Re: [boost] [iostreams] libstdc++ vs MSVC exception handling behavior in seekg, seekp

Subject: Re: [boost] [iostreams] libstdc++ vs MSVC exception handling behavior in seekg, seekp
From: Bo Persson (bop_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-07-17 20:17:14

On 2018-07-17 18:17, James E. King III via Boost wrote:
> I found a disabled test in Boost.Iostreams called stream_state_test.  It
> was disabled because it was thought it only tests the standard library
> implementation.  Partially true, but it also tests some parts of iostreams
> so I have been working to re-enable it along with the generic CI upgrades.
> 
> It looks like libstdc++ and the standard library that comes with MSVC (is
> it still Dinkumware?  It used to be...) handle exceptions on stream seekg
> and seekp differently.  I haven't consulted the standards documents yet,
> but I found this reference for exception handling:
> http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/istream/istream/seekg/ which states, " Any
> exception thrown by an internal operation is caught and handled by the
> function, setting badbit <http://www.cplusplus.com/ios_base::badbit>. "
> 
> Sitting in the debugger where the test throws an exception in
> error_device::seek, there is no exception handling within iostreams or in
> msvcp140d code paths for a call to seekg, while the libstdc++
> implementation is able to pass all of the tests.  This leads to a couple
> questions:
> 
> 1. Are the standards clear in this area?
> 2. Is someone violating them?
> 
> A cursory review (such as this) leads me to believe that the MSVC C++
> runtime implementation is not properly handling exceptions here.  The
> sources for seekg in libstdc++ wrap the internals in a try catch in order
> to restore state.  The sources for seekg in the MSVCPRT do not.
> 

seekg is defined as calling pubseekoff which is calling seekoff that is 
defined to return an error code on failure.

So who is going to throw an exception (aside from a mocking test case)?

     Bo Persson