August 2006 - Boost - lists.boost.org

Boost RPM spec file: Take 2
by Patrick Hartling 02 Oct '06

02 Oct '06

Several weeks ago, I posted an RPM spec file for Boost that I was hoping to see used as the "upstream" spec file for Boost installations on RPM-based Linux distributions. If nothing else, having it serve as a model to Linux distributors would be great, too. I have attached an updated version of that spec file that I feel is an improvement to the earlier version. The philosophy behind this new spec file is to be as true as possible to what I understand to be a "normal" Boost installation. I realize that users are afforded many ways to customize their Boost installation through different build-time options. Without doing any build customization, however, a Boost installation has single- and multi-threaded variants of libraries, both static and dynamic, that are named based on the toolset used for building and the Boost version number. Furthermore, the headers are installed in a versioned subdirectory. All of this allows parallel installations of different Boost build variants, and I see that as an extremely powerful capability. The attached RPM spec file leverages that in a way that I see as being very valuable. Relative to the Boost RPM distributed for use on Red Hat distributions of Linux (I do not have experience with pre-packaged versions of Boost from other Linux distribution vendors, so I cannot comment on how they do things), this RPM spec file has the following benefits: * Allows parallel installations of multiple Boost releases (both the run-time RPM and the developer RPM) * Installs single- and multi-threaded builds of libraries The spec file that Red Hat uses for building Boost RPMs removes the toolset name and the version information from the base name of the library, and it only installs the single-threaded build of each library. For reasons that are not yet clear to me, an additional symlink is created for each Boost shared library named libboost_<libname>.so.2 that points to libboost_<libname>.so.1.33.1. This prevents multiple parallel run-time installations. Multiple developer installations are prevented by the removal of the version information from the base library name and by the fact that the headers are placed in /usr/include/boost instead of in /usr/include/boost-1_33_1/boost. Since there are likely to be many users who are expecting Boost to be installed using the Red Hat RPM, I have added some compatibility bits in the form of two extra RPMs called boost-symlinks and boost-devel-symlinks. The first installs symlinks for the Boost libraries named using Red Hat's stripped down convention (with the version number after the .so part of the name). The second RPM installs unversioned symbolic links to the fully qualified library names and to the Boost header directory. The idea here is that users could have multiple Boost developer installations in parallel, and if they so desired, they could install this extra RPM with unversioned names to point to whichever Boost installation should be the "default" version. Since the symlinks are unversioned, parallel installations of multiple versions of these RPMs is not possible. Nevertheless, the two together provide a means to make a Boost RPM installation that is compatible with what Red Hat has been distributing for quite a while now. Comments? -Patrick -- Patrick L. Hartling | VP Engineering, Infiscape Corp. PGP: http://tinyurl.com/2oum9 | http://www.infiscape.com/ %define version 1.33.1 %define underscore_version %(echo %{version} | sed -e 's/\\./_/g') %define last_version 1.33.0 %define tarball_name boost_%{underscore_version} %define release 2 %define python_arch %(python -c 'import os; print os.uname()[4]') %if %{python_arch} == %{_arch} %define build_python 1 %else %define build_python 0 %endif Name: boost Summary: The Boost C++ Libraries Version: %{version} Release: %{release} License: Boost Software License URL: http://www.boost.org/ Group: System Environment/Libraries Source: %{tarball_name}.tar.bz2 BuildRoot: %{_tmppath}/boost-%{version}-root Prereq: /sbin/ldconfig %if %{build_python} BuildRequires: libstdc++-devel python %else BuildRequires: libstdc++-devel %endif Obsoletes: boost <= %{last_version} Obsoletes: boost-devel <= %{last_version} Obsoletes: boost-doc <= %{last_version} %if %{build_python} Obsoletes: boost-python <= %{last_version} %endif %description Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries. The emphasis is on libraries which work well with the C++ Standard Library. One goal is to establish "existing practice" and provide reference implementations so that the Boost libraries are suitable for eventual standardization. (Some of the libraries have already been proposed for inclusion in the C++ Standards Committee's upcoming C++ Standard Library Technical Report.) %package devel Summary: The Boost C++ Headers Group: System Environment/Libraries Requires: boost = %{version}-%{release} %if %{build_python} Obsoletes: boost-python-devel <= %{last_version} Provides: boost-python-devel = %{version}-%{release} %endif %description devel Headers and libraries for developing software that uses Boost C++. %package symlinks Summary: Compatibility Links to the Boost C++ %{version} Libraries Group: System Environment/Libraries Requires: boost = %{version}-%{release} %description symlinks Symllinks to the Boost %{version} libraries for compatibility with Boost RPMs distributed by Red Hat. %package devel-symlinks Summary: Unversioned Links to the Boost C++ %{version} Headers Group: System Environment/Libraries Requires: boost = %{version}-%{release} Requires: boost-devel = %{version}-%{release} %description devel-symlinks Unversioned symllinks to the Boost %{version} headers and libraries for compatibility with Boost RPMs distributed by Red Hat. %package doc Summary: The Boost C++ HTML docs Group: System Environment/Libraries Requires: boost = %{version}-%{release} %if %{build_python} Provides: boost-python-docs = %{version}-%{release} %endif %description doc HTML documentation files for Boost C++ libraries %prep rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT %setup -n %{tarball_name} -q %ifarch i386 i486 i586 i686 %define arch_args <cflags>-m32 <cxxflags>-m32 <linkflags>-m32 <linkflags>-L/usr/lib %else %ifarch x86_64 %define arch_args <cflags>-m64 <cxxflags>-m64 <linkflags>-m64 <linkflags>-L/usr/lib64 %endif %endif %build if icu-config --ldflags ; then export ICU_PATH=/usr ICU_LINK=\"$(icu-config --ldflags | sed 's/-lpthread//g')\"; fi without_libs='' %if %{build_python} == 0 without_libs="$without_libs --without-python" %endif # This is a hack. A better way needs to be devised for determining when # the local architecture does not match the target architecture. %if %{python_arch} != %{_arch} without_libs="$without_libs --without-iostreams" %endif #build bjam (cd tools/build/jam_src && ./build.sh) #build boost with bjam BJAM=`find tools/build/jam_src/ -name bjam -a -type f` PYTHON_VERSION=`python -V 2>&1 |sed 's,.