boost::property_tree compile error (error C2061: syntax error : identifier 'p')

Question

I'm struggling to compile some code that utilises the boost property tree. I'm using Visual Studio 2010.

If I simplify the code as much as possible to reproduce the error, the code looks like the following...

#include "AppleiTunesLibraryImporter.h"
#include <boost/property_tree/xml_parser.hpp>
#include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
using namespace boost::property_tree;

AppleiTunesLibraryImporter::AppleiTunesLibraryImporter(){}
AppleiTunesLibraryImporter::~AppleiTunesLibraryImporter(){}

bool AppleiTunesLibraryImporter::ImportData( std::string itunes_library_xml_path )
{
    ptree pt;
    xml_parser::read_xml( itunes_library_xml_path.c_str(), pt, xml_parser::no_comments | xml_parser::trim_whitespace);
    return true;
}

...and the full error looks like the following...

1>  AppleiTunesLibraryImporter.cpp
1>c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/detail/allocator_utilities.hpp(178): error C2061: syntax error : identifier 'p'
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/multi_index/detail/index_base.hpp(88) : see reference to function template instantiation 'void boost::detail::allocator::construct<T>(void *,const Type &)' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              T=std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,
1>              Type=std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/multi_index/detail/index_base.hpp(87) : while compiling class template member function 'boost::multi_index::detail::index_node_base<Value,Allocator> *boost::multi_index::detail::index_base<Value,IndexSpecifierList,Allocator>::insert_(const std::pair<_Ty1,_Ty2> &,boost::multi_index::detail::index_node_base<Value,Allocator> *)'
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Value=std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,
1>              Allocator=std::allocator<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>>,
1>              IndexSpecifierList=boost::multi_index::indexed_by<boost::multi_index::sequenced<>,boost::multi_index::ordered_non_unique<boost::multi_index::tag<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,std::less<std::string>>>,
1>              _Ty1=const std::string,
1>              _Ty2=boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/multi_index/ordered_index.hpp(119) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::multi_index::detail::index_base<Value,IndexSpecifierList,Allocator>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Value=std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,
1>              IndexSpecifierList=boost::multi_index::indexed_by<boost::multi_index::sequenced<>,boost::multi_index::ordered_non_unique<boost::multi_index::tag<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,std::less<std::string>>>,
1>              Allocator=std::allocator<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>>
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/multi_index/sequenced_index.hpp(77) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::multi_index::detail::ordered_index<KeyFromValue,Compare,SuperMeta,TagList,Category>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              KeyFromValue=boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,
1>              Compare=std::less<std::string>,
1>              SuperMeta=boost::multi_index::detail::nth_layer<2,std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,boost::multi_index::indexed_by<boost::multi_index::sequenced<>,boost::multi_index::ordered_non_unique<boost::multi_index::tag<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,std::less<std::string>>>,std::allocator<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>>>,
1>              TagList=boost::mpl::vector1<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,
1>              Category=boost::multi_index::detail::ordered_non_unique_tag
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/multi_index_container.hpp(89) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::multi_index::detail::sequenced_index<SuperMeta,TagList>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              SuperMeta=boost::multi_index::detail::nth_layer<1,std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,boost::multi_index::indexed_by<boost::multi_index::sequenced<>,boost::multi_index::ordered_non_unique<boost::multi_index::tag<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,std::less<std::string>>>,std::allocator<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>>>,
1>              TagList=boost::mpl::vector0<boost::mpl::na>
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/property_tree/detail/ptree_implementation.hpp(59) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::multi_index::multi_index_container<Value,IndexSpecifierList>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Value=std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,
1>              IndexSpecifierList=boost::multi_index::indexed_by<boost::multi_index::sequenced<>,boost::multi_index::ordered_non_unique<boost::multi_index::tag<boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>::subs::by_name>,boost::multi_index::member_offset<std::pair<const std::string,boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<std::string,std::string>>,const std::basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char>>,0>,std::less<std::string>>>
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/property_tree/detail/ptree_implementation.hpp(182) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<Key,Data>::subs' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Key=std::string,
1>              Data=std::string
1>          ]
1>          c:\<path to my file>\thirdparty\boost\boost-1.47.0\boost/property_tree/detail/ptree_implementation.hpp(182) : while compiling class template member function 'boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<Key,Data>::basic_ptree(void)'
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Key=std::string,
1>              Data=std::string
1>          ]
1>          ..\..\..\common\Source\AppleiTunesImporter\AppleiTunesLibraryImporter.cpp(24) : see reference to class template instantiation 'boost::property_tree::basic_ptree<Key,Data>' being compiled
1>          with
1>          [
1>              Key=std::string,
1>              Data=std::string
1>          ]

For me, line 24 of my ApplieiTunesLibraryImporter.cpp file is just

ptree pt;

so, the compiler is not liking my use of it. I can get similar errors when I use something like

ptree::const_assoc_iterator assoc_iter;

but the above code is the simplest I can make the error happen.

The code inside the boost file (allocator_utilities.hpp) that is causing the compilation error looks like the following, but it's quite cryptic to me.

/* allocator-independent versions of construct and destroy */

template<typename Type>
void construct(void* p,const Type& t)
{
  new (p) Type(t);
}

In case someone wants to try and reproduce, here is the .h code.

class AppleiTunesLibraryImporter
{
public:

    AppleiTunesLibraryImporter();
    virtual ~AppleiTunesLibraryImporter();

    bool ImportData( std::string itunes_library_xml_path );

};

This has all turned into a bit of brain melt so if anyone can shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Answer 1

I've found the problem. The project I'm working on makes use of precompiled headers and for the .cpp files that are using boost libs, I had to prevent this from happening. In other words, I had to right click on the .cpp file an go...

Properties > Configuration Properties > C/C++ > Precompiled Headers

and set "Precompiled Headers" to "Not Using Precompiled Headers" Also, go to...

Properties > Configuration Properties > C/C++ > Advanced

and set "Forced Include File" to nothing.

Answer 2

I had similar problem and since solution above is not applicable for me. I had to find the root cause. When I found it to my annoyance I realized that it's not the first time I've done this investigation :). So this time no mistake and documenting the root cause here :). I suspect it's the same root cause the author had. So in my case the problem was that somewhere in headers which are included as part of Precompiled one there was

#define new .... // Debugging memory leaks in debug

This definition coming through precompiled headers screws up placement new.

Since it's problematic to throw away this definition("political" reasons). The best way I could found in my case

#pragma push_macro("new")
#undef new
#include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
#include <boost/property_tree/info_parser.hpp>
#pragma pop_macro("new")