FIX: Crash When Class Variable Declared Before Class Declaration

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q216868

SYMPTOMS

This problem occurs while creating class definitions in the source editor. Certain coding sequences cause Visual C++ to close without error or warning.

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CAUSE

There are two possible causes of this problem; both happen when attempting to create a derived class:

An object is coded before the class definition in the same source file.
The base class is accidentally named the same as the derived class.

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Always type the skeleton of a class definition before coding objects of that class. Another solution is to always edit the class definition in its own header file rather than in the source file where it is used.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

This bug was corrected in Visual Studio 6.0 Service Pack 3. For more information about Visual Studio service packs, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

194022 INFO: Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs, What, Where, Why (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/194022/EN-US/ )

194295 HOWTO: Tell That Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs Are Installed (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/194295/EN-US/ )

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MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

WARNING: The following steps reproduce the behavior described above, terminating Visual C++ without an opportunity to save any work.

Coding an object before the class definition:

Open any project and any .cpp file in that project.
Declare a global variable as follows:
CCrashTest Test;
Move the cursor to the line above that declaration and enter the following line of code:
class CCrashTest : public CBaseClass { }

Deriving a class from itself:

Open any project and any .cpp file in that project.
Type the following class definition in. Make sure there is a space at the end of the first line.
class CCrashTest : public CCrashTest

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