* $[0-9]\.[0-9]$$\.[0-9]$\?.*,\1,'` PYTHON_FLAGS="-sPYTHON_ROOT=/usr -sPYTHON_VERSION=$PYTHON_VERSION" $BJAM $PYTHON_FLAGS "-sTOOLS=gcc" "-sBUILD=release <threading>single/multi %{arch_args}" "--prefix=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_prefix}" "--libdir=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_libdir}" $without_libs install %install curdir=`pwd` cd $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_includedir} ln -s boost-%{underscore_version}/boost ./boost # Replace unversioned static and shared libraries with symlinks to the # versioned copy. The symlinks will be packaged separately for people who want # to use an unversioned Boost developer environment. This also prevents # ldconfig from complaining about duplicate shared libraries. # Create symlinks to the fully qualified library without the toolset name for # compatibility with other Boost RPMs. cd $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_libdir} for f in libboost_*-%{underscore_version}.so ; do unversioned_name=`echo $f | sed -e 's/-%{underscore_version}//'` no_info_name=`echo $unversioned_name | sed -e 's/-gcc//'` rm -f $unversioned_name ln -s $f.%{version} $unversioned_name ln -s $f.%{version} $no_info_name ln -s $f.%{version} $no_info_name.%{version} ln -s $f.%{version} $no_info_name.2 done for f in libboost_*-%{underscore_version}.a ; do unversioned_name=`echo $f | sed -e 's/-%{underscore_version}//'` no_info_name=`echo $unversioned_name | sed -e 's/-gcc//'` rm -f $unversioned_name ln -s $f $unversioned_name ln -s $f $no_info_name done cd $curdir #install doc files mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_docdir}/%{name}-%{version} #cp -a doc/html $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_docdir}/%{name}-%{version} find . -name '*.html' -o -name '*.css' -o -name '*.htm' | cpio -p --make-directories $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_docdir}/%{name}-%{version} find $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_docdir}/%{name}-%{version} -type d | xargs chmod 755 find $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_docdir}/%{name}-%{version} -type f | xargs chmod 644 %clean rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT %post /sbin/ldconfig %postun /sbin/ldconfig %files %defattr(-, root, root) %{_libdir}/*-%{underscore_version}.so.%{version} %files symlinks %defattr(-, root, root) %{_libdir}/*[a-z].so.%{version} %{_libdir}/*[a-z].so.2 %files devel %defattr(-, root, root) %{_includedir}/boost-%{underscore_version} %{_libdir}/*-%{underscore_version}.a %{_libdir}/*-%{underscore_version}.so %files devel-symlinks %defattr(-, root, root) %{_includedir}/boost %{_libdir}/*[a-z].a %{_libdir}/*[a-z].so %files doc %defattr(-, root, root) %{_docdir}/boost-%{version} %changelog * Wed Aug 9 2006 Patrick Hartling <patrick(a)infiscape.com> 1.33.1-2 - Put headers in versioned subdirectory - Simplify build/installation process - Fixed complaints from ldconfig about duplicate shared libraries - Use symbolic links for unversioned header directory and library files for compability with Red Hat RPMs (see the new packages symlinks and devel-symlinks) * Fri Apr 14 2006 Patrick Hartling <patrick(a)infiscape.com> 1.33.1-1 - Update to 1.33.1 - Install single- and multi-threaded libraries - Install fully versioned libraries - Allow 32-bit build to be made on 64-bit architecture (currently without Boost.Python or Boost.iostreams) * Mon Nov 29 2004 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> 1.32.0-1 - Update to 1.32.0 - (#122817: libboost_*.so symlinks missing) * Wed Sep 22 2004 Than Ngo <than(a)redhat.com> 1.31.0-9 - cleanup specfile - fix multiarch problem * Tue Jun 15 2004 Elliot Lee <sopwith(a)redhat.com> - rebuilt * Wed May 05 2004 Warren Togami <wtogami(a)redhat.com> 1.31.0-7 - missing Obsoletes boost-python * Mon May 03 2004 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> - (#121630: gcc34 patch needed) * Wed Apr 21 2004 Warren Togami <wtogami(a)redhat.com> - #121415 FC2 BLOCKER: Obsoletes boost-python-devel, boost-doc - other cleanups * Tue Mar 30 2004 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> - Remove bjam dependency. (via Graydon). - Fix installed library names. - Fix SONAMEs in shared libraries. - Fix installed header location. - Fix installed permissions. * Fri Feb 13 2004 Elliot Lee <sopwith(a)redhat.com> - rebuilt * Mon Feb 09 2004 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> 1.31.0-2 - Update to boost-1.31.0 * Thu Jan 22 2004 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> 1.31.0-1 - Update to boost-1.31.0.rc2 - (#109307: Compile Failure with boost libraries) - (#104831: Compile errors in apps using Boost.Python...) - Unify into boost, boost-devel rpms. - Simplify installation using bjam and prefix install. * Tue Sep 09 2003 Nalin Dahyabhai <nalin(a)redhat.com> 1.30.2-2 - require boost-devel instead of devel in subpackages which require boost-devel - remove stray Prefix: tag * Mon Sep 08 2003 Benjamin Kosnik <bkoz(a)redhat.com> 1.30.2-1 - change license to Freely distributable - verify installation of libboost_thread - more boost-devel removals - deal with lack of _REENTRANT on ia64/s390 - (#99458) rpm -e fixed via explict dir additions - (#103293) update to 1.30.2 * Wed Jun 04 2003 Elliot Lee <sopwith(a)redhat.com> - rebuilt * Tue May 13 2003 Florian La Roche <Florian.LaRoche(a)redhat.de> - remove packager, change to new Group: * Tue May 06 2003 Tim Powers <timp(a)redhat.com> 1.30.0-3 - add deffattr's so we don't have unknown users owning files

