extern const char* const SOME_CONSTANT giving me linker errors

Question

I want to provide a string constant in an API like so:

extern const char* const SOME_CONSTANT;

But if I define it in my static library sour

Answer 1

The problem could be that the extern declaration is not visible in the source file defining the constant. Try repeating the declaration above the definition, like this:

extern const char* const SOME_CONSTANT;  //make sure name has external linkage
const char* const SOME_CONSTANT = "test";  //define the constant

Answer 2

most probably you forgot to include your header in your implementation file

anyway, add the keyword extern to the definition

without an extern declaration it has internal linkage and is thus not visible to the linker