Why does this code get through the compiler without a return statement?

[Jonathan]

This must be a real newbie question.

I have this method declaration in the header (dbaccess.h):
@static QStringList indexProperties();@

and this definition in dbaccess.cpp:
@QStringList DBAccess::indexProperties()
{
}@

ie I've failed to provide return a value. I've just spent ages attempting to debug the problem, before spotting the obvious. Why doesn't the compiler pick up the missing return?

[goetz]

With gcc you only get a warning:

@
dbaccess.cpp:91: warning: control reaches end of non-void function
@

Visual Studio emit something similar if I remember correctly.

[giesbert]

VS throws an error.
@
error C4716: 'AAA::BBB' : must return a value
@
Just live tested with VS2008 SP1

[florent.revelut]

Obviously depends on the compiler... With gcc, don't forget to set -Wall
VS2008 does it out of the box

[Jonathan]

Yup, I'm using the MinGW tool chain under Windows 7.

Live and learn.

[goetz]

You can turn warnings into errors in gcc with -Werror switch. You can enable this by adding this to your .pro file:

@
QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += -Werror
@

[Franzk]

[quote author="florent.revelut" date="1292946918"]VS2008 does it out of the box[/quote] Depends on your warning level just like with gcc, if I recall correctly.

[giesbert]

[quote author="Franzk" date="1293004949"][quote author="florent.revelut" date="1292946918"]VS2008 does it out of the box[/quote] Depends on your warning level just like with gcc, if I recall correctly.

[/quote]

Hi,

In MSVS it's an error not a warning. I always use default levels: Warning level 3, no warning --> error translation. The MS compilers throw errors for such constructs.