redi, you misunderstand my point. Take the example below:

1. I want to create a shared library with the function my_callback. Because I want to support C programs, dlsym, and C++, I want my_callback to be unmangled; therefore, I put it in my_callback.h.
   
   
2. I compile my 100%-C library libmc.so.
   
   
3. program-a needs my_callback without hard-linking. Because my_callback isn't mangled, dlsym is an option.
   
   
4. program-b needs my_callback with hard-linking. Because my_callback isn't mangled, program-b must either use extern "C" when including my_callback.h or my_callback.h needs to conditionally use extern "C" if C++ compilation is detected. This is because gcc infers that my_callback.h is meant to be a C++ header rather than at least implicitly giving it C linkage. The problem isn't apparent until link time, however; gcc mangles the name and an "undefined reference" error occurs.

I use gcc above to point out that it isn't just g++ that will do this.

Kevin Barry