[Boost-users] casting shared pointers to derived classes

Greetings, all -   I am updating a neural network package from the DOS days to modern C++ standards.   I have a shared_ptr to a vector of shared_ptrs of type Layer. This class has derived classes OutputLayer, MiddleLayer and InputLayer. Each of these has their own method for calculating output updates, so I need to be able to cast. from boost::shared_ptr<Layer> to static_cast().   Unfortunately, VC++ 2010 will not allow me to do so. It won't even allow a reinterpret_cast. I've looked on the Web and I also have Schalling's guide to Boost.   Thank you in advance for your guidance. I'm using boost_1_47_0, if that makes a difference. :D