February 2013 - Boost - lists.boost.org

[fusion] What do we do with nil ?
by Joel de Guzman 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

Hello, This is a constantly nagging issue. There are a couple of places where nil is a PP define especially on the Mac: - objc.h #ifndef nil #define nil __DARWIN_NULL #endif and - MacTypes.h #ifndef nil #define nil NULL #endif So people complain because fusion uses nil as: namespace boost { namespace fusion { struct nil; }} So, nil is a reserved word in Objective-C. But this is C++! And that define is SUCH A BAD PRACTICE in C++! Some folks, like Paul Mensonides maintains a strong stance against this: I would just use #define nil nil as a sanity check and call it done. If the symbol is already defined, compilation error (or at least warning on overly permissive compilers). The symbol will be need to be undefined in between the inclusion of the two libraries. Workarounds like nil_ and (min)(...) just perpetuate the problem. Fix the root problem rather than treating the symptom indefinitely. Otherwise, where is the line drawn? Even if you can't provide a transparent fix (such as defining nil as a constant and min/max as functions), the backwards compatibility argument fails in the long run. The amount of effort required to make the necessary changes to existing code will eventually be outweighed by the effort to implement workarounds put into new code (as well as educate everyone that they are necessary)--especially in cases like these which can mostly be emulated in a way that causes most existing code to work. As I said over and over again, I'm listening and I would want to "fix" this issue if someone comes up with a reasonable (tested) patch that: 1) Detects the platform 2) Renames fusion::nil to something else (only for the affected platform) Yet, no-one wants to do this. Instead we get nasty remarks such as those found here: https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/5010#comment:16 What do we do? I'm seeking for a resolution. Regards, -- Joel de Guzman http://www.boostpro.com http://boost-spirit.com

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[exception] uncaught_exception_count, scope(failure), scope(success)
by Evgeny Panasyuk 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

Hello All, There is implementation of uncaught_exception_count - https://github.com/panaseleus/stack_unwinding/blob/master/boost/exception/u… . uncaught_exception_count is a function similar to std::uncaught_exception from standard library, but instead of boolean result it returns unsigned int showing current count of uncaught exceptions. uncaught_exception_count allow us to implement scope(failure) and scope(success) features from D language in C++. ( previous discussion is at http://boost.2283326.n4.nabble.com/scope-exit-D-style-scope-failure-and-sco… ) Implementation of uncaught_exception_count is tested on {Clang 3.2, GCC 3.4.6, GCC 4.1.2, GCC 4.4.6, GCC 4.4.7, MSVC2005SP1, MSVC2008SP1, MSVC2010SP1, MSVC2012} x {x32, x64}. There are also live stress tests - detection of 500 simultaneous uncaught exceptions: GCC 4.6.3: http://liveworkspace.org/code/2qmSso%240 GCC 4.7.2: http://liveworkspace.org/code/dY0VD%240 Clang 3.2: http://liveworkspace.org/code/49MaPk%240 I think that uncaught_exception_count (and uncaught_exception_count_latch primitive) can be added into Boost.Exception library, at least into "detail" section. After that scope(failure) and scope(success) features can be implemented in Boost.ScopeExit library. Note, approximately 14 of 16 Boost.ScopeExit examples in manual are in fact emulations of scope(failure)/scope(success). So, looks like in first place Boost.ScopeExit was introduced to simplify emulation of scope(failure) and scope(success) features. What do you think? Thank you. Best Regards, Evgeny Panasyuk

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GSOC 2013
by David Bellot 22 Mar '13

22 Mar '13

Only 2 projects have been proposed so far for GSOC 2013: wake up Boost ! https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/wiki/SoC2013 :-D

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[config] consexpr workaround
by vicente.botet 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

Hi, in order to make easier the introduction of constexpr in a portable way I would like we add a Boost Config workarround. We can define some macros depending on whether BOOST_NO_CONSTEXPR is defined or not. #if defined(BOOST_NO_CONSTEXPR) #define BOOST_CONSTEXPR #define BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST const #else #define BOOST_CONSTEXPR constexpr #define BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST constexpr #endif For most of the constexpr functions or constructors BOOST_CONSTEXPR will work. constexpr tuple(); =versus= BOOST_CONSTEXPR tuple(); When used for static constants BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST is needed as we need to preserv the const keyword when consexpr is not available. static constexpr UIntType xor_mask = a; =versus= static BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST UIntType xor_mask = a; We could also add a STATIC_CONSTEXPR macro #define BOOST_STATIC_CONSTEXPR static BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST static constexpr UIntType xor_mask = a; =versus= BOOST_STATIC_CONSTEXPR UIntType xor_mask = a; For this case the existing macro BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT could be modified to use BOOST_CONSTEXPR_OR_CONST when static const was used. static constexpr UIntType xor_mask = a; =versus= BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT(UIntType, xor_mask = a); Can we introduce this workaround? Best regards, Vicente _____________________ Vicente Juan Botet Escribá http://viboes.blogspot.com/

