Re: [boost] temp file

From: Dylan Trotter (trotterdylan_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-09-10 11:04:37

> You seem to want a temporary stream (i.e. as you say, something to write
> into and read from). Does it really matter (for you) whether that is
> implemented by means of a file ? If so, what observable behavior should
> it have that makes it file-like ?

It's true that in many cases it wouldn't matter whether the stream 
outputs to a file or memory. I could imagine writing very large temp 
files that you might not want to have in memory.

On the other hand, maybe a temp_file_handle class is more appropriate. 
The physical file would be deleted in the destructor. Using shared_ptr, 
it could be used by multiple objects. It could expose a path to the 
physical file to be used in any way necessary (even interprocess).

> The subject, however, suggests a temporary file, i.e. an entity in
> a file system. That, too, is important, as a number of people have
> confirmed.
> 
> I don't see much relationship between them, in particular on an API
> level. Why would you lump them together ?

The original post was about streams in particular. But you're right that 
it'd be more general to group the files and the streams separately.

> 
> Regards,
> 		Stefan
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