Re: [boost] [gsoc] Request Feedback for Boost.Ustr Unicode String Adapter

Subject: Re: [boost] [gsoc] Request Feedback for Boost.Ustr Unicode String Adapter
From: Daniel James (dnljms_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-08-12 08:29:33

On 12 August 2011 10:30, Yakov Galka <ybungalobill_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 10:58, Daniel James <dnljms_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>>
>> Not really, boost is intended to be interoperable with the C++
>> standard library. That limits us to following its conventions and
>> policies.
>>
>
> The standard library doesn't have any conventions.

My mistake, I should have said the de facto conventions.

> Oops, you're right. My claim was based on
> http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_47_0/doc/html/program_options/design.html,
> which happens to be a LIE.

I doubt it's a lie. Sometimes we change our mind and forget to update
the rationale. Or maybe it uses the locale when converting from narrow
to wide, but uses UTF-8 when dealing with narrow strings. Anyway, this
is getting increasingly off topic.

> We are talking here not just about std::string but about any 'sequences of
> chars'. sqlite accepts UTF-8 filenames on *windows*! I'm not sure about what
> requirements are you talking. boost is a library after all, just as sqlite
> is.

A part of the popularity of boost is because it works well with
existing code. So we need to work with the strings we get at the
command line, from streams etc.

>> Unless a different solution can be found.
>
> Exactly.

I meant a different solution to assuming that std::string is always
UTF-8. It appears unlikely that your proposal will be accepted by
boost, so what other possibilities are there? Perhaps a distinct
string type, maybe some mechanism to specify what encoding strings are
using, or something else entirely?