title: Cannot install Flex (lexical analyser) on Windows, unable to find comprehensive instructions
body: <p>I'm taking a class on Flex/Bison at University this semester, and I'm having serious issues trying to get Flex working. (Possibly due to my own inaptitude, but I'm finding a solution very, very difficult to research) </p>
  
  <p>I am trying to use the Command Prompt to navigate to a file containing a .l (Lex) file and then use Flex to generate a .yy file <code>flex -ooutputfile.yy.c inputfile.l</code></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>I downloaded the windows version of Flex from <a href="http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/flex.htm" rel="noreferrer">http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/flex.htm</a> </p></li>
  <li><p>I checked to make sure I had the appropriate .dlls (as mentioned in the installation instructions here <a href="http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/install.html" rel="noreferrer">http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/install.html</a>) </p></li>
  <li><p>I downloaded Visual Studio 2008 via Dreamspark and installed it (from which point on I used Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt) </p></li>
  <li><p>I installed Cygwin at someone's suggestion </p></li>
  <li><p>I installed Perl after noticing the Requirements (as mentioned here <a href="http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/install.html" rel="noreferrer">http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/install.html</a>) list 'perl, etc.' </p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>After each and every attempt at a solution I continue to receive the message <code>'flex' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.</code></p>
  
  <p>I've spent several hours searching however I am at a loss. I've been unable to find any comprehensive instructions on how to install Flex or on it's requirements / dependencies... Any help would be much appreciated!</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>I added C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin to the PATH environment variables, System Variables. I am still getting the same error. (The location where flex.exe is located) </li>
  </ul>