I recently revisited a problem I was having trouble solving awhile ago, and I'm still having issues. I wish to create a new archive type that is simply an extension of xml_iarchive that takes an additional construction parameter and then be able to retrieve that value from the archive later. This new archive type is part of a static library. See attached Archive.hpp/cpp for my most recent attempt. I should also mention that BOOST_ALL_DYN_LINK is globally defined in my environment. This is the cause of the errors in output1.txt. After looking at archive/detail/decl.hpp, I was able to get my static library to compile by defining BOOST_ARCHIVE_SOURCE while compiling the static library. I then get the linker errors in output2.txt when trying to use the new archive type from an executable. I'm sure I'm just missing something simple, but I need some hand-holding here because I've been at this awhile. Thanks, Kenny Riddile #ifndef RS_REPOSITORY_ARCHIVE_HPP #define RS_REPOSITORY_ARCHIVE_HPP #include #include #include namespace rs { class InputArchive : public boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<InputArchive> , public boost::archive::detail::shared_ptr_helper { public: InputArchive( std::istream& is ); InputArchive( std::istream& is, Repository& repository ); Repository* GetRepository() const; template<class T> void load( T& t ) { boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<InputArchive>::load( t ); } private: friend class boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<InputArchive>; friend class boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<InputArchive>; friend class boost::archive::load_access; Repository* m_repository; }; typedef boost::archive::xml_oarchive OutputArchive; } // end namespace rs #endif // RS_REPOSITORY_ARCHIVE_HPP #include #include namespace rs { InputArchive::InputArchive( std::istream& is ) : boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<InputArchive>( is, 0 ) , m_repository( 0 ) { } InputArchive::InputArchive( std::istream& is, Repository& repository ) : boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<InputArchive>( is, 0 ) , m_repository( &repository ) { } Repository* InputArchive::GetRepository() const { return m_repository; } } // end namespace rs BOOST_SERIALIZATION_REGISTER_ARCHIVE( rs::InputArchive ) #include #include namespace boost { namespace archive { template class basic_xml_iarchivers::InputArchive; template class xml_iarchive_implrs::InputArchive; } // end namespace archive } // end namespace boost #define BOOST_ARCHIVE_CUSTOM_IARCHIVE_TYPES rs::InputArchive 1>------ Build started: Project: repository, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------ 1>Compiling... 1>Archive.cpp 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(41) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_start' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(74) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_end' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(80) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_override' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(86) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_override' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(92) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_override' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(98) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::load_override' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(105) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::basic_xml_iarchive' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/basic_xml_iarchive.ipp(108) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<Archive>::~basic_xml_iarchive' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>Warning: This header is deprecated. Please use: boost/spirit/include/classic_rule.hpp 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(83) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::load' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(114) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::load' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(127) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::load' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(140) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::load' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(153) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::load_override' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(160) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::init' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(187) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::xml_iarchive_impl' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\third_party\boost\1_38_0\boost/archive/impl/xml_iarchive_impl.ipp(200) : error C2491: 'boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<Archive>::~xml_iarchive_impl' : definition of dllimport function not allowed 1>BinaryResourceWrapper.cpp 1>ArchiveWrapper.cpp 1>ResourceFileHandle.cpp 1>Repository.cpp 1>BinaryResource.cpp 1>Generating Code... 1>Build log was saved at "file://c:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\build\components\libs\repository\repository.dir\Debug\BuildLog.htm" 1>repository - 16 error(s), 0 warning(s) ========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 1 up-to-date, 0 skipped ========== 1>------ Build started: Project: repository_test_repository, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------ 1>Linking... 1>repository.lib(Repository.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_iserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_iserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1>repository.lib(Repository.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_oserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_oserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1>repository.lib(ArchiveWrapper.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_iserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_iserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1>repository.lib(ArchiveWrapper.