boost_1_45_0/libs/variant/doc/reference/variant_fwd.xml

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<header name="boost/variant/variant_fwd.hpp">
  <using-namespace name="boost"/>

  <para>Provides forward declarations of the
    <code><classname>boost::variant</classname></code>,
    <code><classname>boost::make_variant_over</classname></code>,
    <code><classname>boost::make_recursive_variant</classname></code>, and
    <code><classname>boost::make_recursive_variant_over</classname></code>
    class templates and the <code>boost::recursive_variant_</code> tag type.
    Also defines several preprocessor symbols, as described below.</para>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES">
    <purpose>
      <simpara>Expands to the length of the
        template parameter list for
        <code><classname>variant</classname></code>.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para><emphasis role="bold">Note</emphasis>: Conforming
        implementations of <code>variant</code> must allow at least ten
        template arguments. That is, BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES must be greater
        or equal to <code>10</code>.</para>
    </description>
  </macro>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_ENUM_PARAMS" kind="functionlike">
    <macro-parameter name="param"/>

    <purpose>
      <simpara>Enumerate parameters for use with
        <code><classname>variant</classname></code>.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para>Expands to a comma-separated sequence of length
        <code><macroname>BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES</macroname></code>, where
        each element in the sequence consists of the concatenation of
        <emphasis>param</emphasis> with its zero-based index into the
        sequence. That is,
        <code>param ## 0, param ## 1, ..., param ## BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES - 1</code>.</para>

      <para><emphasis role="bold">Rationale</emphasis>: This macro greatly
        simplifies for the user the process of declaring
        <code><classname>variant</classname></code> types
        in function templates or explicit partial specializations of class
        templates, as shown in the
        <link linkend="variant.tutorial.preprocessor">tutorial</link>.</para>
    </description>
  </macro>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_ENUM_SHIFTED_PARAMS" kind="functionlike">
    <macro-parameter name="param"/>

    <purpose>
      <simpara>Enumerate all but the first parameter for use with
        <code><classname>variant</classname></code>.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para>Expands to a comma-separated sequence of length
        <code><macroname>BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES</macroname> - 1</code>,
        where each element in the sequence consists of the concatenation of
        <emphasis>param</emphasis> with its one-based index into the sequence.
        That is,
        <code>param ## 1, ..., param ## BOOST_VARIANT_LIMIT_TYPES - 1</code>.</para>

      <para><emphasis role="bold">Note</emphasis>: This macro results in the
        same expansion as
        <code><macroname>BOOST_VARIANT_ENUM_PARAMS</macroname></code> -- but
        without the first term.</para>
    </description>
  </macro>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_NO_REFERENCE_SUPPORT">
    <purpose>
      <simpara>Indicates <code><classname>variant</classname></code> does not
        support references as bounded types.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para>Defined only if <code><classname>variant</classname></code> does
        not support references as bounded types.</para>
    </description>
  </macro>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_NO_TYPE_SEQUENCE_SUPPORT">
    <purpose>
      <simpara>Indicates absence of support for specifying the bounded types
        of a <code><classname>variant</classname></code> by the elements of a
        type sequence.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para>Defined only if
        <code><classname>make_variant_over</classname></code> and
        <code><classname>make_recursive_variant_over</classname></code>
        are not supported for some reason on the target compiler.</para>
    </description>
  </macro>

  <macro name="BOOST_VARIANT_NO_FULL_RECURSIVE_VARIANT_SUPPORT">
    <purpose>
      <simpara>Indicates
        <code><classname>make_recursive_variant</classname></code> operates in
        an implementation-defined manner.</simpara>
    </purpose>

    <description>
      <para>Defined only if
        <code><classname>make_recursive_variant</classname></code> does not
        operate as documented on the target compiler, but rather in an
        implementation-defined manner.</para>

      <para><emphasis role="bold">Implementation Note</emphasis>: If
        <code>BOOST_VARIANT_NO_FULL_RECURSIVE_VARIANT_SUPPORT</code> is
        defined for the target compiler, the current implementation uses the
        <libraryname>MPL</libraryname> lambda mechanism to approximate the
        desired behavior. (In most cases, however, such compilers do not have
        full lambda support either.)</para>
    </description>
  </macro>
</header>