diff -r 78b5ea23f0f1 -r ffa7c6e96330 lemon/bits/item_writer.h
--- a/lemon/bits/item_writer.h	Tue Dec 06 18:44:26 2005 +0000
+++ b/lemon/bits/item_writer.h	Wed Dec 07 11:57:30 2005 +0000
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
     /// \brief Writes a quoted string to the given stream.
     ///
     /// Writes a quoted string to the given stream.
-    void write(std::ostream& os, const std::string& value) {
+    void write(std::ostream& os, const std::string& value) const {
       os << "\"";
       if (escaped) {
 	std::ostringstream ls;
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@
     /// \brief Writes a quoted char array to the given stream.
     ///
     /// Writes a quoted char array to the given stream.
-    void write(std::ostream& os, const char* value) {
+    void write(std::ostream& os, const char* value) const {
       QuotedStringWriter(escaped).write(os, std::string(value));
     }
 
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@
 
   public:
 
+    IterableWriter(const ItemWriter& _item_writer = ItemWriter())
+      : item_writer(_item_writer) {}
+
     /// \brief Writes the values of the container to the given stream.
     ///
     /// Writes the values of the container to the given stream.
@@ -185,6 +188,53 @@
   };
 
   /// \ingroup item_io
+  ///
+  /// \brief Writer for standard pairs.
+  ///
+  /// Writer for standard pairs. The representation of a pair is
+  /// \code ( first_value => second_value ) \endcode.
+  /// \author Balazs Dezso
+  template <typename _Pair, 
+	    typename _FirstWriter = 
+	    DefaultWriter<typename _Pair::first_type>,
+	    typename _SecondWriter = 
+	    DefaultWriter<typename _Pair::second_type> >
+  class PairWriter {
+  public:
+
+    typedef _Pair Value;
+
+    typedef _FirstWriter FirstWriter;
+    typedef _SecondWriter SecondWriter;
+
+  private:
+
+    FirstWriter first_writer;
+    SecondWriter second_writer;
+
+  public:
+    
+    /// \brief Constructor.
+    ///
+    /// Constructor for the PairWriter.
+    PairWriter(const FirstWriter& _first_writer = FirstWriter(), 
+	       const SecondWriter& _second_writer = SecondWriter()) 
+      : first_writer(_first_writer), second_writer(_second_writer) {}
+    
+    /// \brief Writes the pair from the given stream.
+    ///
+    /// Writes the pair from the given stream.
+    void write(std::ostream& os, const Value& value) const {
+      os << "( ";
+      first_writer.write(os, value.first);
+      os << " => ";
+      second_writer.write(os, value.second);
+      os << " )";
+    }
+
+  };
+
+  /// \ingroup item_io
   /// 
   /// \brief The default item writer template class.
   ///
@@ -217,6 +267,14 @@
   class DefaultWriter<const char[length]> 
     : public QuotedCharArrayWriter {};
 
+  template <>
+  class DefaultWriter<char*> 
+    : public QuotedCharArrayWriter {};
+
+  template <>
+  class DefaultWriter<const char*> 
+    : public QuotedCharArrayWriter {};
+
   template <typename Item>
   class DefaultWriter<std::vector<Item> > 
     : public IterableWriter<std::vector<Item> > {};
@@ -233,10 +291,22 @@
   class DefaultWriter<std::set<Item> > 
     : public IterableWriter<std::set<Item> > {};
 
+  template <typename Key, typename Value>
+  class DefaultWriter<std::map<Key, Value> > 
+    : public IterableWriter<std::map<Key, Value> > {};
+
   template <typename Item>
   class DefaultWriter<std::multiset<Item> > 
     : public IterableWriter<std::multiset<Item> > {};
 
+  template <typename Key, typename Value>
+  class DefaultWriter<std::multimap<Key, Value> > 
+    : public IterableWriter<std::multimap<Key, Value> > {};
+
+  template <typename First, typename Second>
+  class DefaultWriter<std::pair<First, Second> > 
+    : public PairWriter<std::pair<First, Second> > {};
+
   /// \ingroup item_io
   /// \brief Standard WriterTraits for the section writers.
   ///