Robert Ramey wrote:
a) The author of boost shared pointer doesn't want to include serialization implementation in his implementation of boost::shared_ptr
The author of boost::shared_ptr wants to, but it isn't straightforward and will take time; and you aren't helping me much, I might add. [...]
This was in response to my request for access to the implementation of smart_ptr. My request wasn't really even considered.
[...]
The latest updates to shared_pointer checked into CVS about 10 days ago break current serialzation of shared pointer. In no way will I have time to fix this before 15 April.
You can see now why I don't consider "access to the implementation" a viable approach. It is not reasonable to cease any further work on boost::shared_ptr because the serialization library depends on a specific implementation. Your other suggestion was "add a serialize member to shared_ptr and just make it work." This is easier said than done. The serialization library is fairly complex and figuring out the best way to extend it non-intrusively with the necessary support requires more time than I have at the moment.