Hi everyone

[First, apologies to any D folks who do not use, and aren't interested in, C++/STL/STLSoft. It's just that there are so many good ideas in there, that I wanted to snag any that might be transferable over to STLSoft.]

STLSoft v1.7.1 will be released within the next 4-6 weeks, and it's the last chance for getting in any feature requests. Available now from the STLSoft main site - http://stlsoft.org/ - is STLSoft v1.7.1 beta 3 (stlsoft_1_7_1_beta3.zip), containing much of what will constitute the final 1.7.1 release.

To whet your appetite, I'm including a list of additions and a list of changes to the libraries at the end of this post. Many of these appear in my book "Imperfect C++" which will be out later in the year.

As yet, the documentation has not had any new work. I'd *really* appreciate any suggestions for improvements for the documentation, as I know it's the Achilles' Heel of the project. From the feedback I've had, this is the only area of the libraries that is putting people off from using them more. If anyone wants to volunteer to help out on this, it'd be fantastic. (Sounds of thousands of people taking a step back ...)

Thanks for listening. Please feel free to post any questions via the FAQ website (http://stlsoft.gregpeet.com/).

Cheers (changes & additions follow below:)

Matthew Wilson

Director, Synesis Software
    (www.synesis.com.au)
STLSoft moderator
    (http://www.stlsoft.org)
Contributing editor, C/C++ Users Journal
    (www.synesis.com.au/articles.html#columns)

-----------------------------------------------------



ADDITIONS
==========

The additions to the libraries are as follows:

  General
    Many of the standard-offending symbols with leading underscores have
been changed. I intend to do the rest before the final release


  Compilers
    Intel 8.0
    CodePlay VectorC 2.06
    Comeau 4.3.3. (not quite complete yet, though ;))
    GCC v3+ now supported for COMSTL

  STLSoft (v1.6.5 => 1.7.1)
    array_proxy template class - type-safe & size-safe aid for passing
arrays of object types to functions. Controls passing of derived arrays in a
safe manner
    explicit_cast template class - implements explicit conversion operators
    fast_string_concatenator template class - a helper class for
implementing fast, non-intrusive, string concatenation (Featured in
Imperfect C++, and in the article "Fast, Non-Intrusive String Concatenation"
in April's CUJ)
    basic_fixed_substring template class - provides a non-resizable "view"
onto a part of an existing string, useful for high efficiency string
manipulation
    literal_cast template class - used to provide type-to-range validation
of literal constants
    Meta Programming Constructs - including is_pointer_type<>,
is_array_type<>, is_convertible_to_bool<>, is_numeric_type<>,
is_integral_type<>, is_bool_type<>, is_void_type<>, is_fundamental_type<>,
is_compound_type<>, is_class_type<>, is_const<>, is_volatile<>, (void-able)
size_of<>, is_same_type<>, has_value_type<>, has_iterator<>,
has_const_iterator<>
    pod_vector template class - highly efficient vector for POD types (only)
    proxy_sequence template class - highly efficient pseudo-sequence, for
layering on top of arrays with providing parameterisable value_type.
    Size Traits - providing type-definitions of signed and unsigned types of
a corresponding bit-size
    Type Traits - for a given type: providing is_pointer, is_reference,
is_const and is_volatile attributes; defining two pointer/reference-stripped
types: the base_type (non-cv-qualified) and cv_type (cv-qualifiers retained)
    unused_return_value_monitor template class - used for detecting when a
potentially expensive return value is not used; ideal for post-increment
operators; has parameterisable "failure" policy

    stlsoft.h: STLSOFT_DECLARE_TEMPLATE_PARAM_AS_FRIEND(),
STLSOFT_SUPPRESS_UNUSED()

  ATLSTL (v1.2.8 => 1.3.1)
    ccombstr_veneer template adaptor class     - makes CComBSTR conformant
to the STL String concept
    SupportErrorInfoImpl / SupportErrorInfoImpl2 / SupportErrorInfoImpl3
template classes - simple ATL template that provides ISupportErrorInfo
implementation

  COMSTL (v1.2.5 => 1.4.1)
    collection_sequence template class - maps COM Collections to STL-like
sequence
    set_error_info() function - sets the calling thread's error-info for a
given description string
    interface_ptr template class - smart-enough interface pointer class

