On the other hand, using manipulators, like std::hex, is clearly more limiting, as they may be meaningless for the particular conversion requested. For example, how would it be extended to support convert< short
(0xFFFFFFFF, throw_on_out_of_range_ = true)?
I am very open to whatever comes out of it. I am not married to those manipulators but you'll have to tell me more about using Boost.Parameter. To solve that particular problem that you describe the user would write his own manipulator and nothing needs to be done in boost::convert. That user manip. would do boundary checks and stuff. Then, short i = convert_to<short>("0xFFFFFFFF") >> my_short_manip; I personally do not like manipulators. I do not even really know how to write them properly. However, they are standard. So, we can say to someone -- you wanna do your own formatting? Bring in your manipulator and plug it in. Boost.Convert does not need to be changed to accommodate that specific request. How do you do that with Boost.Parameter? How Boost.Convert will know about "throw_on_out_of_range_" or any fancy parameter? How Boost.Convert will apply/interpret that parameter? If you tell me that the user can make Boost.Convert understand that new parameter without modifying Boost.Convert, I'll be first to abandon manipulators in their favor. V.