C++ link error, symbol redefinition - visual-c++

Question

I came across a problem recently.
I have three files, A.h, B.cpp, C.cpp:
A.h
#ifndef __A_H__
#define __A_H__
int M()
{
return 1;
}
#endif // __A_H__
B.cpp
#include "A.h"
C.cpp
#include "A.h"
As I comile the three files by MSVC, there is a error:
C.obj : error LNK2005: "int __cdecl M(void)" (?M##YAHXZ) already defined in B.obj
It is easy understanding, as we know, B.obj has a symbol named "M", also C.obj has a "M".
Here the error comes.
However, if I change M method to a class which contain a method M like this below:
A.h
#ifndef __A_H__
#define __A_H__
class CA
{
public:
int M()
{
return 1;
}
};
#endif // __A_H__
there is no more errors!! Could somebody tell me what is happening?

Answer 1

If B.cpp and C.cpp include A.h, then both are compiled with your definition of M, so both object files will contain code for M. When the linker gathers all the functions, he sees that M is defined in two object files and does not know which one to use. Thus the linker raises an LNK2005.
If you put your function M into a class declaration, then the compiler marks/handles M as an inline function. This information is written into the object file. The linker sees that both object files contain a definition for an inline version of CA::M, so he assumes that both are equal and picks up randomly one of the two definitions.
If you had written
class CA {
public:
int M();
};
int CA::M()
{
return 1;
}
this would have caused the same problems (LNK2005) as your initial version, because then CA::M would not have been inline any more.
So as you might guess by now, there are two solutions for you. If you want M to be inlined, then change your code to
__inline int M()
{
return 1;
}
If you don't care about inlining, then please do it the standard way and put the function declaration into the header file:
extern int M();
And put the function definition into a cpp file (for A.h this would ideally be A.cpp):
int M()
{
return 1;
}
Please note that the extern is not really necessary in the header file.
Another user suggested that you write
static int M()
{
return 1;
}
I'd not recommend this. This would mean that the compiler puts M into both of your object files and marks M as being a function that is only visible in each object file itself. If the linker sees that a function in B.cpp calls M, it finds M in B.obj and in C.obj. Both have M marked as static, so the linker ignores M in C.obj and picks the M from B.obj. Vice versa if a function in C.cpp calls M, the linker picks the M from C.obj. You will end up with multiple definitions of M, all with the same implementation. This is a waste of space.

Answer 2

See http://faculty.cs.niu.edu/~mcmahon/CS241/c241man/node90.html how to do ifdef guards. You have to start with ifndef before the define.
Edit: Ah no, while your guard is wrong that's not the issue. Put static in front of your function to make it work. Classes are different because they define types.

Answer 3

I don't know what's under the hood, but if you don't need a class I guess that the compiler will automatically add the "extern" key to your functions, so you'll get the error including the header 2 times.
You can add the static keyword to M() method so you'll have only one copy of that function in memory and no errors at compile time.
By the way: I see you have a #endif, but not a #ifdef or #ifndef, is it a copy/paste error?