Convert boost::shared_ptr to actual class

Question

How would someone do that? for example:

Client* client = it->second;

where it->second is a boost::shared_ptr to Client error:

cannot convert `const ClientPtr' to `Client*' in initialization

Answer 1

boost::shared_ptr has a .get() method to retrieve the raw pointer.

Documentation here about when and why not to use it: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_44_0/libs/smart_ptr/shared_ptr.htm

Answer 2

You can use the get method on the boost::shared_ptr to retrieve the pointer, but be very careful in what you do : extracting a naked pointer from a reference counted shared pointer can be dangerous (deletion will be triggered if the reference count reaches zero, thus invalidating your raw pointer).