[ Niels Dekker (mailed to Howard Hinnant): ]

The proposed resolution does not seem inconsistent to me. istreambuf_iterator::operator->() should have istreambuf_iterator::pointer as return type, and this return type may in fact be a proxy.

AFAIK, the resolution of 445 ("iterator_traits::reference unspecified for some iterator categories") implies that for any iterator class Iter, the return type of operator->() is Iter::pointer, by definition. I don't think Iter::pointer needs to be a raw pointer.

Still I wouldn't mind if the text "operator-> may return a proxy" would be removed from the resolution. I think it's up to the library implementation, how to implement istreambuf_iterator::operator->(). As longs as it behaves as expected: i->m should have the same effect as (*i).m. Even for an explicit destructor call, i->~C(). The main issue is just: istreambuf_iterator should have an operator->()!