Re: [boost] Boost.SQL, SOCI and beyond

From: Nicola Musatti (Nicola.Musatti_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-10-06 09:11:39

Edward Diener <eldiener <at> tropicsoft.com> writes:
> Jeff Garland wrote:
[...]
> > While I agree consideration of null handling using optional makes sense,
> > there has been some controversy in the past about the optional 
> > interface...so beaware that this approach may bring criticism from some
> > people.
>
> What better way is there of specifying a database null value being 
> passed to or returned from a column of a particular row other than to 
> use boost::optional is the key question. I believe the criticism of 
> optional in the past regards using it with optional references, but when 
> passing and returning database null values, only values would normally 
> be used.

I think Jeff refers to objections that have been raised about using pointer-like
syntax for things that are not pointers. 

Cheers,
Nicola Musatti