- Boost - lists.boost.org

License oddity
by David Abrahams 04 Apr '04

04 Apr '04

I just noticed something strange about the license. It seems to require that derivative works and copies don't use the "by reference" technique we're using to refer to the license in our own sources: The copyright notices in the Software and this entire statement, including the above license grant, this restriction and the following disclaimer, must be included in all copies of the Software, in whole or in part, and all derivative works of the Software... I'm beginning to wonder if the current "by reference" technique is really compatible with the license. Will the intrigue never end? -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com

2 2

Re:Re: [boost] Serialization: versioning and XML.
by Robert Ramey 04 Apr '04

04 Apr '04

Anatoli Tubman wrote: >It absolutely certainly will be a new archive class. Sorry if it wasn't >clear from the start. >I just think such an archive/serialization library is (a) useful enough >to bea part of boost and (b) similar enough to the existing boost >library to share the namespace with it. I've got no problem with this. >I understand fully that this idea works only with tagged formats (not >necessary just XML), that's why I'm saying that it should probably >use a different syntax or maybe a sub-namespace under boost::serialization. Within the boost::archive namespace I've got things like: basic_xml_iarchive xml_iarchive xml_wiarchive etc. I would think there is plenty of room for something like: basic_tagged_iarchive basic_tagged_xml_iarchive tagged_xml_iarchive tagged_xml_wiarchive etc. >I'm staying within program-structure-drives-data-format school of >thought. As long as you can stick with this, I think you can be successful. I briefly considered this approach. I imagined that upon archive creation the XML input could be parsed into a node tree. (insert plug for spirit here) The load_override function would be altered to search the correct part of the tree. So this would work and be pretty clean. I'm sure other approaches such as using SAX or DOM to parse the tree would work as well. Maybe there's another way I never thought of. The main reason I rejected the idea was that I didn't see it working with arbitrarily size streams. I envision serialization being used with stream much larger then available memory. This suggested to me an "on the fly" loader rather than a "pre-loaded". My implementation does require that tags remain in sequence and are all anticipated. Your proposal wouldn't have this restriction and might be preferred in certain applications. So I'm happy to encourage your efforts. I also hope that other users will be inspired to address more particular needs by creating their own archives class variations. In the long run, I'm trying to get out of the archive creation business in the same way I'm trying to get out of the class serialization business. >I don't precisely understand how going in the other direction >is ever useful. Okay, given a DTD, you can generate a program that could >read and write a bunch of data structures; but what will it *do* with >them? I can see the need for and utility of this. It's just that it's a whole different problem than what serialization addresses. Good Luck with this. Robert Ramey

2 1

Bug fix for BCP
by Edward Diener 04 Apr '04

04 Apr '04

Evidently I either don't have access to the Boost CVS repository on SourceForge or I still can't figure out how to use CVS, so here is a fix to a serious problem with John Maddock's BCP program, and someone else can make the fix. In bcp_imp.cpp, line 17 needs to be changed from: : m_list_mode(false), m_cvs_mode(false), m_unix_lines(false), m_scan_mode(false) to : m_list_mode(false), m_licence_mode(false), m_cvs_mode(false), m_unix_lines(false), m_scan_mode(false)

2 1

Re: [boost] Re: Formal Review: Indexed Set
by JOAQUIN LOPEZ MU?Z 04 Apr '04

04 Apr '04

----- Mensaje original ----- De: Jeremy Maitin-Shepard <jbms(a)attbi.com> Fecha: Jueves, Abril 1, 2004 8:35 pm Asunto: Re: [boost] Re: Formal Review: Indexed Set > I believe you should leave in the support for multiple tags per index. > Possible use cases include: > > - Including the key type as an index tag. > > - Using tags to flag various fields for some other algorithm -- in > this case, different fields could be flagged for use by various > different algorithms. If I'm understanding you, the case use you propose could be illegal. Do you mean something like: indexed_set< int, index_list< unique<tag<first,marked>,...>, non_unique<tag<second>,...>, non_unique<tag<third,marked>,...> > > So that "marked" can be taken advantage of by some algorithm? If so, this clashes with a request by Brian McNamara that duplicate tags be not allowed. If you mean something else, I'd appreciate if you could ellaborate. Joaquín M López Muñoz Telefónica, Investigación y Desarrollo

