Linking boost with own headers and source code - c++

Question

I'm working with the boost libraries and opencv, and now I have to implement my own headers and source code (additional to main.cpp) that requires the libraries as well.
The main.cpp looks like (just in principle):
// STL includes
#include <stdlib.h>
...(some other STL stuff)
// Boost includes
#include <boost/array.hpp>
...(a lot of other boost stuff)
//OpenCV
#include <opencv2/opencv.hpp>
// Own header files
#include <myHeader.hpp>
main() do_some_stuff;
This works, if I don't have anything related to boost in myStuff.hpp. But if I add something in it (the function descriptions are in myStuff.cpp), like:
class aClass{
public:
aClass(int);
void doSomething(boost::shared_ptr<int>);
void doSomethingElse(cv::Mat);
};
then it says 'boost' had not been declared, or 'cv' does not name a type.
I was like, ok, I just need to include the headers in this file as well, so I added the same includes, but then when it tries to link it gives a lot of errors like:
/usr/include/boost/operators.hpp:308:35: error: expected identifier before numeric constant
/usr/include/boost/operators.hpp:308:35: error: expected ‘>’ before numeric constant
/usr/include/boost/operators.hpp:310:1: error: expected class-name before ‘{’ token
/usr/include/boost/operators.hpp:311:3: error: expected unqualified-id before numeric constant
...(a lot more of these errors)
I'm using a Makefile to build this project, that looks like:
OPENCV_I = `pkg-config --cflags opencv`
#it finds boost without any additional -I or -L options...
INCLUDEPATHS = $(OPENCV_I)\
-I.\
-L.
LIBS=-lGL -lGLU -lm -lboost_program_options -lboost_system -lboost_thread -pthread -lrt -lopencv_core -lopencv_highgui
SRCCXX := main.cpp myStuff.cpp
OBJSCXX := $(SRCCXX:%.cpp=${BUILDDIR}/%.o)
$(BUILDDIR)/%.o : %.cpp
$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(INCLUDEPATHS) -c $< -o $# -DdDOUBLE $(LIBS)
all: ${OBJSCXX}
$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $(INCLUDEPATHS) -o $(OUTNAME) $? -DdDOUBLE $(LIBS)
Previously I was using CMake, and it worked quite well with these kind of projects, just this one is a part of a bigger project where they use Makefiles for everything. So I guess the main problem is with the makefile, probably when I list my source codes SRCCXX := main.cpp Visualisation.cpp it doesn't like it...
Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
EDIT....................................
So my whole myStuff.hpp looks like:
#define _USE_MATH_DEFINES
#include <math.h>
#define RINGS 5
#define SECTIONS 12
// Boost includes
#include <boost/array.hpp>
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <boost/assign/ptr_list_of.hpp>
#include <boost/assign.hpp>
#include <boost/bind.hpp>
#include <boost/date_time.hpp>
#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
#include <boost/function.hpp>
#include <boost/make_shared.hpp>
#include <boost/math/constants/constants.hpp>
#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
#include <boost/thread/mutex.hpp>
#include <boost/thread/condition_variable.hpp>
#include <boost/program_options.hpp>
#include <boost/numeric/ublas/matrix.hpp>
#include <opencv2/opencv.hpp>
class Sensor{
public:
Sensor(int);
void Update(boost::shared_ptr<char[RINGS][SECTIONS]>);
int Id();
private:
char data[RINGS][SECTIONS];
int id;
};
and the myStuff.cpp:
#include "myStuff.hpp"
void Sensor::Update(boost::shared_ptr< char[RINGS][SECTIONS] > buffer){
for(int i=0;i<RINGS;i++) for(int j=0;j<SECTIONS;j++) data[i][j]=buffer[i][j];
};
Sensor::Sensor(int a){
id=0;
};
int Sensor::Id(){
return id;
};
and my main.cpp:
// STL includes
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <mutex>
#include <string.h>
#include <typeinfo>
#include <queue>
#include <memory>
// Boost includes
#include <boost/array.hpp>
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <boost/assign/ptr_list_of.hpp>
#include <boost/assign.hpp>
#include <boost/bind.hpp>
#include <boost/date_time.hpp>
#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
#include <boost/function.hpp>
#include <boost/make_shared.hpp>
#include <boost/math/constants/constants.hpp>
#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
#include <boost/thread/mutex.hpp>
#include <boost/thread/condition_variable.hpp>
#include <boost/program_options.hpp>
#include <boost/numeric/ublas/matrix.hpp>
//OpenCV
#include <opencv2/opencv.hpp>
// Own header files
#include "myStuff.hpp"
////////////////////////////////////////// Main
int main (int argc, char **argv)
{
Sensor sensor(0);
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Well first things first... when including your own headers from within your project I would recommend that you use "mine.hpp" instead of <mine.hpp>. This ensures that the compiler won't search the complete include path and accidentally find some other include of the same name (different version for example).
Second, when you have a dependency within a class then you include the header for that dependency within that class. You cannot make assumptions that someone will include all your dependencies in a main class or some other class. Sometimes someone will just want to use your class by itself. You don't want them to then have to figure out your dependencies. Don't worry about replication either as the include guard (or pragma) will prevent that.
As for your particular problems you will need to give use your code. You have certainly managed to correctly include your headers at that point. I would guess that they might stem from a missing { or ; somewhere. Look at your very first error and solve that one.
EDIT
The issue appears to be with how you are using boost. I had a look at what in operators.hpp and in version 1_44 what I see is a struct definition with 4 template parameters, one of which is defaulted to boost::detail::empty_base<T>. Only thing I can say is to make sure that you have your entire boost library on your include path, and link path.
EDIT2
From your newly posted code I see a couple of problems. First is that you have WAY too many includes in your header. You should only ever have class dependency includes in your header, and always prefer to put your header files into your implementation (.cpp) file. This helps to prevent extremely long compilation times. So first modify your header to include only the dependencies you need:
#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
#define RINGS 5
#define SECTIONS 12
class Sensor{
public:
Sensor(int);
void Update(boost::shared_ptr<char[RINGS][SECTIONS]>);
int Id();
private:
char data[RINGS][SECTIONS];
int id;
};
Then in your implementation the only change is to put braces around your for loops (this is for clarity and safety... understand why you put it on one line but it is not worth it). Also put your CTOR first:
#include "myStuff.hpp"
Sensor::Sensor(int a){
id=0;
};
void Sensor::Update(boost::shared_ptr< char[RINGS][SECTIONS] > buffer){
for(int i=0;i<RINGS;i++) {
for(int j=0;j<SECTIONS;j++) {
data[i][j]=buffer[i][j];
}
}
};
int Sensor::Id(){
return id;
};
Main
#include "myStuff.hpp"
int main (int argc, char **argv)
{
Sensor sensor(0);
return 0;
}
The ONLY dependency you need is boost::shared_ptr. To be honest though, I'm pretty sure you don't need that either. Anyway I would recommend that you start with the above and then build up by adding one dependency at a time.

Answer 2

After a couple of hours I figured it out. myStuff.cpp also requires the header inclusion. Silly mistake, but still why can't the compiler says something like non defined or can't find instead of a couple of pages of messed up errors...?
Thanks anyway for your help.