May 2013 - Boost - lists.preview.boost.org

Is there any interest in a library for actor programming?
by Charousset, Dominik 28 May '14

28 May '14

Hi, is there any interest in a library for actor programming? The library we've developed is a C++11 open source library named "libcppa". It is currently released under LGPL2, but re-releasing the library under the boost license is not an issue. You'll find all important links and ressources either under http://libcppa.org or on the GitHub project page: https://github.com/Neverlord/libcppa, including a user manual as HTML or PDF. We've also submitted a paper to the C++Now conference. What is actor programming? For those of you who aren't yet familiar with the actor model: actors basically represent tasks or services that communicate via message passing. In libcppa, actors are very lightweight (you can spawn literally millions of them) and scheduled cooperatively using a thread pool (although actors are allowed to opt-out of the cooperative scheduling). Some of the main strengths of this programming paradigm are: (1) network transparency, (2) race conditions are avoided by design, (3) a strong failure model that enables developers to build reliable distributed systems, and (4) the actor model addresses both concurrency (multiple actors on one host) and distribution (any number of actors on any number of hosts). Here's the classical hello world example: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #include <string> #include <iostream> #include "cppa/cppa.hpp" using namespace std; using namespace cppa; void mirror() { // wait for messages become ( // invoke this lambda expression if we receive a string on_arg_match >> [](const string& what) { // prints "Hello World!" via aout (thread-safe cout wrapper) aout << what << endl; // replies "!dlroW olleH" reply(string(what.rbegin(), what.rend())); // terminates this actor ('become' otherwise loops forever) self->quit(); } ); } void hello_world(const actor_ptr& buddy) { // send "Hello World!" to our buddy ... sync_send(buddy, "Hello World!").then( // ... and wait for a response on_arg_match >> [](const string& what) { // prints "!dlroW olleH" aout << what << endl; } ); } int main() { // create a new actor that calls 'mirror()' auto mirror_actor = spawn(mirror); // create another actor that calls 'hello_world(mirror_actor)' spawn(hello_world, mirror_actor); // wait until all other actors we have spawned are done await_all_others_done(); // run cleanup code before exiting main shutdown(); } ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A message is simply a tuple of values that is pattern matched at the receiver. For example, " on_arg_match >> [](const string& what) {...}" defines a message handler that is called whenever a tuple with one single string element arrives. "on_arg_match" simply defines a pattern that matches the signature of the given lambda. Please have a look at the examples folder on GitHub (https://github.com/Neverlord/libcppa/tree/master/examples) or at the user manual (http://neverlord.github.io/libcppa/manual/) if you want to see more examples. Best regards, Dominik Charousset

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required toolsets
by Steven Watanabe 15 May '14

15 May '14

AMDG The list of required toolsets in explicit-failures-markup.xml is out-dated. Therefore, if no one objects, I propose setting it to the following: msvc-10.0, msvc-11.0, gcc-4.6, gcc-4.7, clang-darwin-11, clang-darwin-4.2.1, clang-linux-3.1, clang-linux-3.2, gcc-mingw-4.7, gcc-mingw-4.6 (two releases of each major compiler that appears in both the trunk and release regression tests) The sole effect of this is to determine which toolsets appear in the issues list: http://www.boost.org/development/tests/trunk/developer/issues.html In Christ, Steven Watanabe

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C++03 and C++11 ABI compatibility for compiled libraries
by Andrey Semashev 24 Jan '14

24 Jan '14

Hi, I would like to raise the issue of binary compatibility of compiled Boost libraries between C++03 and C++11. I faced this problem with gcc on Linux, but other compilers and platforms may be affected as well. To summarize the problem: * Most, if not all Linux distributions build packages in C++03 mode. This is also the default in gcc. * Some Boost libraries conditionally use C++11 features in their binary interfaces (see [1] as an example). This makes C++03 and C++11 versions of the library binary incompatible. * Given that, users are unable to use C++11 in their code that uses Boost because of linker failures. I don't have the complete list of the offending C++11 features that break ABI, but it would seem that at least scoped enums and rvalue references are among them. Are there any more? I would like to hear opinions on the possible course of action to tackle this problem. Currently, I see 2 choices: 1. Avoid using C++11 features in binary interfaces. This may also mean avoiding STL types in binary interfaces, if they differ between C++03 and C++11 (I didn't verify that). This is my suggested hotfix solution for Boost.Filesystem [1] and the approach I took in Boost.Log. Obviously, this cripples code and error prone, but it keeps a single binary that can be used from any flavor of C++ on the user's side. 2. Compile different versions of Boost libraries, for each supported C++ version. The C++ version should be encoded into the library file names, so that different versions can coexist. This would require changes in Boost.Build and autolinking support code, but I think this would be a better long-term solution. Opinions? [1] https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/6779

