[Boost-users] [serialization] Incorrect assertion in basic_binary_oprimitive?

From: Zach Laine (whatwasthataddress_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-11-22 09:19:33

I agree with the objection raised by the original poster.  The assertion in 
archive/basic_binary_oprimitive.hpp should more properly be an exception.  
Standard library ostreams fail silently when in an error state (including 
std::ofstreams that fail to open a file).  Writing a std::string, int, 
double, or any other data to a default-constructed std::ostream is a no-op.  
The only exception to this appears to be writing a boost::serialization 
archive to a std::ostream, which under some circumstances fails with an 
abort when "assert(os.good());" fails in 
archive/basic_binary_oprimitive.hpp.  There is also an exception thrown 
based on the state of the ostream in the same function as this assertion.  
The user can choose to catch this if she decides that the default 
std::ostream failure policy (a no-op) is acceptible.  By putting the 
assertion in there, you force the user to always have a valid, writable 
std::ostream, which is precisely the opposite of what the user expects from 
years of using std::ostreams.