PRB: C2146, C2065, C2143 Instantiating Template Class Objects

ID: Q155420

The information in this article applies to:

The Microsoft C/C++ Compiler (CL.EXE)
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 5.0, 6.0

SYMPTOMS

The compiler generates error C2146 followed by C2065 and finally C2143, all pointing to the same line in the source.

This sequence of errors can be caused by the following type of construct:


ClassA<int, ClassB<int>> iA ;

The problem is caused by the consecutive closing chevrons ">>" at the end of the declaration.

RESOLUTION

The solution is to put a space between the consecutive >>, so the above code becomes:


ClassA<int, ClassB<int> > iA ;

This is not a compiler bug. The language specification requires the space between the two “>”; otherwise, the lexical parser generates the token “>>”, which is the largest possible token.

Sample Code


//Compile options needed: none
// test.cpp

template <class T>
class ClassB {} ;

template <class T1, class T2>
class ClassA{} ;

void main()
{
    ClassA<int, ClassB<int>> iA; // causes C2146, C2065, C2143
    //ClassA<int, ClassB<int> > iA;  //workaround

}

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbCompiler kbCPPonly kbVC400 kbVC410 kbVC420 kbVC500 kbVC600
Version : 4.0 4.1 4.2 5.0
Platform : NT WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb