I too would like answers to these questions. I tried: template <typename T> void display_array_3d( T& array_3d ) { int z_dim = array_3d.shape()[0]; int y_dim = array_3d.shape()[1]; int x_dim = array_3d.shape()[2]; if( x_dim > 0 && y_dim > 0 ){ for( int z = 0; z < z_dim; z++ ){ for( int y = 0; y < y_dim; y++ ){ for( int x = 0; x < x_dim; x++ ){ printf( "\t%f", array_3d[z][y][x] ); } printf( "\n" ); } printf( "\n" ); } return; } if( y_dim > 0 ){ for( int z = 0; z < z_dim; z++ ){ for( int y = 0; y < y_dim; y++ ){ printf( "\t%f", array_3d[z][y] ); } printf( "\n" ); } return; } if( z_dim > 0 ){ for( int z = 0; z < z_dim; z++ ){ printf( "\t%f", array_3d[z] ); } return; } } void test_3d_to_2d_matrix( void ) { int z_dim = 2; int y_dim = 3; int x_dim = 4; boost::shared_ptr<float> array_3d_data = boost::shared_ptr<float>( new float[x_dim * y_dim * z_dim] ); for( int i = 0; i< x_dim * y_dim * z_dim; i++){ (array_3d_data.get())[i] = i; } typedef boost::multi_array_ref<float, 3> array_type; typedef array_type index; array_type a_3d_array( array_3d_data.get(), boost::extents[z_dim][y_dim][x_dim] ); printf( "a_3d_array\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type>( a_3d_array ); boost::multi_array<float, 2> t_mat = eye( 4, 4 ); typedef boost::multi_array_types::index_range range; array_type::index_gen indices; for( int mat_i = 0; mat_i < z_dim; mat_i++ ) { array_type::array_view<3>::type p_mat_view = a_3d_array[ boost::indices[range(mat_i, mat_i)][range(0,2)][range(0,3)] ]; //display_matrix<float,3>( p_mat_view ); } array_type::array_view<3>::type row_1 = a_3d_array[ boost::indices[range(0, z_dim)][range(0,1)][range(0,1)] ]; array_type::array_view<3>::type row_2 = a_3d_array[ boost::indices[range(0, z_dim)][range(1,2)][range(0,1)] ]; printf( "row_1\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type::array_view<3>::type>( row_1 ); printf( "\n" ); printf( "row_2\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type::array_view<3>::type>( row_2 ); printf( "\n" ); printf( "swap\n" ); std::swap( row_1, row_2 ); printf( "row_1\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type::array_view<3>::type>( row_1 ); printf( "\n" ); printf( "row_2\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type::array_view<3>::type>( row_2 ); printf( "\n" ); printf( "a_3d_array\n" ); display_array_3d<array_type>( a_3d_array ); } int main( void ) { test_3d_to_2d_matrix(); } and received: a_3d_array 0.000000 1.000000 2.000000 3.000000 4.000000 5.000000 6.000000 7.000000 8.000000 9.000000 10.000000 11.000000 12.000000 13.000000 14.000000 15.000000 16.000000 17.000000 18.000000 19.000000 20.000000 21.000000 22.000000 23.000000 row_1 0.000000 12.000000 row_2 4.000000 16.000000 swap row_1 4.000000 16.000000 row_2 4.000000 16.000000 a_3d_array 4.000000 1.000000 2.000000 3.000000 4.000000 5.000000 6.000000 7.000000 8.000000 9.000000 10.000000 11.000000 16.000000 13.000000 14.000000 15.000000 16.000000 17.000000 18.000000 19.000000 20.000000 21.000000 22.000000 23.000000 which is not what I was expecting... but almost And I am only left with more questions like 5) how to create views which are a minimum number of dimensions such as: array_type::array_view<1>::type row_1 = a_3d_array[ boost::indices[range(0, z_dim)][range(0,1)][range(0,1)] ]; and not: array_type::array_view<3>::type row_1 = a_3d_array[ boost::indices[range(0, z_dim)][range(0,1)][range(0,1)] ]; with out getting: 2>..\..\..\..\..\source\Matlab\lib\dsaLib\matrix\src\matrix_test_app.cpp(82) : error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot convert from 'boost::detail::multi_array::multi_array_view<T,NumDims> due to the dimensionality miss match.