Re: [boost] [serialization] use of unsigned int instead of size_type

Matthias Troyer <troyer@itp.phys.ethz.ch> writes:

Another serious problem is that it does not allow an archive to treat a collection size differently from the integral type used to represent it. That feature is useful for portable binary archives, and is absolutely essential for serialization using MPI archives. For MPI archives we need to treat size types differently than integers (I don't want to go into details here since that will only distract from the discussion).

I think it's probably worth a couple paragraphs to describe why that feature is useful for portable binary archives and essential for MPI archives. There seems to be lots of mystery in the air about that. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com