  MFCSTL (v1.3.4 => 1.3.5)
    no additions

  UNIXSTL (v1.0.3 => 1.1.1)
    basic_current_directory template class - provides access to current
directory in string form
    basic_environment_variable template class - provides access to a given
environment value in string form
    compare_path template function object - compares file-system paths via
fully-qualified path form
    process_mutex class
    spin_mutex class
    thread_mutex class

  WinSTL (v1.3.7 => 1.4.1)
    acl_sequence class - provides STL-like sequence semantics over Access
Control Lists
    Atomic Functions - a suite of functions that provide optimal performance
for single-processor/SMP/mixed Intel processors using inline assembler
    clipboard_format_sequence class - provides STL-like sequence semantics
over the system's supported clipboard formats
    basic_error_desc template class - provides access to the string form of
a given Win32 Error Code
    last_error_scope - provides scoping of last error code, for maintaining
correct state when doing intermediate error processing
    event class - a thin wrapper for the Win32 event kernel synchronisation
kernel object
    listview_sequence class - provides STL-like sequence semantics over the
items in a ListView common control
    basic_module_directory template class - provides access to a given (or
the calling process's) module's directory
    process_mutex class
    setcursor_scope class - provides scoping of the cursor
    setfocus_scope class - provides scoping of the window with the focus
    Time Functions - functions to convert between time_t and FILETIME
    token_information template class - type-safe, resource-managed accessor
class to token information (via GetTokenInformation())
    window_text_scope template class - provides scoping of a window's text

CHANGES
========

The changes to the libraries are as follows:

  STLSoft (v1.6.5 => 1.7.1)
    auto_buffer - it's now resizable, without any loss of efficiency. This
supports the new pod_vector template class
    minor rationalisations to char_traits
    Renaming of constraits: has_base => must_have_base, is_veneer =>
must_be_same_size, type_is_non_class_or_trivial_class => must_be_pod
    fixed_array_d1/2d/3d/4d template classes - improved efficiency, by using
an additional template parameter to determine, at compile-time, whether
slices "own" their memory; previously this was achieved at runtme by a
member variable
    frame_array_1d/2d/3d/4d renamed to static_array_1d/2d/3d/4d
    frame_string: bug fixes
    sign_traits: bug fixes; addition of "bytes" member value
    simple_string: bug fixes; improvements in performance

  ATLSTL (v1.2.8 => 1.3.1)

  COMSTL (v1.2.5 => 1.4.1)
    simplification of interface_cast; addition of interface_cast_test
    enum_sequence - this has simplified, and now only has three non-default
parameters for the template

  MFCSTL (v1.3.4 => 1.3.5)
    minor enhancements to cstring_veneer

  UNIXSTL (v1.0.3 => 1.1.1)
    findfile_sequence renamed to glob_sequence (findfile_sequence is
retained for backwards compatibility)
    tls_index renamed to tss_index (tls_index is retained for backwards
compatibility)
    filesystem_traits: lots of new features
    readdir_sequence: now supports flags "includeDots", "directories" and
"files"

  WinSTL (v1.3.7 => 1.4.1)
    ansi2Unicode & unicode2Ansi templates now have a second ctor which takes
a length
    filesystem_traits: addition of file_exists() method
    findfile_sequence now correctly implements InputIterator semantics, and
works correctly when iterators incremented in both prefix and postfix forms
    findvolume_sequence: same as for findfile_sequence
    performance_counter_init renamed to performance_counter_initialiser

In article <c01k16$8sf$1@digitaldaemon.com>, Matthew says...
>
>Hi everyone
>
>[First, apologies to any D folks who do not use, and aren't interested in
..

I have the same problem when I make my announcements
but the temporaty increase of hits on my pages validates
those announcements (I hope).

Ant

Have you thought about doing a listbox or combobox sequence which
includesItemData? (CListBox::SetItemData[Ptr])
Maybe defining the iterator as a pair<string,DWORD> or pair<string,T*>

Just an idea... I use these a lot, that's why I'm asking...

That's a nice idea. Let me have a think. :)

btw, are you on the mailing list - http://stlsoft.org/mailing_list.html ?


