July 2004 - Boost - lists.preview.boost.org

Boost license
by Falk Hueffner 23 Nov '04

23 Nov '04

Hi, the boost license (http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) does not allow redistributing modified versions. Is that intentional or an oversight? -- Falk

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Regression Tests, Boost.Serialization
by Martin Wille 18 Sep '04

18 Sep '04

Hi, Houston, we have a problem. The 209 recently added B.S tests apparently result in ~20MB binaries each for gcc-3.x compilers. For me this means that the nests will need ~20GB more disk space. All the other tests with all compilers I'm testing for together take ~10GB. This is not only slightly unbalanced, it also came as a surprise to me when I suddenly saw the unexpected disk full errors. Why does this kind of things always happen so short before a release? Please, everyone, if you do something that will have serious impact on the tests being run, please, notify the testers in advance. (I still think we should have a separate list for regression test related stuff, btw.) I had a few GB of disk space left a few days ago. Now, I'm unable to run all the tests. I could drop one of the gcc-3.4 versions. However, I'd still be short by ~10GB after that. Is there a way of reducing the number of tests in Boost.Serialization? Would it be viable to strip the test binaries (thereby losing debug information)? Any other suggestions? Compilers do drop? Regards, m PS: Yes, I'm already trying to clean my disks ;-)

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Two issues with the IBM xlC compiler
by Matthias Troyer 11 Sep '04

11 Sep '04

Dear Boosters, I've got a patch to report for the IBM Viisual Age C++ compiler xlC, and one other problem to discuss. The patch we found necessary for version 6.0 of the compiler is: diff -u -r1.26 filtered_graph.hpp --- boost/graph/filtered_graph.hpp 22 Nov 2003 01:18:37 -0000 1.26 +++ boost/graph/filtered_graph.hpp 1 Jul 2004 14:11:27 -0000 @@ -208,8 +208,8 @@ > edge_iterator; typedef typename Traits::edges_size_type edges_size_type; - typedef typename edge_property_type<Graph>::type edge_property_type; - typedef typename vertex_property_type<Graph>::type vertex_property_type; + typedef typename ::boost::edge_property_type<Graph>::type edge_property_type; + typedef typename ::boost::vertex_property_type<Graph>::type vertex_property_type; typedef filtered_graph_tag graph_tag; //private: The original version just gives compiler errors, probably incorrectly but it does. The second problem is in the configure files. Who is responsible for maintaining them? The issue is the following patch I found necessary: --- boost/config/compiler/vacpp.hpp 22 Jun 2004 12:33:06 -0000 1.16 +++ boost/config/compiler/vacpp.hpp 1 Jul 2004 14:11:23 -0000 @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ #endif #if (__IBMCPP__ <= 600) || !defined(BOOST_STRICT_CONFIG) -# define BOOST_NO_INCLASS_MEMBER_INITIALIZATION +//# define BOOST_NO_INCLASS_MEMBER_INITIALIZATION # define BOOST_NO_POINTER_TO_MEMBER_TEMPLATE_PARAMETERS #endif in-class member initializtions seem to work flawlessly on this compiler, so I wonder why BOOST_NO_INCLASS_MEMBER_INITIALIZATION is defined. Having it defined causes problems with the Boost random library, which then tries to initializes values of an enum tto a 64-bit integer, which fails. Is there a reason why BOOST_NO_INCLASS_MEMBER_INITIALIZATION is defined for this compiler or is this a bug? Best regards, Matthias

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Re: [boost] Re: static sized strings
by Reece Dunn 10 Sep '04

10 Sep '04

Rob Stewart wrote: >From: "Reece Dunn" <msclrhd(a)hotmail.com> > > [1] How do I pass the buffer and capacity to the implementation while > > allowing both fixed_string_base and fixed_string access to the >basic_string > > interface? I have chosen to route the data through one of the >basic_string > > constructors, requiring a const_cast. This is the best approach AFAICS. > >I haven't looked at your recent implementation, and I don't >presently have the time, so I really don't know what you're >talking about. If you can explain the dependencies to which you >refer, I'd appreciate it. I think it has bearing on the swap() >discussion. I have a class called detail::fixed_string_impl that has three data members: size, capacity and a pointer to the data buffer (len, cap and str respectively). Doing this allows the virtual functions to be removed and the implementation moved out of fixed_string. The fixed_string class can then pass its buffer and the capacity template parameter to the implementation via a constructor. The problem is that fixed_string is derived from fixed_string_base, which itself is derived from detail::basic_string_impl. This is needed to allow both fixed_string and fixed_string_base to have access to the full basic_string interface (like was done in the old implementation). The solution I have taken is to use the basic_string_impl( const CharT * s, size_type l ) constructor and use this to pass the buffer (s) and capacity (l) to the string. This is not ideal since it requires a const_cast to extract the buffer. This required modifying the constructor implementation in basic_string_impl to forward the parameters to Base and not implement them using append. The old implementation had the same problem with swap as the current one, since the string would get clipped when it is copied. For now, I will leave the implementation of swap as is (i.e. clipping and not signalling an exception), but add a note on this issue in the docs so that users are aware of it. Another problem I can forsee is using a custom char_traits or format_policy class, e.g. boost::fixed_string< 20, char, std::char_traits< char > > s1; strcpy( s1, "Hello" ); // ok boost::fixed_string< 20, char, win_char_traits< char > > s2; strcpy( s2, "There" ); // error This is the problem shared with basic_string when implementing functions using std::string. I have also fixed the problems relating to using the strxxx functions with Borland: the compiler may set them as instrinsic and add a macros defining strxxx as __strxxx__. To get around this, I now detect if they are macros and the Borland compiler is being used, then create an inlined function to the __strxxx__ version. Regards, Reece _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with cool new emoticons http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/myemo

