included header for static library giving dllimport error - c++

Question

I have the code presented later using Xerces-c, which can be built as a static or dynamic library. Failing to include of course results in a compiler error, however when I add #include <xercesc/util/PlatformUtils.hpp> visual studio 2012 gives me a linker errors saying:
1>main.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: static void __cdecl xercesc_3_1::XMLPlatformUtils::Initialize(char const * const,char const * const,class xercesc_3_1::PanicHandler * const,class xercesc_3_1::MemoryManager * const)" (__imp_?Initialize#XMLPlatformUtils#xercesc_3_1##SAXQBD0QAVPanicHandler#2#QAVMemoryManager#2##Z) referenced in function _main
1>main.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: static void __cdecl xercesc_3_1::XMLPlatformUtils::Terminate(void)" (__imp_?Terminate#XMLPlatformUtils#xercesc_3_1##SAXXZ) referenced in function __catch$_main$0
1>main.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: static char const * const xercesc_3_1::XMLUni::fgXercescDefaultLocale" (__imp_?fgXercescDefaultLocale#XMLUni#xercesc_3_1##2QBDB)
Based on the dllimport part of the error it seems that it's failing to find a dll. This is confirmed by that when I build Xerces-c as a dynamic library and link to it the error goes away. However if I build Xerces-c as a static library and link to it the same error remains. So my question is why am I getting an error asking for a dll when I'm including and linking to a static library?
using namespace xercesc;
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
std::ifstream inputFile(argv[1]);
char c = inputFile.get();
while (inputFile.good()) {
std::cout << c;
c = inputFile.get();
}
try {
XMLPlatformUtils::Initialize();
}
catch (const XMLException& toCatch) {
// Do your failure processing here
return 1;
}
// Do your actual work with Xerces-C++ here.
//XercesDOMParser parser;
//parser.useScanner(XMLUni::fgDGXMLScanner);
XMLPlatformUtils::Terminate();
// Other terminations and cleanup.
return 0;
}

Answer 1

You need to compile your application with XERCES_STATIC_LIBRARY preprocessor macro to disable DLL import/export for Xerces library.
Also check that you link against static version of .lib files.