July 2023 - Boost - lists.boost.org

CMake Announcement from Boost Steering Committee
by Jon Kalb 13 Aug '24

13 Aug '24

The libraries produced by the Boost community have had a greater impact on the way that the C++ community writes code than any other library implementation. The focus of the Boost community will always be on the libraries, but it is undeniable that we are dependent on and often limited by the infrastructure of our trade. Years ago, the move to Git was contentious; yet, it was required to improve development. In a similar vein our build system has become an impediment for many developers and users, existing and prospective. Therefore, we, the Steering Committee, announce to the Boost community our desire and intent to move Boost’s build system to CMake for users and developers alike. We are soliciting comments and proposals from the community to guide the process and the goals. Our desire is that the community can come to consensus by the end of the calendar year with a vision of supporting users and developers. We understand that the actual process of achieving the end goal will be long, time consuming, and not without its share of conflict. We also recognize that the Boost community is comprised of bright and passionate individuals that are eager to get involved and help get work done. The members of the Steering Committee have been encouraged by the discussions and activity surrounding CMake on the mailing lists over the years and know that many people have voiced visions. We hope that each of you rejoins the discussion to support this initiative and contributes to the common goal of improving Boost’s integration into the broader C++ ecosystem. For the Boost Steering Committee, Jon Kalb, Chair jonkalb(a)boost.org

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Boost Governance?
by René Ferdinand Rivera Morell 10 Aug '24

10 Aug '24

A disclaimer: I write this solely as a Boost Library author. And not in any other capacity or representing any other interest. It's now been at least a year since Boost switched from the Software Freedom Conservancy to the Boost Foundation for its governance organization. But have people noticed any difference? Did you know that switch happened? Did you know that they held an election for the Board of Directors and for the Officers? Do you know when that election happened? Do you know who got elected? Do you know how they were selected? Do you know what their responsibilities are? Do you know what their bylaws are? Do you know their financials? More importantly: Did you answer "no" to any of those questions? As a library author, I can say I definitely answered no to many of those questions. This is a problem. As authors, without asking, we should know those answers from the organization that governs our work. We should have input into how that organization governs. In other words, we deserve open and transparent governance; not the closed and opaque status quo. -- -- René Ferdinand Rivera Morell -- Don't Assume Anything -- No Supone Nada -- Robot Dreams - http://robot-dreams.net

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Paul Bristow
by John Maddock 09 Aug '24

09 Aug '24

I've just heard that Paul Bristow who helped so much with the development of Boost.Math and indeed many other libraries, passed away peacefully last week. RIP Paul. Much missed. John.

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Library proposal - indexed_array
by Julien Blanc 12 Oct '23

12 Oct '23

Hi, I've written and released a (rather small) library which allows defining arrays with arbitrary index mechanisms (hence the name, indexed_array). This especially allows indexing with scoped enums, use non zero-starting indexes, or use sparse indexes. This is not a view, but an array in the sense that it owns the data, and provides the same guarantees and functionalities as std::array, such as triviality propagation, being able to reside in read-only program sections, etc. It also supports multidimensional indexing, and provides an indexed_span template class to access lower dimension content (which can be used outside indexed_array). Finally, it provides an opt-in safer way to initialize the array content, which is especially useful when using complex and/or changing indexing schemes (like based on externally generated files). The library is available here: https://github.com/Julien-Blanc-tgcm/indexed_array And the doc is here: https://julien-blanc-tgcm.github.io/indexed_array/ It requires C++17 and mp11, and has first-class support for describe-d enums. If there is some interest, i'd like to propose it for inclusion in boost. So i'm looking for people who would endorse it. Thanks and best regards, Julien

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Master Branch is now open for bug fixes
by Marshall Clow 02 Aug '23

02 Aug '23

The master branch is now open for bug fixes and documentation changes. Other changes by release manager permission, as described in https://github.com/boostorg/wiki/wiki/Releases%3A-Beta-Merge-Policy The next deadline: On August 5th, master closes for all changes. As always, the calendar is at https://www.boost.org/development/ — Marshall

