i want to be able to type a simple compile command like : g++ -o myprogram mycode.cpp for my program to compile.
however, my mycode.cpp depends on a library.

1 the library is installed in /usr/local/include/foo-library-0.3/foo-library/

2.the library is also installed in /usr/local/lib/ which has entries for libfoo.a, libfoo.la, libfoo.so etc.

If i try to compile my program, i get error that the headers for foo.h etc are not declared and there is no such file or directory.

What do I need to do to get this program to compile? At the lowest level, i want to type in my compile commands myself. Do I need to change the paths for my shell, linker and g++?
I have tried reading stuff about 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH' & compiler flags etc, but i dont understand them. Can you give me sure fire entries that I should add to set my paths right if i need to do this?

I don't know how you include your header files though, is it like <foo-library-0.3/foo-library/foo.h> or <foo.h> ?

That may be a bit of a problem.
Understanding preprocessor directives, linker options and makefiles is a rather fundamental part of learning to develop programs.

I'm not sure anyone can really give you explicit command-line options for your case without more information but, in general, you can specify directories to be searched for header files with the -I option, and directories to be searched for libraries with the -L option, and specific libraries to be linked with the -l option.

Of course, this assumes that you have specified the proper preprocessor directives in your source files so it knows what header files to include.

There are other options than the command line if you wish to include directories in the linker and/or preprocessor search paths. ldconfig will help you set some defaults for library paths, for instance.

thanks guys, this is what i have tried:

$ g++ -o ttt -I/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ -L/usr/local/lib TicTacToe.cpp
In file included from /usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/display.h:61,
from TicTacToeApp.h:4,
from TicTacToe.cpp:2:
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/Display/keys.h:352:24: error: X11/keysym.h: No such file or directory
In file included from TicTacToeApp.h:5,
from TicTacToe.cpp:2:
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/gl.h:53:19: error: GL/gl.h: No such file or directory
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/gl.h:54:20: error: GL/glu.h: No such file or directory
In file included from /usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/gl.h:59,
from TicTacToeApp.h:5,
from TicTacToe.cpp:2:
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/GL/opengl_window.h:56:22: error: X11/Xlib.h: No such file or directory
In file included from /usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/gl.h:59,
from TicTacToeApp.h:5,
from TicTacToe.cpp:2:
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/GL/opengl_window.h:101: error: ISO C++ forbids declaration of 'Display' with no type
/usr/local/include/ClanLib-0.8/ClanLib/GL/opengl_window.h:101: error: expected ';' before '*' token
$

Whats wrong here? someone said i probably need to include other libaries as well - but that does not make sense to me.

Also Is there a way to setup anjuta ide to do this automatically?

--------------full code listing---------------
// the .h file)
// Include necessary CL header files
#include <ClanLib/core.h>
#include <ClanLib/display.h>
#include <ClanLib/gl.h>
#include <ClanLib/application.h>

class TicTacToeApp : public CL_ClanApplication {

public:
TicTacToeApp();
~TicTacToeApp();

virtual int main(int, char **);
};
-----------------source code----------------
// Implementation (for the .cpp file)
#include "TicTacToeApp.h"

// This application instance is required or the app will not run
TicTacToeApp applicationInstance;

// Constructor
TicTacToeApp::TicTacToeApp() {}

// Destructor
TicTacToeApp::~TicTacToeApp() {}

int TicTacToeApp::main(int, char **) {

// Create a console window for text-output if not available
CL_ConsoleWindow console("TicTacToeApp Console");
console.redirect_stdio();

try {
// CL initialization functions
// These must be called or CL functions will not work
// Also, SetupCore must be init()'ed first and denit()'ed last
CL_SetupCore::init();
CL_SetupDisplay::init();
CL_SetupGL::init();

// Set display mode
CL_DisplayWindow window("TicTacToeApp", 500, 450);

// CL deinitialization functions
CL_SetupGL::deinit();
CL_SetupDisplay::deinit();
CL_SetupCore::deinit();
} catch (CL_Error err) {
std::cout << "Exception caught: " << err.message.c_str() << std::endl;

// Display console close message and wait for a key
console.display_close_message();
}

return 0;

assuming you have the clanlib-config program installed (should be if you have the lib)

this didnt work. the script clanlib-config was afaik for clanlib 0-6 only. my version is 0.8. but this is a real simple 'example' program and i really do need to be able to compile it by hand ideally.
i also going to use anjuta ide - ive made a start reading the manual but unless i know the how & why of the command line syntax - i cant even have much hope of setting up anjuta to automatically do builds.
thanks for trying to help anyway.

you really ought to deploy a makefile. Life is much simpler once you have done that.

Failing that, you should study the utility pkg-config. If the library you need has a .pc file (usually in /usr/lib/pkgconfig or /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig) then you can include all the libs like this (note that I am using backquotes - the unshifted ~ key):

g++ -o myprogram `pkg-config --cflags --libs myneededlib` myprogram.c

Note that "myneededlib" would be known on disk as "libmyneededlib.so" - you would skip the initial lib and all suffixes.

This will pick up all your dependencies and give you a good compile IF the library has a proper .pc file (most do).