"Pablo Aguilar" <paguilarg@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:c1grq9$2c7f$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Have you thought about doing a listbox or combobox sequence which
> includesItemData? (CListBox::SetItemData[Ptr])
> Maybe defining the iterator as a pair<string,DWORD> or pair<string,T*>
>
> Just an idea... I use these a lot, that's why I'm asking...

I wasn't, but I'll sign up, see what you've got to offer...

"Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message news:c1h546$2scu$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> That's a nice idea. Let me have a think. :)
>
> btw, are you on the mailing list - http://stlsoft.org/mailing_list.html ?

Great!

FYI, I'm pretty happy with the libs so far, but it's been six months since the last major release - 1.6.5. I've been promising 1.7.1 for some time, hence the betas available on the downloads page (http://stlsoft.org/downloads.html) - but we're still a little way off, due to my having too many commitments at the moment. The stuff available in the latest beta is largely what will appear, although there are several things yet to do, including your item-data enumeration. :)

The main area of weakness at the moment is the documentation, which is pretty pants, if I'm honest. I'd be very happy to receive any criticisms - however negative they might be - or suggestions for improvement you might have on this.

Also, I'm hoping to have a little Users' List on the site, so if you (or
anyone else) use
STLSoft and want to be mentioned, I'd be happy to hear how/where so I can
post it.

Cheers

-- 
Matthew Wilson

Director, Synesis Software
    (www.synesis.com.au)
STLSoft moderator
    (http://www.stlsoft.org)
Contributing editor, C/C++ Users Journal
    (www.synesis.com.au/articles.html#columns)

-----------------------------------------------------


"Pablo Aguilar" <paguilarg@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:c1iu9o$2vdt$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> I wasn't, but I'll sign up, see what you've got to offer...
>
> "Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message news:c1h546$2scu$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> > That's a nice idea. Let me have a think. :)
> >
> > btw, are you on the mailing list - http://stlsoft.org/mailing_list.html
?
>
>

"Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message news:c1jfi0$shf$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Great!
>
> FYI, I'm pretty happy with the libs so far, but it's been six months since the last major release - 1.6.5. I've been promising 1.7.1 for some time, hence the betas available on the downloads page (http://stlsoft.org/downloads.html) - but we're still a little way off,
due
> to my having too many commitments at the moment. The stuff available in
the
> latest beta is largely what will appear, although there are several things yet to do, including your item-data enumeration. :)

Thanks,
I've been following the C++ and D newsgroups for a while now, so, I'm kinda
up to date with your current activities.
BTW good luck with your book...

> The main area of weakness at the moment is the documentation, which is pretty pants, if I'm honest. I'd be very happy to receive any criticisms - however negative they might be - or suggestions for improvement you might have on this.

That's right, the docs kinda s**k, but, I figure it's because you're trying to use a "common" documentation layout, with a library that's not quite that common... I mean, when something's documented, you usually have no more than a few overloads for the same name, while in the case of shims you've got the same name all over the place, well, that's what I think anyway...

Also, every typedef is documented (i.e. xxx_a, xxx_w and plain xxx), you could go the way that the Windows PSDK does, and just document once and state somewhere that everything has a '_a' and '_w' variant

> Also, I'm hoping to have a little Users' List on the site, so if you (or
> anyone else) use
> STLSoft and want to be mentioned, I'd be happy to hear how/where so I can
> post it.

Fine by me... only, I don't think I qualify as a user yet (since I've just yesterday started using the libraries, and just a couple of items so far)... Actually, I did download the library (back on version 1.6.3) but was kinda put off by both the docs, and the fact that what I was most interested in (the item data stuff) wasn't in it... and I didn't get around to commeting on it back then...

