Re: [boost] [Serialization] Bizarre bug

Subject: Re: [boost] [Serialization] Bizarre bug
From: Jarl Lindrud (jarl.lindrud_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-08-11 20:11:32

Robert Ramey <ramey <at> rrsd.com> writes:

> >
> > Well, the problem also manifests in single programs, as A0 indicates.
> > There's no versioning going on there.
> 
> This program contains a dummy function whose only purpose
> is to illustrate a problem that could occur under very infrequent
> circumstances.  Whether or not it should be characterised as a valid
> usage of the library is a question I'll leave unaddressed.
> 

Robert, if you are going to hint that A0 is invalid, please specify exactly 
what would make it so.

For the Nth time, what you call dummy code, is code that was originally 
instantiated by some other, completely different part of the program, for 
completely different purposes. The fact that such code has program-wide side 
effects in the form of incompatible archive format changes, can't be seen as 
anything but a serious problem. That's exactly what Matthias pointed out in his 
post. Are you going to characterize his code as "dummy code", as well?

> Basically there were and are three options here.
> 
> a) include class information for all types inside of all archives.
> b) eliminate the option "track_selectively"
> c) do nothing.
> 

I'm not versed in the internals of B.Ser. , so I really can't suggest how to 
fix this. I just want to see it acknowledged as a real issue, and if it's not 
fixable, to be documented as such.

Regards,
Jarl.