Weird Intel C++ compiler error - c++

Question

I'm working on this VST convolution plugin (Windows 7 64bit, VS2010) and I decided to try the Intel c++ compiler. I was in the process of optimizing the algorithm so I had a backup project in case of any screw ups and one I was doing experiments on. Both projects would compile and run with no problems. After installing the Intel compiler though the project I was experimenting on would cause a heap corruption error, so I start debugging to track down the problem but I can't find the line of code that causes it since the heap corruption error is not triggered during execution but after the termination of the DLL (there are also no access violations showed by the debugger).
At this point I start cutting out parts of the code to see if I can isolate the problem and I discover (obviously) that it was the class I was eperimenting on. Now here comes the weird part: I can change the code inside the methods but as soon as I add a variable to the backup class (the one that works fine), even an int, I get the heap corruption error, just a decleared and never referenced variable is enough.
This is the class CRTConvolver:
class CRTConvolver
{
public:
CRTConvolver();
~CRTConvolver();
bool Init(float* Imp, unsigned ImpLen, unsigned DataLen);
void doConv(float* input);
Buff Output;
int debug_test;
private:
void ZeroVars();
int Order(int sampleFrames);
template <class T> void swap ( T& a, T& b );
Buff *Ir_FFT,*Input_FFT,Output2,Tmp,Prev,Last;
float *Tail;
unsigned nBlocks,BlockLen,Bl_Indx;
IppsFFTSpec_R_32f* spec;
};
that "int debug_test;" makes the difference between a perfectly working VST module and a program that crashes on initialization from Cubase.
always for debugging purposes here are destr and constr:
CRTConvolver::CRTConvolver()
{
//IppStatus status=ippInit();
//ZeroVars();
}
CRTConvolver::~CRTConvolver()
{
//Init(NULL,NULL,NULL);
}
Here is what class Buff looks like:
class Buff {
public:
Buff();
Buff(unsigned len);
~Buff();
float* buff;
unsigned long length;
private:
void Init(unsigned long len);
void flush();
friend class CRTConvolver;
}
Buff::Buff()
{
length=NULL;
buff=NULL;
}
Buff::~Buff()
{
// flush();
}
basically this class if created and destructed does absolutely nothing, it just contains the length and buff variables. If I also bypass those two variable initializations the heap error goes away.
The software crashes on simple construction and subsequent destruction of the class CRTConvolver even though all it does is nothing, this is the part that really doesn't make sense to me...
As a side note, I create my CRTConvolver class like this:
ConvEng = new CRTConvolver[NCHANNELS];
If I declare it like this instead:
CRTConvolver ConvEng[NCHANNELS];
I get a stack corruption error around variable ConvEng.
If I switch back to Microsoft compiler the situation stays the same even when compiling and running the exact same version that could run without errors before....
I can't stress enough the fact that before installing the Intel compiler everything was running just fine, is it possible that something went wrong or there's an incompatibility somewhere ?
I'm really running out of ideas here, I hope someone will be able to help.
thanks

Answer 1

Going to guess, since the problem is most likely undefined behavior, but in some other place in your code:
Obey the rule of three. You should have a copy constructor and assignment operator. If you're using std containers, or making copies or assignments, without these you run into trouble if you delete memory inside the destructor.

Answer 2

It looks to me that the CRTConvolver default constructor (used in creating an array) is writing to memory it doesn't own. If the Intel compiler has different class layout rules (or data alignment rules), it might be unmasking a bug that was benign under the Microsoft compiler's rules.
Does the CRTConvolver class contain any instances of the Buff class?
Updated to respond to code update:
The CRTConvolver class contains four instances of Buff, so I suspect that is where the problem lies. It could be a version mismatch -- the CRTConvolver class thinks that Buff is smaller than it really is. I suggest you recompile everything and get back to us.