Well, if nothing else, I'm learning lots about the corners of the language! I've got the following testcase: #include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp> #include <iostream> template<typename Base> class Handle { public: typedef boost::shared_ptr<Base> type; }; template<typename Type> void print_shared_ptr(boost::shared_ptr<Type> ptr) { std::cout << "Value is " << *ptr << std::endl; } template<typename Type> void print_handle(typename Handle<Type>::type ptr) { std::cout << "Value is " << *ptr << std::endl; } int main(void) { Handle<int>::type iptr(new int(10)); print_shared_ptr(iptr); print_handle<int>(iptr); print_handle(iptr); return(0); } The calls to print_shared_ptr and the first print_handle resolve just fine but the compiler (g++ 4.0.2) can't seem to resolve the final call to print_handle: shared_ptr.cc: In function 'int main()': shared_ptr.cc:29: error: no matching function for call to 'print_handle(boost::shared_ptr<int>&)' The point of class Handle is to hide the implementation detail that boost::shared_ptr is being used to manage resources. I would like the ability to easily change the type of smart pointer used throughout the application. What's going on here? Is there a way to make this work without having to explicitly specify the type to print_handle? Thanks. -Dave