1. Overloads of static_pointer_cast, dynamic_pointer_cast, const_pointer_cast overloads for raw pointers, so that we can use pointer_xxx_cast in a generic way.
Makes sense. :-) boost/utility/pointer_cast.hpp, probably.
Nice!
2. Add reinterpret_pointer_cast to complete cast family.
Out of curiosity, why do you want it?
Well, currently I'm removing reinterpret_casts to convert void pointers with static_casts, but if there is some place where a reinterpret_cast has sense with raw pointers, I would add it to have complete family. But we can live with static_pointer_cast.
We should define how this protocol is implemented in boost smart pointers (for example, using overloading or a STL-like rebind mechanism) so that every boost smart pointer developer knows how to make its pointer type protocol-aware.
template<class T, class U, template<class> class Sp> class pointer_to_other< Sp<T>, U > { typedef Sp<U> type; };
works with auto_ptr and all boost smart pointers. Other smart pointers may want to specialize pointer_to_other.
No problem at all. What about other overloads for 2 and 3 template parameter smart pointers, so that almost all smart pointers would be covered. Of course, we need another version for raw pointers. What about boost/utility/pointer_to_other.hpp? Regards, Ion