Error compiling a specialized template in Devc++

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/templates.html

I tried to compile the example given on there about template specializations (just added a pause at the end), but the compiler doesn't seem to like it for some reason.

Code:

---

// template specialization
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

template <class T>
class container {
    T element;
  public:
    container (T arg) {element=arg;}
    T increase () {return ++element;}
};

template <>
class container <char> {
    char element;
  public:
    container (T arg) {element=arg;}
    char uppercase ();
};

template <>
char container<char>::uppercase()
{
  if ((element>='a')&&(element<='z'))
  element+='A'-'a';
  return element;
}

int main () {
  container<int> myint (7);
  container<char> mychar ('j');
  cout << myint.increase() << endl;
  cout << mychar.uppercase() << endl;
 
  system("pause");
  return 0;
}

---

Can someone please tell me what is wrong here?
Does the compiler has problems with the empty <> on the template definition? Is this a compiler or code problem?

Thank you in advance :o

Quote:

---

(just added a pause at the end)

---

That could be the problem. As far as I know, system() is in <cstdlib>.

Where is the error?

I get two errors when I compile the code from the webpage. First, it should be

Code:

---

container (char arg) {element=arg;}

---

in the specialization of the class instead of T, since T would be undeclared at that point.

The second error is fixed when I remove the template<> from the implementation of uppercase. My compiler is VC++ 7.1. I'm not sure if the issues are due to our compilers or the cplusplus tutorial code.

BTW, Comeau online gives the following errors (and compiles it cleanly with the changes I mentioned above):

Code:

---

Comeau C/C++ 4.3.3 (Aug  6 2003 15:13:37) for ONLINE_EVALUATION_BETA1
Copyright 1988-2003 Comeau Computing.  All rights reserved.
MODE:strict errors C++

"ComeauTest.c", line 17: error: identifier "T" is undefined
      container (T arg) {element=arg;}
                ^

"ComeauTest.c", line 22: error: "char container<char>::uppercase()" is not an
          entity that can be explicitly specialized
  char container<char>::uppercase()
                        ^

2 errors detected in the compilation of "ComeauTest.c".

---

Works fine using VC++6.

Sigh... i guess i'll have to get another compiler.
VC++6 = Visual Studio 6 ?

Yes, VC++ 6 is Visual Studio 6, which doesn't have great support for templates. VC 7.1 and Comeau are known for better template support and they don't compile that code either, so I would say it is a bug in the tutorial.

Don't switch to Visual Studio 6 just because the tutorial is using incorrect code.

Okay, I changed both things in the code and now it works... Is there a problem with template compatibility, or the code was just wrong?

Thanks to everyone for the help ;)

I don't know for sure off the top of my head, but if VC 6 compiles it, chances are that the tutorial writer was just using the old compiler and the code is just wrong.