system calls in gcc-2.96 under RedHat Linux 7.0

[Dirk Petry <petry at iastate dot edu>]

Hi!
I have an awkward problem with gcc-2.96 under RedHat 7.0
when trying to compile C code containing the system calls
"read", "write" and "close" to be linked to a C++ main
programm:

My compile statement within the Makefile is

  g++  -c -pipe -O2  -o serial.o serial.c

It results in the error message

 serial.c: In function `int testserial (int, int, char *)':
 serial.c:63: `close' undeclared (first use this function)
 serial.c:63: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each 
 function it appears in.)
 serial.c:87: `write' undeclared (first use this function)
 serial.c:102: `read' undeclared (first use this function)
 make: *** [serial.o] Error 1

The interesting thing is that if I try to compile
exactly the same software with egcs 1.1.2 under 
RedHat 6.1, it only gives warnings

 serial.c: In function `int testserial(int, int, char *)':
 serial.c:62: warning: implicit declaration of function `int close(...)'
 serial.c:86: warning: implicit declaration of function `int write(...)'
 serial.c:101: warning: implicit declaration of function `int read(...)'

but then links without problems. The program then runs flawlessly.

And even more interesting: If I compile under RedHat 7.0 using "gcc"
instead of "g++", the program compiles, but it doesn't link  
with the rest of the program:

vdcmon.o: In function `sercom::~sercom(void)':
vdcmon.o(.text+0x3995): undefined reference to `terminate_serial(int *)'
...

and similar error messages from ld.

Can anybody tell me where to look for a solution to
this problem? Is it a bug or a feature?

Thanks in advance!

Dirk

-- 
----------------------------------------------
Dr. Dirk Petry, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
    Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
mailto:petry@iastate.edu phone:+1-515-294-3873