[boost] Re: live_ptr => live_container / live_iterator

From: Andy Glew (glew_at_[hidden])
Date: 1999-08-16 15:53:43

> Well, as we have been discussing, you can either wrap up all the
> containers, or write just one wrapper for any iterator.  I'll add
> the latter to my to-do list for weak_ptr.

OK, I may just have seen through the keyhole:

Are STL containers required to implement methods that return
iterators, such as map_instance.find(key), in terms of primitive
iterator operations such as ++, --, +=, etc.?

If this is true, then by just wrapperized the usual iterator operators
you can capture all null pointers and transparently delete them.

However, if this is not true - if an STL container can implement
such methods "behind the curtains" in terms of other operations,
only finally converting to the canonical external representation,
then you have to manually code all iterator returning methods.