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[Macro]Test Case grouping using Traits
by Hemanth Choudary M V (RBEI/ETA1) 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

Hello, I have observed that in native unit test framework(c++), there is an option to group test cases using attributes which are reflected as traits in the Test Explorer window in MS VS2012. Following is a an example of the same: BEGIN_TEST_METHOD_ATTRIBUTE(TestMethod3) TEST_OWNER(L"SuperMan") TEST_PRIORITY(2) TEST_METHOD_ATTRIBUTE(L"Category",L"Slow") END_TEST_METHOD_ATTRIBUTE() TEST_METHOD(TestMethod3) { Assert::AreEqual(2,6); } How can this be achieved via Boost Unit Test Library? Are there macros to achieve the same? Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best Regards, Hemanth Choudary MV RBEI/ETA1

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[filesystem] fix recur_dir_itr_imp::increment(system::error_code* ec) in 1.54.0
by claudio.bley＠gmail.com 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

Hi. What's happening to the filesystem library? It seems there's no progress on any tickets in the bug tracker? Referring to https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/6821#comment:5 Could we get this fix into 1.54.0, please? BTW, sorry for any confusion - I "managed" to comment on the wrong ticket... https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/5403 would've been more appropriate, I guess. Claudio -- Claudio

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[accumulators] Help understanding implementation of weighted accumulators
by Gabriel Redner 02 Oct '13

02 Oct '13

Hi folks, I am trying to implement a weighted accumulator, but I'm having trouble understanding a few things about the existing ones. Looking at the implementation of weighted_sum, I see (weighted_sum.hpp:37): template<typename Args> weighted_sum_impl(Args const &args) : weighted_sum_( args[parameter::keyword<Tag>::get() | Sample()] * numeric::one<Weight>::value ) { } My questions are: - It's taking the first sample from the args and multiplying it by a weight of 1. Isn't this wrong - ignoring the real weight of this sample? Shouldn't this produce incorrect results? - I've never understood anyways how there can be an initial argument during construction of the accumulator. I haven't found any explanation in the docs beyond "Maybe there is an initial value in the argument pack". Maybe? How? Probably more questions later. Thanks, -Gabe

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safe bool not safe enough ?
by John Maddock 28 Jul '13

28 Jul '13

Just discovered (oops!) that the so called safe bool ideom is not as safe as it appears, for example: class Testable { bool ok_; typedef void (Testable::*bool_type)() const; void this_type_does_not_support_comparisons() const {} public: explicit Testable(bool b=true):ok_(b) {} operator bool_type() const { return ok_==true ? &Testable::this_type_does_not_support_comparisons : 0; } }; Testable t(true); bool b = t; // Compiles OK - Ooops! Which is causing multiprecision to misbehave when used in conjunction with uBlas: https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/8292#comment:2 I guess making the conversion explicit in C++11 mode would help (I still need to test that), but is there a C++03 solution? Thanks, John.

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Git Modularization example Boost .gitattributes
by Niall Douglas 16 Jul '13

