multi. def. in headers....

Hello All,

I have a problem with using header files: i've got a program in which i include the <vector> header and another header (let's say <header_x> ). Now the problem is that <header_x> has a definition for a vector which is nothing to do with the definition in the <vector> header, so when i come to compile i get an error message about the type vector<float> being ambiguous.

i can go in to the <header_x> file and comment out the line which declares the other vector type(it's actually a function i think) and everything works fine but this seems like a bodge job and what if i need to use this vector in the future?

Can anyone tell me how i get around this issue ?

I hope i've been clear, if not ask me to elaborate.
cheers

don't use

Code:

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using namespace std;

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and use

Code:

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std::vector<something>

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instead.

thanks robwhit.

i think that'll work. i'm not in work at the moment so i'll try it tomorrow.
I always wondered why people go the long way round by writing explicitly
"std::"

p.s. i just tried this without using the #include <string> statement:

std::string s = "hh";

My question now is: What lives inside the std namespace(or where can i find it) and is there any need for me to #include <string> is i just use the former method ?

Sometimes headers include other headers as part of their implementation, so you might be able to use something without directly #including the header that declares it.

Relying on this is a bad idea, though, since that could change at any time. Also, you might get only part of the declaration, and some code will work and other code will break (this actually happens with string on one particular platform).

So if you use the string class, always #include <string> in the file that uses it.

Thank Daved, that make sense now.

Just going on from that is there a clause like #ifndef for #include's ? I was wondering if i had the folliwing situation:

#include <a.h>
#include <string>



where file a.h it's self #includes <string> meaning that the <string> header has effectivly been
included twice?


cheers

No, the header is guarded against being included twice.

Still, as a general rule you should include headers in the order

system headers
3rd party library headers
project headers

Just a personal style rule, but one I'm rather fond of.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CornedBee

No, the header is guarded against being included twice.

Still, as a general rule you should include headers in the order

system headers
3rd party library headers
project headers

Just a personal style rule, but one I'm rather fond of.

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This is the order I usually include headers, as well. It ensures that the most project-specific symbols are declared last, minimizing the chances of a bad interaction between headers that goes unnoticed. In some ways you can call this ordering "least-specific to most-specific."

On the other hand, the Boost library uses the "most-specific to least-specific" ordering (at least, I read this in a Boost rationale document, but I can't remember where). The idea being that by including the most specific header files first, you ensure that their functionality is properly self-contained. If some project header forgot to #include <string> (because it uses std::strings) this error might be masked if it is included after <string> in some module somewhere. If on the other hand it is included first, the compiler will throw an error that std::string is not defined.

I'm currently in limbo between these two rationales...

I use compile-only unit tests to ensure that my headers work standalone. I think that's a better method.