Template specialization fails on linking

Question

I have an issue with template specialization which I would like to understand. I\'m working with Visual C++ 10.0 (2010). I have a class like this:

class Variable         


        

Answer 1

Specializing a template doesn't force the compiler to instantiate it (I think that GCC does though); you still need to explicitly tell the compiler to actually instantiate the template. You can do so with explicit template instantiation. Basically, just add this in the source file:

template std::string VariableManager::get(const std::string& name) const;