Type is incomplete error

Question

I'm trying to compile some code that worked with CC 5.3 but gives the following error with CC 5.7(117830-02):
"IeNetString.h", line 79: Error: The type "ienet_string_s" is incomplete.
Here is the offending line:
friend ienet_string_s& ienet_string_s::operator=(const IeNetString& obj);And here is the structure definition:
typedef struct ienet_string_s
  char          dString[IENET_STRING_SIZE];
  int           dLength;
  ES_PT_ULONG_T dHashVal;
#ifdef __cplusplus
  ienet_string_s& operator=(const IeNetString& obj);
#endif
}  ienet_string_s;
/code]
I've seen similar problems else where on the net when moving to a newer compiler, but I haven't found any solutions yet.  Any help would be appreciated.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Answer 1

i can help steve out here...
I have constructed an example to illustrate my
problem, the following code compiles fine with CC 5.3
but throws the type incomplete error with CC 5.7it's just that CC 5.7 is more standards compliant.
//ca.h
struct B;
class A
public:
explicit A(int s);
~A();
friend B& B::operator=(const A& obj);
};this is not vallid standard C++. you cannot refer to a member of B without the internals of B having been declared.
as a workaround, you can make all of B a friend, instead of just the operator=, using "friend struct B".
you could easily check this by using the comeau online compiler <http://www.comeaucomputing.com/tryitout/>. it's usually pretty good in terms of standards compliance.
cheers,
/lib