Unresolved symbols in the 3.0~dfsg-2 and 3.0~dfsg-3

[Michael Koval]

[Impact]
There is a bug in the packaging of Assimp (assimp-3.0~dfsg-2 and -3) shipped with Trusty and Vivid that strips some C++ symbols from the library. This makes it impossible to use the C++ API on those releases.

[Test Case]

I've attached an example program that demonstrates this bug (originally from: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=775890%3E). Compile the program with:

g++ assimp.cpp -o assimp-ex `pkg-config --libs assimp`

I expect this to succeed with no errors. On Trusty, this command fails with the following output:

/tmp/ccVfhC0C.o: In function `main':
assimp.cpp:(.text+0x1c): undefined reference to `aiMaterial::aiMaterial()'
/tmp/ccVfhC0C.o: In function `aiReturn aiMaterial::AddProperty<float>(float const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int)':
assimp.cpp:(.text._ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyIfEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj[_ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyIfEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj]+0x4e): undefined reference to `aiMaterial::AddBinaryProperty(void const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int, aiPropertyTypeInfo)'
/tmp/ccVfhC0C.o: In function `aiReturn aiMaterial::AddProperty<aiColor3D>(aiColor3D const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int)':
assimp.cpp:(.text._ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyI9aiColor3DEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj[_ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyI9aiColor3DEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj]+0x4e): undefined reference to `aiMaterial::AddBinaryProperty(void const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int, aiPropertyTypeInfo)'
/tmp/ccVfhC0C.o: In function `aiReturn aiMaterial::AddProperty<char>(char const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int)':
assimp.cpp:(.text._ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyIcEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj[_ZN10aiMaterial11AddPropertyIcEE8aiReturnPKT_jPKcjj]+0x4e): undefined reference to `aiMaterial::AddBinaryProperty(void const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int, aiPropertyTypeInfo)'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

[Regression Potential]

This is fixed by adding a few entries to the 'debian/libassimp3.symbols' and `libassimp3.ver` files:

 (c++)"aiMaterial::AddProperty(aiString const*, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int)@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::RemoveProperty(char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int)@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::CopyPropertyList(aiMaterial*, aiMaterial const*)@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::AddBinaryProperty(void const*, unsigned int, char const*, unsigned int, unsigned int, aiPropertyTypeInfo)@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::Clear()@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::aiMaterial()@Base" 3.0~
 (c++)"aiMaterial::~aiMaterial()@Base" 3.0~

All of these symbols start with "ai", the prefix used by all symbols in Assimp, so they should not conflict with any other libraries (and, if they do, it is likely that other symbols already exported will conflict as well).

This is fixed in 3.0~dfsg-4 (see: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=775890%3E). This update is available in Wiley and Debian and, as far as I can tell, has led to no regressions. I successfully built the 3.0~dfsg-4 on Trusty and confirms that it fixes the issue.

[Other Information]

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
Release: 14.04

$ apt-cache policy libassimp3
libassimp3:
  Installed: 3.0~dfsg-2
  Candidate: 3.0~dfsg-2
  Version table:
 *** 3.0~dfsg-2 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Note that this issue also applies to 3.0~dfsg-3. This affects Precise, Trusty, Utopic, and Vivid.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[toddesparks (toddesparks)]

My issue may be related. I am attempting to use pyassimp in 16.04 with the following result:

>>> import pyassimp
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pyassimp/__init__.py", line 1, in <module>
    from .core import *
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pyassimp/core.py", line 29, in <module>
    class AssimpLib(object):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pyassimp/core.py", line 33, in AssimpLib
    load, load_mem, release, dll = helper.search_library()
ValueError: need more than 3 values to unpack

[Sanguinario_Joe (lacigarracomunista)]

toddesparks, see here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/assimp/+bug/1589949
There is a patch to fix the problem

[IOhannes m zmoelnig (umlaeute)]

that was fixed with assimp/3.0~dfsg-4 .
i can't remember the full ubuntu release history, but bionic(18.04LTS) shipped with assimp/4.1.0~dfsg-3.