I am trying to serialize a multi_array object but keep the dimensions variable (I only want to support 1, 2 and 3 dimensions). So I attempted to create a Variant of the three multi_array's and the corresponding serialize methods as shown below, but I am getting a run-time error when for the 1-Dimensional case. Here is the minimal code example I came up with that shows the problem. I am using the boost SVN trunk as of this posting (April 26, 2011). Maybe I am implementing the load() method incorrectly for the multi_array. Should there be a special case for when Dim == 1? Running the program, I get the following error:

./test test: /home/goetz/local/src/boost-trunk/boost/multi_array/multi_array_ref.hpp:487: boost::multi_array_ref<T, NumDims>& boost::multi_array_ref<T, NumDims>::operator=(const ConstMultiArray&) [with ConstMultiArray = boost::multi_array<float, 1ul>, T = float, long unsigned int NumDims = 1ul, boost::multi_array_ref<T, NumDims> = boost::multi_array_ref<float, 1ul>]: Assertion `std::equal(other.shape(),other.shape()+this->num_dimensions(), this->shape())' failed. Aborted (core dumped)

/// Begin File: multiarray-variant-serialize.cpp /** * gcc compile command: * g++ multiarray-variant-serialize.cpp -otest -lboost_serialization * * to run: * ./test **/ #include <fstream> #include <string> #include <boost/archive/text_oarchive.hpp> #include <boost/archive/text_iarchive.hpp> #include <boost/array.hpp> #include <boost/serialization/variant.hpp> #include <boost/multi_array.hpp> typedef boost::variant< boost::multi_array<float,1>, boost::multi_array<float,2>, boost::multi_array<float,3> > multi_array_variant; namespace boost { namespace serialization { template<class Archive, typename T, size_t Dim> void save( Archive& ar, const boost::multi_array<T,Dim>& ma, const unsigned int version) { ar << boost::serialization::make_array(ma.shape(), Dim); ar << boost::serialization::make_array(ma.data(), ma.num_elements()); } template<class Archive, typename T, size_t Dim> void load( Archive& ar, boost::multi_array<T,Dim>& ma, const unsigned int version) { typedef typename boost::multi_array<T,Dim>::index index_t; boost::array<index_t,Dim> shape; ar >> boost::serialization::make_array(shape.data(), Dim); ma.resize(shape); ar >> boost::serialization::make_array(ma.data(), ma.num_elements()); } template<class Archive, typename T, size_t Dim> void serialize( Archive & ar, boost::multi_array<T,Dim>& ma, const unsigned int version) { split_free(ar, ma, version); } } /// namespace boost::serialization } /// namespace boost int main() { boost::multi_array<float,1> a1(boost::extents[5]); /// replacing the above line with either of the following two /// works as anticipated. Only the 1-Dimension breaks /// breaks at run-time. //boost::multi_array<float,2> a1(boost::extents[5][5]); //boost::multi_array<float,3> a1(boost::extents[5][5][5]); multi_array_variant a3 = a1; multi_array_variant a4; std::string filename = "archive.tmp"; { std::ofstream ofs(filename.c_str()); boost::archive::text_oarchive oa(ofs); oa << a3; } { std::ifstream ifs(filename.c_str()); boost::archive::text_iarchive ia(ifs); ia >> a4; } return 0; } /// EOF -- Johann T. Goetz