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[boostbook] Allow SVN dates in last-revision
by Julio M. Merino Vidal 29 Sep '06

29 Sep '06

Hello, While developing my SoC project under a Subversion repository I found that the 'Last revised' entry in the main documentation page generated by Boostbook did not appear correctly. Upon further investigation, it appears that Boostbook's HTML generation code only recognizes CVS' $Date$ tag format. Therefore it failed to process SVN's entity contents and resulted in an empty date string. The attached patch adds support for SVN dates and tries to automatically detect the appropriate format. I hope this is correct and can be integrated into the tree. Thanks. -- Julio M. Merino Vidal <jmmv84(a)gmail.com> The Julipedia - http://julipedia.blogspot.com/

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[thread] catch(...) removed
by Peter Dimov 26 Sep '06

26 Sep '06

I've taken the liberty of applying the patch at the end of this post to thread.cpp. When I was doing some work with boost::thread, I had to remove the catch(...) in my local copy because testing was a nightmare. Since then, I've been getting the M before thread.cpp every time I did a cvs update. The discussion about this catch(...) clause didn't end with a definitive decision one way or the other, so... let me be the one who actually does something about it. :-) Index: thread.cpp =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/boost/boost/libs/thread/src/thread.cpp,v retrieving revision 1.21 diff -u -r1.21 thread.cpp --- thread.cpp 14 Jul 2005 15:46:50 -0000 1.21 +++ thread.cpp 6 Jul 2006 13:39:48 -0000 @@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ static OSStatus thread_proxy(void* param) #endif { - try +// try { thread_param* p = static_cast<thread_param*>(param); boost::function0<void> threadfunc = p->m_threadfunc; @@ -115,12 +115,12 @@ on_thread_exit(); #endif } - catch (...) - { -#if defined(BOOST_HAS_WINTHREADS) - on_thread_exit(); -#endif - } +// catch (...) +// { +//#if defined(BOOST_HAS_WINTHREADS) +// on_thread_exit(); +//#endif +// } #if defined(BOOST_HAS_MPTASKS) ::boost::detail::thread_cleanup(); #endif

