Syntax error with std::numeric_limits::max

Question

I have class struct definition as follows:

#include 

struct heapStatsFilters
{
    heapStatsFilters(size_t minValue_ = 0, size_t maxValue_ = s         


        

Answer 1

Your problem is caused by the header file that includes macro definitions named max and min:

#define max(a,b) (((a) > (b)) ? (a) : (b))

Seeing this definition, the preprocessor replaces the max identifier in the expression:

std::numeric_limits::max()

by the macro definition, eventually leading to invalid syntax:

std::numeric_limits::(((a) > (b)) ? (a) : (b))

reported in the compiler error: '(' : illegal token on right side of '::'.

As a workaround, you can add the NOMINMAX define to compiler flags (or to the translation unit, before including the header):

#define NOMINMAX   

or wrap the call to max with parenthesis, which prevents the macro expansion:

size_t maxValue_ = (std::numeric_limits::max)()
//                 ^                                ^

or #undef max before calling numeric_limits::max():

#undef max
...
size_t maxValue_ = std::numeric_limits::max()