16 Jul '13

> > Shouldn't the repositories contain a .gitattributes file indicating the > > eol flavor to be used for text files where it has significance? > > Perhaps! I don't know anything about .gitattributes. Where can I find > out more? Dave, I can probably save you some work here with my "perfect" mirror of Boost's EOL and MIME type config into a .gitattributes with which I configured my subgit to mirror my git repo into Boost sandbox. Taken from https://github.com/ned14/TripleGit/blob/master/.gitattributes: * text=auto !eol svneol=native#text/plain *.gitattributes text svneol=native#text/plain # Scriptish formats *.bat text svneol=native#text/plain *.bsh text svneol=native#text/x-beanshell *.cgi text svneol=native#text/plain *.cmd text svneol=native#text/plain *.js text svneol=native#text/javascript *.php text svneol=native#text/x-php *.pl text svneol=native#text/x-perl *.pm text svneol=native#text/x-perl *.py text svneol=native#text/x-python *.sh eol=lf svneol=LF#text/x-sh configure eol=lf svneol=LF#text/x-sh # Image formats *.bmp binary svneol=unset#image/bmp *.gif binary svneol=unset#image/gif *.ico binary svneol=unset#image/ico *.jpeg binary svneol=unset#image/jpeg *.jpg binary svneol=unset#image/jpeg *.png binary svneol=unset#image/png *.tif binary svneol=unset#image/tiff *.tiff binary svneol=unset#image/tiff *.svg text svneol=native#image/svg%2Bxml # Data formats *.pdf binary svneol=unset#application/pdf *.avi binary svneol=unset#video/avi *.doc binary svneol=unset#application/msword *.dsp text svneol=crlf#text/plain *.dsw text svneol=crlf#text/plain *.eps binary svneol=unset#application/postscript *.gz binary svneol=unset#application/gzip *.mov binary svneol=unset#video/quicktime *.mp3 binary svneol=unset#audio/mpeg *.ppt binary svneol=unset#application/vnd.ms-powerpoint *.ps binary svneol=unset#application/postscript *.psd binary svneol=unset#application/photoshop *.rdf binary svneol=unset#text/rdf *.rss text svneol=unset#text/xml *.rtf binary svneol=unset#text/rtf *.sln text svneol=native#text/plain *.swf binary svneol=unset#application/x-shockwave-flash *.tgz binary svneol=unset#application/gzip *.vcproj text svneol=native#text/xml *.vcxproj text svneol=native#text/xml *.vsprops text svneol=native#text/xml *.wav binary svneol=unset#audio/wav *.xls binary svneol=unset#application/vnd.ms-excel *.zip binary svneol=unset#application/zip # Text formats .htaccess text svneol=native#text/plain *.bbk text svneol=native#text/xml *.cmake text svneol=native#text/plain *.css text svneol=native#text/css *.dtd text svneol=native#text/xml *.htm text svneol=native#text/html *.html text svneol=native#text/html *.ini text svneol=native#text/plain *.log text svneol=native#text/plain *.mak text svneol=native#text/plain *.qbk text svneol=native#text/plain *.rst text svneol=native#text/plain *.sql text svneol=native#text/x-sql *.txt text svneol=native#text/plain *.xhtml text svneol=native#text/xhtml%2Bxml *.xml text svneol=native#text/xml *.xsd text svneol=native#text/xml *.xsl text svneol=native#text/xml *.xslt text svneol=native#text/xml *.xul text svneol=native#text/xul *.yml text svneol=native#text/plain boost-no-inspect text svneol=native#text/plain CHANGES text svneol=native#text/plain COPYING text svneol=native#text/plain INSTALL text svneol=native#text/plain Jamfile text svneol=native#text/plain Jamroot text svneol=native#text/plain Jamfile.v2 text svneol=native#text/plain Jamrules text svneol=native#text/plain Makefile* text svneol=native#text/plain README text svneol=native#text/plain TODO text svneol=native#text/plain # Code formats *.c text svneol=native#text/plain *.cpp text svneol=native#text/plain *.h text svneol=native#text/plain *.hpp text svneol=native#text/plain *.ipp text svneol=native#text/plain *.tpp text svneol=native#text/plain *.jam text svneol=native#text/plain *.java text svneol=native#text/plain Hope that's useful. Niall --- Opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of BlackBerry Inc.

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Git Modularization hiccups
by Beman Dawes 15 Jul '13

15 Jul '13

* "git clone --recursive http://github.com/boostorg/boost modular-boost" is mostly working fine here (on Win7) but is producing one set of error messages: Cloning into 'libs/assign'... fatal: reference is not a tree: 57ec5d1534810090649b18c88e66a46f48cdcf1c ... Unable to checkout '57ec5d1534810090649b18c88e66a46f48cdcf1c' in submodule path 'libs/assign' The remaining hiccups are in the root directory, comparing trunk to master: * boost.css is missing content from revisions 36243 and 53553. * boost-build.jam has different comments and history. Something is totally whacky. * boostcpp.py contents are the same, but the trunk file has Unix line endings, the master file has Windows line endings. * Same problem with bootstrap.sh. IIRC, it is important that the .sh files have the Unix line endings. * c++boost.gif not present in trunk, present in master. * index.html missing in master. * Jamfile.v2 and Jamroot.jam not present in trunk, present in master. * INSTALL missing in master. * LICENSE_1_0.txt has Unix line endings in trunk, Windows line endings in master. * project-config.jam missing in master. * rst.cc missing in master. * README.txt not present in trunk, present in master. HTH, --Beman

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[1.54.0] Release notes
by Daniel James 26 Jun '13

26 Jun '13

Hello everyone, It's time to send me your release notes, or if you're feeling enthusiastic, you can add them yourself at: http://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/website/public_html/live/feed/history/ You see the notes so far at: http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_54_0.html And while I'm at it, I've also added the new libraries to: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_54_0/ thank you, Daniel

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