Re: [boost] [Boost.Parameter] questions and advice

From: Andrew Sutton (asutton_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-07-10 09:55:18

> I'm not clear what your "truly optional" parameters are actually  
> for, but if (for example) they supply a functor could the default  
> value be some sort of identity functor?

I guess it might be worthwhile to distinguish formally between  
optional parameters and those with default values. A parameter with  
default values is still a required input to a function even if the  
user doesn't explicitly pass a corresponding value. It's value is  
supplied by the specification. An optional parameter is one affects  
the function's behavior by its absence or presence in the argument list.

There are actually a number of examples in Boost.Graph. Consider  
dijkstra_shortest_paths(). There are two optional (output) parameters  
that can be passed - a predecessor map that records the parents in  
the shortest path tree and a distance map that records the distance  
to each vertex. If they aren't supplied the algorithm doesn't do any  
extra work. If one or both is supplied, the algorithm records parents  
and/or distances. This isn't an extreme example of affected behavior,  
but it is probably the most common.

The idea of using functors is interesting... but for some reason, I'm  
having trouble seeing how the solution would work this morning. I'll  
have to give it some thought. I think, however, that I'm doing  
something similar with my `not_given` type - it's being used as a  
sort of token that, when passed to template functions doesn't do  
anything.

Thanks,

Andrew Sutton
asutton_at_[hidden]