c++ Linker error with static library

Question

I am trying to include a static library that I have created with a static method but getting the following error in runtime when trying to invoke the method:

[ INFO] [1528271039.635221775]: Initializing nodelet with 4 worker threads. /opt/ros/kinetic/lib/nodelet/nodelet: symbol lookup error:/catkin_ws/devel/lib//libmission_manager_nodelet.so: undefined symbol: _ZN14my_commons10ConsoleLog6ROSLogEiNSt7__cxx1112basic_stringIcSt11char_traitsIcESaIcEEES6_

the static library has 2 files: ConsoleLog.h:

#ifndef CONSOLE_LOG_H
#define CONSOLE_LOG_H

#include "ros/ros.h"
namespace my_commons
{
class ConsoleLog
{
  public:
    static void ROSLog(int type, std::string message,std::string taskName);
    static void STDLog(int logType, std::string msg,std::string taskName);
};
} // namespace my_commons
#endif //CONSOLE_LOG_H

and ConsoleLog.cpp:

#include "ConsoleLog.h"
namespace my_commons
{
void ConsoleLog::ROSLog(int type, std::string message, std::string task)
{
    switch (type)
    {
    case (0):
        ROS_DEBUG_STREAM("########## " << task << " DEBUG: " << message << " ##########");
        break;
    case (1):
        ROS_INFO_STREAM("########## " << task << " " << message << " ##########");
        break;
    case (2):
        ROS_WARN_STREAM("##########  " << task << " WARNNING: " << message << " ##########");
        break;
    case (3):
        ROS_ERROR_STREAM("########## " << task << " ERROR: " << message << " ##########");
        break;
    }
}

void ConsoleLog::STDLog(int logType, std::string msg, std::string task)
{
    std::cout << msg << std::endl;
}
} // namespace my_commons

the CMakelist.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(my_commons)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++0x ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")

find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS
roscpp
)

catkin_package(CATKIN_DEPENDS
               INCLUDE_DIRS include)


include_directories(
  ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   include/
)
###########
## Build ##
###########


add_library(my_commons
src/ConsoleLog.cpp
)



## Specify libraries to link a library or executable target against

set_target_properties(my_commons PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)

target_link_libraries(my_commons
                        ${catkin_LIBRARIES} 
                        ${roscpp_LIBRARIES}                         
)

#add_dependencies(name_of_package_nodelet)

install(DIRECTORY include/
  DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_INCLUDE_DESTINATION}
  FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.h"
  PATTERN ".svn" EXCLUDE)

# Install library
install(TARGETS my_commons
  ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
  LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
  RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION}
)

Edit:

Here is the clients CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(my_mission_manager)

set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++0x ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")

find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS
    roscpp
    nodelet
  std_msgs 
    my_commons
  message_runtime
  std_srvs
)

catkin_package(
  CATKIN_DEPENDS 
  message_runtime 
  std_msgs 
  my_commons
)

include_directories(
  ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS}
   include/
)
###########
## Build ##
###########


add_library(my_mission_manager_nodelet
                src/my_mission_manager_nodelet.cpp
)

## Specify libraries to link a library or executable target against


target_link_libraries( my_mission_manager_nodelet
                        ${catkin_LIBRARIES} 
                        ${roscpp_LIBRARIES}                         
)

#add_dependencies(my_mission_manager_nodelet)


# Install library
install(TARGETS my_mission_manager_nodelet
  ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
  LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
  RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION}
)

# Install header files
install(DIRECTORY src/
  DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_INCLUDE_DESTINATION}
)

# Install launch files
install(DIRECTORY launch/
  DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION}/launch
)

# Install xml files
install(FILES nodelet_plugins.xml
  DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION}
)

What am I missing here?

By the way, I am able to use data from header files in my_commons (enums), the problem occurs when trying to add a cpp file an invoke a static method in it.

Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

Please find below a working example of correct CMake project:

Directory structure:

ROOT
|
+--inc
|   +--ConsoleLog.hpp
+--src
|   +--ConsoleLog.cpp
|   +--main.cpp
+CMakeLists.txt

Your source and header files remains unchanged (I only changed *.h to *.hpp --> after all you write in C++, not C).

main.cpp:

#include "ConsoleLog.hpp"

int main() {
    my_commons::ConsoleLog log;
    log.ROSLog(1, "xxx", "yyy");
    return 0;
}

CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.11)
project(my_commons)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++11 ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")

find_package(catkin REQUIRED COMPONENTS roscpp)

add_library(my_commons STATIC src/ConsoleLog.cpp)
target_include_directories(my_commons PUBLIC inc ${roscpp_INCLUDE_DIRS})
target_link_libraries(my_commons ${catkin_LIBRARIES} ${roscpp_LIBRARIES})

add_executable(MyExec src/main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(MyExec my_commons)

Result of the execution:

./MyExec 
[ INFO] [1528280295.971205050]: ########## yyy xxx ##########

I use newer CMake version to be able to use target_include_directories, because I like this feature. I changed your compiler flags to include C++11 standard, because apparently you use it. I also removed INSTALL CMake rules, because they are irrelevant to the question. Let me know if this answer is OK for you.

=============== EDIT(to answer OP comment)==============

Well, I don't have any problems with embedding this lib in another project structure. The error you got means that your directory structure is incorrect (my_commons dir doesn't exist). Your project tree should look like this:

ROOT
|
+--MyCommonsLib (this is the root of your my_commons library)
|
+--src
|   +--main.cpp
+CMakeLists.txt

And your project's CMakeLists.txt might look like this:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.11)

project(SomeSimpleProjectUsingMyCommonsLib)

add_subdirectory(MyCommonsLib)

add_executable(MyExec src/main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(MyExec my_commons)

Just remember to remove the add_executable instruction from your MyCommonLib/CMakeLists.txt. Also main.cpp should be like this:

#include "ConsoleLog.hpp"

int main() {
    my_commons::ConsoleLog::ROSLog(1, "xxx", "yyy");
    return 0;
}

Sorry, before I didn't notice that ROSLog is declared as static.