In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, David Abrahams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >"Early Ehlinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >> [Sorry for the top-posted reply... OE is giving me fits...] >> >> This is an interesting argument. In other words, lexical_cast is, >> by definition, conversion through a stream. Therefore, one cannot >> expect a string with whitespace to exit as it went in. >> >> Perhaps what is really needed is a different pseudo-cast, e.g., >> symantic_cast< >, which has different goals more in synch with what >> we are trying to accomplish, which is conversion from any type to >> another with minimized loss of symantic value. > >This is the philosophy that Kevlin and I agreed on when lexical_cast >was first introduced. However, I don't think it has stood the test of >time with real users, and it would be stupid to ignore that. I >suspect Kevlin feels the same way about it, which is why he has agreed >to review the changes in the Files area.
Apologies for delays. Yes, I have to review Terje's changes and am guilty of not having applied myself to that task yet. In terms of the philosophy of the design, I think it would be reasonable to say that intuitive stream-based conversion is the aim, which is compatible with fixing whitespace issues. However, other type-to-type conversions outside of that realm generally don't fit with either the strict or loose interpretation of that design. A placeholder idea, namely interpret_cast (the original name of lexical_cast), is mentioned in the docs for smarter and more varied type conversions. However, the concrete demand for this feature has been as close to zero as arithmetic underflow. >I also suspect family and >work have been keeping him busy, which is why he hasn't done it yet >;-). > >I'd love to stop speculating and hear from Kevlin himself, though ;-) ;-) Family have been a constant source of amusement and colds, and work has been unseasonally busy -- or rather, given the current economic climate, it has econometeorologically atypical :-> Kevlin ____________________________________________________________ Kevlin Henney phone: +44 117 942 2990 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mobile: +44 7801 073 508 http://www.curbralan.com fax: +44 870 052 2289 Curbralan: Consultancy + Training + Development + Review ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost
