Re: [boost] [core] Detach demangle() from type_info

Subject: Re: [boost] [core] Detach demangle() from type_info
From: Peter Dimov (lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2014-06-06 15:56:41

Andrey Semashev wrote:
> Hi Peter,
>
> I can see you already extracted demangle() to boost/core. Great, thanks!
>
> However I'd prefer it to be detached from type_info. This tool would be 
> useful with different kinds of symbols, like function and variable names, 
> not just type_info. So it better accept a string as an argument and not 
> type_info. demangled_name() should probably be in core/typeinfo.hpp.

'demangle' does accept a string as the argument - it's just in core::detail.

demangled_name, which is typeinfo-specific, needs to forego demangling when 
RTTI is off, because then core::typeinfo returns an already demangled 
sort-of name using __PRETTY_FUNCTION__.

We can lift demangle() to core:: if you like. I wasn't sure about that so I 
left it in detail.

> And regarding typeinfo.hpp. Aren't we duplicating Boost.TypeIndex here?

Maybe. I use typeinfo.hpp in lightweight_test_trait.hpp though, and the less 
dependencies a test header has, the better, because a compile error in a 
dependency causes all the tests in the world to fail. Which is undesirable. 
(That's also why I split the _trait part from lightweight_test.)

Plus, typeinfo.hpp was already present, as detail/sp_typeinfo.hpp, I just 
renamed it.

> PS: I was also planning to create pull requests to other libraries to use 
> demangle from Core. These are Exception, Units, TypeIndex and Log, AFAIK. 
> Do you plan to do this? If not, I could.

Do go ahead with these, once we sort out the namespace question.