can never find my downloaded libraries in IDE`

whenever i download libraries they never show up in the IDE ,such as this d/l

from github


To download, click the DOWNLOAD ZIP button, uncompress and rename the uncompressed folder Adafruit_GFX. Confirm that the Adafruit_GFX folder contains Adafruit_GFX.cpp and Adafruit_GFX.h

Place the Adafruit_GFX library folder your /Libraries/ folder. You may need to create the Libraries subfolder if its your first library. Restart the IDE.


what should the tree look like ?
i copy and paste the files all over the IDE libs but they never show up anywhere when i start up the IDE and are nowhere to be seen ,i have had this happen before and lose the libs ,god knows where they go but they never show up in the IDE when i start it up .
they are shown in the win7 dirs but dont show when IDE is started up so i can use them ..

You need to restart the arduino IDE after you have added the folder to the libraries folder. Do you have one? It is normally in the same folder level as the My Software folder.

i did that , there seems to be libs all over the place so i copied the files to all of them but to no avail .
the file types agree with the ones already there so they appear to be in the right sub folders ..

there seems to be libs all over the place

It should have the specific name 'libraries' no more and no less. In that there should be a folder with the name of the library and that should contain the code.
Here is an example path but all be it from my Mac:-

/Users/myaccount/Documents/Arduino/libraries/CapSense/CapSense.h

i download 2 compressed files from github and uncompress them into my libraries folder ,one shows up in the IDE and the other 1 doesnt .

ie

To download, click the DOWNLOAD ZIP button, uncompress and rename the uncompressed folder Adafruit_GFX. Confirm that the Adafruit_GFX folder contains Adafruit_GFX.cpp and Adafruit_GFX.h

this is all in the win directory but doesnt show up in the IDE

this one does show up >>

To download. click the DOWNLOADS button in the top right corner, rename the uncompressed folder Adafruit_ST7735. Check that the Adafruit_ST7735 folder contains Adafruit_ST7735.cpp and Adafruit_ST7735.

Place the Adafruit_ST7735 library folder your /libraries/ folder. You may need to create the libraries subfolder if its your first library. Restart the IDE

Also requires the Adafruit_GFX library for Arduino.

so the examples dont run ,but all the libs and files are in the respective folders as the github advice

To download, click the DOWNLOAD ZIP button, uncompress and rename the uncompressed folder Adafruit_GFX. Confirm that the Adafruit_GFX folder contains Adafruit_GFX.cpp and Adafruit_GFX.h

this is all in the win directory but doesnt show up in the IDE

It should not be in the win directory but the same one as your Adafruit_ST7735 directory is in. Namely the /libraries/ folder. It is only libraries here that will show up.

let me rephrase that ,the two downloaded files from github are unzipped into the libraries file and are one above each other in the arduino libraries folder ,with all the other libraries such as

here

Adafruit_GFX (new addition)
Adafruit_ST7735 (new addition)
EEPROM
ETHERNET
Firmata
LiquidCrystal
SD
Servo
SoftwareSerial
SPI
Stepper
Wire

but when start up the IDE the Adafruit_GFX file is not seen in the IDE
so the examples wont run

knuckles:
let me rephrase that ,the two downloaded files from github are unzipped into the libraries file and are one above each other in the arduino libraries folder ,with all the other libraries such as

here

Adafruit_GFX (new addition)
Adafruit_ST7735 (new addition)
EEPROM
ETHERNET
Firmata
LiquidCrystal
SD
Servo
SoftwareSerial
SPI
Stepper
Wire

but when start up the IDE the Adafruit_GFX file is not seen in the IDE
so the examples wont run

What are the file names listed in the Adafruit_GFX folder when you open the folder using windows explorer?

Lefty

they look the same as the github contents

an examples folder
a c++adafruit_Gfx file
a h adafruit_gfx file
a c glcdfont file
license
and readme file

Mine looks like this, case is important.

lib.png

yep the case is ok and i checked the contents of the C files etc with the contents of the C files on github and theyre the same .theres nothing missing .

Well all I can think of is to reinstall the IDE.

Sorry about quizzing you in detail but a lot of people asking here don't get where they should be. Just to be sure do a search in you computer for one of the files that do show up and make sure you only have one of them in the machine.

when i go to sketch >import library i can import the GFX file ,but it wont work when an example is pasted in .but when i go to File>examples its not listed along with the ST7735 and the examples

knuckles:
but when start up the IDE the Adafruit_GFX file is not seen in the IDE
so the examples wont run

You don't mention the My Sketches directory, and that may be the problem. When you get the package from github or w.h.y., the library can go with all the other libraries e.g. E:\Arduino\arduino-1.0.1\libraries.

The examples from the package may go in E:\Arduino\My Sketches.

You can delve into the package or the \examples folder in the library from the IDE's OPEN menu and open the bare .ino file. When you save it, it goes automatically to its own folder in \My Sketches.

Only the out-of-the-box examples are in \Examples. All your stuff is in \My Sketches. This includes a sketch you accessed from the examples menu in the iDE and then edited.

So: two folder for sketches - yours and theirs
one folder for libraries.

You only have to go through this tedium once.......