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Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ucla-cs!lanai!taylor
From: taylor@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Charles Taylor)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.eiffel
Subject: What does this error message mean?
Keywords: help
Message-ID: <27041@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 11 Sep 89 19:40:42 GMT
References: <760@swbatl.UUCP>
Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: kennel@cognet.ucla.edu (Matt Kennel)
Lines: 41

Hello, I'm using g++ 1.36.0- on a Sun 4/60.

g++ is giving me a very odd error message when I try to compile a
constructor:

// EXCERPT
dstream::dstream(int level = 0, ostream& outs = cerr)
{
  debug_level = level;
  out = &outs;
}  // this is line 20.
//end excerpt


//compiler output.
g++ -c  -pipe -DNO_PARAM_IN -Wstrict-prototypes -Wimplicit
-Wreturn-type -Wpointer-arith -Wcomment  -Ilibg++ dstream.cc
dstream.cc: In method dstream::dstream (int (=  0 ), class ostream &
(=  cerr )):
dstream.cc:20: in base initialization for class `dstream'
dstream.cc:20: warning: control reaches end of non-void function
make: *** [dstream.o] Error 1
tweety.cognet.ucla.edu%


Ok, I guess the error message is
"in base initialization for class `dstream'".

What does that mean?

And also, with the warnings on, g++ (like gcc) complains if you return
without a value from a non-void returning function.  But it didn't let
me declare constructors (such as this one) to return a void type, so I
can't get the warning to go away.  But I can live with this---it's
that other error that's baffling me.


Please excuse my ignorance, I'm a novice at c++...

Matt Kennel
kennel@cognet.ucla.edu