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_oserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_oserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_iserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_iserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::detail::basic_oserializer::serialized_as_pointer(void)const " (?serialized_as_pointer@basic_oserializer@detail@archive@boost@@QBE_NXZ) already defined in boost_serialization-mt-gd.lib(boost_serialization-mt-gd.dll) 1> Creating library C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\build\bin\Debug\repository_test_repository.lib and object C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\build\bin\Debug\repository_test_repository.exp 1>repository.obj : warning LNK4217: locally defined symbol ?load_end@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXPBD@Z (protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_end(char const *)) imported in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_override<class TestResource>(struct boost::serialization::nvp<class TestResource> const &,int)" (??$load_override@VTestResource@@@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXABU?$nvp@VTestResource@@@serialization@2@H@Z) 1>repository.obj : warning LNK4217: locally defined symbol ?load_start@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXPBD@Z (protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_start(char const *)) imported in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_override<class TestResource>(struct boost::serialization::nvp<class TestResource> const &,int)" (??$load_override@VTestResource@@@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXABU?$nvp@VTestResource@@@serialization@2@H@Z) 1>repository.obj : warning LNK4217: locally defined symbol ??1?$xml_iarchive_impl@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAE@XZ (protected: __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class rs::InputArchive>::~xml_iarchive_impl<class rs::InputArchive>(void)) imported in function "public: __thiscall rs::InputArchive::~InputArchive(void)" (??1InputArchive@rs@@QAE@XZ) 1>repository.obj : warning LNK4217: locally defined symbol ?load@?$xml_iarchive_impl@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXAAV?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@@Z (protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class rs::InputArchive>::load(class std::basic_string &)) imported in function "public: void __thiscall rs::InputArchive::load >(class std::basic_string &)" (??$load@V?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@@InputArchive@rs@@QAEXAAV?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@@Z) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::basic_xml_grammar<char>(void)" (??0?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "protected: __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class boost::archive::naked_xml_iarchive>::xml_iarchive_impl<class boost::archive::naked_xml_iarchive>(class std::basic_istream &,unsigned int)" (??0?$xml_iarchive_impl@Vnaked_xml_iarchive@archive@boost@@@archive@boost@@IAE@AAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@I@Z) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::windup(class std::basic_istream &)" (?windup@?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QAEXAAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@@Z) referenced in function "protected: __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class boost::archive::naked_xml_iarchive>::~xml_iarchive_impl<class boost::archive::naked_xml_iarchive>(void)" (??1?$xml_iarchive_impl@Vnaked_xml_iarchive@archive@boost@@@archive@boost@@IAE@XZ) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::parse_start_tag(class std::basic_istream &)" (?parse_start_tag@?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QAE_NAAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@@Z) referenced in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_start(char const *)" (?load_start@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXPBD@Z) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::parse_end_tag(class std::basic_istream &)const " (?parse_end_tag@?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QBE_NAAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@@Z) referenced in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_iarchive<class rs::InputArchive>::load_end(char const *)" (?load_end@?$basic_xml_iarchive@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXPBD@Z) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: bool __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::parse_string(class std::basic_istream &,class std::basic_string &)" (?parse_string@?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QAE_NAAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@AAV?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@5@@Z) referenced in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class rs::InputArchive>::load(class std::basic_string,class std::allocator > &)" (?load@?$xml_iarchive_impl@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXAAV?$basic_string@_WU?$char_traits@_W@std@@V?$allocator@_W@2@@std@@@Z) 1>repository.lib(Archive.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: void __thiscall boost::archive::basic_xml_grammar<char>::init(class std::basic_istream &)" (?init@?$basic_xml_grammar@D@archive@boost@@QAEXAAV?$basic_istream@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@@std@@@Z) referenced in function "protected: void __thiscall boost::archive::xml_iarchive_impl<class rs::InputArchive>::init(void)" (?init@?$xml_iarchive_impl@VInputArchive@rs@@@archive@boost@@IAEXXZ) 1>C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\build\bin\Debug\repository_test_repository.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 6 unresolved externals 1>Build log was saved at "file://c:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Development\development\build\components\libs\repository\repository_test_repository.dir\Debug\BuildLog.htm" 1>repository_test_repository - 13 error(s), 4 warning(s) ========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 4 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========