Re: [Boost-users] [Boost.Iostreams] Question about gzip codec anddual_use filter

From: Michael Linck (mgl_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-01-21 13:43:05

> > That's a reasonable request. However, I did provide a large amount of
> > documentation, including a tutorial, user guide, and reference. If
> > something is not explained well, it's probably because it seems obvious
> > to me, as the library author. So it would be very helpful for you to
> > point out areas that need more examples.

I haven't posted to this list in a while, but I noticed this discussion
going on.  I actually made use of the boost::iostream stuff a few months
back and I can confirm that, while the documentation is plentiful, and
good for providing high level conceptual overview, it lacks some pretty
important details.  What I found most poignantly lacking was
documentation of exactly what interfaces filters, source and sinks
should implement to be used in the various streams.  This was spread out
throughout the docs, instead of being summarized in one place.  I
figured it out eventually, but it felt like a lot of guesswork, and
piecing things together from various chunks of documentation and header
files.  Honestly, it made me reconsider template programming altogether,
since it made me realize that the lack of an explicit interface can be
seriously frustrating and we don't have a standardized way of
documenting implicit interfaces yet.  Also, I noticed some interesting
behaviors.  Calling sync on a stream, didn't seem to call flush on my
filter, but the destructor did, causing some interesting side effects.

- mike