Re: Meaning of "Incomplete Type"

[Andrew Gaylard]

kenneth kahn wrote:

> I have a multi-object, multi-threaded C++ program built on Solaris 8
> using Forte 10 with debug enabled that is producing a core dump.  I
> use "DDD 3.3.1 (sparc-sun-solaris2.8)" on the resulting core file and
> easily find the offending piece of code.  What puzzles me is when I
> display out the local variables I see
>
>  (Name=<incomplete type>, flags=0, mode=2779712, value=8195)
>
> The function is defined as
>
>  int Fct (char * Name, int flags, int mode, int value) { .. }
>
> What exactly does "incomplete type" mean?  Is there any way around
> this so I can see what the pointer passed to the function is actually
> pointing at.

"Incomplete type" usually means that the underlying debugger doesn't
know the type in question.  Which underlying debugger are you using?  If
it's gdb, try using "info locals" at the command line; if you get the
same information, then this isn't a ddd problem.

> The core dump is occuring at the call
>
>  (char*)malloc(strlen(Name)+1);
>
> I'm guessing it's due to Name being corrupt somehow.
>
That sounds like a good guess to me.

I'd recommend using the most recent combination of gdb and ddd that you
can find.  3.3.1 is ancient.

Andrew.