Ok I think I understand the problem now. What does node->document() return and what does it point to???
Well I think as with the node->parent() it should return a proxy object. Something like... // non owning reference class document_ref { public: // Define document related methods here protected: document_ref() : raw_( 0 ) {} xmlDoc * raw_; }; // non owning pointer class document_ptr { public: document_ptr( document_ref * ); document_ref operator *() { return ref_; } document_ref * operator ->() { return &ref_; } private: document_ref ref_; }; // owning object with deep copy class document : public document_ref { public: explicit document( const std::string & file ); document( document_ref source ) { // Deep copy here } ~document() { xmlFreeDoc( raw_ ); } }; root->document() can return document_ptr or document_ref. > > value_types could exist but it would require a deep copy to be > > consistent. If you do want to define it then I suggest > > you mean if I do *not* want to define it ? Yes, you could 1) define a deep copy value_type 2) typedef void value_type; 3) leave it undefined > > Your iterator types look good. Why is there an extra level of > > indirection in basic_element_const_iterator? > > the const iterator is non-functional right now. I'v been wondering > how to provide one. It seems I would need to define a 'const_node_ptr' > set of classes. I think that is right. I would prefer it to be typedef node_pointer< node_ref > node_ptr; typedef node_pointer< const_node_ref > const_node_ptr; In fact you will probably need const_ versions for all your reference, pointer and iterator types. Though the pointers and iterators should just be additional instances of template classes. -- Hamish Mackenzie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost