Is there a GCC warning for using symbols from the C library not through namespace std?

Question

Consider the following (buggy) C++ code:

#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
        std::cout << "Math is broken!\n";
        return 1;
    } else {
        return 0;
    }
}

This code is buggy because it calls abs (meaning ::abs) instead of std::abs. Depending on the implementation, ::abs might not exist, or it might be the C abs, or it might be an overload set including a version for double, like std::abs is.

With Clang on Linux, at least in my environment, it turns out to be the second option: C abs. This provokes two warnings, even without explicitly enabling any:

<source>:7:9: warning: using integer absolute value function 'abs' when argument is of floating point type [-Wabsolute-value]
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
        ^
<source>:7:9: note: use function 'std::abs' instead
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
        ^~~
        std::abs
<source>:7:13: warning: implicit conversion from 'double' to 'int' changes value from -0.75 to 0 [-Wliteral-conversion]
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
        ~~~ ^~~~~

On GCC, I get different results in different environments and I haven’t yet figured out what details of the environment are relevant. The more common option, though, is also that it calls the C abs function. However, even with -Wall -Wextra -pedantic, it gives no warnings. I can force a warning with -Wfloat-conversion, but that gives too many false positives on the rest of my codebase (which perhaps I should fix, but that’s a different issue):

<source>: In function 'int main()':
<source>:7:18: warning: conversion to 'int' alters 'double' constant value [-Wfloat-conversion]
     if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
                  ^

Is there a way to get a warning whenever I use a library function through the global namespace, when the version in namespace std is an overload?

Answer 1

Here's a solution. I'm not happy with it, but it might work for you:

namespace DontUseGlobalNameSpace {
// put all std functions here you want to catch
int abs(int x);
}
using namespace DontUseGlobalNameSpace;

Now, if you use abs() without qualification, you'll get a "symbol is ambiguous" error.

Answer 2

This is going to be difficult. The GCC <cmath> header simply includes <math.h>, #undefs its macros (just in case) and defines the C++ functions as inline functions which make some use of identifiers from <math.h>. Most of the functions in fact refer to compiler builtins: for instance, std::abs is defined using __builtin_abs and not ::abs.

Since <cmath> and your "buggy program" are all in the same translation unit, it's hard to see how the visibility could be separated: how the inline functions in <cmath> could be allowed to use <math.h> stuff, while your code wouldn't.

Well, there is the following way: <cmath> would have to be rewritten to provide its own locally scoped declarations for anything that it needs from <math.h> and not actually include that header.

What we can do instead is prepare a header file which re-declares the functions we don't want, with an __attribute__ ((deprecated)):

// put the following and lots of others like it in a header:
extern "C" int abs(int) throw () __attribute__ ((deprecated));
#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>

#include <iostream>

int main() {
  if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
    std::cout << "Math is broken!\n";
    return 1;
  } else {
    return 0;
  }
}

Now:

$ g++ -Wall  buggy.cc
buggy.cc: In function ‘int main()’:
buggy.cc:9:7: warning: ‘int abs(int)’ is deprecated [-Wdeprecated-declarations]
   if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
       ^~~
In file included from /usr/include/c++/6/cstdlib:75:0,
                 from buggy.cc:4:
/usr/include/stdlib.h:735:12: note: declared here
 extern int abs (int __x) __THROW __attribute__ ((__const__)) __wur;
            ^~~
buggy.cc:9:16: warning: ‘int abs(int)’ is deprecated [-Wdeprecated-declarations]
   if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
                ^
In file included from /usr/include/c++/6/cstdlib:75:0,
                 from buggy.cc:4:
/usr/include/stdlib.h:735:12: note: declared here
 extern int abs (int __x) __THROW __attribute__ ((__const__)) __wur;
            ^~~

A linker warning would be simpler. I tried that; the problem is that this test program doesn't actually generate an external reference to abs (even though there is an #undef abs in <cmath>). The call is being inlined, and so evades the linker warning.

Update:

Following up DanielH's comment, I have come up with a refinement of the trick which allows std::abs but blocks abs:

#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>

namespace proj {
  // shadowing declaration
  int abs(int) __attribute__ ((deprecated));

  int fun() {
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
      std::cout << "Math is broken!\n";
      return 1;
    } else {
      return std::abs(-1); // must be allowed
    }
  }
}

int main() {
  return proj::fun();
}

Simple namespaces can be used. Also, we don't need the deprecated attribute; we can just declare abs as an incompatible function, or a non-function identifier entirely:

#include <cmath>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>

namespace proj {
  // shadowing declaration
  class abs;

  int fun() {
    if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
      std::cout << "Math is broken!\n";
      return 1;
    } else {
      return std::abs(-1); // must be allowed
    }
  }
}

int main() {
  return proj::fun();
}

$ g++ -std=c++98 -Wall  buggy.cc -o buggy
buggy.cc: In function ‘int proj::fun()’:
buggy.cc:10:18: error: invalid use of incomplete type ‘class proj::abs’
     if (abs(-0.75) != 0.75) {
                  ^
buggy.cc:7:9: note: forward declaration of ‘class proj::abs’
   class abs;
         ^~~
buggy.cc:16:3: warning: control reaches end of non-void function [-Wreturn-type]
   }
   ^

With this approach, we just need a list of names and dump them into some header that provides this:

int abs, fabs, ...; // shadow all of these as non-functions

I used -stdc++98 in the g++ command line to emphasizes that this is just old school C++ namespace semantics at work.

Answer 3

This code will let you detect whether the trap exists in a particular environment:

double (*)(double) = &::abs; // fails if you haven't included math.h, possibly via cmath

But it won't help you spot the places you fall into the trap.