RE: [boost] Re: Build+Install+/Zc:wchar_t in Visual studio builds

From: Drazen DOTLIC (Drazen.Dotlic_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-10-31 08:54:32

> IMHO, the build system is correct as-is --- require 
> /Zc:wchar_t, since you
> cannot reliably build a non-trivial application that uses 
> wchar_t as a typedef
> for unsigned short without lots of hacks. e.g.
> 
> WORD x=someIntegerReturnedFromWin32API();
> std::string s=boost::lexical_cast<std::string>(x); 
> 
> fails without /Zc:wchar_t on 1.30.0. This is fixed for 
> 1.30.2, but how much
> other code has the same problems?
> 
> I would recommend that VC7.1 users *always* have /Zc:wchar_t 
> set unless they
> have a good reason not to, regardless whether or not they use boost.

You are missing the point IMHO. Probably everyone *wants* to have it on,
for exactly the reasons you mention above. But, not all of us have the
luxury to do so, because we use other libraries besides boost, and
compile our programs as a whole (using same set of flags).

The questions was _not_ whether it is *required* to use this flag, but
what should be default. Requiring means forcing, default on the other
hand is something that can be overridden.

Drazen