CPP12 — Initialized T_var?

a discussion in comp.object.corba pointed out the difficulty
of testing whether a T_var has been initialized. There is
no _is_null() member function or some such. As a result,
calling operator->() appears to be the only way to test
whether a T_var is initialized:

if (T_var.operator->())
// It's initialized...

Not exactly elegant, but workable. However, the following
words in the spec get in the way:

"The overloaded operator-> returns the T* held by the T_var,
but retains ownership of it. Compliant applications may not
call this function unless the T_var has been initialized with a
valid non-null T* or T_var."

These words forbid me to call operator->() until after the
T_var has been initialized, meaning that there is no portable
and compliant way to test whether a T_var is nil. I think
what was meant here is that

"Compliant applications may not *dereference the return value
of this function* unless the T_var has been initialized with a
valid non-null T* or T_var."

BTW – using operator->() to test for null is a bit obscure.
We could add a _is_null() member to T_var for this. But,
given the versioning confustion we'd cause and the fact
that adding the member provides only marginal benefit,
I think it may be better to leave things as they are. (But
we should fix the description of operator->(), of course.)

see above