Deriving from streambuf without rewriting a corresponding stream

Question

Some days ago, I decided that it would be fun to write a streambuf subclass that would use mmap and read-ahead. I looked at how my STL (SGI) implemented filebuf and realized that basic_filebuf contains a FILE*. So inheriting from basic_filebuf is out of the question.

So I inherited from basic_streambuf. Then i wanted to bind my mmapbuf to a fstream.

I thought the only thing that I would have to do would be to copy the implicit interface of filebuf... but that was a clear mistake. In the SGI, basic_fstream owns a basic_filebuf. No matter if I call basic_filestream.std::::ios::rdbuf( streambuf* ), the filestream completely ignores it and uses its own filebuf.

So now I'm a bit confused... sure, I can create my own mmfstream, that would be the exact copy/paste of the fstream but that sounds really not DRY-oriented.

What I can't understand, is: why does fstream is so tightly coupled with filebuf, so that it is not possible to use anything else than a filebuf? The whole point of separating streams and bufs is that one can use a stream with a different buffer.

Solutions:

=> filestream should rely on the implicit interface of filebuf. That is, fstream should be templated by a streambuf class. That would allow everyone to provide its own streambuf subclass to a fstream as long as it implements filebuf's implicit interface. Problem: we cannot add a template parameter to fstream since it would break template selectors while using fstream as template template parameter.

=> filebuf should be a pure virtual class without any additional attributes. So that one can inherit from it without carrying all its FILE* garbage.

Your ideas on the subject ?

Answer 1

In the IO streams' design, most of the actual streams' functionality (as opposed to the stream buffers' functionality) is implemented in std::basic_istream, std::basic_ostream, and their base classes. The string and file stream classes are more or less just convenience wrappers which make sure a stream with the right type of buffer is instantiated.

If you want to extend the streams, you almost always want to provide your own stream buffer class, and you almost never need to provide your own stream class. .

Once you have your own stream buffer type, you can then make it the buffer for any stream object you happen to have around. Or you derive your own classes from std::basic_istream, std::basic_ostream, and std::basic_iostream which instantiates your stream buffer and pass it to their base classes.
The latter is more convenient for users, but requires you to write some boiler-plate code for the buffer's instantiation (namely constructors for the stream class).

To answer your question: File streams and file buffer are coupled so tightly because the former only exists to ease the creation of the latter. Using a file stream makes it easy to set it all up.
Using your own stream class to wrap construction of your own stream buffer shouldn't be a problem, since you shouldn't be passing around file streams anyway, but only (references) to the base classes.