[boost] Visual C++ 8.0 Compiler Bug makes namespaces public

From: Christopher Lux (christopherlux_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-04-14 10:36:28

Hi,
we discovered a compiler bug using Visual C++ 8.0 (SP1). This bug makes 
boost namespace items visible in the global namespace and so makes boost 
libraries conflict with other libraries. The following example [1] 
displays how this bug can make namespace items public. When moving the 
exception class definition outside the namespace everything works as 
expected.

We encountered this problem when using boost::integer in combination 
with boost::serialization. After including the file shared_count_132.hpp 
all boost::integer types are public and conflict with other libraries. 
This leads to the problem shown in the example [0]. The uint32_t type is 
publicly visible.

To our knowledge this bug is present in Visual C++ 8.0 (SP1). Visual C++ 
9.0 does not show this bug anymore.

[0]
#include <boost/cstdint.hpp>
#include <boost\serialization\detail\shared_count_132.hpp>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
     uint32_t hallo; // this should not be possible
}

[1]
#include <stdexcept>

namespace fu {
     typedef unsigned int    uint32_fu;
} // namespace fu

namespace fu2 {

     using namespace fu;
     class bad_weak_ptr: public std::exception
     {};

     namespace detail{

         class sp_counted_base
         {
             void add_ref_lock()
             {
                 throw bad_weak_ptr();
             }
         };
     }
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
     uint32_fu hallo;
}

-chris
-- 
Christopher Lux |
                 | Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
                 | Faculty of Media - Virtual Reality Systems Group