> Cheers
>
> -- 
> Matthew Wilson
>
> Director, Synesis Software
>     (www.synesis.com.au)
> STLSoft moderator
>     (http://www.stlsoft.org)
> Contributing editor, C/C++ Users Journal
>     (www.synesis.com.au/articles.html#columns)


Anyway, thanks for taking the request, and I'll be happy to comment anything that I find worth commenting

"Pablo Aguilar" <paguilarg@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:c1jj5r$12jl$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> "Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message news:c1jfi0$shf$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> > Great!
> >
> > FYI, I'm pretty happy with the libs so far, but it's been six months
since
> > the last major release - 1.6.5. I've been promising 1.7.1 for some time, hence the betas available on the downloads page (http://stlsoft.org/downloads.html) - but we're still a little way off,
> due
> > to my having too many commitments at the moment. The stuff available in
> the
> > latest beta is largely what will appear, although there are several
things
> > yet to do, including your item-data enumeration. :)
>
> Thanks,
> I've been following the C++ and D newsgroups for a while now, so, I'm
kinda
> up to date with your current activities.
> BTW good luck with your book...
>
> > The main area of weakness at the moment is the documentation, which is pretty pants, if I'm honest. I'd be very happy to receive any
criticisms -
> > however negative they might be - or suggestions for improvement you
might
> > have on this.
>
> That's right, the docs kinda s**k, but, I figure it's because you're
trying
> to use a "common" documentation layout, with a library that's not quite
that
> common... I mean, when something's documented, you usually have no more
than
> a few overloads for the same name, while in the case of shims you've got
the
> same name all over the place, well, that's what I think anyway...

Yep. It's a big problem. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time making it better, I think. :-(

> Also, every typedef is documented (i.e. xxx_a, xxx_w and plain xxx), you could go the way that the Windows PSDK does, and just document once and state somewhere that everything has a '_a' and '_w' variant
>
> > Also, I'm hoping to have a little Users' List on the site, so if you (or
> > anyone else) use
> > STLSoft and want to be mentioned, I'd be happy to hear how/where so I
can
> > post it.
>
> Fine by me... only, I don't think I qualify as a user yet (since I've just yesterday started using the libraries, and just a couple of items so
far)...
> Actually, I did download the library (back on version 1.6.3) but was kinda put off by both the docs, and the fact that what I was most interested in (the item data stuff) wasn't in it... and I didn't get around to commeting on it back then...

Understood. That's clear evidence that the docs need the attention.

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe when I do the new item-data classes, you can give me detailed feedback on the docs, and then I can take that and apply it elsewhere.

Cheers

Matthew

Just my opinion , but I really don't like doxygen, I like the idea of self-documenting code but all the docs I read created by Doxygen are just really hard to read, and especially to navigate.  Some more examples would be good also ;).

C

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:30:03 +1100, Matthew <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote:

>
> "Pablo Aguilar" <paguilarg@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:c1jj5r$12jl$1@digitaldaemon.com...
>> "Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message
>> news:c1jfi0$shf$1@digitaldaemon.com...
>> > Great!
>> >
>> > FYI, I'm pretty happy with the libs so far, but it's been six months
> since
>> > the last major release - 1.6.5. I've been promising 1.7.1 for some 
>> time,
>> > hence the betas available on the downloads page
>> > (http://stlsoft.org/downloads.html) - but we're still a little way 
>> off,
>> due
>> > to my having too many commitments at the moment. The stuff available 
>> in
>> the
>> > latest beta is largely what will appear, although there are several
> things
>> > yet to do, including your item-data enumeration. :)
>>
>> Thanks,
>> I've been following the C++ and D newsgroups for a while now, so, I'm
> kinda
>> up to date with your current activities.
>> BTW good luck with your book...
>>
>> > The main area of weakness at the moment is the documentation, which is
>> > pretty pants, if I'm honest. I'd be very happy to receive any
> criticisms -
>> > however negative they might be - or suggestions for improvement you
> might
>> > have on this.
>>
>> That's right, the docs kinda s**k, but, I figure it's because you're
> trying
>> to use a "common" documentation layout, with a library that's not quite
> that
>> common... I mean, when something's documented, you usually have no more
> than
>> a few overloads for the same name, while in the case of shims you've got
> the
>> same name all over the place, well, that's what I think anyway...
>
> Yep. It's a big problem. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time making it
> better, I think. :-(
>
>> Also, every typedef is documented (i.e. xxx_a, xxx_w and plain xxx), you
>> could go the way that the Windows PSDK does, and just document once and
>> state somewhere that everything has a '_a' and '_w' variant
>>
>> > Also, I'm hoping to have a little Users' List on the site, so if you 
>> (or
>> > anyone else) use
>> > STLSoft and want to be mentioned, I'd be happy to hear how/where so I
> can
>> > post it.
>>
>> Fine by me... only, I don't think I qualify as a user yet (since I've just
>> yesterday started using the libraries, and just a couple of items so
> far)...
>> Actually, I did download the library (back on version 1.6.3) but was kinda
>> put off by both the docs, and the fact that what I was most interested in
>> (the item data stuff) wasn't in it... and I didn't get around to commeting
>> on it back then...
>
> Understood. That's clear evidence that the docs need the attention.
>
> Thanks for the feedback. Maybe when I do the new item-data classes, you can
> give me detailed feedback on the docs, and then I can take that and apply it
> elsewhere.
>
> Cheers
>
> Matthew
>
>
>
>



