[boost] Re: Valentin' pages

From: Paul Baxter (paje_at_[hidden])
Date: 1999-09-02 17:16:12

Thanks for the links to some interesting topics, Valentin.
I'm still digesting the words.

I had considered serialising by using the iostream operators >> and <<
together with a platform independent text compression facility within a
streambuf. Compress blocks as separated by std::endl

A user would have to define the necessary operators >> and << for each
class, and could then choose a compressed output format or a text format for
the serialised data by virtue of choosing the appropriate streambuf.

The obvious drawbacks are that
1) its not 'automatic' - the operators need writing
2) Writing the operators might need to expose the underlying data
structures.
3) Providing a platform independent binary format is probably fraught!

This is similar to (but less complete than) Valentin's work.

Can anyone suggest other pitfalls especially in trying to use a streambuf to
output binary data to a file.

My (sadly limited) knowledge of iostream internals is mainly due to
Dietmar's helpful messages on c.l.c++ etc.

> > > persistency
> > Still looking for a good solution to these :)
>
> Have a look at:
>
> http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/bonnard/Reflex++/serial/serial_cpp.html
>
> (it's a _project_, it does _not_ work yet)

But worth a look!

>
> or http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/bonnard/agil/intro.html
>
> for a GUI lib (the email addresses are wrong,
> and I haven't worked on it since more than one year)

PS How did you fare with this work?
Did any committee members like the idea for C++ 20XX ?

IMHO Both of these projects have a lot of potential and maybe they should be
considered as future possibilities for boost to nurture.

Lots of people have these problems.
Is it something boost might consider or is it too large a project?

Paul Baxter