Robert Dailey wrote:

I have the following code:

void HandlePair( std::pair& mypair ) { }

void main() { boost::ptr_map mymap; HandlePair( *mymap.begin() ); }

What's the proper way to accept pairs in the HandlePair function?

I'd suggest basing it on your actual ptr_map type, e.g.: void HandlePair(const boost::ptr_map::value_type& mypair) {} I usually use map_type::value_type (using an appropriate typedef for map_type) even when working with std::map, since the type of a pair stored in a std::map is NOT the same as std::pair: it's actually std::pair. I have no idea what the transformation is for boost::ptr_map, but in any case, its value_type should give you what you want.