Hi, i have a boost::variant holding some C++ types which have to be inserted into the database : boost::variant<int, std::string, double > dbColumnValueVar; before i insert the value_type into the database I need to call a processing function which is overloaded for every datatype used in the variant ie. each of these functions are defined process ( int ); process ( std::string ); process ( double); template <class T> process(T); ..... what i do not understand is how do i use apply_visitor or some other tactic to automatically dispatch the call to the right process function as in : boost::variant<int, std::string, double > dbColumnVar; dbColumnVar = "hello world"; process ( dbColumnVar ); // should call process std::string ....but is always calling the generic template version ?? dbColumnVar = 1.3434; process ( dbColumnVar ); //again calls generic template not specialization cout << dbColumnVar is somehow able to get the correct overloaded << operator for the hidden datatype irrespective of datatype ?? Any help will be appreciated Thanks Digz