2 1

[Boost-bugs] [ boost-Bugs-929094 ] patch for boost::filesystem
by SourceForge.net 04 Apr '04

04 Apr '04

Bugs item #929094, was opened at 2004-04-04 04:17 Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by Item Submitter You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=107586&aid=929094&group_i… Category: None Group: None Status: Open Resolution: None Priority: 5 Submitted By: Carlo Wood (libcw) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: patch for boost::filesystem Initial Comment: /usr/local/include/unit++.h: In member function `virtual void unitpp::exception_test<E>::operator()()': /usr/local/include/unit++.h:163: error: there are no arguments to `fail' that depend on a template parameter, so a declaration of `fail' must be available /usr/local/include/unit++.h:163: error: (if you use `-fpermissive', G++ will accept your code, but allowing the use of an undeclared name is deprecated) Patch attached. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=107586&aid=929094&group_i… ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by: IBM Linux Tutorials Free Linux tutorial presented by Daniel Robbins, President and CEO of GenToo technologies. Learn everything from fundamentals to system administration.http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1470&alloc_id=3638&op=click _______________________________________________ Boost-bugs mailing list Boost-bugs(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/boost-bugs

1 0

Proposed change to license references
by David Abrahams 03 Apr '04

03 Apr '04

Given recent advice from Diane Cabell, director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, I propose we change the way that boost source files refer to the bost license from: // Use, modification, and distribution is subject to the Boost Software // License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy // at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) to: // Distributed under the Boost // Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file // LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) The earlier license reference, by referring explicitly to "use, modification, and distribution", legally excludes important issues like "display", which are covered by the license itself and are intended to apply to source files. I'm posting this now to give people a chance to come up with any other issues -- **with the license reference comment**, not the license itself -- that may need to be addressed before we make a change. If there are no new issues within a week or so, we'll make it official. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com

8 13

Suggestion: link to the libraries page not easy to find
by Marcello Pietrobon 03 Apr '04

03 Apr '04

Hi Boost team, I don't know where to put this suggestion. Even if boost is now well known, I think in the boost's home page there should be a well visible, easy to find, link to http://www.boost.org/libs/libraries.htm because this is exactly what boost is about, I think. Best Regards, Marcello

5 12

Another mailing list description?
by Daryle Walker 03 Apr '04

03 Apr '04

Would anyone that runs the mailing list at <Boost-langbinding(a)lists.sourceforge.net> like to give a description about what that list is about so you (or me if you don't have CVS-write access) can add it to "BOOST_ROOT/more/mailing_lists.htm"? I was going to add it myself, but I can't gleam enough information for a description blurb. -- Daryle Walker Mac, Internet, and Video Game Junkie darylew AT hotmail DOT com

