Undefined reference when Gcc compiling Boost::regex with multiple versions of boost exist

Question

I was trying to install Boost on a linux machine(CentOs, Linux version 2.6.9-67.ELsmp). I followed with the instruction on Boost Getting Started webpage. Downloaded and extracted the files, then I add prefix because I am not the root user.

./bootstrap.sh --prefix=/my_path/boost-1.49.0
./b2 install

I go to /my_path/boost-1.49.0 and check there are /include/boost/ and /lib/ contain files there.

also I set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to /my_path/boost-1.49.0/lib/.

To test if I installed successfully, I compile the following code:

main.cpp

#include <boost/regex.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace boost;
using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    string line = "12345";
    regex pattern("^123");
    if (regex_match(line, pattern)) cout << "match." << endl;
    else cout << "not match." << endl;
    return 1;
}

And compile by command:

g++ -v -I /my_path/boost-1.49.0/include/boost -L /my_path/boost-1.49.0/lib main.cpp -lboost_regex -o example

and generate following errors:

Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/specs
Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --enable-shared --enable-threads=posix --disable-checking --with-system-zlib --enable-__cxa_atexit --disable-libunwind-exceptions --enable-java-awt=gtk --host=x86_64-redhat-linux
Thread model: posix
gcc version 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-9)
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/cc1plus -quiet -v -I /my_path/boost-1.49.0/include/boost/ -D_GNU_SOURCE main.cpp -quiet -dumpbase main.cpp -mtune=k8 -auxbase main -version -o /tmp/ccW0ON8y.s
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../x86_64-redhat-linux/include"
#include "..." search starts here:
#include <...> search starts here:
/my_path/boost-1.49.0/include/boost/
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../include/c++/3.4.6
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../include/c++/3.4.6/x86_64-redhat-linux
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../include/c++/3.4.6/backward
/usr/local/include
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/include
/usr/include
End of search list.
GNU C++ version 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-9) (x86_64-redhat-linux)
        compiled by GNU C version 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-9).
GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=100 --param ggc-min-heapsize=131072
as -V -Qy -o /tmp/ccpu82sB.o /tmp/ccW0ON8y.s
GNU assembler version 2.15.92.0.2 (x86_64-redhat-linux) using BFD version 2.15.92.0.2 20040927
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/collect2 --eh-frame-hdr -m elf_x86_64 -dynamic-linker /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 -o example /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../lib64/crt1.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../lib64/crti.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/crtbegin.o -L /my_path/boost-1.49.0/lib/ -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../lib64 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../.. -L/lib/../lib64 -L/usr/lib/../lib64 /tmp/ccpu82sB.o -lboost_regex -lstdc++ -lm -lgcc_s -lgcc -lc -lgcc_s -lgcc /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/crtend.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/../../../../lib64/crtn.o
/tmp/ccpu82sB.o(.gnu.linkonce.t._ZN5boost11basic_regexIcNS_12regex_
traitsIcEESaIcEEC1EPKcjRKS3_+0x27): In function `boost::basic_regex<char, 
boost::regex_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> >::basic_regex(char const*, 
unsigned int, std::allocator<char> const&)':: 
undefined reference to `boost::reg_expression<char, boost::regex_traits<char>, 
std::allocator<char> >::reg_expression(char const*, unsigned int, 
std::allocator<char> const&)'

/tmp/ccpu82sB.o(.gnu.linkonce.t.
_ZN5boost11basic_regexIcNS_12regex_traitsIcEESaIcEED1Ev+0x11): In function 
`boost::basic_regex<char, boost::regex_traits<char>, 
std::allocator<char>>::~basic_regex()':
: undefined reference to `boost::reg_expression<char, boost::regex_traits<char>, 
std::allocator<char> >::~reg_expression()'
/tmp/ccpu82sB.o(.gnu.linkonce.t.
_ZN5boost9re_detail12perl_matcherIN9__gnu_cxx17__normal_iteratorIPKcSsEESaINS_9sub
_matchIS6_EEENS_12regex_traitsIcEESaIcEEC1ES6_S6_RNS_13match_resultsIS6_S9_EERKNS_
14reg_expressionIcSB_SC_EENS_15regex_constants12_match_flagsE+0xa1): In function 
`boost::re_detail::perl_matcher<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, 
std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, 
std::allocator<boost::sub_match<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, 
std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > > > >, 
boost::regex_traits<char>, std::allocator<char>>
::perl_matcher(__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::basic_string<char, 
std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, __gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char 
const*, std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, 
boost::match_results<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, std::basic_string<char, 
std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > >, 
std::allocator<boost::sub_match<__gnu_cxx::__normal_iterator<char const*, 
std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > > > > >&, 
boost::reg_expression<char, boost::regex_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&, 
boost::regex_constants::_match_flags)':

however if I just compile with default boost that system administer installed

g++ -v main.cpp -lboost_regex -o example

Then it's fine.

ldd example I got

libboost_regex.so.1 => /usr/lib64/libboost_regex.so.1 (0x0000002a95557000)

Due to some reason the I am asked not to update the boost in /usr/include/boost. Is there anything that can help me solve with this problem that install boost in a local folder and just change the path how to include and link to use different versions?

I am not sure if this question is dumb or not, but I did search with google but mostly related questions are not properly set -I, -L and -l in gcc command. I have no idea of the error message above, really drive me mad. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks for your patience and time.

Answer 1

Maybe it's because in your compile command, you said to use /my_path/boost-1.49.0/include/boost as include path and then, in your source code you #include <boost/regex.hpp>.

My guess is that regex.hpp is searched in /my_path/boost-1.49.0/include/boost/boost/regex.hpp. It is obviously not found, so system one is found.

Could you try with : g++ -v -I /my_path/boost-1.49.0/include -L /my_path/boost-1.49.0/lib main.cpp -lboost_regex -o example