[boost] shared_ptr and serialization

From: Robert Ramey (ramey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-11-17 13:34:33

Would it be possible to add something like

friend template<class Archive>
boost::serialization::serialize(Archive &ar, T &t);

to boost::shared_ptr

?

This would let me remove a problematic hack in
boost/serialization/shared_ptr which is creating a headache when shared_ptr
serialization is used with some other headers.

The same may be necessary for some other headers - e.g. weak ptr.

Another alternative would be to change the private members to protected or
maybe even public.

I realize that this creates a dependency between boost::serialization and
boost:: shared_ptr that you have hoped to avoid.  But until this is resolved
at another level, its would be better than the current situation.

Alternatively, you might want to consider expanding the shared_ptr interface
with enough information to permit serialization to be implemented via the
public interface.  This has worked well for the stl collections.  I don't
know if this was an intentional design decision or just an accident.

We really need a real solution now for boost::shared_ptr /
boost::serialization .

Robert Ramey