23.2. Checking for the Existence of Header Files

23.2. Checking for the Existence of Header Files
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Testing the existence of a header file requires knowing what language the header file is. A configure context has a CheckCHeader method that checks for the existence of a C header file:

env = Environment()
conf = Configure(env)
if not conf.CheckCHeader('math.h'):
    print 'Math.h must be installed!'
    Exit(1)
if conf.CheckCHeader('foo.h'):
    conf.env.Append('-DHAS_FOO_H')
env = conf.Finish()

Note that you can choose to terminate the build if a given header file doesn't exist, or you can modify the construction environment based on the existence of a header file.

If you need to check for the existence a C++ header file, use the CheckCXXHeader method:

env = Environment()
conf = Configure(env)
if not conf.CheckCXXHeader('vector.h'):
    print 'vector.h must be installed!'
    Exit(1)
env = conf.Finish()