Martin Adrian wrote:
cout << time_format("HH:MM:SS") << my_ptime << endl;
Do you want the modifiers to replace the functionality in the facets or work together?
I'm not sure. It's possible that the format manipulators will come in addition to the format in the facet, or in place of it (the facet will no longer contain a format string). I can't say that I have a strong opinion on this matter. I'm really not an I/O expert. Of course if the chosen way is to have both, then the manipulator format overrides the facet format.
If they replace the facet, how do specify the format if you don't have access to the stream as in lexical_cast, program options etc.
It's doesn't matter. When you don't have access to the stream (as in lexical_cast, don't know about program_options), you can apply neither a facet, nor a manipulator, so there is no difference.