Link errorLNK2005 in VC++ - visual-c++

I have a programme I which I want to implement button class. I have declared all my variable in button.h and defined all methods in button.cpp and I am calling these functions in WINMAIN the following error appears.
keylogger.obj : error LNK2005: "struct HBITMAP__ * hOldBmp" (?hOldBmp##3PAUHBITMAP__##A) already defined in Button.obj
The error is for multiple defination hOldBmp but It is only defined in button.h

"Only defined in button.h" is exactly your problem. Unless you declared it as extern there and put the definition into a C++ source file (not header file), every translation unit will get their own definition of the variable.

Seems like a common error: you include the implementation of this hOldBmp pointer from two .obj files, so from two cpp files. So both obj files contain code to implement this pointer. The linker cannot decide which implementation to use in the final binary.
Solution: leave only the declaration in the header file. You may declare it extern or make it a static member variable of the button class. Put the definition in the cpp file.

Related

Force stdcall for imported methods

I am trying to link against a dll, which is accompanied by a header file. Since there were no *.lib file available, I made one by manually creating a *.def file (Ref)
Now the problem is, my test program is __cdecl and the methods in the dll are __stdcall.
Is there a way to force __stdcall for specific methods when they are dynamically linked?
Even though its not an option, tried changing the calling convention (/Gd) to /Gz, but the name mangling came up saying the linker failed to find the slightly mangled method as shown below.
LNK2019 unresolved external symbol _TSTInitialize#24 referenced in function
The function signature in header file is,
#define TSTPERC_API /*__declspec( dllimport ) __stdcall */
TSTHandle cOpts;
//call native methods
TSTFunctionResult cResult = ::TSTInitialize(
p_strPathToLib.c_str(), p_strConfigStruct.c_str(), p_strLic.c_str(),
p_strRFU1.c_str(), p_strRFU2.c_str(), &cOpts );
Well, you don't force stdcall on methods with incorrect .def or incorrect .lib files.
The #24 in this case is the bytes on the stack the callee needs to cleanup. So there is no way around stripping it off (in case you do, then there is no way for the callee to know how many bytes to cleanup from the stack!! ).
The real problem was with the *.def file I created. The syntax is the other way around in my comment to #hans-passant,
TSTInitialize#24=TSTInitialize
This will make the correct export symbol, _TSTInitialize#24 in the lib file linker is looking for. This helps reverting the program to use /Gd instead of /Gz

How do decorated names get into import libraries when I only provide the undecorated name?

I'm working in Visual C++, VS2015 Community. I've written this tiny little DLL:
#include "stdafx.h"
int showMsgBox(wchar_t* caption, wchar_t* message)
{
MessageBox(NULL, message, caption, 0);
return 0;
}
And this tiny little client:
#include "stdafx.h"
__declspec(dllimport) int showMsgBox(wchar_t* caption, wchar_t* message);
int main()
{
showMsgBox(L"SimpleDLLClient", L"Hello DLL World!");
return 0;
}
To export the showMsgBox function, I've created this module definition file:
LIBRARY SimpleDLL
EXPORTS
showMsgBox
When I link my client, I pass it the import library that was created when I linked my DLL. Everything compiles and links fine.
And that puzzles me.
According to MSDN, "Because the Visual C++ compiler uses name decoration for C++ functions, you must either use the decorated name as the entryname or internalname, or define the exported functions by using extern "C" in the source code."
But I'm not exporting a decorated name, am I?
If, instead of using a module definition file, I were to prefix the function with the __declspec(dllexport) extended attribute, I wouldn't be surprised (as this ought to have whatever name decoration the compiler applies match the same decoration applied by the compiler to the client).
Likewise, if I prefixed the function with 'extern "C"' in both the DLL and client code, that should also work (and it does: I tested it), because, again, the symbols should match.
But, I would have expected an undecorated export in the module definition file to fail to resolve the client's reference to the same undecorated name, when neither the DLL nor client code uses 'extern "C",' which seems also to be what MSDN says I should expect. Yet, exporting the undecorated name via the module definition file does work, even when I do not use 'extern "C"' anywhere.
Can anyone tell me why this works?
UPDATE
Looking into the files created by the linker, I see that putting the undecorated name into the module definition file apparently results in the decorated name being included in the import library. When I use dumpbin /exports on that file, here's what I get:
File Type: LIBRARY
Exports
ordinal name
?showMsgBox##YAHPEA_W0#Z (int __cdecl showMsgBox(wchar_t *,wchar_t *))
Now, somewhat amazingly (to me, anyway), if I explicitly alias the decorated name, like this:
LIBRARY SimpleDLL
EXPORTS
showMsgBox=?showMsgBox##YAHPEA_W0#Z
dumpbin tells me that this is what shows up in the import library:
File Type: LIBRARY
Exports
ordinal name
showMsgBox
Using that as input to the linker when I build the client works fine too, provided that I use 'extern "C"' when I declare my imported function:
extern "C" int showMsgBox(wchar_t* caption, wchar_t* message);
That makes sense, since the symbol the linker is now looking for is the undecorated "showMsgBox," and I have aliased that symbol to the decorated name created when I compiled my DLL.
Soooo...
What it looks like to me is that pages and pages of MSDN documentation that all say you must use decorated names in module definitions files are mistaken. Rather, it appears that if you use the undecorated name in your module definition file, it is the decorated name that is actually incorporated into your import library, which will resolve the reference to the matching decorated name constructed when you compile your client code. That, of course, is what I would prefer, rather than having to extract the decorated names and use those in my module definition files. It just doesn't match what the MSDN pages repeatedly say.
I like to think I'm a bright boy, but it's pretty arrogant of anyone to suggest that Microsoft doesn't know how its own products work.
What am I missing here?
UPDATE 2
With the DLL and client both using decorated names (that is, no use of 'extern "C"' anywhere), everything builds fine with the undecorated name in the module defintion file, like I said. But, interestingly, with no changes at all to the source code, things build equally well if I do use the decorated name in the module definition file:
LIBRARY SimpleDLL
EXPORTS
?showMsgBox##YAHPEA_W0#Z
At the binary level, the import library this creates is nearly identical to the library created when I use the undecorated name in the module definition file. The only differences appear to be time-stamps, with the exception of one byte near the end. Still trying to make sense of that one, but it appears ever more certain that, somehow, the linker is exporting the decorated name, even when the module definition file refers solely to the undecorated name.

error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol "class"

I've a header file having a "extern class definition" in it. Both these header file and class are in different C++ assembly. Now there is a class in different C++ assembly which is trying to access this "extern" class functions but there are all sorts of linker errors such as LNK2001: unresolved external symbol " class LMSystem LM"(?LM##3VLMSystem##A),LNK2019 etc.
Following is the code snippet:for CPP file
/This header file contains the extern reference/
#include "../lm/lm.h"
BOOL FDInitHW (void)
{
char pFileName[TALLY_MAX_PATH];
ASSERT(0 != g_pFdbPath);
strcpy(pFileName, g_pFdbPath);
strcat(pFileName, FILENAME_HW_KB);
return SUCCESS == LM.LMIOListReadSelective(pFileName,
LMIO_READREPLACE, FDGetSelectListPtrArray());
}
Contents of Lm.h
class LMSystem
{
public:
LMSystem();
~LMSystem();
// getting a specific list
short LMIOListReadSelective(char *fname, unsigned short readflags, LIST_SELECTOR* select_array[]);
};
extern LMSystem LM; // the library global LMSytem
So can you help me in resolving this linker error?
I think it has to do something with project properties as the old assembly developed in VC++ 6.0 is working fine and even in this Win32 C++ assembly,which I'm creating in VS2012,I'm able to go to definition of the LMSystem class using F12 or Intellisense but ideally it should point me to the variable in LM.H header file.
I've seen many post telling how to use functions of one type defined in different C++.dll in another C++ .dll. There are many project level settings changes but it doesn't always give me the correct results. So if anybody can give me a solution to this issue then it will be great help.
Instance of LM needs to be created somewhere and your linker must be able to find it. For example add LMSystem LM; to one of your source (.cpp) files

inconsistent dll linkage & definition of dllimport static data member not allowed

