Action name: LoadHeaderFileThis command allows you to apply type declarations from a C header file to the program.
IDA reads and parses the specified header file as a C compiler does. In other words, it mimics the front-end of a C compiler with some restrictions:
- only type declarations are allowed. The function definitions
in the input file are skipped
- not all C++ header files are not supported, only simple classes can
be parsed
- the compiler specific predefined macros are not defined,
you have to define them manually in the header file
Don't forget to specify the compiler and memory model in
the compiler setup dialog box before loading a header file.
All type declarations found in the input file are stored in the current database in the form of a type library. These type declarations can be used to define new structure and enumeration definitions by pressing "Add standard structure" or "Add standard enum" buttons in the Add enum type... and Add struct type... dialog boxes.
In the case of an error in the input file, the error messages appear in the message window. In any case, the function declarations that are already parsed are not deleted from the database. IDA stops parsing the input file when 20 errors occur.
IDA 7.7 introduced an alternative header file parser based on libclang.
See also Load... submenu commands. Local types window IDAClang plugin