endian.h not found on mac osx

Question

I meet some trouble when I compile some C code on my mac which give me this error :

fatal error: 'endian.h' file not found

I did some google search about this problem.It seems like mac os x does not have header files like "endian.h", we have to create this file manually.

Then, I found this http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/CarbonHeaders/CarbonHeaders-18.1/Endian.h which might be the file I am looking for but not sure.

But more troubles are coming.. where should I put this file?

The file /usr/include does not exist.

These are the folders in my /usr directory:

X11 bin libexec share X11R6 lib sbin standalone

Could anyone help me to check the correctness of the endian.h file I found and tell me where to put this file in my mac please?

Answer 1

Xcode on OS X does not install the command-line tools by default. Depending on your Xcode and OS X version you have to

• install the command line tools from the Xcode Preferences->Downloads window, or
• execute xcode-select --install from the Terminal command-line.

This will also install the "/usr/include" files, including "/usr/include/machine/endian.h".

For Xcode 10 and later, see Camille G.'s answer.

Answer 2

I just used <machine/endian.h> rather than <endian.h>.

It works.

As said in the first comment, endian.h is in /usr/include/machine/ folder.

Answer 3

Download and install the Command Line Tools (macOS 10.X) for XCode 10.X from Apple : https://developer.apple.com/download/more/

Since MacOS 10.14 this will not create anymore the /usr/include folder. This require the installation of an extra package that you could find on your computer after having installed the command-line tools :

/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/Packages/macOS_SDK_headers_for_macOS_10.14.pkg

Answer 4

I had a similar issue today. To solve the problem I did make a file named endian.h at /usr/local/include/endian.h that contains

#ifndef __FINK_ENDIANDEV_PKG_ENDIAN_H__
#define __FINK_ENDIANDEV_PKG_ENDIAN_H__ 1

/** compatibility header for endian.h
 * This is a simple compatibility shim to convert
 * BSD/Linux endian macros to the Mac OS X equivalents.
 * It is public domain.
 * */

#ifndef __APPLE__
    #warning "This header file (endian.h) is MacOS X specific.\n"
#endif  /* __APPLE__ */


#include <libkern/OSByteOrder.h>

#define htobe16(x) OSSwapHostToBigInt16(x)
#define htole16(x) OSSwapHostToLittleInt16(x)
#define be16toh(x) OSSwapBigToHostInt16(x)
#define le16toh(x) OSSwapLittleToHostInt16(x)

#define htobe32(x) OSSwapHostToBigInt32(x)
#define htole32(x) OSSwapHostToLittleInt32(x)
#define be32toh(x) OSSwapBigToHostInt32(x)
#define le32toh(x) OSSwapLittleToHostInt32(x)

#define htobe64(x) OSSwapHostToBigInt64(x)
#define htole64(x) OSSwapHostToLittleInt64(x)
#define be64toh(x) OSSwapBigToHostInt64(x)
#define le64toh(x) OSSwapLittleToHostInt64(x)


#endif  /* __FINK_ENDIANDEV_PKG_ENDIAN_H__ */

gist is

https://gist.github.com/dendisuhubdy/19482135d26da86cdcf442b3724e0728

or just change the the header pointing to endian.h instead to

#if defined(OS_MACOSX)
  #include <machine/endian.h>
#elif defined(OS_SOLARIS)
  #include <sys/isa_defs.h>
  #ifdef _LITTLE_ENDIAN
    #define LITTLE_ENDIAN
  #else
    #define BIG_ENDIAN
  #endif
#elif defined(OS_FREEBSD) || defined(OS_OPENBSD) || defined(OS_NETBSD) ||\
      defined(OS_DRAGONFLYBSD)
  #include <sys/types.h>
  #include <sys/endian.h>
#else
  #include <endian.h>
#endif