Re: [boost] [config] Major upgrade to Boost.Config symbol visibility macros

Subject: Re: [boost] [config] Major upgrade to Boost.Config symbol visibility macros
From: Alexander Arhipenko (arhipjan_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-05-23 08:04:49

On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 3:32 PM, Beman Dawes <bdawes_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> The upgrade to Boost.Config symbol visibility macros that has been
> under discussion has been committed to trunk. This lays the groundwork
> for resolving #2144, #2309, #3697.
>
> See https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/changeset/62140
>
> Thanks Jürgen Hunold for his patches and much other work on symbol
> visibility issues.
>
> The changeset also applied the changes to Boost.System to act as a
> testbed to ensure the changes are correct. That's a concern because
> any breakage in Boost.Config could break a lot of other stuff. We also
> want to get the Boost.Config changes right the first time as they kick
> off rebuilds of everything that uses the config system.
>
> The changes have been tested locally on Windows, Linux, and the Mac,
> and Boost.Filesystem has been retested on those systems as a reality
> check that unmodified user code continues to work.
>
> As trunk regression tests cycle and our confidence builds, we will
> start to suggest and/or apply changes to other libraries to make use
> of the new facilities.
>
> --Beman
>

Hi Beman,

This is really awesome news!
I suppose it is a big step to boost ABI improvement
and boost binary backward compatibility on a variety of platforms.

Please note, there is a boost.build patch attached to ticket 2114 also.
This patch introduces new feature: hide-symbols.
So, someone could easily build e.g. boost.system with hidden visibility
using following command:
'bjam /boost/system hide-symbols=on'.
Also feature could be used directly in a Jamfile.
For sure this patch requires to be reviewed by Boost.Build gurus
and maybe applied to trunk afterwards.

Regards