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Command Line & Config review results
by Aleksey Gurtovoy 04 Jun '03

04 Jun '03

The Command Line & Config library by Vladimir Prus has been accepted into Boost, pending the incorporation of suggestions brought up in the review. Thanks to everyone for all their comments, and to Vladimir for being open and responsive to them! There've been a fair amount of suggested changes, many of which are documented on Wiki [1], and since the author himself keeps track of the issues, I won't reiterate them here - except for stressing the need for a) extensively reworked and extended documentation, and b) resolving the 'wchar_t' support issue before the library makes into official Boost distribution. Also, as acting on the review comments should result in large number of interface and design changes, I suggest that after incorporating them in the library and before the public release the author posts a note to the list so that the interested parties have a chance to comment on the final version. Once again, thanks to the author and all the reviewers. Aleksey Gurtovoy Command Line & Config Review Manager [1] http://www.crystalclearsoftware.com/cgi-bin/boost_wiki/wiki.pl?Program_Optio ns_Library_Pages

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Command Line & Config review comes to an end
by Aleksey Gurtovoy 03 Jun '03

03 Jun '03

The formal review of Vladimir Prus' Command Line & Config library is now at an end. A summary and conclusion will follow shortly. Thanks to everyone who responded, Aleksey Gurtovoy

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Formal Review: Command Line & Config library
by Aleksey Gurtovoy 21 May '03

21 May '03

The formal review of Vladimir Prus' Command Line & Config ("program_options") library starts today, May 21, and will continue until Monday, June 2nd. I will be serving as review manager. The library aims to provide developers with an easy and convenient way to obtain program options - user-supplied (name,value) pairs - via conventional methods such as command line and config file. The library is available at http://boost-sandbox.sf.net/program_options http://zigzag.cs.msu.su:7813/program_options Please note that the documentation is packaged separately from the sources. It also can be viewed online - http://zigzag.cs.msu.su:7813/program_options/html/. The library is known to work at least on the following compilers: * gcc 2.95 / 3.2 / 3.3 * Microsoft Visual C++ 7.1 * Intel C++ Compiler 7.0 * Borland C++ 5.5.1 When submitting reviews, please state explicitly whether or not you believe that the library should be accepted into Boost. For more information on the Boost formal review process, please see http://www.boost.org/more/formal_review_process.htm. Aleksey

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Boost version 1.30.0 released
by Beman Dawes 20 Mar '03

20 Mar '03

Boost version 1.30.0 has been released. The highlights include: * Filesystem Library added - Portable paths, iteration over directories, and other useful filesystem operations, from Beman Dawes. * Optional Library added - A discriminated-union wrapper for optional values, from Fernando Cacciola. * Interval Library added - Extends the usual arithmetic functions to mathematical intervals, from Guillaume Melquiond, Hervé Brönnimann and Sylvain Pion. * MPL added - Template metaprogramming framework of compile-time algorithms, sequences and metafunction classes, from Aleksey Gurtovoy. * Spirit Library added - An LL (unlimited lookahead) parser framework that represents parsers directly as EBNF grammars in inlined C++ source code, complete with semantic actions, ASTs and much more, from Joel de Guzman and team. * Smart Pointers Library - many enhancements, intrusive_ptr and smart pointer programming techniques docs added. * boost/assert.hpp, boost/current_function.hpp, boost/throw_exception.hpp, boost/checked_delete.hpp have been documented. * Date-Time Library - several fixes and small additions including an interface change to partial_date. * Function Library - added support for assignment to zero (to clear) and comparison against zero (to check if empty). * Operators Library - now takes advantage of named return value optimization (NRVO) when available, from Daniel Frey. * Regression Tests - Much expanded, plus a very nice summary page from Rene Rivera. * Test Library - added new facilities. * Many fixes and enhancements to other libraries. See www.boost.org for more information.

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Variant Library Review Results
by Jeff Garland 12 Mar '03

12 Mar '03

The Variant library by Eric Friedman and Itay Maman has been accepted into boost. I have summarized the main issues/discussion points below. [Interface/Design] -- There was a long discussion about a better name for 'extract' and whether it should be a member or free function. I'm not sure this was fully agreed, but it seemed like the group was leaning to a free function called 'get' patterned after the final tuple proposal to the library working group. -- The interface should allow variants with a 'void' or 'empty' type. Also, the interface should allow variants with only a single type or possibly no types. http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1547755 provides the conclusion of this discussion. -- Concern about allowing variant with const types and other requirements on bounded types. See http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1558173 -- Concern about using std::type_info for reflection. Also in http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1558173 [Implementation] -- Header files should be moved out of the /boost directory into the /boost/variant or boost/variant/detail. There should be a single include for everything: #include "boost/variant/variant.hpp" -- Template functions in header files (e.g. swap) need to be defined inline to avoid multiply defined errors. -- Several missing include files. See http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1558173 -- There are several headers that extend other parts of boost (eg: config, mpl, type_traits) that should be incorporated into their appropriate boost locations. -- One reviewer suggested that moving everything into namespace boost::variant. [Requested Additions] -- The authors should review suggestions and keep in mind possible synergies with the optional library. There was a fair amount of discussion on this point, but no final consensus on the exact form of any relationships between the libraries. -- One reviewer requested the addition of an operator== which would return true if 2 variants have both the same type and value. [Documentation] -- A couple of reviewers noted a need to distinguish Variant from Any. Itay provided an good explanation which should be incorporated in the documentation. See http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1541597 for Itay's discussion. -- Source code for tutorial and sample programs should be provided under libs/variant/examples. -- There were many detailed documentation issues described in the detailed reviews cited below. In addition to the above summary, the authors should review, evaluate, and incorporate suggestions from the following reviewers. In particular, the authors have not yet responded to the reviews by G. Rozental and R. Richter. E. Brey http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1539095 G. Rozental http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1558173 F. Cacciola http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/1541664 R. Richter (private email). Thanks to all the reviewers. Jeff Garland Variant Review Manager

