Article ID: 37507 - Last Review: September 17, 2003 - Revision: 3.0

PRB: "Floating-point Support Not Loaded" Error with scanf()

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This article was previously published under Q37507

SYMPTOMS

When an application uses the scanf() function to read a floating-point value from the console into an uninitialized "float" type global variable, an R6002 "floating-point format support not loaded" error occurs. This error also occurs when any formatted input routine is used to read a value.

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CAUSE

The compiler does not generate a reference to the __fltused variable that instructs the linker to load the floating-point support module.

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RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, initialize the floating-point variable or use the variable in an expression in the routine that contains the scanf() call.

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STATUS

This behavior is expected. To minimize the size of the executable file, the compiler loads floating-point support only when it is required.

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MORE INFORMATION

When a module uses only one of the formatted input routines and does not also initialize a floating-point variable, the compiler does not load floating-point support.

Remove the comment indication from either or both of the two lines in the sample code below to eliminate the R6002 error.

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Sample Code

   /*
    * Compile options needed: none
    */ 

   #include <stdio.h>
   float x ;

   main()
   {
   // Remove the comment from the next line to eliminate the error.
   // x = 2.3 ;

      scanf ("%f", &x) ;

   // Remove the comment from the next line to eliminate the error.
   // printf ("%f\n", x) ;
   }

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