FIX: C++ Compiler Treats &array[][] as 2-D Array of References

MS-DOS | WINDOWS   | WINDOWS NT

The information in this article applies to:

• The Microsoft C/C++ Compiler (CL.EXE), included with:

      - Microsoft C/C++ for MS-DOS, version 7.0
      - Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.0 and 1.5
      - Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition, version 1.0
  

SYMPTOMS

Attempting to call a class constructor using a reference to a two dimensional array of objects will cause the compiler to incorrectly treat the array as a two dimensional array of references. In the sample below, the following errors will be incorrectly generated:

   test.cpp(6) : error C2234: arrays of references are illegal
   test.cpp(6) : error C2511: '__ctor' : overloaded member function
                 not found in 'X'

CAUSE

The compiler is interpreting

   int (&iref)[10][10];

   int & iref[10][10];

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the C/C++ compiler for MS-DOS, versions 7.0, 8.0, and 8.0c and the 32-bit C/C++ compiler, version 8.0. This problem was corrected in compiler version 9.0, included with Visual C++ version 2.0.

MORE INFORMATION

The following code can be used to demonstrate this problem.

Sample Code

/* Compile options needed: /c
*/

    int m_arr[10][10];

    X() {}
    X( int (&iref)[10][10] ) {}

void main()