Inheritance Linking throws 'undefined reference to...' C++

Question

I've writing a "big" Indexs project in C++, that is difficult for me meanwhile... While i was trying to create an inheritance between 2 clases:

ZonalPermutant wich inherit from Permutant

i got the following error:

error:

g++ -Wall -std=c++0x lib/PermZone.o lib/VectorSpace.o lib/Vector.o lib/PermZoneMain.o lib/Permutant.o lib/ZonalPermutant.o -o permZone
lib/Permutant.o: In function `Permutant::Permutant()':
Permutant.cpp:(.text+0x20): undefined reference to `vtable for Permutant'
lib/Permutant.o: In function `Permutant::Permutant(long)':
Permutant.cpp:(.text+0x8e): undefined reference to `vtable for Permutant'
lib/Permutant.o: In function `Permutant::Permutant(PList<long>*, long)':
Permutant.cpp:(.text+0x10c): undefined reference to `vtable for Permutant'
lib/ZonalPermutant.o: In function `ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant()':
ZonalPermutant.cpp:(.text+0x41): undefined reference to `Permutant::~Permutant()'
lib/ZonalPermutant.o: In function `ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant(long)':
ZonalPermutant.cpp:(.text+0xa4): undefined reference to `Permutant::~Permutant()'
lib/ZonalPermutant.o: In function `ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant(PList<long>*, PList<long>*, long)':
ZonalPermutant.cpp:(.text+0x13e): undefined reference to `Permutant::~Permutant()'
lib/ZonalPermutant.o: In function `ZonalPermutant::~ZonalPermutant()':
ZonalPermutant.cpp:(.text._ZN14ZonalPermutantD2Ev[_ZN14ZonalPermutantD5Ev]+0x2f): undefined reference to `Permutant::~Permutant()'
lib/ZonalPermutant.o:(.rodata._ZTI14ZonalPermutant[_ZTI14ZonalPermutant]+0x10): undefined reference to `typeinfo for Permutant'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Makefile:17: recipe for target 'permZone' failed
make: *** [permZone] Error 1

I know it is probably that the linking in my makefile could be wrong written. So i will show you my makefile:

makefile:

CC = g++
STD = -std=c++0x
DIR = -I .
CFLAGS = -Wall -c $(STD) 
LFLAGS = -Wall $(STD)

BRUTEFORCE_LIB = lib/VectorSpace.o lib/Vector.o lib/BruteForce.o lib/BruteForceMain.o
PIVOT_LIB = lib/VectorSpace.o lib/Vector.o lib/Pivot.o lib/PivotMain.o
PERM_LIB = lib/Permutants.o lib/VectorSpace.o lib/Vector.o lib/PermMain.o lib/Permutant.o
BASICS_LIB = lib/MajorOrderHeap.o lib/MinorOrderHeap.o lib/PList.o lib/OList.o lib/PList.o lib/HeapElement.o lib/Random.o lib/Tokenizer.o lib/Matrix.o
PERMZONE_LIB = lib/PermZone.o lib/VectorSpace.o lib/Vector.o lib/PermZoneMain.o lib/Permutant.o lib/ZonalPermutant.o

default: permZone
#EXE's
#PermZone
permZone: $(PERMZONE_LIB)
    $(CC) $(LFLAGS) $(PERMZONE_LIB) -o permZone

lib/PermZoneMain.o: src/PermZoneMain.cpp src/Index.h src/Space.h
    $(CC) src/PermZoneMain.cpp $(CFLAGS) -o lib/PermZoneMain.o

lib/PermZone.o: src/Indexes/PermZone/PermZone.h src/Indexes/PermZone/PermZone.cpp $(BASICS_LIB)
    $(CC) src/Indexes/PermZone/PermZone.cpp $(CFLAGS) -o lib/PermZone.o

lib/ZonalPermutant.o: src/Indexes/PermZone/ZonalPermutant.cpp src/Indexes/PermZone/ZonalPermutant.h lib/Permutant.o
    $(CC) src/Indexes/PermZone/ZonalPermutant.cpp  $(CFLAGS) -o  lib/ZonalPermutant.o

lib/Permutant.o: src/Element.h src/Indexes/Permutants/Permutant.h src/Indexes/Permutants/Permutant.cpp $(BASICS_LIB)
    $(CC) src/Indexes/Permutants/Permutant.cpp $(CFLAGS) -o lib/Permutant.o

and now the h and cpp files (i know its a lot of text):

Permutant.h:

//
//  Created by Maximiliano Verdugo on 28/12/15.
//  Copyright © 2016 Maximiliano Verdugo. All rights reserved.
//
#include "../../Element.h"
#include "../../Basics/PList.h"

#ifndef PERMUTANT_H
#define PERMUTANT_H
class Permutant : public Element
{
protected:
    PList<long> permutation;//stores only ID's
public:
    bool isInverted;
    Permutant();
    ~Permutant();
    Permutant(long id);
    Permutant(PList<long>* permutation,long id);
    void setPermutation(PList<long>* permutation);
    PList<long> getPermutation();
    void invertPermutation();
    long distance(Permutant* other);
    string toString();
    static long spearmanFootRule(Permutant &p1, Permutant &p2);
};
#endif // PERMUTANT_H

