CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++boostglobalboost-date-timeboost-locale
user3236291
user3236291

Reputation: 143

Why std::bad_cast exception in boost::locale::date_time for global but not local objects?

I'm having problems writing a wrapper class using the boost::locale::date_time library. Specifically, I cannot create a global object from my class, though everything works fine other than that.

Here's relevant sample code:

// DateTimeWrapper.h

#include <boost\\locale\\date_time.hpp>
#include <boost\\locale.hpp>

class DateTimeWrapper
{
public:
    DateTimeWrapper();
    ~DateTimeWrapper();

    // ... Other methods...

protected:

    boost::locale::date_time* m_date_time;
    static void Init_Global_Locale();
    static bool m_Global_Locale_Initialized;
};

// DateTimeWrapper.cpp

bool DateTimeWrapper::m_Global_Locale_Initialized = false;

DateTimeWrapper::DateTimeWrapper()
{
    Init_Global_Locale();

    // The following line will work for the local object,
    // but throws a std::bad_cast exception for the global object
    m_date_time = new boost::locale::date_time;
}

DateTimeWrapper::~DateTimeWrapper()
{
    delete m_date_time;
}

void DateTimeWrapper::Init_Global_Locale()
{
    if (!m_Global_Locale_Initialized)
    {
        boost::locale::generator gen;
        std::locale l = gen("");
        std::locale::global(l);

        m_Global_Locale_Initialized = true;
    }
}

// This object throws a std::bad_cast exception.  Code runs normally if I comment out the following line.
DateTimeWrapper global_date_time_object;

int main()
{
    // This object works just fine
    DateTimeWrapper local_date_time_object;

    // Do stuff with local_date_time_object...

    return(0);
}

As you can see in the code, I use a static member to make sure the global locale is initialized the first time a DateTimeWrapper object is created. Normally, this prevents a std::bad_cast exception from being thrown when I create my boost::locale::date_time member. However, I still receive the exception from that line when the first DateTimeWrapper object created is a global instance.

Note that stepping through the debugger, I can confirm that all lines in the Init_Global_Locale() method are run during construction of the global object. This sample code also declares DateTimeWrapper::m_Global_Locale_Initialized before it declares global_date_time_object, within the same source file, so I know that order-of-initialization is not the problem here (confirmed by stepping through with the debugger anyhow).

So why does the code work for local objects but not global objects, even though I can see all lines of code are run through, in the correct order, for both versions?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 253

Answers (1)

sehe
sehe

Reputation: 393694

I cannot reproduce the error (with the code shown in a single TU).

My hunch is that you have void DateTimeWrapper::Init_Global_Locale() and m_Global_Locale_Initialized defined in another translation unit, which lands you in SIOF (static initialization order fiasco).

Besides, there are numerous complexities about your types inviting errors (using non-owned pointers, not following Rule-Of-Zero/Three/Five). I'd write it much simpler, using C++11's function local static initialization:

#include <boost/locale.hpp>
#include <boost/locale/date_time.hpp>

struct EnsureLocaleBase {
    EnsureLocaleBase() { Init(); }

  private:
    static bool Init() {
        static auto const s_init = [] {
            boost::locale::generator gen;
            std::locale l = gen("");
            std::locale::global(l);
            return true;
        }();
        return s_init;
    }
};

class DateTimeWrapper : EnsureLocaleBase {
    boost::locale::date_time m_date_time;
};

DateTimeWrapper global_date_time_object;

int main() {
    DateTimeWrapper local_date_time_object;
}

Function local statics don't suffer SIOF and also are thread-safely initialized.

Upvotes: 0

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