gluTessCallback error C2440 - c++

Question

I am trying to use the function gluTessCallback but I get C2440 error. I have no idea why.
Here is the code:
#define callback void(CALLBACK*)()
template<typename T>
class Tessellation
{
private:
GLUtesselator *pTess;
void CALLBACK tessError(GLenum error)
{
sendErrorMessage((char *)gluErrorString(error), true);
}
public:
void Triangulation3D(T* & point, short numOfPoints)
{
pTess = gluNewTess();
gluTessCallback(pTess, GLU_TESS_ERROR, (callback)tessError);
}
};
The error is on gluTessCallback function:
error C2440: 'type cast' : cannot convert from 'overloaded-function' to 'void (__stdcall *)(void)'
Why do I get this compile error?

Answer 1

The error id C2440 on Visual Studio is a type conversion error.
The problem in your code is that you are trying to pass a class method Tessellation::tessError() as function pointer to gluTessCallback(), which expects a pointer to a global C-style function.
A class method is very different from a free/global function and you cannot pass it as a simple function pointer because it needs an object to go along with it every time, the this pointer.
A solution to your problem would be to declare tessError() as a static method, making it effectively the same as a free/global function scoped inside the class, like so:
template<typename T>
class Tessellation
{
private:
static void CALLBACK tessError(GLenum error)
{
sendErrorMessage((char *)gluErrorString(error), true);
}
...
And pass it to gluTessCallback():
gluTessCallback(pTess, GLU_TESS_ERROR, (callback)&Tessellation<T>::tessError);
The only downside to this approach is that a static tessError() can no longer access class variables. Which doesn't seem like a problem to you, since it is not doing so right now, it appears.