[Boost-users] identity function

I use the following function on a regular basis: template < class P_T > P_T const &same (P_T const &p) { return p; } I use it for two purposes: 1. to pass an identity function to an API that expects a unary function, 2. to help the compiler identify the right chain of type conversions. The standard uses static_cast for (2), which could be used but it disables some compile-time verification so I would rather not use static_cast when not absolutely necessary. I have been unable to find a corresponding feature in Boost (although the value factory comes close). Do you think adding such a function to Boost utilities would be worthwhile? Chris