Re: [boost] Operating System API Error Reporting Guidelines

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-02-19 10:40:16

"Beman Dawes" <bdawes_at_[hidden]> wrote in message 
news:43F61C1A.5060803_at_acm.org...
> Each Boost library that calls operating system API's seems to deal with
> API error reporting in its own way. That's hard on users, and doubly so
> if a particular library's approach doesn't easily support a needed use 
> case.
>
> Boost.Filesystem certainly had that problem, and users reported having
> to litter their code with try/catch blocks to cope with it only
> supporting error-reporting-by-exception.
>
> I think the two-pronged approach Boost.Filesystem finally settled on
> might work well for other library's too. I've written it up as a general
> guideline. See attached.
>
> Do other Boosters like the idea of an overall guideline for dealing with
> operating system API error reporting?
>
> Do the specific guidelines make sense? How can they be improved?
>
> Comments welcome,

Fresh draft up at www.esva.net/~beman/error_reporting_guidelines.html.

This tries to incorporate concerns, comments, and suggestions from Eric 
Niebler, Dave Abrahams, and John Maddock.

Further comments welcome,

--Beman