Error C2589 on std::numeric_limits::min()

Question

When I try to compile some code (not my own) i get a C2589 '(':illegal token on right side of'::'

on this line:

    maxPosition[0]=std::numeric_limits<double>::min();

i guess this is because there is already a min() macro defined, but why is the compiler not taking the min() from the specified namespace instead of the macro?

Even though this question is older and I've voted to close as a duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1904635, it might be a candidate for merging as the answers there are more comprehensive. — , Feb 22 '10 at 06:56
possible duplicate of [warning C4003 and errors C2589 and C2059 on: x = std::numeric\_limits::max();](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1904635/warning-c4003-and-errors-c2589-and-c2059-on-x-stdnumeric-limitsintmax) — yagni, Apr 22 '14 at 20:32

Alex Budovski · Answer 1 · 2013-10-20T20:05:37.533

8

but why is the compiler not taking the min() from the specified namespace instead of the macro?

Because macros don't care about your namespaces, language semantics, or your compiler. The preprocessing happens first.

In other words, the compiler only sees what is left after the preprocessing stage. And min was replaced by some replacement string, and the result is what the compiler saw.

edited Oct 20 '13 at 20:05

answered Dec 15 '09 at 02:28

Alex Budovski

17,947
6
53
58

bitminer · Answer 2 · 2019-03-22T15:29:29.287

4

Hitting F12 on offending std::numeric_limits::min() function

Leads to some where like :

c:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Include\shared\minwindef.h

Where you will find:

#ifndef NOMINMAX

#ifndef max
#define max(a,b)            (((a) > (b)) ? (a) : (b))
#endif

#ifndef min
#define min(a,b)            (((a) < (b)) ? (a) : (b))
#endif

So adding

#define NOMINMAX

to top of your .cpp file (as the WINAPI does: see Windows.h as example) before any #include headers should rectify the problem.

edited Mar 22 '19 at 15:29

answered Mar 22 '19 at 15:19

bitminer

71
5

1

This is the best answer to me. – Val Nov 11 '20 at 03:07
This should be labeled as the correct answer. On a side note, this did indeed drive me a bit insane. – Jamie Nicholl-Shelley Dec 17 '20 at 03:07
Every two years or so I'm back to this page... just to be reminded that the windows api headers pollute a lot of macros. – Mat Gomes Dec 22 '21 at 15:26

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 09 '19 at 23:44

add this to the top of your file. I'm pretty sure it's just a bug in the way the linker works in Visual studio. You sometimes get this whenever you have an operator overload.

using namespace std;

in my case this works

 for (int i = min(size_used_, other.size_used_) - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
  result += data_[i] * other.data_[i];
}

when this does not

 for (int i = std::min(size_used_, other.size_used_) - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
  result += data_[i] * other.data_[i];
}

Error C2589 on std::numeric_limits::min()

3 Answers3