g++ 3.3 version on Linux 64-bit: passing base class pointer corrupts variable data

Hello,

My project contains a 1) shared library 2)executable containing a static library

The shared library has an interface used by the static library and takes as input a pointer to a base class (have used a structure not a class).

In the static library I am creating the derived structure object using "new" and then assigning it to base class pointer and passing it to the interface function.

However, when I print out the values in the shared library they are all 0

Can anyone tell me what might be the issue ?

Can you cut down your example to the simplest compilable example and post it? (I.e., does it matter about shared library/static library, or class vs structure, etc. I'm guessing "no".)

Some things to try:

• Are you compiling with optimizations enabled? Try turning optimizations off, in case the compiler is doing some vtable optimizations.
• Also try doing a clean rebuild, if the size of the base class changed for example then new could be doing the wrong thing.
• Did you try printing the values in the static library after the allocation of the object? What is the value of the pointer there? Perhaps it's 0 too if you have some strange allocators or you're out of memory (unlikely, but possible).
• Try forcing the base class to have a vtable by adding a virtual destructor to it.

And for your edification: C++ dlopen mini HOWTO

In my shared library, I have

Code:

---

struct Base
{
 /* 4 unsigned long members are there here */
}

struct Derived : public Base
{
    /* 2 unsigned long members are here */
}

---

In my static library, I have a class member

Code:

---

Base* b;

---

In my cpp file I have done

Code:

---

Derived* d = new Derived;
 assigned all members of it
b = d;

---

Have passed pointer 'b' through a pure virtual function accepting Base* pointer as input.

Here's the problem with your non-example.

Code:

---

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>more test.cpp
#include <iostream>
struct Base {
  unsigned long a, b, c, d;
  virtual void foo(Base *b) =0;
};
struct Derived: public Base {
  unsigned long e, f;
  void foo(Base *b);
};
void Derived::foo(Base *b)
{
  std::cout<<b->a << ' ' <<b->b<< ' ' <<b->c<< ' ' << b->d<< '\n';
}
int main()
{
  Derived *d = new Derived;
  d->a = d->b = d->c = d->d = 1;
  d->foo(d);
  delete d;
}

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>test
1 1 1 1

---

I wrote this to your specification, and it ends up telling us nothing about your problem. You need to show what you are doing without taking shortcuts.

Code:

---


#include <iostream>

struct Base {
  unsigned long a, b, c, d;
};

struct Derived: public Base {
  unsigned long e, f;
};

int main()
{
  Derived *d = new Derived();
  Base* b;

  d->e = 10;
  d->f = 100;
  d->a = d->b = d->c = d->d = 1;

  b = d;

  func(b);
}

---

func() is in the shared library. When I write the program separately (standalone) I see no issues. Only in my production code I see this issue and only on Linux 64-bit.
gcc 3.3.3. Hence, I am finding it difficult to explain the problem.

my suggestion would be to upgrade your compiler. gcc 3.3.3 came out around 2003, and so it is ancient in terms of compilers. 4.6 is the generally available version, and if your observations show a bug in gcc or its associated libraries, it has probably been fixed in the last 8 years.