Questions tagged [name-mangling]

Questions relating to the schemes used for name mangling, linking problems in the face of mangling, or the tools used to decode mangled names (like c++filt or dem) are appropriate for this tag.

In C++, name mangling is used to encode things like the symbol's namespace and/or function signature.

For example, given this C++ code:

namespace Foo {
namespace Bar {
    class A {
        public:
            A();
            ~A();
    };
}

int f(int i)
{
    Bar::A a;
}

int f(double d)
{
    Bar::A a;
}

}

the g++ compiler on a Linux box might generate the following "mangled" names for the 2 overloads of f() and A's constructor and destructor:

• _ZN3Foo1fEd
• _ZN3Foo1fEi
• _ZN3Foo3Bar1AC1Ev
• _ZN3Foo3Bar1AD1Ev

Using a tool like c++filt, we can decode these names:

$ echo _ZN3Foo1fEd | c++filt
Foo::f(double) 

$ echo _ZN3Foo3Bar1AC1Ev | c++filt
Foo::Bar::A::A() 

Of course, if you're not using g++ on Linux, the mangled form for your symbols may (likely WILL) be different. (The C++ FAQ lite subtly suggests that if two C++ compilers have different ABIs, even in small details, then they should intentionally have different name mangling schemes, so that things break in an obvious way and not a subtle way.)