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oneAPI build
by Alain O' Miniussi 01 Aug '23

01 Aug '23

Hi, I'm trying to build master with oneAPI 2023.1.0's icpx. So far I am mostly getting warnings for unknown/unsupported options like: icpx: warning: -Wl,-rpath,/data/spack/opt/spack/linux-centos7-x86_64/gcc-12.2.0/intel-oneapi-mkl-2023.1.0-x6dxpakvvn4sntkmbzqvtjdndc3g5ttn/mkl/2023.1.0/lib/intel64: 'linker' input unused [-Wunused-command-line-argument] intel-linux.compile.c++ bin.v2/libs/log/build/intel-linux-2023.1.0/release/cxxstd-17-iso/threading-multi/visibility-hidden/setup/matches_relation_factory.o icpx: command line warning #10430: Unsupported command line options encountered These options as listed are not supported. For more information, use '-qnextgen-diag'. option list: -ip -wd177,780,2196,1782,193,304,981,1418,411,734,279 Is oneAPI supported ? the following page: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/technical/buildi… only mention 1.75 and 1.78 Thanks Alain

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Request to merge fixes to docca
by Krystian Stasiowski 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

I would like to merge the following commits: https://github.com/boostorg/docca/commit/0ce4e198398dbb52f1de0029f4ed9b7d2b… https://github.com/boostorg/docca/commit/8ba36c0c1e1adb32dbf4cd9c7f3cb36f33… https://github.com/boostorg/docca/commit/4b61682742d6fc0d373698d42635024088… To address these issues: https://github.com/boostorg/docca/issues/136 https://github.com/boostorg/docca/issues/105 These fix assorted compatibility issues with doxygen 1.8.16 and newer

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[boost.async] Seeking Endorsement
by Klemens Morgenstern 28 Jul '23

28 Jul '23

Dear fellow Boost developers, I am seeking endorsement for my C++20 async coroutine library boost.async. It provides coroutine primitives & utilities that are easy to use and intuitive, to anyone who has seen python's asyncio or javascripts async/await APIs before. It simplifies using asio and increases compile times significantly by encouraging the usage of translations units. The features include: - coroutine types (eager, lazy, generators) - built-in cancellation - synchronization of multiple coroutines (select, gather, join) - channels - with (an async scope akin to python's with expression) - asio integration, i.e. completion tokens I think this kind of library is much needed in boost and the wider C++ community. code: https://github.com/klemens-morgenstern/async docs: https://klemens.dev/async/

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Request to merge a fix to Boost.Core
by Peter Dimov 26 Jul '23

26 Jul '23

May I please merge the following fix https://github.com/boostorg/core/commit/c7134904e27237dbbb81ba28f0f23fc365b… to address issue https://github.com/boostorg/core/issues/150 ? I can't verify that the fix actually works, but it doesn't affect non-Android platforms, so can't make things any worse.

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Re: [boost] Request to merge bug fixes in Boost.Outcome
by Niall Douglas 25 Jul '23

25 Jul '23

On 20/07/2023 11:36, Niall Douglas wrote: > Can I get permission to merge a few small bug fixes plus docs fixes? > > https://github.com/boostorg/outcome/commits/develop > > 1. Changes just before the beta window breaks build on C++ 14 in certain > corner cases, fixed. > > 2. Experimental Outcome Boost result did not compile due to changes to > status code by LEWG, fixed. > > 3. Docs fixes also due to the LEWG renaming breaking docs examples. > > 4. Failure to compile Experimental Outcome on FreeBSD fixed. Ping on the above. Niall

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Bug fixes in Boost.URL
by Alan de Freitas 21 Jul '23

21 Jul '23

I would like to ask for permission to merge the following bug fixes to master in Boost.URL: - c97bc278: parse_query does not recreate string_view - 0ca58467: url_view string_view constructor requires non-url_view_base - f2bb191b: IP-literal can be IPv6addrz Thanks -- Alan Freitas https://alandefreitas.github.io/alandefreitas/ <https://github.com/alandefreitas>

