------- Additional Comments From gcc-bugzilla at gcc dot gnu dot org 2005-06-09 16:11 ------- Subject: class friend declaration doesn't allow use in class scope
------- Additional Comments From lerdsuwa at gcc dot gnu dot org 2005-06-09 13:58 ------- Not a bug. The clause you referred to: "A name nominated by a friend declaration shall be accessible in the scope of the class containing the friend declaration." actually means that the following code is not allowed: class A { class B {}; }; class C { friend class A::B; // Error - A::B is not accessible inside C }; For your case, look at 11.4 paragraph 9: "For a friend class declaration, if there is no prior declaration, the class that is specified belongs to the innermost enclosing non-class scope, but if it is subsequently referenced, its name is not found by name lookup until a matching declaration is provided in the innermost enclosing nonclass scope." -- http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=21971