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

From: Martin Bonner (Martin.Bonner_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-07-10 10:17:49

From: Andrew Sutton
> 
> 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.

Aahh.  Light dawns.

> The idea of using functors is interesting... but for some reason, I'm
> having trouble seeing how the solution would work this morning. 

That's because I was thinking of something like "copy from here to
there, optionally transforming the copied values", where a default of 
        template <class T> T& identity(T& x) { return x; } 
would be fine (modulo dangling references).

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to show how to do it :-)
> 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.

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Martin Bonner
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