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Any interests in a template library for distributed message passing and event dispatching?
by Yigong Liu 25 Sep '06

25 Sep '06

Hello All, Is there any interests in libraries for distributed message passing and event dispatching? There are many aspects involved in the design of these systems, such as choosing proper message/event id types, routing/dispatching algorithms, synchronization strategies for routing data structures and remote connection transport, etc.. Various application domains present different requirements for performance and functionalities (in embedded systems, integers or sub-int (bit-fields) are used as ids and routing is based on registration table, while in the e-commerce applications, class/structs with key attributes can be used as ids to facilitate more advanced routings). I am working on a C++ template library for generic publish/subscribe called Channel. Channel's major components (message IDs, routing algorithms...) are configurable as template parameters. As a namespace shared by peer threads, channels support publish/subscribe scope control, message filtering, and translation. Channel is used the same way as we use STL containers; by instantiating Channel template with proper id type, id trait and routing algorithms, user can create customized message passing and event dispatching facility for a particular application. More documentations and code can be found at : http://channel.sourceforge.net Right now Channel is built on top of ACE (adaptive communication environment) to gain platform independence. Besides classes related to socket connections and message marshaling, most channel classes are quite platform independent. I am refactoring the code and move the platform dependent code into a few policy classes. I would like to know is there any interests in boost for such frameworks. If so, I'll be glad to present a boostified version of the framework for a review process and use existing boost classes for platform abstractions. Thanks Yigong

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TR2 and C++0x heads up
by Beman Dawes 23 Sep '06

23 Sep '06

The C++ standards committee's Library Working Group has proposed a schedule for library changes and extensions: * October 2005: cutoff date for C++0x major library proposals * October 2006: cutoff date for library TR2 proposals * April 2007: cutoff date for C++0x library clean-up papers The usual rule-of-thumb is that new library components go in TR2, while changes to existing components go in C++0x. The LWG will consider exceptions to the rule on a case-by-case basis. The LWG is planning to issue a "Call for Proposals" with details, but in the meantime Boost developers might want to start thinking about which Boost libraries they want to propose to the LWG. Because most proposals go through one or more revisions before being accepted, it helps a proposal's chances if it reaches the committee as many meetings as possible before the final cut-off. So far there are plans to propose Boost.Threads, Boost.Filesystem, and Boost.Signals. As well as proposals for some of the more major libraries, I personally hope someone will do a sweep through Boost looking at some of the smaller utilities and helpers for a possible "Small Additions" proposal. --Beman

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[SoC] Presentation of Boost.Coroutine
by Giovanni Piero Deretta 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Hi all Boosters, During the summer, I have been working, with Eric Niebler as a mentor, on a coroutine library. The work is, as far as the Summer of Code is concerned, finished. Before a formal Boost review, I would like to smooth some rough edges in the code and polish the documentation. Still I would like to receive comments both on the current design and implementation and on the style of the documentation by interested Boosters. The source code is available from the boost-soc svn repository here: https://www.boost-consulting.com:8443/trac/soc/browser/boost/soc/2006/corou… The SoC application that started it all is still available here: http://libstream.sf.net/index_c.html I've uploaded the current documentation here: http://h1.ripway.com/gpderetta/html/index.html Unfortunately ripway only allows up to 30MB of downloads every day. I'll see if i can find a better host. The current documentation is known to be full of errors and might not make any sense to anyone except the author (that is, me :) ) Unfortunately time was running out. Still it should be fairly complete and present 99% of the library (a true reference is still to be written). Many examples and use cases are shown. I'll be leaving for (hopefully deserved) vacations tomorrow in the early morning (circa 6 am UCT time zone). I'll be away from the internet for a week, so I won't be able to contribute to the the discussion untill the 28th of this month when I'll be back. I hope that many will find the library useful and at least interesting. It has been a great and instructive project, and I look forward for a boost review. I woud like to thank my mentor Eric Niebler for the invaluable help, expecially with aderence to boost standars. -- dremaing-for-vactions-ly your Giovanni P. Deretta

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[shared_Ptr] [1.34] URGENT: Outstanding HP-UX / itanium bug
by John Maddock 12 Sep '06

12 Sep '06

Folks we still haven't solved the outstanding issue summarised here: http://lists.boost.org/boost-users/2005/12/15692.php Defining BOOST_SP_USE_PTHREADS is at least a workaround. Should I apply this to Boost.Config or should the sp_counted_base.hpp logic be altered (to keep everything in one place)? Or does anyone believe they have a fix for the assembly code in time for 1.34? Thanks, John.

