c/5809: Not possible to declare a pointer to function return type

[jfranzoy@yahoo.com.ar]

>Number:         5809
>Category:       c
>Synopsis:       Not possible to declare a pointer to function return type
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    unassigned
>State:          open
>Class:          rejects-legal
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Fri Mar 01 15:56:01 PST 2002
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     jfranzoy@yahoo.com.ar
>Release:        Reading specs from /usr/local/gcc-3.0.2/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.6/3.0.2/specs
>Organization:
>Environment:
uname -a
SunOS ultra5 5.6 Generic_105181-20 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
>Description:
The compiler raises a "parse error before `)' token" when parsing a function that returns a pointer to function
>How-To-Repeat:
int do_something() { return 0; }
int (*)() problematic_function() { return &do_something; }
>Fix:
Workarounds:

int do_something() { return 0; }
typedef int (*ReturnType)();
ReturnType notProblematicAnymore() {
  return &do_something;
}

or if you have a template function and the return type depends upong one of the template parameters:

template<class T>
int do_something(T) { return 0; }
template<class T> class Aux {
public:
  typedef int (*ReturnType)(T);
};
template<class Arg1>
Aux<Arg1>::ReturnType notProblematicNeither() {
  return &do_something<Arg1>;
}
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: