Re: [boost] helper for managing legacy resources

From: Eric Niebler (eric_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-11-09 02:49:25

Ulrich Eckhardt wrote:
> 
> I have a library here which I would propose for addition to Boost. It is a 
> wrapper around a resource handle, just like std::auto_ptr is a wrapper around 
> a pointer. The main difference to std::auto_ptr is that it doesn't overload 
> operator-> and that it can (or, rather, must) be customized. Therefore it can 
> also be used to hold resources like 'int' (a Unix filedescriptor) or 'FILE*' 
> and also has the known ownership transfer semantics of std::auto_ptr.

I'm interested. Long ago, I wrote something very much like what you 
describe (see 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/03/06/ResourceManagement/default.aspx), 
and used it effectively to plug the resource leaks in an application I 
inherited. I think there is a need for more general RAII resource managers.

-- 
Eric Niebler
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com