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More functions for Filesystem
by Walter Landry 09 Sep '06

09 Sep '06

Greetings, I have recently upgraded from 1.32 to the current prerelease, and it feels like filesystem is missing a few convenience functions. 1) readlink: There is a way to create a symlink, but then no way to query it later. 2) nlink: Similarly, we can create a hard link, but can not query its link count. 3) copy_symlink: Note that this requires readlink in order to function. 4) copy_directory: create_directory creates directories with the mode S_IRWXU|S_IRWXG|S_IRWXO. That seems like a security hole waiting to happen. This would at least provide a way of inheriting access properties. 5) copy(): This would check what the first argument is and invoke the appropriate function (copy_file, copy_symlink, copy_directory). Except for nlink, I have already implemented all of these functions because I needed them. Is there any interest in getting these functions into the filesystem library? Cheers, Walter Landry wlandry(a)ucsd.edu

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[lexical_cast] optimization commited to HEAD
by Alexander Nasonov 08 Sep '06

08 Sep '06

Hello, I recently commited the version 1.26 of lexical_cast.hpp that optimizes many combinations of types. How it works: The lexical_cast reserves a local buffer for bool, char, wchar_t and other integral types. Then it puts a string representation of a source to the buffer. Currently, all such algorithms don't use ostream at all but it's easy to implement a generic algorithm that sets a put area of a ostream object to point to that buffer and puts a string representation to the buffer. When a source type is a pointer to char/wchar_t array or basic_string<>, its value is already a string representation of itself and a call to ostream output operator is omitted. Futher optimization is applied when a target type is either char/wchar_t or basic_string<>. In this case, std streams are not involved in a conversion at all. For all other target types, basic_istream object is contructed, its get area is set to a string representation of a source type and the operator>> is called. Optimization for the following source types is ON: bool char wchar_t other integral types char*, char const*, char[], char const[] wchar_t*, wchar_t const*, wchar_t[], wchar_t const[] std::basic_string<> Optimization for the following source types is OFF: enums float double signed char unsigned char signed char*, signed char const*, signed char[], signed char const[] unsigned char*, unsigned char const*, unsigned char[], unsigned char const[] all other types not listed in ON list Tested on VC6, VC7.1, VC8, gcc 3.4 and Borland 5.5. I couldn't run the test on Borland so I tested only that it compiles. Diff: cvs diff -r 1.24 -r 1.26 boost/lexical_cast.hpp http://tinyurl.com/qu388 Performance: Compiled with gcc 3.4.4 on FreeBSD 6.1 with -O2 flag turned on. A coversion from an int value [0, 9] to char. With Boost 1.33.1 - 2.012 s With Boost HEAD - 0.322 s, 6.24 times faster Ignore locales - 0.083 s A coversion from an int value [0, 999999] to std::string. With Boost 1.33.1 - 2.516 s With Boost HEAD - 0.844 s, 2.98 times faster Ignore locales - 0.626 s TODO - Optimization for float and double. - Make MEASURE_LEXICAL_CAST_PERFORMANCE_WITHOUT_LOCALE_OVERHEAD a public configuration parameter. - Discuss a behavior of enums with user-defined output operator. -- Alexander Nasonov Project Manager at Akmosoft ( http://www.akmosoft.com ) Blog: http://nasonov.blogspot.com Email: $(FirstName) dot $(LastName) at gmail dot com

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Boost Units library preview
by Eric Lemings 05 Sep '06

05 Sep '06

Greetings, I have been working on a rather ambitious dimensional analysis framework and units of measurement library suitable for inclusion with the Boost libraries. The interface is probably quite different from anything previously seen but hopefully it is more intuitive, flexible, and...well...appealing. The design and implementation are still in flux but most of the functionality is in place. Several Boost developers have advised me to post it here to solicit comments and feedback. The "preview" release can be found in the Units folder of the Boost Vault. The filename is units-preview.zip. Some quick notes. The Tutorial section of the documentation is probably the most important and complete section. The header files contain only some of the most commonly-used units. Plenty more will be be added in the future. I would greatly appreciate questions, comments, and/or suggestions regarding the overall design and interface. I plan to keep working on this library until it is ready for a formal Boost Units library proposal. Thanks, Eric.

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