FIX: ATL Service EXE Doesn't Build in Release Build (167946)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition 5.0
This article was previously published under Q167946

SYMPTOMS

If you try to build a release mode of an ATL service EXE created with ATL COM AppWizard, you get the following the error message:
"error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _main"

CAUSE

Builds in release mode automatically include the preprocessor directive _ATL_MIN_CRT, while the default ATL service code generated by the wizard requires the CRT library.

RESOLUTION

Remove _ATL_MIN_CRT from the list the preprocessor defines to allow CRT startup code to be included.

  1. From the Project menu, click Settings.
  2. In the Settings For drop-down list, select Multiple Configurations.
  3. In the Select project configuration(s) to modify dialog box that displays, select the check boxes for all release versions, and then click OK.
  4. Click the C/C++ tab in the Project Settings dialog box, and then choose the General category.
  5. Remove _ATL_MIN_CRT from the Preprocessor definitions edit box.
NOTE: You can also remove calls to the CRT functions within the generated CServiceModule::LogEvent function.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Visual C++ version 6.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Create a Server EXE project using ATL COM Appwizard.
  2. Build one of the release builds.
The error listed in the SYMPTOMS section should occur.

REFERENCES

For additional information about using CRT in ATL projects, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

165076 INFO: LNK2001 Error ATL Release Build

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/24/2003
Keywords:kbBug kbfix kbVC600fix KB167946
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.