Assuming I have these two files:
Header.h
class DLL ExportClass{
public:
ExportClass();
static int test;
};
Source.cpp
#ifdef EXPORT
#define DLL __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define DLL __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
#include "Header.h"
int ExportClass::test = 0;
ExportClass::ExportClass(){
}
And I won't define EXPORT (to import a already exported class with a static member), why do I get these warnings:
1>source.cpp(11): warning C4273: 'test' : inconsistent dll linkage
1> header.h(4) : see previous definition of 'public: static int ExportClass::test'
1>source.cpp(13): warning C4273: 'ExportClass::ExportClass' : inconsistent dll linkage
1> header.h(3) : see previous definition of '{ctor}'
And this error:
1>source.cpp(11): error C2491: 'ExportClass::test' : definition of dllimport static data member not allowed
If I define EXPORT it works. I kind of understand the warnings, but I thought, that the static variable and the ctor could be ignored by the compiler, because the whole class is declared as __declspec(dllimport) anyway. I want to use the same codebase for the __declspec(dllexport) and __declspec(dllimport) - but it seems the compiler stll tries to define these symbols that are marked as __declspec(dllexport) in their declaration. What is the common practice to solve this problem?
You are expecting the compiler to ignore a very serious mishap. It encountered the __declspec(dllimport) attribute on the class declaration, that quite unequivocally states that the class implementation is present in different module that's going to bound at runtime. But then it encountered the definition as well, completely unexpected since the attribute contract says that it is compiled in an entirely different project.
The C4273 warning is generated to remind you that it is very unclear what function is actually going to execute at runtime. There are two, one that is busy compiling, another in the DLL. Which one will actually execute is a wild guess. C4273 is a level 1 warning, the kind that fit the "this is almost surely wrong" category. It is not entirely impossible to work okay since there's some expectation that the functions have at least the same code. The odds that will not cause trouble are however not great, it could only work if the function doesn't have any side effects that change the internal DLL state. Very hard to diagnose bug when it does btw.
Then it encountered the exported variable. Same case, there are two of them. This is where the compiler programmer put his foot down, having code randomly use one or the other is no longer something that can be ignored. That just cannot ever work, the variables cannot have the same value. So C2491 is a hard error.
No idea how you got in this pickle, clearly the road you're trying to travel will make you fall off a steep cliff.
The only way I can reproduce your problem is to do the following:
Create a Win32 DLL project, call it Project1
Add the source code as you described
Compile the DLL and LIB
Change the project properties to remove EXPORT from the preprocessor definitions
Attempt to compile again (then I see your errors/warnings)
If, instead of steps 4 and 5, I do the following, I do not see an error:
Create a Win32 console application, call it Project2
Add source code as follows:
#include "Project1.h"
#pragma comment(lib, "Project1.lib")
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
ExportClass pClass;
return 0;
}
I suspect you see those errors because you are doing everything from the same DLL project and it is overwriting the LIB that it previously created and then attempting to import it.
If I am correct in guessing what you did, can you try using your DLL/LIB from another project and see what happens?
Although it is an old thread, it will be probably read by others. Therefore, if you want to make this code cross-compilable, I would usually define a header "export.h" like:
export.h
#pragram once
#if ! defined(DLL_API)
# if defined(_WIN32) // for windows builds
# if defined(myDLL_EXPORTS)
# define DLL_API __declspec(dllexport)
# else
# define DLL_API __declspec(dllimport)
# endif
# else // for linux builds
# define DLL_API
# endif
#endif
and include it in all the classes (.h) you want to export from your dll. You will also have to define the variable myDLL_EXPORTS as a parameter of the compiler for the dll project.
The way it works is very simple, when you are compiling your dynamic library (dll/so), because the variable myDLL_EXPORTS is defined, the compiler will replace DLL_API with __declspec(dllexport) so that your class can be consumed by the user of your dll. Conversely, when you are including the header file where you want to use your class at, because the variable myDLL_EXPORTS is not defined in the consumer project (it is defined only in the DLL project), the compiler will replace myDLL_EXPORT with __declspec(dllimport), so it knows that your class symbols are defined somewhere else (in this case, defined in your dll/so).
Finally, as __declspec(...) is a Windows-only thing, for linux we replace DLL_API with nothing.

Global Static Pointer Issue

This is a rather a problem from a convoluted situation. I have a static pointer sitting in one of my header files. Which is being included everywhere, this is why I put it as a static pointer. So that I can quickly initilize it in my main function so that other files can use it.
The problem is this, even after I initialize it and put stuff into it. Other files only find it NULL. It is like every file that includes the header with the static pointer makes a copy of it for itself and even when others initialize it, each file has their own separate copy. Negating ofcourse, the purpose of having a global variable.
How can I cope up with this?. Maybe I am understanding a static variable wrong, or maybe is it because its a pointer?
Should i be declaring it as: &variable = 5; or just as variable = 5; or &variable = (int)5?
It is like every file that includes the header with the static pointer makes a copy of it for itself and even when others initialize it, each file has their own separate copy.
That's what static means when applied to a variable at namespace scope: the variable is given internal linkage, making it "local" to a given translation unit (source file).
If you have a static variable at namespace scope in a header file and you include that header file in multiple .cpp files, there will be multiple instances of that variable: one for each of the .cpp files that include the header file.
If you want a global variable that is shared across multiple source files, you need to make it extern. Declare the variable as extern in the header file, then define the extern variable in exactly one of your .cpp files.
Yes, you are understanding the static keyword wrong. Static keyword at namespace and file scope declares a variable that is only visible inside the translation unit (basically a single .cpp file plus all of its includes) where it is declared. By declaring a static variable in header that you use in multiple .cpp files you are effectively defining multiple variables.
If you want a global pointer then declare it extern without static in the single header and define it without extern or static in a single .cpp file. E.g.:
In foo.h:
extern int * p;
and in main.cpp:
int * p = something;
Defining the global pointer static results in the C++ compiler creating a separate pointer for every translation unit, the definition is included in. I'm pretty sure it's not what you want and it's the cause of your problems.
You should declare it extern in a header and define once in one cpp file.
I can imagine the confusion came from the way, static keyword works inside a class or a struct definition. Indeed, it works differently there and it creates one variable, common for all instances of the class or struct.
Btw. In case you actually want a variable to be visible only in one translation unit the recommended way is to put ii into an anonymous namespace. static works too, but it's use is discouraged as deprecated.

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