DOCUMENT:Q140605  03-AUG-2001  [visualc]
TITLE   :PRB: C2059 When Declaring Friend Template Functions in a Class
PRODUCT :Microsoft C Compiler
PROD/VER:winnt:
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbCompiler kbprb

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The information in this article applies to:

 - The C/C++ Compiler (CL.EXE), included with:
    - *EDITOR Please do not choose this product*Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition* use 241, 265, 225, version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

Attempting to declare a friend template function in a class definition may
result in the following errors:

   error C2059: syntax error: 'template'

   error C2238: unexpected token(s) preceding ';'

CAUSE
=====

This is a relatively new language feature that is currently not supported by the
Visual C++ 4.0 compiler. For example, the following code will generate the
errors noted above.

Sample Code
-----------

   /* Compile options needed: none
   */ 
   class A;
   template <class T> void f(T, A *a)  { a->x; }

   class A
   {
   private:
      int x;
      template <class T> friend void f(T, A*);
   };

   int main(void)
   {
      A a;
      f(5, &a);
      f(1.5, &a);
      return 0;
   }

STATUS
======

This behavior is by design.

Additional query words: 4.00

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Keywords          : kbCompiler kbprb 
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper kbCVCComp
Version           : winnt:
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

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