convert/doc/converters.qbk
2014-11-22 10:07:46 +11:00

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[/
Copyright (c) Vladimir Batov 2009-2014
Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
See copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt.
]
[section Converters]
[import ../test/callable.cpp]
`boost::convert()` API plays its role by providing a ['uniform interface] and ensuring ['consistent behavior]. However, it is the respective converter which does the hard work of turning custom-types into strings and strings into custom-types, etc., i.e. the actual type conversion\/transformation.
For a converter to be plugged in to the ['Boost.Convert] framework it needs to be a ['callable] with the following signature:
template<typename TypeOut, typename TypeIn>
void operator()(TypeIn const& value_in, boost::optional<TypeOut>& result_out) const;
if that is a general-purpose converter capable of handling many types (like string-to-type and type-to-string conversions). Alternatively, a purpose-built custom converter might only care to provide
void operator()(TypeIn const&, boost::optional<TypeOut>&) const;
if its sole purpose is to handle one particular conversion\/transformation of ['TypeIn] to ['TypeOut]. For example, a converter from the operating-system-specific MBCS string format to the UCS-2 or UCS-4 (depending on `wchar_t` size) might be one such example:
void operator()(std::string const&, boost::optional<std::wstring>&) const;
Alternatively again, an ad-hoc in-place ['callable] might be provided as a converter. For example,
[getting_started_using]
[callable_example3]
or an old-fashioned function:
[callable_example1]
[callable_example2]
With regard to converters the ['Boost.Convert] framework has been designed with the following requirements in mind:
[note Converters shall be independent from and must not rely on the ['Boost.Convert] infrastructure.]