Arno Schödl <aschoedl <at> think-cell.com> writes:
Hello,
we have added support for using multi_index ordered index iterators in lieu of random access iterators in standard algorithms that require sorted ranges, e.g. lower_bound, upper_bound, equal_range, and binary_search. This is useful when using these iterators in generic algorithms that internally call lower_bound/upper_bound/etc. Our implementation is attached. We are currently overloading std::lower_bound/... which is illegal. I propose introducing a boost::lower_bound/..., where we can ignore the C++ standard restriction, and where the standard implementation forwards to std::lower_bound.
I think this can be a useful addition, and maybe other Boost containers (ptr_container, intrusive) can provide their own overloads too. boost::lower_bound is no different in this respect to other initiatives like boost::swap. BTW, why does the standard forbid overloading std functions for user-defined types? I'm sure thre's a a good reason for that, but never found a explicitly stated rationale. Joaquín M López Muñoz Telefónica, Investigación y Desarrollo