RE: [Boost-users] Using shared_ptr across shared library boundary

From: Jim.Hyslop (Jim.Hyslop_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-03-11 15:00:59

Edward Diener wrote:
> Is there any problem with using shared_ptr and passing an 
> instance of it to
> a function in another shared library, such as a DLL under 
> Windows ? Does the
> reference count get updated correctly when the copy is passed to a DLL
> function, so that when the last shared_ptr in either the 
> original module or
> the DLL goers out of scope, the actual pointer is correctly deleted ?
I've been using it successfully across DLL boundaries with no problems.

The biggest caveat is to ensure you are using the DLL version of the C
Runtime library. If you use the static library version, then each DLL will
have its own heap, and a pointer *must* be deallocated in the same DLL in
which it was allocated.

-- 
Jim Hyslop
Senior Software Designer
Leitch Technology International Inc. (http://www.leitch.com)
Columnist, C/C++ Users Journal (http://www.cuj.com/experts)