Core dump on throwing exception

Question

Hi,
I am using an exception class derived from C++ standard exception class (MyException). In this, I am having a member variable of type std::string. I am using this in a DLL that is being used by Java application using JNI.
In my C++ code, I am catching exception following way:
catch(XException& exp)
catch(MyException& exp)
catch(exception& exp)
If I am using std::string as member in MyException class, it results in a coredump whatever exception is thrown (MyException or any other unknown exception supposed to be caught in the standard exception class.). Note that this happens in release build of my dll and never repeatable in debug build.
This problem occurs only in Solaris (tested both in Solaris 7 and Solaris 8). It does not occur in Windows.
Now, if I use char array instead of std::string the problem does not occur!!!! Exceptions are caught properly.
If anyone can throw more light on why usage of std::string causes issues in exception handling in Solaris using CC 5.0 compiler, it shall be of help. I feel problem might be due to not updating the patches related to CC 5.0 exception handling. Also, is it a good practise to use std::string in exception handling classes?

Answer 1

C++ 5.0 is very old and is no longer supported. Patches are still available for it, however. You should get the latest patches from
http://access1.sun.com/sundev
and see if that solves your problem. If not, you should upgrade to a supported compiler release.
The standard string class can perfrom dynamic memory allocation and can throw exceptions. It's not ideal for use in exception handling for those reasons. But for ordinary situations when you are not out of memory it' s probably OK.