strange error returning template class from member function

When I do this:

// header file:

#include <list>

using namespace std;

class myClass {

list<int> myMethod();
};

// cpp file:

list<int> myClass::myMethod() {


}

In the cpp file, 'myMethod' is underlined in red and when I hover over it, it says:

"std::list<int, std::allocator<int>> myClass::myMethod()

Error: declaration is incompatible with "<error-type> myClass::myMethod()""

But when I make it as a standalone function, outside a class, with no pre-declaration, there is no problem.

What's going on?

Thanks in advance.

That should work. Have you typed that or did you cut & paste from your actual code?

When posting code please embed it in code tags to preserve the indentation [code]Paste code here[/code]

Oh, one more thing. You should never ever add using namespace to a header. In this case you should instead use std::list<int>

btw, my IDE is visual c++ 2010 express

I typed it in. Thanks for the tips.

hmmm, it works now that I have explicitly included <list> instead of just these:

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <boost\regex.hpp>
#include <math.h>
#include <time.h>

I don't know which one it was in, but it must have been in one of the top 3, because when I tried to use a method of a list, my IDE showed a list of the methods of std::list. So including <list> shouldn't have made any difference. Any one understand why it did, or might have?

Yes that might be a bit confusing. When you hover over your code it's the intellisense that provides you with all details, not the compiler/linker. Sometimes it's dead stupid and finds nothing but sometimes it's very smart like this time. I.e. even though you hadn't included list the intellisense guessed it was std::list you meant so it provided that info for you.

In that case it should have given me a far simpler error message: it should have simply underlined like so:

list<int> myMethod();

In the declaration in the class. That's what it would normally do if you tried to use an undefined type.

Hard to tell what did go wrong without having the real code. Usually I find MSVC (and also other compilers) to provide quite resonable errors these days. You should have seen them +10 years ago... :cry:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by demma

In that case it should have given me a far simpler error message: it should have simply underlined like so:

list<int> myMethod();

In the declaration in the class. That's what it would normally do if you tried to use an undefined type.

---

Again, this feature is not the compiler/linker. So, as SMA said, it may be "smarter" then you, thinking that you are going to include the proper standard header file.

This is also one of the reasons I don't use Intellisense. It just annoys the crap out of me!

Viggy