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[math] Support for libquadmath/ __float128
by Claas 19 Mar '13

19 Mar '13

I have experimented with the quadmath library included with gcc and the boost::math::constants library and encountered several problems. - typeid is seemingly not supported for __float128, which requires an overload of nameof<__float128> - the stream extraction operator has to be provided for __float128 for string conversion to work - a specialisation of numeric_limits has to be provided. Is there an interest in incorporating __float128 into boost ? If so, would it be a good idea to specialise constants for __float128 as well, apart from float, double and long double? Regards Claas

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[gil] What is the status of the Gil extension numeric?
by Krzysztof Czainski 18 Mar '13

18 Mar '13

Hello, During my first steps wit Boost.Gil I bumped onto an example [1], that uses the numeric extension. For this extension, the the example [1] and a ling from Boost.Gil docs [4] point to [2], where I couldn't find any Gil extensions to download. Most Google links pointed to the same page, but I finally found [3]. So my questions are: a) Is there a plan to add the extension numeric to Boost? b) Is [3] the newest version? And could the Boost.Gil docs be updated to point to the right place? c) I corrected a few bugs in boost/gil/extension/numeric/sampler.hpp -- is this list the right place to discuss modifications to the numeric extension? Regards, Kris [1] http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_53_0/libs/gil/example/resize.cpp [2] http://opensource.adobe.com/gil [3] http://code.google.com/p/gil-contributions/ [4] http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_53_0/libs/gil/doc/index.html

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Help in setupping regression tests on ARM
by Antony Polukhin 16 Mar '13

16 Mar '13

I've successfully run nests on x86, but on ARM I've got the following message: # Running Boost.Build tests Traceback (most recent call last): File "run.py", line 60, in <module> runner(root) File "/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/tools_regression_src/regression.py", line 205, in __init__ self.main() File "/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/tools_regression_src/regression.py", line 566, in main getattr(self,action_m)() File "/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/tools_regression_src/regression.py", line 531, in command_regression self.command_test() File "/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/tools_regression_src/regression.py", line 329, in command_test self.command_test_boost_build() File "/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/tools_regression_src/regression.py", line 369, in command_test_boost_build "boost/bin.v2/libs/any/test/any_test.test")); OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/results/boost/bin.v2/libs/any/test/any_test.test' I try to run tests on RaspberryPi, it is armhf. Compilller is GCC-4.6.3, 25Gb of free space on SD card. It looks strange, that I see only a few folders in /home/pi/boost_maintain/run_trunk/results/boost/bin.v2/libs/ (there are only 6 folders) -- Best regards, Antony Polukhin

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[type_traits] Some traits are missing
by Antony Polukhin 15 Mar '13

15 Mar '13

Hi all, Equivalents of following traits are in C++11 Standard, but missing in Boost.TypeTraits library: has_nothrow_move_assign has_nothrow_move_constructor has_trivial_move_assign has_trivial_move_constructor Extremely naive implementation of those functions exist in Boost.Variant, so as a start we can use them. Or am I missing something and there is a reason, why those traits are not included in Boost.TypeTraits? -- Best regards, Antony Polukhin

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[thread] thread_specific_ptr leaks on VS2012 when using std::async()
by Klaim - Joël Lamotte 05 Mar '13

