I am trying to write an adaptor function that takes a string and a list of character delimiters and populates an output iterator with the result. Specifically, this is what I have: using boost::algorithm::make_split_iterator; using boost::algorithm::split_iterator; using boost::iterator_range; using boost::copy_range; using boost::algorithm::is_any_of; using boost::algorithm::token_finder; template <typename E, typename T, typename A, typename D, typename OutIt> inline OutIt split_and_copy(const std::basic_string<E, T, A> &source, const D &delimeters, OutIt out) { typedef std::basic_string<E, T, A> mystring; typedef split_iterator<mystring::const_iterator> SplitIt; typedef iterator_range<mystring::const_iterator> RangeIt; const SplitIt b = make_split_iterator(source, token_finder(is_any_of(delimeters))); const SplitIt e; return std::transform(b, e, out, copy_range<mystring, RangeIt>); } This compiles but strikes me as a bit verbose. I mean, am I missing something visa-vi the proper interaction of split_iterator, iterator_range and the container they are splitting and making a range of? I believe since b is a split_iterator type, that *b is of type iterator_range, is this not correct? The templates would be as I listed for SplitIt and RangeIt, as I understand it. Now, originally I was hoping there would be an automatic conversion back from iterator_range to the ranged container, which would make a copy of the elements in the range and stick them into a container of the original type (in this case, string). Is there no conversion from iterator_range<mystring::const_iterator> back to mystring? You see, originally, I wanted to write: std::copy(b, e, out); But it seems there is no way around using std::transform with an explicit conversion from RangeIt to mystring with copy_range. Or am I wrong in that assumption? No, I don't want to use the split function since I don't want to populate the whole container, just write my entries to an output iterator; it's generic in that sense to allow for ostream_iterator or back_inserters or whatever. Also, is there some way to not have to explicitly provide the copy_range input type since that type is already known to be the same type as *b and *e? Thanks for any insight you might be able to offer! Jeffrey -- "Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass; you know his faults so let his foibles pass." -- Victorian Proverb, likely Sir Frank Crisp, 1st Baronet of Bungay ~,-;` The TimeHorse