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Formal Review for Boost I/O Library
by Ed Brey 27 Feb '03

27 Feb '03

The formal review for the updated Boost I/O Library begins today and runs through March 7. The I/O library contains various components for use with the standard I/O library. The components are as follows: State-saving classes for various IOStream attributes. Class templates to ease making streams off a new stream-buffer class. Stream and stream-buffer class (templates) that use an internal array. Additional I/O manipulator function (templates). The stream buffer classes are new and deserve primary attention in this review. You can obtain the latest version of the library from the CVS sandbox. For web access to the library, use this URLs: http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/boost-sandbox/boost-sandbox/… http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/boost-sandbox/boost-sandbox/… Please state in review comments how you reviewed the library and whether the you think the library should be accepted into Boost. Further guidelines for writing reviews can be found on the website at: http://www.boost.org/more/formal_review_process.htm#Comments Thanks, Ed (Review Manager)

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Formal Review: Variant Library
by Jeff Garland 17 Feb '03

17 Feb '03

All - Today is the start of the formal review of the Variant library by Eric Friedman and Itay Maman. The review will run until Tuesday Feb. 25th. I will be serving as review manager. The variant library offers a simple, type-safe solution for manipulating an object from an inhomogeneous set of types in a uniform manner. Whereas standard containers such as std::vector may be thought of as "multi-value, single type," variant is "multi-type, single value." This reduces code duplication and enhances maintainability. You can obtain the latest version of the library from the boost-sandbox or from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/variant.zip Please state in review comments how you reviewed the library and whether the you think the library should be accepted into Boost. Further guidelines for writing reviews can be found on the website at: http://www.boost.org/more/formal_review_process.htm#Comments Thanks, Jeff

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Review results: Optional library
by Douglas Gregor 06 Jan '03

06 Jan '03

Fernando Cacciola's Optional library is accepted into Boost. The review process was complicated by continual revision of the Optional library, and for this reason at least one reviewer favored rejection of the library at this time. However, the author and reviewers were quick to respond to interface revisions and were able to settle on a final interface, so the complications arising from interface fluctuations did not appear serious enough to override the majority of reviewers favoring acceptance. Doug Gregor Review Manager, Optional library

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Formal review: Optional library
by Douglas Gregor 09 Dec '02

09 Dec '02

The formal review of Fernando Cacciola's Optional library begins today and runs until the end of Wednesday, December 18. The Optional library provides a class template "optional<T>" that either contains a value of type "T" or contains no value (i.e., having a value is optional). It is useful, for example, as the return type of functions that may or may not return a value, depending on their inputs. The Optional library can be downloaded from the Boost files section: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/optional.zip Please state in review comments whether or not you believe that the library should be accepted into Boost. Further guidelines for writing reviews can be found here: http://www.boost.org/more/formal_review_process.htm#Comments Thank you, Doug Gregor (Optional (but not uninitialized) review manager)

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Serialization Library Review
by David Abrahams 11 Nov '02

11 Nov '02

This is a belated announcement that the review period of Robert Ramey's Serialization Library, which runs from 9 November to 18 November, has started. Here is an introductory paragraph describing the library, from its documentation. In this system, we use term "serialization" to mean a system where the current state of group of objects can be stored to a permanent medium that may outlast the current program execution. At any later time an equivalent group of objects can be restored from the permanent medium. It is the goal of this system to permit this facility to be included in any C++ program with a minimium of additional effort. Here's a reminder of what to include in your review comments: Your comments may be brief or lengthy, but basically the Review Manager needs your evaluation of the library. If you identify problems along the way, please note if they are minor, serious, or showstoppers. Here are some questions you might want to answer in your review: What is your evaluation of the design? What is your evaluation of the implementation? What is your evaluation of the documentation? What is your evaluation of the potential usefulness of the library? Did you try to use the library? With what compiler? Did you have any problems? How much effort did you put into your evaluation? A glance? A quick reading? In-depth study? Are you knowledgeable about the problem domain? And finally, every review should answer this question: Do you think the library should be accepted as a Boost library? Be sure to say this explicitly so that your other comments don't obscure your overall opinion. You can download the library submission from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boost/files/serialization6.zip -- David Abrahams dave(a)boost-consulting.com * http://www.boost-consulting.com Boost support, enhancements, training, and commercial distribution

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