05 Mar '13

Hi, The title says it all. I think I found a memory leak with the help of boost.log author Andrei Semashev. I was using Boost.Log in Visual Studio 2012 (released one) and tried to use Visual Leak Detector because Visual Studio basic leak detector was reporting leaks. I isolated the leaks to usage of log and switched to VLD to check if the basic detector wasn't giving me false positive. I contacted Andrei to see if he could check it but he don't have VS2012 available so I setup some tests to isolate the problem. In the end of our exchange we concluded it was a false positive (it only leak on end of program). However it is still an annoying noise in the leak report logs, so people not understanding the source of this problem might be interested in this email. I attach the whole email exchange to this email, tell me if leak logs are necessary too. The last version of my test is at the end of the email (first program). Basically, the leak appear only when using std::async() in combination of boost::thread_specific_ptr : - using exclusively boost threading libraries (both with dynamic and static linking) result in no leak - using exclusively std threading libraries but not std::async() result in no leak - using std::async() result in a leak The second test program shows that using Intel Threading Building Blocks, I get leaks only if : - I use std::async() in combination with boost::thread_specific_ptr, as before (I mean I use tbb without a leak, then I add a std::async() call to the same task function and there is a leak) - I don't use std::async() but I don't manage the lifetime of tbb task scheduler We think the threads spawned by both tbb (that is supposed to be a superset of ppl) and std::async() (that is supposed to use ppl/concrt task scheduler) are not ended yet when the program reach the end of main (which seems logical as the task scheduler is then managed as a static global), making boost::thread_specific_ptr not release some data on thread destruction, as it is notified too late and any leak detection tool willl generate noise due to this. A way to fix this is to explicitely end the task scheduler, being tbb or ppl/concrt. I will use tbb task scheduler explicitely initialized/terminated in my project so it will solve the problem on my side. Joel Lamotte ------------------------------------ // this program was used to see the memory leak #define TEST_ASYNC // comment this to make it linear and not leak //#define WITH_BOOST_THREADS #define WITH_STD_ASYNC // uncomment this to leak //#define WITH_BOOST_LOG // boost log also leak if std::async is used #include <boost/thread.hpp> #ifdef WITH_BOOST_THREADS # include <boost/thread/future.hpp> # include <boost/chrono.hpp> # define THIS_THREAD boost::this_thread # define THREAD_LIB boost::thread # define CHRONO_LIB boost::chrono # define MY_FUTURE boost::future #else # include <future> # include <thread> # include <chrono> # define THIS_THREAD std::this_thread # define THREAD_LIB std::thread # define CHRONO_LIB std::chrono # define MY_FUTURE std::future #endif #ifdef WITH_BOOST_LOG # include <boost/log/trivial.hpp> # define MY_LOG BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) #else # include <iostream> # define MY_LOG std::cout << '\n' #endif #define BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR 0 #define VISUAL_LEAK_DETECTOR 1 #define LEAK_DETECTOR VISUAL_LEAK_DETECTOR #if LEAK_DETECTOR == BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR # define _CRTDBG_MAP_ALLOC # include <stdlib.h> # include <crtdbg.h> #else # include "vld.h" #endif struct my_data { char data[1024]; my_data() { MY_LOG << "CONSTRUCTOR my_data - " << THIS_THREAD::get_id(); } ~my_data() { MY_LOG << "DESTRUCTOR my_data - " << THIS_THREAD::get_id(); } }; boost::thread_specific_ptr< my_data > ts_ptr; void my_thread_foo() { ts_ptr.reset(new my_data()); } int work() { for( int i = 0; i < 42; ++i ) { MY_LOG << "THIS IS A MESSAGE - I = " << i; MY_LOG << "ts_ptr = " << ts_ptr.get(); my_thread_foo(); THIS_THREAD::sleep_for( CHRONO_LIB::milliseconds(10) ); } return 0; } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { #if LEAK_DETECTOR == BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR // First simple memory leak detection for Visual Studio // use _crtBreakAlloc to put a breakpoint on the provided memory leak id allocation //_crtBreakAlloc = 1149; _CrtSetDbgFlag ( _CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF ); #endif //int* k = new int[42]; // to check that memory leak detection does work MY_LOG << "Hello, World!"; #ifdef TEST_ASYNC # ifndef WITH_BOOST_THREADS std::vector< std::future<int> > work_in_progress(2); # ifdef WITH_STD_ASYNC for( auto& ftr : work_in_progress ) { ftr = std::async( work ); } # else for( auto& ftr : work_in_progress ) { std::packaged_task< int() > task(work); ftr = task.get_future(); std::thread thread( std::move(task) ); thread.detach(); } # endif for( auto& ftr : work_in_progress ) { ftr.get(); } # else std::vector< boost::unique_future<int> > work_in_progress(42); for( auto& ftr : work_in_progress ) { boost::packaged_task<int> task(work); // boost's packaged_task don't take the full signature as parameter, it takes the return type only ftr = task.get_future(); boost::thread thread( boost::move(task) ); thread.detach(); } for( auto& ftr : work_in_progress ) { ftr.get(); } # endif #else for( int i = 0; i < 42; ++i ) { work(); } #endif MY_LOG << "END"; return EXIT_SUCCESS; } -------------------------------------- // this program tests if the memory leaks appear with Threading Building Blocks #define BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR 0 #define VISUAL_LEAK_DETECTOR 1 #define LEAK_DETECTOR VISUAL_LEAK_DETECTOR #define WITH_ROOT_TASK //#define WITH_BOOST_LOG //#define WITH_STD_ASYNC // uncomment to leak #ifdef WITH_STD_ASYNC # include <future> #endif #include <thread> #include <atomic> #include <boost/thread.hpp> #include <tbb/tbb.h> #include <tbb/task_scheduler_init.h> #ifdef WITH_BOOST_LOG # include <boost/log/trivial.hpp> # define MY_LOG BOOST_LOG_TRIVIAL(info) #else # include <iostream> # define MY_LOG std::cout << '\n' #endif #if LEAK_DETECTOR == BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR # define _CRTDBG_MAP_ALLOC # include <stdlib.h> # include <crtdbg.h> #else # include "vld.h" #endif namespace test { struct my_data { char data[1024]; }; boost::thread_specific_ptr< my_data > ts_ptr; void my_thread_foo() { ts_ptr.reset(new my_data()); } class UpdateTask : public tbb::task { public: UpdateTask() : idx( s_idx++ ) { MY_LOG << "[UpdateTask " << idx << " ] " << std::endl; } ~UpdateTask() { MY_LOG << "[/UpdateTask " << idx << " ]" << std::endl; } tbb::task* execute() { MY_LOG << "[" << std::this_thread::get_id() << "] Tick "<< m_count <<std::endl; my_thread_foo(); ++m_count; if( m_count < 100 ) { // make sure this is re-executed this->increment_ref_count(); this->recycle_as_safe_continuation(); } return nullptr; } private: static std::atomic<int> s_idx; std::atomic<int> m_count; const int idx; }; std::atomic<int> UpdateTask::s_idx = 0; class TaskScheduler // using TBB { public: #ifdef WITH_ROOT_TASK TaskScheduler() : m_root_task( *new (tbb::task::allocate_root()) tbb::empty_task ) { m_root_task.increment_ref_count(); } ~TaskScheduler() { m_root_task.destroy(m_root_task); } #endif void register_update_task() { #ifdef WITH_ROOT_TASK m_root_task.increment_ref_count(); UpdateTask& updater = *new(m_root_task.allocate_child()) UpdateTask(); #else UpdateTask& updater = *new(tbb::task::allocate_root()) UpdateTask(); #endif m_task_list.push_back( updater ); } void run_and_wait() { #ifdef WITH_ROOT_TASK m_root_task.spawn( m_task_list ); m_root_task.wait_for_all(); #else tbb::task::spawn_root_and_wait( m_task_list ); #endif } private: tbb::task_list m_task_list; // uncomment the following line to not leak tbb //tbb::task_scheduler_init m_engine_instance; // We explicitly create and destroy the TBB task scheduler to avoid memory leak warning noises. #ifdef WITH_ROOT_TASK tbb::task& m_root_task; #endif }; void tbb_test() { TaskScheduler task_scheduler; for( int i = 0; i < 50; ++i ) { task_scheduler.register_update_task(); } task_scheduler.run_and_wait(); } } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { #if LEAK_DETECTOR == BASIC_VS_LEAK_DETECTOR // First simple memory leak detection for Visual Studio // use _crtBreakAlloc to put a breakpoint on the provided memory leak id allocation //_crtBreakAlloc = 148; _CrtSetDbgFlag ( _CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF ); #endif #ifdef WITH_STD_ASYNC std::atomic<bool> finished = false; std::async( [&]{ while( !finished ) { MY_LOG << "POP"; test::my_thread_foo(); std::this_thread::sleep_for( std::chrono::milliseconds(500) ); } } ); #endif test::tbb_test(); #ifdef WITH_STD_ASYNC finished = true; #endif MY_LOG << "\nEND"; std::this_thread::sleep_for( std::chrono::seconds(4) ); return 0; }

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[thread] C++11 once_flag enabled when constexpr is not available
by Andrey Semashev 05 Mar '13

05 Mar '13

Hi, Vicente! I see you applied my patch for call_once but you seem to forgot to disable the C++11 call_once interface when the compiler does not support constexpr. Was that intentional or you just missed it? Anyway, please find the patch attached.

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