BulletPhysics: Error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol

Question

i tried to complete this tutorial to create a test app with bullet physics. I followed every step and did not change anything else. OS is Windows 8.1 (64bit), Visual Studio 2013. When i try to Debug or Release i get the following error:

BulletTestApp.cpp

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "btBulletDynamicsCommon.h"

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
btBoxShape* box = new btBoxShape(btVector3(1, 1, 1));
return 0;
}

Debug

1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""void * __cdecl btAlignedAllocInternal(unsigned int,int)" (?btAlignedAllocInternal@@YAPAXIH@Z)" in Funktion ""public: static void * __cdecl btBoxShape::operator new(unsigned int)" (??2btBoxShape@@SAPAXI@Z)".
1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""void __cdecl btAlignedFreeInternal(void *)" (?btAlignedFreeInternal@@YAXPAX@Z)" in Funktion ""public: static void __cdecl btBoxShape::operator delete(void *)" (??3btBoxShape@@SAXPAX@Z)".
1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""public: __thiscall btBoxShape::btBoxShape(class btVector3 const &)" (??0btBoxShape@@QAE@ABVbtVector3@@@Z)" in Funktion "_wmain".

Release

1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2001: Nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol     ""void * __cdecl btAlignedAllocInternal(unsigned int,int)" (?btAlignedAllocInternal@@YAPAXIH@Z)".
1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2001: Nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""void __cdecl btAlignedFreeInternal(void *)" (?btAlignedFreeInternal@@YAXPAX@Z)".
1>BulletTestApp.obj : error LNK2001: Nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""public: __thiscall btBoxShape::btBoxShape(class btVector3 const &)" (??0btBoxShape@@QAE@ABVbtVector3@@@Z)"

while "Nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol" is "unresolved external symbol". How can i fix this issue?

Answer 1

This error means that the functions (eg. btAlignedAllocInternal(...) ) is found in the header, but no implementation (source code) was found. You either need the .lib or the .dll (or maybe the .cpp file) which implements this functions. This file must be in a folder known to your project. The linker can not find these files, so your linker errors occur. The following post might help: How to link a DLL in Visual Studio

Edit: You should try the shipped Visual Studio Project which contains all configuration properly: ...\bullet-2.81-rev2613\build\vs2010. VS 2013 automatically imports this to the newer version.