Static structure initialization with tags in C++
c++, initialization, static, struct, tags
Solution
The feature you are using is a C99 feature and you are using a C++ compiler that doesn't support it. Remember that although C code is generally valid C++ code, C99 code isn't always.
Problem
I've searched stackoverflow for an answer but I cannot get something relevant. I'm trying to initialize a static structure instance with initial values by specifying their tags, but I get an error at compilation time: `src/version.cpp:10: error: expected primary-expression before ‘.’ token` Here's the code: ``` // h typedef struct { int lots_of_ints; /* ... lots of other members */ const char *build_date; const char *build_version; } infos; ``` And the faulty code: ``` // C static const char *version_date = VERSION_DATE; static const char *version_rev = VERSION_REVISION; static const infos s_infos = { .build_date = version_date, // why is this wrong? it works in C! .build_version = version_rev }; const infos *get_info() { return &s_infos; } ``` So the basic idea is to bypass the "other members" initialization and only set the relevant `build_date` and `build_version` values. This used to work in C, but I can't figure out why it won't work in C++. Any ideas? edit: I realize this code looks like simple C, and it actually is. The whole project is in C++ so I have to use C++ file extensions to prevent the makefile dependency mess ( `%.o: %.cpp` )