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Request to merge bug fixes in Boost.Outcome
by Niall Douglas 20 Jul '23

20 Jul '23

Can I get permission to merge a few small bug fixes plus docs fixes? https://github.com/boostorg/outcome/commits/develop 1. Changes just before the beta window breaks build on C++ 14 in certain corner cases, fixed. 2. Experimental Outcome Boost result did not compile due to changes to status code by LEWG, fixed. 3. Docs fixes also due to the LEWG renaming breaking docs examples. 4. Failure to compile Experimental Outcome on FreeBSD fixed. Niall

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boost::normal_distribution<>(boost::mt19937) changed behavior from 1.60 to 1.80
by Foelsche, Peter 18 Jul '23

18 Jul '23

Dear All, I'm not certain if the behavior I'm seeing is expected or a problem. I'm getting different series of numbers from the two different boost versions in question. When running a diff on the output I'm getting numbers inserted in one series or the other and then the two series become identical again. Below is the source. I'm using the following series of commands: g++ -std=c++14 test.cpp -g -DNDEBUG -fwhole-program -I/mnt/share/boost/boost-1.80/include -o 180 g++ -std=c++14 test.cpp -g -DNDEBUG -fwhole-program -o 160 ./180 16384 2078781393 1 > 180.txt ./160 16384 2078781393 1 > 160.txt diff 160.txt 180.txt |more The first difference is at line 284. The next at 364, 1783, 2685. Peter PS. g++ (GCC) 5.3.0 PPS. The source #include <boost/random.hpp> #include <boost/version.hpp> //#include <boost/random/variate_generator.hpp> #include <boost/random/mersenne_twister.hpp> #include <boost/random/normal_distribution.hpp> #include <boost/random/uniform_int_distribution.hpp> #include <limits> #include <iostream> int main(int, char**argv) { std::cout << BOOST_LIB_VERSION << std::endl; const auto bOld = std::atoi(argv[3]) != 0; boost::mt19937 sGenerator; sGenerator.seed(std::atoi(argv[2])); //boost::random::uniform_int_distribution<> sDist(0, std::numeric_limits<int>::max()); boost::normal_distribution<> sDist(0.0, 1.0); boost::variate_generator<boost::mt19937, boost::normal_distribution<> > sGen(sGenerator, sDist); for (int i = 0, iMax = std::atoi(argv[1]); i < iMax; ++i) if (bOld) std::cout << sDist(sGenerator) << std::endl; else std::cout << sGen() << std::endl; }

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Boostorg GitHub now has unlimited private repositories and collaborators
by Glen Fernandes 17 Jul '23

17 Jul '23

Boostorg GitHub now has unlimited private repositories and collaborators. Glen

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Request to fix docs mistake in Boost.Outcome
by Niall Douglas 16 Jul '23

16 Jul '23

I know the beta release is happening, but when it's out and master branch is reopened can I get permission to merge a mistake in documentation fixed by https://github.com/ned14/outcome/issues/280? Niall

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[1.83][type_erasure] Permission to merge to master
by Joaquín M López Muñoz 14 Jul '23

14 Jul '23

Hi, I’d like to merge this to master: https://github.com/boostorg/type_erasure/compare/master...develop This is a fix for issue #20: https://github.com/boostorg/type_erasure/issues/20 Plus some CI machinery kindly provided by Peter Dimov. Tests pass 100% on develop. Thank you, Joaquín M López Muñoz

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[Release] Master branch is closed for beta
by Marshall Clow 13 Jul '23

13 Jul '23

Master is closed for all changes. See the release schedule at: https://www.boost.org/development/index.html <https://www.boost.org/development/index.html> -- Release managers

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[release] Boost 1.83.0 beta 1 released
by Marshall Clow 13 Jul '23

