Static linking failed although the name exists - c++

Question

I'm trying to link to a static library, libcovis.a. Everything looks fine but I still have
undefined reference to `CoViG_PublicDemo::MoInS::reset()'
I checked that the name exists in the library
$nm libcovis.a | grep reset
...
_ZN16CoViG_PublicDemo5MoInS5resetEv
...
I'm using linking arguments -L/path/to/libcovis.a -lcovis
What am I doing wrong ?
Edit:
The error might be something else, if do
gcc main.cpp -I/usr/include/opencv -I/usr/include/cairo -I../../Source -o slam -rdynamic -lGLU -lGL -lSM -lICE -lX11 -lXext -lglut -lXi -lxml2 -lboost_filesystem-mt -llapack -lblas -lcv -lcxcore -lcvaux -lhighgui -lcairo ../../Source/libcovis.a ../../Source/contrib/gnuplot_i/libcovis_contrib_gnuplot_i.a -lgl2ps
It works !
But when I'm in KDevelop using cmake, I doesn't work anymore. I use
CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS:STRING=-rdynamic -lGLU -lGL -lSM -lICE -lX11 -lXext -lglut -lXi -lxml2 -lboost_filesystem-mt -llapack -lblas -lcv -lcxcore -lcvaux -lhighgui -lcairo /usr/local/src/CoViS-0.0.0-1/Source/libcovis.a /usr/local/src/CoViS-0.0.0-1/Source/contrib/gnuplot_i/libcovis_contrib_gnuplot_i.a -lgl2ps
CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=-I/usr/local/src/CoViS-0.0.0-1/Source -I/usr/include/opencv -I/usr/include/cairo
The only difference I can see is that the paths are absolute and not relative, but if he couldn't find the libs, he would say it...

Answer 1

There are two different issues there, the first of which is the simplest, you have used the wrong compiler options. The -L option tells the linker to also look in the directory when looking for a library. The -l tells it to link the specific library. To link you would then use:
g++ -o test test.o -L/path/to -lcovis
or
g++ -o test test.o -l/path/to/libcovis.a
To force static linking if the same library is present as a dynamic library in the same directory.
The second potential issue is that the order of static libraries in the linker command line does matter, so that might also be an issue if there is a dependency on different static libs.
g++ -o test tests.o -ldependent -lprovider
The linker will process the libraries in order as they are in the command line, and from each static lib it will only pull those symbols that are required (with as much information as the linker has at that time). In the command line above, the linker will extract from dependent the symbols it needs for test.o, and that might in turn add new undefined symbols to the program (the dependencies of dependent). When it processes provider it will fill in those symbols. If the order was reversed in the command line, the symbols that are required by dependent but not by test.o would not be added to the executable, as the linker does not know that those symbols will be needed when processing provider.

Answer 2

Should the arguments be like -L/path/to/ -lcovis?
Besides, object files should be placed before libs, for example
g++ obj1.o obj2.o -L/path/to/ -lcovis.

Answer 3

If you see the link succeeding in one context but not another, I suspect the problem may be caused by the order in which the link operation is executed as the linker will discard symbols in a library if they're not needed at the point in which the library is referenced.
Here is a link explaining: http://www.network-theory.co.uk/docs/gccintro/gccintro_18.html
I've run into similar situations in the past the linking order was found to be the cause of the problem.