-- 
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

> "C" <dont@respond.com> wrote in message news:opr37vhqidehmtou@localhost... Just my opinion , but I really don't like doxygen, I like the idea of self-documenting code but all the docs I read created by Doxygen are just really hard to read, and especially to navigate.

Do you have a better suggestion? I'm always open to new things.

One thing I should think about doing is tailoring the styles and all that stuff, but it's a time thing ...

> Some more examples would
> be good also ;).

Thanks for the info. I'll bear it in mind

Cheers

Matthew

> On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:30:03 +1100, Matthew <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote:
>
> >
> > "Pablo Aguilar" <paguilarg@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:c1jj5r$12jl$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> >> "Matthew" <matthew.hat@stlsoft.dot.org> wrote in message news:c1jfi0$shf$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> >> > Great!
> >> >
> >> > FYI, I'm pretty happy with the libs so far, but it's been six months
> > since
> >> > the last major release - 1.6.5. I've been promising 1.7.1 for some
> >> time,
> >> > hence the betas available on the downloads page (http://stlsoft.org/downloads.html) - but we're still a little way
> >> off,
> >> due
> >> > to my having too many commitments at the moment. The stuff available
> >> in
> >> the
> >> > latest beta is largely what will appear, although there are several
> > things
> >> > yet to do, including your item-data enumeration. :)
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> I've been following the C++ and D newsgroups for a while now, so, I'm
> > kinda
> >> up to date with your current activities.
> >> BTW good luck with your book...
> >>
> >> > The main area of weakness at the moment is the documentation, which
is
> >> > pretty pants, if I'm honest. I'd be very happy to receive any
> > criticisms -
> >> > however negative they might be - or suggestions for improvement you
> > might
> >> > have on this.
> >>
> >> That's right, the docs kinda s**k, but, I figure it's because you're
> > trying
> >> to use a "common" documentation layout, with a library that's not quite
> > that
> >> common... I mean, when something's documented, you usually have no more
> > than
> >> a few overloads for the same name, while in the case of shims you've
got
> > the
> >> same name all over the place, well, that's what I think anyway...
> >
> > Yep. It's a big problem. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time making
> > it
> > better, I think. :-(
> >
> >> Also, every typedef is documented (i.e. xxx_a, xxx_w and plain xxx),
you
> >> could go the way that the Windows PSDK does, and just document once and state somewhere that everything has a '_a' and '_w' variant
> >>
> >> > Also, I'm hoping to have a little Users' List on the site, so if you
> >> (or
> >> > anyone else) use
> >> > STLSoft and want to be mentioned, I'd be happy to hear how/where so I
> > can
> >> > post it.
> >>
> >> Fine by me... only, I don't think I qualify as a user yet (since I've
> >> just
> >> yesterday started using the libraries, and just a couple of items so
> > far)...
> >> Actually, I did download the library (back on version 1.6.3) but was
> >> kinda
> >> put off by both the docs, and the fact that what I was most interested
> >> in
> >> (the item data stuff) wasn't in it... and I didn't get around to
> >> commeting
> >> on it back then...
> >
> > Understood. That's clear evidence that the docs need the attention.
> >
> > Thanks for the feedback. Maybe when I do the new item-data classes, you
> > can
> > give me detailed feedback on the docs, and then I can take that and
> > apply it
> > elsewhere.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Matthew
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> -- 
> Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/