Re: [Boost-users] [serialization] Making my library dll serializable

From: Robert Ramey (ramey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-04-27 00:17:46

The subject of DLLS  is treated explicitly in the version in the Trunk.  Also in the verision 1.36 available at www.rrsd.com

Assertions don't trap in release mode.

Robert Ramey
  <a.gray_at_[hidden]> wrote in message news:0DF2A3E726F5884EA10ADFAC3B54285302BFA5_at_exch.aci.local...
  Hello everyone,

   

  I'm new to boost in general, as well as to the serialization library, so I expect that I'm probably overlooking a few things.

  I have searched the archives, and I've seen threads that are clearly related to what I'm doing, but their approaches were a bit different than mine (ie. some had the option of including concrete classes directly).

   

   

  General Info:

   

  I'm using boost 1.35.0.

  My target platform is Windows XP.

  I'm building with MSVC8 SP1.

   

   

  What I Need:

   

  I'm building an interface-driven library (all the exposed classes are pure abstract interfaces).

  This library resides in its own DLL, but we can assume that it is always loaded when we're serializing data.

  The concrete classes in this library (not exposed) implement boost serialization support.

   

  External applications should be able to link against boost, create archives, and use them to serialize my library's objects through my library's interface pointers.

   

   

  What I Tried:

   

  I've attached an MSVC8 solution with a sample executable and dll.

  The library exposes an interface, hides a concrete implementation of the interface, and exposes a factory function for retrieving an instance.

  The application retrieves an instance of the class, instantiates a polymorphic binary archiver, and serializes the object through the interface pointer using the archiver.

   

   

  What Goes Wrong:

   

  In the release configuration, the test program appears to work.

  In the debug configuration, the app fails an assert (extended_type_info.cpp:74 lookup(eti) == m_self->m_map.end()).  This seems to be the multiple-registration issue which has been discussed in earlier threads.

   

  Why doesn't the assertion fail in release?

   

   

  My Workaround:

   

  I've seen it mentioned in earlier threads that I should move the actual serialization calls into the DLL.  

  To that end, I created a MyLibrarySerializer class which simply forwards the serialization call.

  This seems to work, but since I just started using this library, I can't tell if I've overlooked a better solution or if I'm introducing some obscure bugs using this method.

   

   

  Questions:

   

  Will my solution work the way I expect it to (Am I overlooking any major pitfalls)?

  Am I overlooking a better solution (Is there a way to accomplish this without introducing the MyLibrarySerializer class)?

  Why does my original solution appear to work in the release configuration?

   

   

  Threads I'm using for reference:

   

  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.user/8281

  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.user/13440

  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.user/28735

  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.user/30837

   

   

  Thanks for your time and patience,

   

  Andrew Gray

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