http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=51149
Bug #: 51149 Summary: Smarter error output in a few template deduction/substitution failure cases Classification: Unclassified Product: gcc Version: 4.7.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: enhancement Priority: P3 Component: c++ AssignedTo: unassig...@gcc.gnu.org ReportedBy: darlingm...@gmail.com I have a suggestion of making error output in two cases more helpful. I've got to admit that I don't know if there's a good way to implement this. It's really nice that g++ makes suggestions, for when you're a little bit off the mark. But, there's two situations I tend to do all the time that cause several pages of irrelevant suggestions/template failures fly by. If you do several of these at once, it takes a while to find the offending line numbers. I often scroll to top of errors, fix that line, try recompiling. I'm not able to efficiently pick out the line numbers all at once, since there's so much between the lines I need to read. I like the feature of g++ saying "maybe you meant ->" if you use "." on a pointer. If there would be a way to implement something like that on these cases, it would be nice. Case - When working a lot with streams, forgetting you're momentarily working with a string [example]string theString = anotherString << "text"; // note it should be "+"[/example] In this case, g++ gives many, many lines showing template argument deduction/substitution failed, where if a single line would do that states "maybe you meant + instead of <<". Case - When meaning to call a lambda function, forgetting parenthesis [example]auto lambda = [] { return "text"; }; if("text" == lambda) cout << "It's text" << endl; // note it should be "lambda()"[/example] In this case, g++ gives many, many lines showing template argument deduction/substitution failed, where if a single line would do that states "maybe you forgot ()". I do realize that the errors it gives are helpful in situations where someone hasn't made one of these typos, so I realize that giving these shorter error messages might be helpful to me, but less helpful to others. That's why I said I'm not sure if there's a good way to implement this, but I hope there is.