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[type_traits] "member_function_pointer_traits" ?
by Tobias Schwinger 28 Aug '04

28 Aug '04

Dear Boosters, what is the reason for the absence of "member_function_pointer_traits" (or alike) in the type_traits library ? To be precise: is it a design decision or just something not yet implemented ? In the latter case I hereby volunteer for implementing it. I suggest an interface similar to the one of function_traits but with two additional constants for 'const' and 'volatile' qualification of the pointee method, because there is no member function type without the pointer thus making it impossible to use remove_pointer / is_[qualifier] or pass 'Class::member_function' (without the '&', that is) as an argument of parametrized type to a template function. Best regards, Tobias

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RE: [boost] [Boost.Test] New testing procedure?
by Rozental, Gennadiy 27 Aug '04

27 Aug '04

> According to http://tinyurl.com/3f32c tests have been failing > (IIUC for several days if not longer) because of > protected/private access violations in the test library. See > the end of http://tinyurl.com/35ole for details. IMO this > situation is unacceptable, and I'm looking for practical > solutions. Problems with the Boost.Test affect our ability > to get meaningful feedback on the state of other libraries. > > If Gennadiy can't test on more compilers before checking in, > and respond faster to problems introduced in its source, and > if library authors genuinely find Boost.Test useful, maybe we > need to move to a different model wherein the test library's > own tests are run on a CVS branch of the code (?) so that > Gennadiy can see and deal with his problems before they are > merged into the main trunk and break everything else? I do test on as much compilers I have accessible. In this particular case It was working on all compilers but Borland. I posted request for workaround while ago. Still no response. I had to test other configuration and I committed it. Actually I was surprised that so many compilers had an issue with completely innocent using declaration. Anyway I think it should be fixed as of last night. I found some hack that should work on complaining compilers. I will see the results of regression test today. As for creating separate brunch for Boost.Test development, I do not really mind. But I believe it will create an extra headache for regression testers (and me). Essentially we will need to have two copies of development tree. And run Boost.Test unit test in a separate tree. I will need to keep moving files back and forth 2 branches. Also I wonder how it will interact with release procedure. You may noticed that I am trying to introduce modification in Boost.Test in "packages", meaning I do not d code modifications all the time. I am not sure that several days of "no regression test on some compilers", worth all that trouble. Especially since all the developers could always rollback Boost.Test modification locally for development testing. Regards, Gennadiy.

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C++ Template Metaprogramming
by David Abrahams 25 Aug '04

25 Aug '04

For the past year Aleksey Gurtovoy and I have been working on a new book, titled _C++ Template Metaprogramming: Concepts, Tools and Techniques from Boost and Beyond_. The book has recently entered copyediting. If you're interested you can peruse some sample chapters at http://boost-consulting.com/mplbook. Regards, Dave -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting http://www.boost-consulting.com

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boost::filesystem with network paths on windows
by Arne.Adams＠t-online.de 25 Aug '04

25 Aug '04

Hi, I am trying to use boost filesystem to copy files from a local directory to a directory on a network server (the latter having a path like \\databaseserver\c$\importfiles\myTabledump.txt <file:///\\databaseserver\c$\importfiles\myTabledump.txt> ) Unfortunately the leading double backslashs (\\) get converted in the constructor of filesystem::path to double slashs - yielding a different meaning. Is there a way to copy files on windows to network servers like this? Regards, Arne Adams Nerotal 23 65193 Wiesbaden Tel.: (+49) 611 3413745 Mobil: 0172 6147473 Mail: inbox(a)arneadams.com

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Missing copyright in Format library
by John Maddock 20 Aug '04

20 Aug '04

The following file have no copyright, can the owner please fix? libs/format/example/sample_userType.cpp boost/format/detail/unset_macros.hpp Many thanks, John Maddock

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enabling ADL even with namespace qualification
by Thorsten Ottosen 16 Aug '04

16 Aug '04

Dear All, I've put meself in a funny situation. I have a class with an begin() end() members, but I wan't to call boost::begin() boost::end() without the boost:: prefix so ADL is functional. Can that be done? Thanks Thorsten

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