Permutant.cpp:

//
//  Created by Maximiliano Verdugo on 28/12/15.
//  Copyright © 2016 Maximiliano Verdugo. All rights reserved.
//
#include "Permutant.h"
//I dont like this trick.. but i have to use it for future distance calculations
typedef long (*P_distance)(Permutant&,Permutant&);//i hope it doesn't cause problems with inheritance :D
P_distance p_distance;
Permutant::Permutant()
{
    isInverted = false;
    p_distance = &spearmanFootRule;
}
Permutant::Permutant(long id)
{
    this->id = id;
    isInverted = false;
    p_distance = &spearmanFootRule;
}
Permutant::Permutant(PList<long>* permutation,long id)
{
    this->id = id;
    isInverted = false;
    this->permutation = *permutation;
    p_distance = &spearmanFootRule;
}
void Permutant::setPermutation(PList<long>* permutation)
{
    this->permutation = *permutation;
}
PList<long> Permutant::getPermutation()
{
    return this->permutation;
}
void Permutant::invertPermutation()
{
    PList<long> *inverted_permutation = new PList<long>(permutation.size());
    inverted_permutation->toArray();
    for (long i = 0; i < permutation.size(); ++i)
    {
        (*inverted_permutation)[permutation[i]] = i;
    }
    this->setPermutation(inverted_permutation);
    this->isInverted = !isInverted;
}
long Permutant::distance(Permutant* other)
{
    return  p_distance(*this, *other);
}
string Permutant::toString()
{
    ostringstream oss;
    oss << ((isInverted)?"i":"")<< " " << permutation.toString();
    return oss.str();
}
long Permutant::spearmanFootRule(Permutant &p1, Permutant &p2)
{
    long dist = 0;
    if(p1.isInverted == p2.isInverted)
    {
        p1.invertPermutation(); 
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < p2.getPermutation().size(); ++i)
    {
        dist+= abs(p1.getPermutation().get(p2.getPermutation().get(i)) - i);
    }
    return dist;
}

ZonalPermutant:

//
//  Created by Maximiliano Verdugo on 28/12/15.
//  Copyright © 2016 Maximiliano Verdugo. All rights reserved.
//
#include "../Permutants/Permutant.h"

#ifndef ZONAL_PERMUTANT_H
#define ZONAL_PERMUTANT_H

class ZonalPermutant :public Permutant
{
private:
    PList<long> zones;
public:
    ZonalPermutant();
    ~ZonalPermutant(){};
    ZonalPermutant(long id);
    ZonalPermutant(PList<long>* permutation, PList<long>* zones, long id);
    void setZones(PList<long>* zones);
    PList<long> getZones();
    long distance(Permutant* other);
    string toString();
};

#endif // ZONAL_PERMUTANT_H

ZonalPermutant.cpp:

//
//  Created by Maximiliano Verdugo on 28/12/15.
//  Copyright © 2016 Maximiliano Verdugo. All rights reserved.
//
#include "ZonalPermutant.h"

ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant() : Permutant()
{}
ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant(long id) : Permutant(id)
{}
ZonalPermutant::ZonalPermutant(PList<long>* permutation, PList<long>* zones, long id) : Permutant(permutation,id)
{
    this->zones = *zones;
}
void ZonalPermutant::setZones(PList<long>* zones)
{
    this->zones = *zones;
}
PList<long> ZonalPermutant::getZones()
{
    return this->zones;
}
long ZonalPermutant::distance(Permutant* other)
{
    return 0;
}
string ZonalPermutant::toString()
{
    return ":D";
}

Every of the other classes used in my code are good implemented and they dont create any problem at the moment of compiling and linking others Indexes... If there is any problem in my code or way to programm, i would like that you say that to me :). Thanks you for the help.

I'm tempted to close your question as a duplicate of [What is an undefined reference/unresolved external symbol error and how do I fix it?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12573816/what-is-an-undefined-reference-unresolved-external-symbol-error-and-how-do-i-fix). But well, narrow that down to a [MCVE], and you might even find the crucial point yourself. Also possibly related [Why can templates only be implemented in the header file?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/495021/why-can-templates-only-be-implemented-in-the-header-file) as templates seem to be involved. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Jan 22 '16 at 22:54
From a quick glance, it looks like you've declared ~Permutant() but you have no definition. For ~ZonePermutant() you define an empty body, but I don't see a body for ~Permutant(). — Scott, Jan 22 '16 at 22:58

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 22 '16 at 23:53

1

Try declaring your destructors virtual (usually no harm done if not necessary), and/or add their implementations to .cpp files. In my experience

Undefined reference to `vtable for Permutant'

hints to this direction.

answered Jan 22 '16 at 23:53

J.J. Hakala

6,136
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Inheritance Linking throws 'undefined reference to...' C++

1 Answers1