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

ID: Q115708

The information in this article applies to:

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, 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];

as if it was written:


   int & iref[10][10];

It is not legal in C++ to use a pointer to a reference, so an array of references is also not legal.

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
*/ 

class X
{
    int m_arr[10][10];
public:
    X() {}
    X( int (&iref)[10][10] ) {}
};

void main()
{
}

Additional query words: 7.00 8.00 8.00c 1.00 1.50

Keywords : kbCompiler kbCPPonly kbVC
Version :
Platform : MS-DOS NT WINDOWS
Issue type :