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

From: Yuval Ronen (ronen_yuval_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-10-07 11:53:16

Nicola Musatti wrote:
> 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. 

I have to second everyone who favors boost::optional. It's IMO 
absolutely the best way of handling null-allowed fields.

Yuval