13 Jul '23

Boost release 1.83.0 beta 1 is now available at: https://boostorg.jfrog.io/artifactory/main/beta/1.83.0.beta1/source/ The SHA256 checksums are: 69fe7224568acfa5491bfaa04fd522bf7cfca1800aa192de96ce560da714902f boost_1_83_0_b1.7z 49afc7c20d65949f7b775060bbec403e7e81d207949dd9f412e2d4569ea5d3f7 boost_1_83_0_b1.zip fe3895ee9ac78cf57328415f1b3bf3da7ea2ccb3ad87bf0d9b720910d99d18ae boost_1_83_0_b1.tar.bz2 fbbe0d439db5b65f194eb61b89b5cda0575387b0b23fbb85900c3c9ef9eb64bf boost_1_83_0_b1.tar.gz There was one bug reported during the beta process; Boost.Context does not build on ARM64 systems. This will be fixed for the final release. If you want to fix it locally, edit the file libs/context/build/Jamfile.v2: - else if [ os.platform ] = "ARM" { tmp = aapcs ; } + else if [ os.platform ] in ARM ARM64 { tmp = aapcs ; } The web site has not yet been updated (tomorrow, I hope) but when it is, the release notes will be at: https://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_83_0.html Please try the beta and report any problems you encounter. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the release. -- Boost Release Team

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New Website Clarification
by Vinnie Falco 11 Jul '23

11 Jul '23

In this recent reddit post, Jonathan (online nickname "foonathan") says: > AFAIK the CppAlliance decided to unilaterally write a > new boost website for the Boost foundation, but the Boost > foundation wasn't/isn't that interested in it. > ... > I was told details, but I don't know whether they are official > Boost foundation statements or personal views of the person > that told me about it, so I don't want to share them. https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp/comments/14whxvd/comment/jriii9h/ I responded with a clarification which I am reposting here for the convenience of the folks on the mailing list. Cut on the dotted line: Thanks ---- Point of clarification here: We (a collection of Boost library authors including myself) recognized the need for an updated website. Discussions about a new website would recur on the mailing list, with everyone offering different opinions. There were one (maybe two? efforts to produce a new website which started out with good intentions but ultimately failed for various reasons (venturing a guess I would say that it was a "design by committee" problem combined with a lack of resources). The current new in-development website is here (the URL is temporary): https://boost.revsys.dev Please open any issues or requests in the corresponding site repo: https://github.com/cppalliance/temp-site Because I care about Boost and I am deeply committed to improving the C++ ecosystem, I decided that The C++ Alliance would invest its resources in a new website project, following these principles: That we would start building the site first instead of starting with lengthy mailing list discussions that go nowhere. That the new site would be designed according a vision that was later outlined in a mailing list post (see: https://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2023/05/254612.php) *After* the site was substantially completed we would launch a public beta to get feedback on what areas we need to work on. That we would leave to the Boost community: the library authors, maintainers, reviewers, release managers, and users; the decision on whether the new website is what they want to represent Boost going forward. In other words I took the approach to simply build it first and then figure out what people want later. Because the mailing list tradition is to debate a thing intensely and then proceed to do nothing as no one is interesting in actually doing the work. Of course I recognized and accepted before the project was started that this could be one huge gamble; that no one is going to want this type of site, and that most everyone prefers the existing site. I can understand the Boost Foundation's reluctance to embrace this new website. Creating, maintaining, and hosting something of this high level of quality requires resources. Fortunately, The C++ Alliance is well equipped for the task. To ensure the ongoing success of this website we have allocated in our budget ongoing full-time staff as well as the resources to ensure that the website is performant for visitors in every timezone (as Boost has a global audience). Our dedicated website staff includes: Samuel Darwin: Our full-time CTO/Senior DevOps expert. He is the guy who deployed Drone CI and make it available for the entire Boost GitHub organization (example: https://drone.cpp.al/boostorg/url) He brings decades of experience managing live systems and has been studying intensely on the specific needs of C++ developers Spencer Strickland: Our full-time front-end developer who is up-to-date on modern, responsive website development. He is also a programming enthusiast who loves writing JavaScript and Python programs. He is also working on styling the templates for the new documentation toolchain (example: https://www.boost.revsys.dev/doc/user-guide/task-networking.html) Peter Turcan: Our full time technical writer. He's furiously typing away at brand new documentation for Boost users and authors. As documentation complaints are a recurring theme from users, we feel that having at least one dedicated technical writer is probably a good start! You can check out his work here: https://www.boost.revsys.dev/doc/contributor-guide/version-control.html We also keep an ongoing maintenance contract with RevSys (https://www.revsys.com/) a wonderful development company whose founder (Frank Wiles) specializes in Django and is also responsible for contributing a huge percentage of the work that went into the Django project itself. Only the best for Boost! And don't forget you can visit all of us at The C++ Alliance, plus many Boost library authors, maintainers, and users, and many prominent members of the C++ community including some Standardization Committee regulars, by joining the Official C++ Language Slack Workspace at: https://cppalliance.org/slack/ The C++ Alliance sponsors this workspace by offering a complete Paid Plan which allows unlimited full history, uploads, video and audio recordings, and video and audio huddles/group chats for collaboration and more. Visit us today!

