Re: Strange behavior with templates and G++

[Jonathan Wakely <jwakely.gcc@gmail.com>]

[Moved from the gcc list]

On 17 February 2011 11:03, Pascal Francq wrote:
> Hi,
> While compiling the following code, I got an error :
>
>
> template<class C> class Super
> {
> public:
>        Super(void) {}
>        void Test(C*) {}
> };
>
> class A
> {
> public:
>        A(void) {}
> };
>
> class A1 : public A
> {
> public:
>        A1(void) : A() {}
> };
>
> class A2 : public A
> {
> public:
>        A2(void) : A() {}
> };
>
> class Super2 : public Super<A1>, public Super<A2>
> {
> public:
>        Super2(void) {}
> };
>
> void Test(void)
> {
>        Super2 T;
>        A1* ptr;
>        T.Test(ptr);
> }
>
>
> The compiler gives me the following error for the Test() function:
>        error: request for member ‘Test’ is ambiguous
>        error: candidates are:  void Super<C>::Test(C*) [with C = A2]
>        error:                          void Super<C>::Test(C*) [with C = A1]
> But here the call refers clearly to the second method. The error still appears
> if A1 and A2 do not inherit from a same root class. If I replace the code with
> an explicit call it works:
>        T.Super<A1>::Test(ptr)
> But this make the code less cleaner.
>
> Is this a problem related to a misunderstood concept from me, a wrong
> implementation or a technical problem of g++ ?


The ambiguity has nothing to do with templates, the code can be reduced to:

class A1
{
public:
       void Test(A1*) {}
};

class A2
{
public:
       void Test(A2*) {}
};

class Super2 : public A1, public A2
{
};

void Test(void)
{
       Super2 T;
       A1* ptr;
       T.Test(ptr);
}

This is covered by 10.2 [class.member.lookup] in the C++ standard,
which says that a name is ambiguous if found in more than one base
class.  That makes the lookup ill-formed, before overload resolution
is attempted.