Cannot link Boost regex

Question

I am currently trying to compile a Contraction Hierachies implementation by KIT which requires Boost::Regex. The supplied Makefile already makes sure (and I have also double-checked this manually) that g++ is supplied with the -lboost_regex switch. If the library is not installed, g++ will complain.

So I installed the library from my package sources and tried compiling again. This time I am getting a huge load of linker errors regarding Boost::Regex. Here is a short excerpt:

main.o: In function `boost::re_detail::perl_matcher<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, std::allocator<boost::sub_match<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string> > >, boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > >::unwind_extra_block(bool)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE18unwind_extra_blockEb[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE18unwind_extra_blockEb]+0x2c): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::put_mem_block(void*)'
main.o: In function `void boost::re_detail::raise_error<boost::regex_traits_wrapper<boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > > >(boost::regex_traits_wrapper<boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > > const&, boost::regex_constants::error_type)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE[_ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE]+0x7d): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::get_default_error_string(boost::regex_constants::error_type)'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE[_ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE]+0xb1): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::raise_runtime_error(std::runtime_error const&)'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE[_ZN5boost9re_detail11raise_errorINS_20regex_traits_wrapperINS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEEEEEvRKT_NS_15regex_constants10error_typeE]+0xcb): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::get_default_error_string(boost::regex_constants::error_type)'
main.o: In function `__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string> boost::re_detail::re_is_set_member<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, char, boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> >, unsigned int>(__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, boost::re_detail::re_set_long<unsigned int> const*, boost::re_detail::regex_data<char, boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > > const&, bool)':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail16re_is_set_memberIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEEcNS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEjEET_SB_SB_PKNS0_11re_set_longIT2_EERKNS0_10regex_dataIT0_T1_EEb[_ZN5boost9re_detail16re_is_set_memberIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEEcNS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEjEET_SB_SB_PKNS0_11re_set_longIT2_EERKNS0_10regex_dataIT0_T1_EEb]+0x17b): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::cpp_regex_traits_implementation<char>::transform_primary(char const*, char const*) const'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail16re_is_set_memberIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEEcNS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEjEET_SB_SB_PKNS0_11re_set_longIT2_EERKNS0_10regex_dataIT0_T1_EEb[_ZN5boost9re_detail16re_is_set_memberIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEEcNS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEjEET_SB_SB_PKNS0_11re_set_longIT2_EERKNS0_10regex_dataIT0_T1_EEb]+0x4c0): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::cpp_regex_traits_implementation<char>::transform(char const*, char const*) const'
main.o: In function `boost::re_detail::perl_matcher<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, std::allocator<boost::sub_match<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string> > >, boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > >::extend_stack()':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE12extend_stackEv[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE12extend_stackEv]+0x18): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::get_mem_block()'
main.o: In function `boost::re_detail::perl_matcher<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string>, std::allocator<boost::sub_match<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::string> > >, boost::regex_traits<char, boost::cpp_regex_traits<char> > >::match_imp()':
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv]+0xc): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::get_mem_block()'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv]+0x19e): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::verify_options(unsigned int, boost::regex_constants::_match_flags)'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv]+0x254): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::put_mem_block(void*)'
main.cpp:(.text._ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv[_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcNS_16cpp_regex_traitsIcEEEEE9match_impEv]+0x3c6): undefined reference to `boost::re_detail::put_mem_block(void*)'

This looks very much like the compiler did not find the library at all. In fact, when I don't supply the -lboost_regex switch the output remains the same (I ran a hash on it).

However, running the linker with the -Wl,--verbose switch as suggested in nuwen MinGW + Boost- error linking boost_regex shows that the library is found:

attempt to open /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../../lib/libboost_regex.so succeeded
-lboost_regex (/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.8/../../../../lib/libboost_regex.so)

All I know is that this is likely a different boost version than what was around when the software was written (I don't know which. I am using 1.53 now.) but from looking at the code it seems it should still work. Also I am using the headers from this boost version so the compiler should already complain if function signatures have changed.

How can I get this to link? Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Linker switches are in the wrong order. make tries to do this:

g++ -lboost_regex -lboost_iostreams -o main main.o

This is what actually works (at least with gcc 4.8.1):

g++ -o main main.o -lboost_regex -lboost_iostreams

So to fix the compilation error you should substitue line 6 in the Makefile with the following:

    $(CXX) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS) $(LINK)