Re: [boost] [date_time] Suggestion for duration division operator

From: Beth Jacobson (bethj_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-05-06 15:34:27

Jeff Garland wrote:
> Beth Jacobson wrote:
>> Time durations can be divided by an integer to produce a duration (e.g.
>> hours(1)/60 == minutes(1);), but can't be divided by another duration to
>> produce an integer (e.g. hours(1)/minutes(1) == 60;).
>>
>> Could this be added to time_duration.hpp:
>>
>> int operator/(const duration_type& d) const
>> {
>>    return (ticks_ / d.ticks_);
>> }
> 
> Reasonable -- of course it will have the usual integer division issues.
> 
>> or maybe better, this:
>>
>> double operator/(const duration_type& d) const
>> {
>>    return (static_cast<double>(ticks_) / d.ticks_);
>> }
>>
>> The same thing can already be accomplished already with
>> duration1.ticks()/duration2.ticks(), but duration1/duration2 seems more
>> natural and fits well with the rest of the date_time operators.
> 
> Well, I've managed to avoid injecting any "fuzzy floating point logic" 
> into date_time up till now.  I guess I'd like to hear a compelling use 
> case from you or others as to why this is really needed.  

Given your arguments, I'm afraid I can't come up with one. In the field 
I'm working in (crop modeling), dividing durations is a vital function, 
but I can't think of a compelling reason for it to be a member function.

Thanks for your time and attention on this, and thank you for the 
date_time library. It fits the modeling paradigm beautifully, and it's a 
pleasure to use.

Regards,
Beth