Boost.Archive No Tracking does nothing

[jsternberg <jonathansternberg@…>]

I see from a very old e-mail that the no_tracking option for archives was planned:

​http://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2005/03/81549.php

And then I can see work was stopped. The author of this e-mail says it was for "multiple reasons he can't remember."

​http://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2006/04/103291.php

This feature would be very helpful for those who need to serialize a pointer off the stack. The attached code sample introduces a situation where the no_tracking option would be helpful.

Attached is a patch that enabled the use of boost::archive::no_tracking as a flag for the archive.

[jsternberg <jonathansternberg@…>]

patch to enable no_tracking option

[jsternberg <jonathansternberg@…>]

example showing the problem

[Robert Ramey]

For serializing a pointer off the stack, one might better just de-reference the pointer and just serialize the object: e.g.

my_object *p = ...

ar & *p

The fix suggested would need to be looked at with excruciating detail to be sure it doesn't break anything else. Not a good idea.

I am aware of the need to be able to suppress tracking on a case by case basis but I don't think this is a good way to do it.

Robert Ramey