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Boost Foundation - a few updates
by David Sankel 11 Jul '23

11 Jul '23

Hey all, I wanted to give a few updates on Boost Foundation happenings. First, for those who aren't aware, we're the 100% volunteer-led 501(c)3 non-profit behind boost.org, the C++Now conference, and the Boost C++ standardization effort. We originally were the Boost Steering Committee under the Software Freedom Conservancy, but a couple of years ago formed our own non-profit. We meet monthly (you can see our minutes here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zMKUX3nfdcOXT6nUIU4M_YRlCU4ywGoG40ouo3I…>) and our mission is library development, C++ standard enhancements, and best practices (more about that on our quite ugly website <https://sites.google.com/a/boost.org/steering/>). Annually at C++Now, we elect directors to the Boost Foundation board. This May we added three members to the roster: - *Kristen Shaker. *Kristen, hailing from Google, has jumped in and contributed heavily to the board over the past year. She joined our Code of Conduct team, was a major contributor in our most tricky cases, and helped interfacing with our lawyer. She has also used her extensive network and taken charge of moving our boost.org rackspace account to AWS. Kristen is an enthusiastic doer and I'd very much love to see what she does in a Boost Foundation director role. - *Inbal Levi.* Inbal is one of those who came to C++Now and immediately fell in love with the conference. She now serves as the conference's program chair, and it only takes a little browsing of this year's program to see what a fantastic job she's done. Inbal brings a lot of experience to the table as well: she is a co-founder of the Core C++ conference which is now one of the biggest in the world; and she sits on the board of the C++ Foundation. I think Inbal's experience, network, and passion will be a great asset to the board. - *Jeff Garland*. Jeff is a long-time Boost author and contributor. He's also been highly active this past year in the Foundation. He created and led our C++ standardization initiative and has grown it to over a dozen members. Jeff's input is essential in revitalizing our Boost libraries effort and think he will be a solid contributor to the board. There are a few ongoing initiatives that I'm excited to call out: - *Server cost reduction.* We currently have a heavy monthly cost for both the mailing list and the boost.org server. These used to be free, but vendors have started charging non-profits for this kind of service. We've been upgrading the website to a newer version of PHP which will enable a cost-saving move to AWS. Kristen has been doing a fantastic job leading this effort. We also, with huge lifting from Sam Darwin, moved our mailing lists from mailgun to SES. This unfortunately broke threading so we moved back. :( - *discourse.boost.org <http://discourse.boost.org>.* We've been getting an experimental discourse.boost.org forum up and running. Many other Open Source communities have moved to discourse (see discourse.llvm.org and users.rust-lang.org for a couple examples) and it looks like a great tool. We like the idea that an online forum lowers the barrier to joining our community, especially for Millennials and Gen Z. We also like the benefits of using popular Open Source software rather than something home grown that we'd have to maintain. So, we'll try it out. If it turns out to be awful, we'll take it down. - *Boost engagement*. Jeff Garland is leading a subcommittee that is trying to figure out ways to get more engagement in Boost, both from user and author perspectives. There's been a lot of great ideas thrown around, but it's still too early to say what this is going to look like. To be sure, there'll be more to report on here as time goes on. That's all for now. If you have any questions feel free to reply to this thread or ask me directly. Cheers, David Sankel Boost Foundation Executive Director

