Re: [boost] [boost::serialization] - serialization + shared_ptrs

From: martin.ecker_at_[hidden]
Date: 2005-04-04 04:42:27

Hi,

> After fixing header include orders for the umpteenth time to ensure 
> boost/serialization/shared_ptr.hpp is included before shared_ptr.hpp 
> so it can do it's #define private public hack I wondered if this was 
> any closer to an acceptable resolution?  I know this is brought up 
> periodcally but it really needs to be sorted out in someway

I fully agree. Not only does the private-public hack bother me, but 
also the fact that a special export macro BOOST_SHARED_POINTER_EXPORT 
is needed to export classes used with shared_ptr. It's especially 
cumbersome when shared_ptr is used polymorphically, i.e. we use 
shared_ptr<Base> that actually points to an instance of class Derived. 
Also, if I'm not mistaken, the current scheme does not support 
weak_ptr.

Since shared_ptr is such an important and often used class (at least 
at my company; we use it almost exclusively instead of raw pointers) , 
there should be proper, built-in support in boost::serialization for 
it. No extra macro or intrusive hack to shared_ptr should be required 
in order to be able to use it. As was discussed before, a good way to 
achieve this is to use a pointer-to-shared_ptr map in the input 
archive when loading archives that contain shared_ptrs. This is 
actually the approach that we've hacked into the version of 
boost::serialization here at work. We've been using it for a couple of 
months
now like this and have not experienced any problems with it. And it 
also works for serializing weak_ptr.

However, I would really appreciate an 'official' solution to 
shared_ptr (and weak_ptr) serialization.

Best Regards,
Martin

TAB Austria
Haiderstraße 40
4052 Ansfelden
Austria
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: martin.ecker_at_[hidden]
http://www.tab.at