compiler).

[FrancescoRusin]

Hello again, sorry for the delay (I was busy with more urgent matters).
I have switched back to the SOFA libraries, installed the VS compiler, and set it in CLion's toolchain, which solved the error.
Now the CMake build seems to work properly.
However, I am now getting another error when I try to run the program:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(399,22): error C2182: '__security_check_cookie': l'utilizzo di 'void' non è valido [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')
  
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(399,51): error C2065: 'uintptr_t': identificatore non dichiarato [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')
  
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(399,61): error C2146: errore di sintassi: ')' mancante prima dell'identificatore '_StackCookie' [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')
  
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(400,43): error C2182: '__report_gsfailure': l'utilizzo di 'void' non è valido [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')
  
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(400,43): error C3829: l'attributo [[noreturn]] pu├▓ essere applicato solo a una dichiarazione di funzione [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')
  
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.43.34808\include\vcruntime.h(400,67): error C2065: 'uintptr_t': identificatore non dichiarato [C:\Users\Francesco\CLionProjects\SOFA-test\cmake-build-debug-vs\SOFA-test.vcxproj]
  (compilazione del file di origine '../Main.cpp')

This goes on some more, but it is all very similar text over and over.
I am sorry for the Italian, but as far as I understand these should all be syntax errors, in fact the IDE marks some parts of the main as errors (even though it did not before); with the main being an official example, I am fairly sure there should not be syntax errors in it, so what am I missing?

[bakpaul]

Your errors are really strange. I never encountered such errors. Could you provide the full print that is displayed after you start the program ?

[FrancescoRusin]

Error.pdf
Here it is.

[FrancescoRusin]

Sadly, no.
Seeing no improvement, in these months I have been working on other things.

[hugtalbot]

Hi @FrancescoRusin

Do you have your environment variable SOFA_ROOT defined ? could you also add it in your Path ?
Have you asked some support to GPT (sorry for this last-chance suggestion)

[FrancescoRusin]

I decided to give it another try last week and after various days of mostly trial and error, including a lot of conversations with ChatGPT and a lot of cursing, I think I understand what the problem is: even though I explicitly set up my environment to work with the VS toolchain, CMake still auto detected MinGW somewhere (I am still not sure where) and this lead to a mismatch in the header files, which in turn lead to the errors above.
I solved the problem by removing all the references to my MinGW environment from the path, which is a pretty debatable solution but it worked.
However, the base example still does not work; the error points to the lines:
auto positions = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(VecId::position()));
auto velocities = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(VecId::velocity()));
as apparently they reference deleted functions; as it was not so straightforward even to find that specific example, can you provide me with a working one?
Thank you in advance.

[FrancescoRusin]

I have another update!
I changed the problematic lines to:
auto positions = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(sofa::core::vec_id::write_access::position));
auto velocities = sofa::helper::getWriteAccessor(*dof->write(sofa::core::vec_id::write_access::velocity));
as suggested by a debug message that I found in in the SOFA code that was not showing in the output for some reason; that, along with a bit of tweaking with my environmental variables (I had to set the SOFA_ROOT and SOFA_PLUGIN_PATH variables in my environment to the SOFA root and lib directories), solved all the compile time and link time issues.
However, the program is still not working.
It correctly loads all the plugins, but it crashes immediately after.
Via debug mode, I was able to trace the error to the line:
solver->f_printLog.setValue(false);
the debugger says that it throws an exception for "Access violation reading location 0x000000e7"; I am not an expert on this, but I think it means that I am trying to dereference a pointer that has not been initialized yet.
Does this happen because my example is outdated?
Anyway, I commented out that line to see if everything else was in order, and it is not.
I am getting another error on the line:
sofa::simulation::Node::SPtr particule_node = groot.get()->createChild("particle_node");
but here the debugger just says that an exception has been thrown without giving me any additional information.

[hugtalbot]

HI @FrancescoRusin

Indeed, the VecId error message was suggesting this change 👍
About the crash, it seems strange to be that it relates to the printLog data.
Same for the createChild which looks good to me

@bakpaul any thought?

[github-actions[bot]]

⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️
@FrancescoRusin
Feedback has been given to you by the project reviewers, however we have not received a response from you. Without further news in the coming weeks, this discussion will be automatically closed in order to keep this forum clean and fresh 🌱 Thank you for your understanding