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Full-Text Search is LIVE!
by Vinnie Falco 11 Jul '23

11 Jul '23

Greetings. I am proud to announce that Mohammad’s excellent work on implementing a full-text search which looks into all the Boost libraries and their documentation is now complete, and has been published to the live website. You can access the search by pressing the Search button in the top right of the page: https://boost.org Please note that this is only the first iteration of this search tool and as such it will probably not give the perfect results that everyone expects every time. But now that we have something in place we can feedback, brainstorm on how to make it better, and iterate on it so that it evolves into something that consistently enhances the Boost user experience. To report problems or suggestions related to the search including the user interface, and the indexed contents, please open an issue in the Boost website repository: https://github.com/boostorg/website/issues There is also a “Report Issue” button in the search UI. Thanks!

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Search Functionality Now Available on beta.boost.org
by Mohammad Nejati [ashtum] 09 Jul '23

09 Jul '23

Hey everyone, We have added search functionality to beta.boost.org. Currently, a search button appears on each library's documentation page and generic pages like https://beta.boost.org/doc/libs/. When users are browsing a specific library page, the search box will have a limited scope for that specific library's documentation. However, on generic pages, it will search across all libraries. Once we ensure its stability and user-friendly experience, we look forward to incorporating it into the main website. If you have any suggestions or encounter any issues while using the search functionality, please reply to this email. Your feedback will greatly assist us in refining the search feature and ensuring it meets the needs of Boost users. Respectfully Yours, Mohammad Nejati ---- C++ Alliance Staff Engineer

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[release] Boost 1.83.0 Beta 1 Release Candidate 1 is available
by Marshall Clow 09 Jul '23

09 Jul '23

Available at: <https://boostorg.jfrog.io/artifactory/main/beta/1.83.0.beta1/source/> The SHA256 checksums are as follows: 69fe7224568acfa5491bfaa04fd522bf7cfca1800aa192de96ce560da714902f boost_1_83_0_b1_rc1.7z 49afc7c20d65949f7b775060bbec403e7e81d207949dd9f412e2d4569ea5d3f7 boost_1_83_0_b1_rc1.zip fe3895ee9ac78cf57328415f1b3bf3da7ea2ccb3ad87bf0d9b720910d99d18ae boost_1_83_0_b1_rc1.tar.bz2 fbbe0d439db5b65f194eb61b89b5cda0575387b0b23fbb85900c3c9ef9eb64bf boost_1_83_0_b1_rc1.tar.gz As always, the release managers would appreciate it if you download the candidate of your choice and give building it a try. Please report both success and failure, and anything else that is noteworthy. -- The Release Managers

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Reminder: Master branch closes for the 1.83.0 Beta release TODAY!
by Marshall Clow 05 Jul '23

05 Jul '23

Don’t say we didn’t warn you…. As always, you can find the calendar at: https://www.boost.org/development/index.html — The release managers

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[release 1.83][flyweight] permission to merge
by Joaquin M López Muñoz 01 Jul '23

01 Jul '23

Hi, Not sure I need to request explicit permission, but in any case I'd like to merge the following commits on flyweight/develop to flyweight/master: https://github.com/boostorg/flyweight/commit/3dc485bfe8726eabebf7c0f055cadc… https://github.com/boostorg/flyweight/commit/137686b0baee3d1a048bf2a2776c0a… https://github.com/boostorg/flyweight/commit/e9f326b1adf0ed825bc7ff10b3f832… This solves the following issue, which is in fact a regression: https://github.com/boostorg/flyweight/issues/12 Thank you, Joaquín M López Muñoz

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