cannot convert parameter 1 from 'unsigned char *' to 'const unsigned char *&'

[m37h0d]

why not!?!

>_<

[m37h0d]

here is the original context of the issue:

foo(const unsigned char*& data)
{
// do something
}

void bar(unsigned char* data)
{
  foo(data);  
}

this also demonstrates the problem:

unsigned char* f;

const unsigned char*& crf = f;
//seemingly spurious error msg: "Conversion loses qualifiers"

oddly though, this does not generate errors:

void foo(const unsigned char*& data)
{
// do something
}

void bar(unsigned char* data)
{
  const unsigned char* temp = data;
  foo(temp);  
}

am i overlooking something here or is this a compiler error?

[anon]

Code would be nice. [Edit: Thank you]

void foo(const unsigned char*& )
{
}

int main()
{
    unsigned char* p;
    foo(p);
}

If I'm not mistaken, the reference here is non-const. You can only bind arguments to non-const references if they are the same type (and not temporary), but unsigned char* and const unsigned char* are not the same type.

Compare with

void foo(const unsigned char* const&);