Peter,
"Peter Dimov"
Richard Jepps wrote:
An exception would work in this case because there is no return value, however there might be problems with resource leaks - even if version 1_30_0 doesn't leak, a later one might.
An exception can "return" arbitrary data, and no, a later one might not leak. That's the same as saying "even if version 1_30_0 does work, a later one might contain a bug."
If the BGL guarantees its users that it is exception safe then I agree - and looking at the Boost library guidelines: http://www.boost.org/more/lib_guide.htm "Use exceptions to report errors where appropriate, and write code that is safe in the face of exceptions. " I can reasonably expect that it is exception safe. Thanks Richard