[RESOLVED] New 'LNK2019: unresolved external' Error

[jimmiller96]

I have an existing VS C++ console application that I have been updating over the past couple of days. This morning I added a new function to one of the classes, and suddenly started getting this error when building:

error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: char * __thiscall mFormatDef::ByteFormat(__int64,int,enum siCalcFormat,enum siDisplayFormat,int)" (?ByteFormat@mFormatDef@@QAEPAD_JHW4siCalcFormat@@W4siDisplayFormat@@H@Z) referenced in function "void __cdecl ShowStuff(void)" (?ShowStuff@@YAXXZ)

I have verified the definition, all variables, etc, and still can't figure out where the problem is coming from. I have changed the name of the function, variable types and count, same issue. I jumped over to Borland C++ Builder for testing, it compiles the code fine. I created a new VS C++ project including the class and making random calls to the function, compiles and runs fine.

I have 'cleaned' the project, deleted all non-code files, rebuilt all, same linker error. I am out of ideas. Does anyone have any thoughts on anything I may have missed? Anything to check? Anything at all???

Any help will be appreciated! Thanks,
Jim

[Paul McKenzie]

I have 'cleaned' the project, deleted all non-code files, rebuilt all, same linker error.

We don't have your project, so we can't tell you what you're doing wrong.

Does anyone have any thoughts on anything I may have missed?

The only thing to tell you as that you're doing something wrong, or your project is messed up.

Just start over and create a new project. If it still is occurring, then there is something else that you are not aware of that you're not doing. The linker doesn't lie.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[jimmiller96]

We don't have your project, so we can't tell you what you're doing wrong.

I have stripped down the components to the bare minimum, the following will compile, but will still prevent a successful link.

Definition:

enum siDisplayFormat2 {siNOLETTER2 = 0, siMB2, siMIB2}; 
enum siCalcFormat2 {si10002, si10242}; 

class mFmtDef
{
  public:
	char*	ByteFormat(__int64 Number, int iDigits, siCalcFormat2 siCFmt = si10242, siDisplayFormat2 siDFmt = siMB2, bool bIncLetters = false);
};

char* mFmtDef::ByteFormat(__int64 Number, int iDigits, siCalcFormat siCFmt, siDisplayFormat siDFmt, bool bIncLetters)
{
	char *sz = 0;
	return sz;
}

Usage:

mFmtDef mFmt;
mFmt.ByteFormat(1000000, 2, si10242, siMB2, true);

ShowStuff function

void ShowStuff(void)
{
    mFormatDef mFmt;
    __int64 i64Size = 2 ^ 30;  //1 TiB

    //Print out UNformatted size of file
    printf("Bytes= %I64d \n", i64Size);

    //Print out formatted size of file
    printf("Total Size= %s \n", mFmt.ByteFormat(i64Size, 2, si10242, siMB2, true));

}

(As I mentioned at the beginning, this class compiles and links just fine in Borland C++ Builder. I don't receive any warnings with with compiler, but VS2008 complains during the link. Doubly strange!)

I initially thought the enums were messing things up, but switching everything to int and removing the enums doesn't improve the situation. I have other member functions in this class which compile and link without error. I also created a new VS project, but no improvement.

What am I doing wrong here? Hopefully it's just some very stupid mistake, but I am totally stumped!

Thanks for your time.
Jim

[TheCPUWizard]

What am I doing wrong here? Hopefully it's just some very stupid mistake, but I am totally stumped!

You are NOT using code tags, which renders your post too difficult to bother reading.

If you EDIT your post (not make another post) that is properly tagged and formatted) I am confident that someone willl spot the problem.

[krmed]

From what I understand of your post, you're trying to call a class member function

public: char * __thiscall mFormatDef::ByteFormat(__int64,int,enum siCalcFormat,enum siDisplayFormat,int)

from a non-class function

void __cdecl ShowStuff(void)

If you post the code contained in the ShowStuff function, it may help us see what's going wrong, but generally you can not directly call a class member function from a non-class member function (unless the class member function is static).

Hope that helps.

[Lindley]

Um, are siDisplayFormat and siDisplayFormat2 different types?

[jimmiller96]

Yes, same types, just different revisions from many different attempts. My latest rev looks like this:

char* mFormatDef::ByteFormat(__int64 Number, int iDigits, int  siCFmt, int  siDFmt, bool bIncLetters)
{
}

and calling it with

    printf("Total Size= %s \n", mFmt.ByteFormat(i64Size, 2, 1, 0, true));

Same problem whether using enums or ints.

[jimmiller96]

Well, it's been a few days of trying everything under the sun, and still no success. Here's the latest:

- I create a new blank VS project and use the same class code: Success
- I include and utilize the class in a new Borland project: Success
- I re-create my original project, include all the same files: Failure

I can't figure out why I am getting a link error with this one project. It almost seems like something from one of the source files is causing the problem, but the problem started in this project once I created the new class function. And it links successfully in other projects, and in other (and the same) compilers. The problem seems illogical, but I can't figure what is going here... I am totally stuck!

Any more thoughts? I am willing to try anything!!!

Thanks

[Lindley]

Perhaps you have an old declaration for the function lying around, which differs slightly from the actual definition. Check your header files. If the declaration is close enough to be convertible from how you use it but doesn't match the definition, this sort of thing could happen.

I would do a "Search in entire solution" for ByteFormat. Barring that turning up anything, I'd right-click on *any* #include of the header in question and say "open this file"-----just to make sure you really are including the revision of that header you *think* you're including.

[jimmiller96]

Resolved, Finally!!!!

As expected, it was something quite stupid. I have an old header file from DOS days that declared unknown types, including bool. This header file was being included from one of the source files, and redefined the parameter of type bool to int, which prevented the linker from properly identifying the member function.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, they kept me sane when I felt I was starting to lose it. Hopefully I will be able to prevent someone else from wasting a week of their life as well.

Thanks again!
Jim