[boost] operator bool() for smart pointers

From: Rian Mullins (rian.mullins_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-05-07 18:41:39

Hi,
I am new to this list, so excuse me if this issue has been talked 
about to death, but . . . 

I think smart pointers should have an operator bool().
Many people use the idiom of testing a pointer in an if statement to 
see if it is zero or not, i.e.:

extern MyClass* aPointer ;
...
if( aPointer )
   aPointer->defenestrate() ;

And it would be nice if one could transparently replace a pointer 
type in existing code with a smart_ptr type.

Of course, the implementation would be:
smart_ptr::operator bool () { return px ; }