Hi all, I am writing a class that returns some pointer to buffers in a mmaped area. Since this buffers have constant size, I am now wrapping them in a std::pair. This works fine, but I can bet that boost have something better, with correct semantics for operator * and, maybe, ownership semantics. Another problem that I have with std::pair is that I don't get the correct cv-qualified semantics with a const std::pair. I would like the const modified version of my type to behave like a const std::pair. The reason for this is that I will, then, be able to receive const char * buffers in my input. Check sample code below: class A { typedef std::pair value_type; void put(const value_type buf); value_type get(); const value_type get() const; } Buffers in the input (put method params) will be copied inside my data structure and their memory management is up to the user. Buffers in the output (get method return values) are pointers to a mmap area and should not be freed. So, if I do: A a; a.put(make_pair(strlen("test"), "test")); Code doesn't compile because cv-qualification of the char * member of buf does not get correct. The only way to get out is to write this rather ugly class A. class A { typedef std::pair value_type; typedef const std::pair const_value_type; void put(const_value_type buf); value_type get(); const_value_type get() const; } Is there a better solution for this? boost::array doesn't fit the job because the size parameter is compile time. Smart pointers, besides missing the size member, calls delete() when it is not desired. So, a class to fit the job needs to have the size member (if there is no such class, it is ok to stick to std::pair or boost::tuple), and expected cv-qualification for the char *, meaning that neither the pointer nor the pointed-by area can be modified (btw, this problem arises often when I am working with boost::mpl, so a help here will be greatly appreciated). Thanks in advance, []s Davi de Castro Reis