On 9/5/06, Stephan Tolksdorf <andorxor@gmx.de> wrote:

Is it safe to use shared_ptr's with arrays if one supplies an array deleter as a constructor argument?

How about a shared_ptr< vector<int> > or something? Phillip

Stephan Tolksdorf wrote:

Hi

why doesn't shared_array allow the same conversions as shared_ptr, so that

boost::shared_ptr<int> ip; boost::shared_ptr<const int> ip2(ip);

is allowed, but not

boost::shared_array<int> ip; boost::shared_array<const int> ip2(ip);

shared_array doesn't support conversions since shared_array<Derived> should not be convertible to shared_array<Base>, even though Derived* is convertible to Base*. We might be able to add the limited cv-conversions using enable_if tricks.

Is it safe to use shared_ptr's with arrays if one supplies an array deleter as a constructor argument?

Yes, it is safe, but the above caveat still applies. http://www.boost.org/libs/smart_ptr/sp_techniques.html#array

Stephan Tolksdorf <andorxor@gmx.de> writes:

Hi

why doesn't shared_array allow the same conversions as shared_ptr, so that

boost::shared_ptr<int> ip; boost::shared_ptr<const int> ip2(ip);

is allowed, but not

boost::shared_array<int> ip; boost::shared_array<const int> ip2(ip);

Probably because that particular case wasn't anticipated. It was deemed important to prevent this: struct B { int x; }; struct D : B { int y; }; boost::shared_array<D> p1(new D[20]); boost::shared_array<B> p2(p1); p2[1]; // oops!

Is it safe to use shared_ptr's with arrays if one supplies an array deleter as a constructor argument?

Yeah, if you consider allowing my oops example to be "safe"... -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com