[boost] Re: [config] Patch for Intel 8.0 + Dinkum lib

From: Gennaro Prota (gennaro_prota_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-03-15 11:26:51

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 13:28:57 -0000, "John Maddock"
<john_at_[hidden]> wrote:

>I'm keeping quite and hoping that someone else will solve the issue :-)

 :) [PS: out of curiosity, is 'quite' a typo for 'quiet' or a sort of
play on words?]

>
>If my understanding is correct,

Hmm... when you say so I begin worrying :)

> then:
>
>* we need to detect whether the std lib was the one that shipped with vc6, 7
>or 7.1 but:

Well, we can assume that the version shipped with VC6 is used with VC6
only, can't we?. It's newer lib versions that can be used with
everything (maybe - please confirm this :)).

>* we can't use _MSC_VER because it gets set to arbitrary values.

Yes. But I have a question: can we assume that the compiler is always
detected *before* the library? Currently that's what the config system
does. If it isn't a problem to cast this fact in stone, then the
library config could just use BOOST_MSVC.

I would go further: I think once the compiler config has identified a
compiler it should make available those information to the user (the
library writer). That is, there should be e.g. a BOOST_GCC defined for
g++, but not for Intel in gcc compatibility mode. That's something I
need very often and needs just a simple #define for each compiler
config file. Without that, say, for instance, I need to workaround a
gcc bug (as it happened to me yesterday); then I have to do something
like this:

#if defined __GNUC__ && !defined BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION         \
                     && /* not compiler xyz1 emulating g++*/     \
                     && /* not compiler xyz2 ....                \
... workaround code...
#endif

when I could just do

#if defined BOOST_GCC
... workaround code...
#endif

That also makes library code immune if new compilers that emulate g++
are introduced: you only change the config files (which need to be
changed anyway) and the library code works as a consequence.

> [snip]

-- Genny