Knowledge Base

DOC: Description of C2354 Error Is Unclear

Article ID: 147427

Article Last Modified on 12/9/2003

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q147427

SUMMARY

Neither the error message itself nor the online documentation for the C2354 compiler error clearly specify the cause of this error:
'reference' : initialization of reference member requires a temporary variable

MORE INFORMATION

It is illegal to initialize a reference member of a class in the class's constructor with a temporary variable. An attempt to do so generates the C2354 error, as illustrated by this sample code:

Sample Code

int temp() { return 1; }

class Test
{
public:
    int member;
    int& ref_member;
    Test();
};

Test::Test() : ref_member( temp() )
{
}
When this error is encountered, the solution is to change the code so that the reference member is not initialized to a temporary variable. The reference must be initialized to an object that will exist for the lifetime of the reference member.

Keywords: kbbug kbdocerr kbcpponly kbcompiler kboldocs KB147427


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