Re: [boost] Silly Boost.Locale default narrow string encodinginWindows

Subject: Re: [boost] Silly Boost.Locale default narrow string encodinginWindows
From: Stewart, Robert (Robert.Stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-10-28 07:11:08

Alf P. Steinbach wrote:
>
> Option 3 means  --  it requires, as far as I can see  --  some
> abstraction that hides the narrow/wide representation so as to
> get source code level portability, which is all that matters
> for C++. It doesn't need to involve very much. Some typedefs,
> traits, references.
>
> For example, write a portable string literal like this:
>
>      PS( "This is a portable string literal" )
[snip]
> The main drawback is IMO the need to use something like a PS
> macro for string and character literals, or a C++11 /user
> defined literal/.
> Windows programmers are used to that, writing _T("blah") all
> the time as if Windows 95 was still extant. So, considering
> that all that current labor is being done for no reward
> whatsoever, I think it should be no problem convincing
> programmers that writing a few characters more in order to get
> portable string literals, is worth it; it just needs exposure
> to examples from some authoritative source...

The problem with that approach is that existing, non-Windows, code must be painstakingly altered to introduce such manual portability constructs.  If code was already written using the Microsoft facilities for portability, it's a relatively easy transition to make (s/_T/PS/, for example).

Regardless of authoritative examples, inertia is against your idea.

_____
Rob Stewart                           robert.stewart_at_[hidden]
Software Engineer                     using std::disclaimer;
Dev Tools & Components
Susquehanna International Group, LLP  http://www.sig.com

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