Re: [boost] [shared_array] Why not in C++11 ?

Subject: Re: [boost] [shared_array] Why not in C++11 ?
From: Sid Sacek (ssacek_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-07-07 18:57:16

Peter Dimov wrote:
> > > Once C++14 becomes an official standard, it'd become possible for 
> > > N3640 to be discussed and, hopefully, accepted;
> >
> > Same goes for N3641, of course.
> >
> > http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2013/n3641.html
>
>
> I then tried to get the buffer length (in code) but hit a brick wall.
>
>	int len = buffer.length;     // doesn't exist
>	int len = buffer.length();   // doesn't exist
>	int len = buffer.capacity;   // doesn't exist
>	int len = buffer.capacity(); // doesn't exist
>	int len = buffer.size;       // doesn't exist
>	int len = buffer.size();     // doesn't exist
>
> Unless I'm not using the object correctly, not being able to retrieve the array's capacity is a major oversight in my opinion.
>
> As a library developer, I want to be passed buffers in this fashion, and know how much data a buffer can hold. Having to guess is not what I was hoping for. Both Java and C# allow you to do this, so why not C++ buffers.
> -Sid
>

I thought about it a little, and I guess I could write a wrapper class around shared_ptr<> to provide buffering features.

class shared_buffer : public shared_ptr< unsigned char [] >
{
        size_t capacity;
        ...
}

Does this type of object not already exist in boost?  Am I the only coder who wants this sort of thing?
-Sid