2 1

Re: Re: [BGL] forced client complexity
by Johnny Yune 03 Apr '04

03 Apr '04

Jeremy Siek" <jsiek(a)osl.iu.edu> wrote in message news: > So I think your question can be boiled down to two > questions, why does the BGL use vertex descriptors? > and why does the BGL use property maps? That probably restates my question more succinctly than I would be able to. > The BGL graph interface was designed so that many different > graph data structures could be uniformly manipulated. > It sounds like the data structure that you are most familiar > with is where each node is an object, and the connecting > structure of the graph is represented with pointers. For my na�ve endeavors, I most often use adjacency matrices. >However, > another important graph data structure is the adjacency list > representation, where there are no node objects. Instead there > is just an array of lists of integers. An integer n is associated > with each node, and the out-edge list for a node is at offset > n in the array. That seems like an intuitive way for the back-end to work. Why should I, as a client, need to concern myself with those details, though? I�m sorry if I sound critical, but I just don�t understand. To me, it feels like using some sort of balanced tree container and having to concern myself with whether a node is red or black � why do I need to know? > The vertex_descriptor abstraction provides an opaque handle > to a "vertex", whatever that may be for the data structure. > For one graph type that may be node*, for another int. > The purpose of the property map interface is to provide a > uniform way for an algorithm to access data that is associated > with a node or edge. Again, there are many ways that such > an association can be implemented, with various time, space, > and convenience tradeoffs. Here are some examples: > > 1. Associated data is a member of a struct > 2. Data is in an array, organized by vertex index offset > 3. Data is in a hash table, somehow keyed on the vertex. > > Now, the problem you're pointing out is that the extra > level of indirection of the property map makes the > syntax rather unwieldy for accessing data. For > example, instead of: > > v->color > > one must write: > > get(color_map, v) > Actually, what I really wanted clarification on was why the task of managing this mapping was left to the client instead of the underlying graph structure. The differences in syntax, above, are only indications of my confusion about the semantics. To wit, given your examples, I wouldn�t necessarily expect v->color to have anything to do with the color_map. v->color looks like a property of a vertex, while get(color_map, v) looks like a property of a graph. > (not to mention the trouble of setting up the color_map > to begin with) Well, this does make things a lot more complex. The need for such mappings is quite clear to me � the need for the client to �set them up� as opposed to the graph is unclear to me, though. If I were to ask an algorithm to generate a chromatic number over a graph, I could envision having a property map of some possible coloring returned to me. Why I would have to set one up or pass one in, though, I am unclear on. In reviewing my post, I am realizing just how astute you were to identify the property map as a major source of confusion for me � I am only beginning to be able to articulate why it �feels� unnatural for me. I guess the big question, then, is �why use property maps instead of functors?� Would not functors also allow communication between arbitrary user-defined vertex types, the graphs that store them (even if only by lookup mapping to some arbitrary internal data type), and the algorithms that operate over them? My gut tells me that it is so. It also seems like using functors would be a natural way to help preserve clarity � if an algorithm requires that every vertex have an index or a name or a color et cetera, mightn�t it be natural to pass in a functor that can extract, generate, or synthesize the required property? Such functors may also be good candidates for being defaulted, which could significantly help to simplify client code. Isn�t that, after all, the model that our beloved standard library follows with its generics? Thanks, again, for entertaining my questions. I am highly pleased to be soliciting rationale and intent instead of the rabid defensiveness or dismissal that I probably deserve. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/

2 1

Re: [BGL] forced client complexity
by Johnny Yune 03 Apr '04

03 Apr '04

"Vesa Karvonen" <vesa_karvonen(a)hotmail.com> wrote: {snipped throughout} > The design employed by BGL makes it > possible to provide faster lookups > than what is possible with hash > tables. The cost is, as you have noticed, > tougher requirements for the client. That is the conclusion that I am drawing, also. > >If, instead, it is a synthesized construct > >for communication between a > >graph and the algorithm operating > >over it, why should the client be > >responsible for its maintenance > >instead of the framework? What are the > >advantages of this approach? > > The advantage is that the client > can choose how nodes are mapped to > indices. The client can, in particular, > provide a significantly faster > mapping method. For example, the color > of a node could be stored in the > node itself, which would mean that > accessing the color property would be a > very fast O(1) operation. It could easily > be an order of magnitude faster > than a hash table lookup. We�re using the word �color� in an ill-defined context here, but I am assuming that we�re talking about an attribute used to tag a node in calculating chromatic numbers. That said, why would a coloring algorithm operating over the graph need to utilize the mapping of internal indexes to user-defined nodes? Again, this seems parallel to a red-black BST requiring that its value_type know about its color. If I had to write set<propertymap<int,color>> instead of set<int>, I�d feel the same distress. Of course, for things that are natural attributes of a node, like data from which a weight attribute can be generated, there would be no escaping the lookup cost. > It should also be possible for a > graph algorithm to internally convert a > graph to an isomorphic copy that > allows essentially optimal accesses (it > should be doable in O(V+E) time and > space in most cases). However, the > time and space required by the conversion > would probably make such a > conversion useless except for graph > algorithms whose complexity is > significantly higher than O(V+E). That sounds reasonable. I don�t see how it is applicable, though. How does maintaining a mapping between internal and external structures for a public interface hinder internal manipulation? > The disadvantage of requiring only > hashing and equality comparison from > the client is that sometimes there > are significantly more efficient ways > to associate information with nodes > and the opportunity to take advantage > of those more efficient ways is lost. Uncompromising performance at the expense of clarity or usability is a common feature of C/C++ code. It may be ample justification for the complexity of BGL use � especially since measures of clarity and usability are probably more subjective than measures of performance. > >This is the type of design issue that I intended to question with my > >initial post. > > Does this answer your question? I think that it may. Thank you for helping me to reveal some differences between possible approaches. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/

1 0