Why storage fault in regex destructor? - c++

Question

I am getting a storage fault when my code destructs a regex and I am mystified as to the reason. I suspect I am missing something stupid about regex.
A little background: I am a reasonably experienced C++ developer but this is my first adventure with the regex class. My environment is a little unusual: I edit and alpha test in MS Visual C++ and then take the code to another environment. The other environment is fully Posix-compliant and just happens to be an IBM mainframe. The code works fine on Windows but fails every time on the mainframe. The problem is not something fundamental to my mixed environment: I have been working in this pair of environments in this way for years with complete C++ success.
I define the regex in the class declaration:
#include <regex>
...
class FilterEvalEGNX : public FilterEval
{
...
std::tr1::basic_regex<char> regexObject;
// I also tried plain regex with no difference
Subsequently in the class implementation I assign a pattern to the regex. The code should be more complex than this but I simplified it down to assigning a static string to eliminate any possible side effects from the way the string would be handled in real life.
std::tr1::regex::flag_type flags = std::tr1::regex::extended;
// I have also tried ECMA and it made no difference
try
{
static const char pat[] = "(ISPPROF|SPFTEMP)";
regexObject.assign(pat, flags);
}
catch (std::tr1::regex_error &e)
{
// handle regex error
}
That works without error. Of course, there is subsequent pattern matching code but it is not part of the problem: if I destruct the class immediately after the above code I get the storage fault.
I don't do anything to the regex in my class destructor. The rest of the class has been working for years; I am adding the regex now. I think some "external" overlay of the regex is unlikely.
Here is the traceback of the calls leading up to the fault:
std::tr1::_EBCDIC::_Destroy(std::tr1::_EBCDIC::_Node_base*)
+00000066 40 CRTE128N Exception
std::tr1::_EBCDIC::basic_regex<char,std::tr1::_EBCDIC::regex
+000000C8 2022 FilterEvalEGNX.C Call
std::tr1::_EBCDIC::basic_regex<char,std::tr1::_EBCDIC::regex
+0000007C 1913 FilterEvalEGNX.C Call
FilterEvalEGNX::~FilterEvalEGNX()
The code in the vicinity of line 1913 of regex is
~basic_regex()
{ // destroy the object
_Tidy();
}
The code in the vicinity of line 2022 of regex is
void _Tidy()
{ // free all storage
if (_Rep && --_Rep->_Refs == 0)
_Destroy(_Rep);
_Rep = 0;
}
_Destroy() appears to be implemented in the run-time and I do not think I have the source.
Any ideas? Thanks,

Answer 1

Believe it or not, it appears to be a bug in the C++ runtime. I tweaked my simple example and now I can duplicate the problem in a 15-line main(). I am going to run this by some peers and then report it to IBM. They actually fix this stuff! They don't just respond with "yes, you have found an issue."