Dear all: in gcc document there is an option as -nostdinc Do not search the standard system directories for header files. Only the directories you have specified with -I options (and the directory of the current file, if appropriate) are searched Is that used to tell where the headers that gcc can get the size of some already define data types? If my assumption is correct, is there any command or options I can use to check where is the path that my gcc search for, since I always get error messages as "cannot find stddef.h" ? I have type "gcc -v" but i have no idea which one can tell me where the stdinc path it looks for? appreciate your help, miloody