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From: keith@nih-csl.UUCP (keith gorlen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: C++ compiler problems
Message-ID: <276@nih-csl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 28-Sep-87 23:00:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: nih-csl.276
Posted: Mon Sep 28 23:00:39 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Sep-87 04:59:03 EDT
References: <31900003@webb>
Organization: NIH-CSL, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 42
Summary: Try substituting DEFCLASS.h for body of DEFINE_CLASS in Object.h

In article <31900003@webb>, webb@webb.applicon.UUCP writes:
> 
>   We are running C++ 1.2.1.  I am trying to compile OOPSLIB (a library of 
> Smalltalk objects for C++, distributed by Keith E. Gorlen of The National 
> Institutes of Health).  I first have problems with the compiler complaining
> that it cannot tell an int from an unsigned int with the following code:
> 
> overload MAX;
> ...
> inline unsigned int   MAX(unsigned int a, unsigned int b)     { return a >= b ? a : b; }

Can't duplicate this one.  The error message sounds suspiciously like
it is coming from a pre-1.2 version of C++.  You don't mention what
machine your using.  A work-around is to delete all the overloaded
inlines for ABS, MAX, MIN, etc. and substitute #defines like:

#define MAX(a,b)	( (a) >= (b) ? (a) : (b) )

> When I comment out the last line that problem goes away, the compilation
> proceeds further, and I get the following error:
> 
> "Arraychar.c", line 78: error:  name _reader of type type name cannot be overloaded
> "Arraychar.c", line 78: error: bad base type: void Arraychar 

The file Object.h says the following:

    The DEFINE_CLASS preprocessor macro composes names by concatenating
    the "classname" argument with other character strings.  This is done
    by separating the two with \-newline.  If this doesn't work on your C
    preprocessor, try using an empty comment as a separator.  If you use
    this technique, you may have to modify the CC script so that it
    doesn't use the -C option with the C preprocessor.

I think this is what is going wrong in your case.  The file DEFCLASS.h
contains a version of the DEFINE_CLASS macro that uses empty comments.
Edit Object.h to substitute this version of DEFINE_CLASS.

[Note -- I think this problem gets fixed in ANSI C.]-- 
	Keith Gorlen			phone: (301) 496-5363
	Building 12A, Room 2017		uucp: uunet!mimsy!elsie!nih-csl!keith
	National Institutes of Health
	Bethesda, MD 20892