shared_ptr & weak_ptr conversions

Question

I am trying to juggle objects using std::shared_ptr and std::weak_ptr. The scenario is something like this:

I have objects of class chann

Answer 1

You cannot

convert a reference to an object to a weak pointer

You can make a weak pointer from a shared pointer, just using assignment = e.g.

std::shared_ptr get_free_channel();

then

bool release_channel(std::shared_ptr ch)
{
    std::weak_ptr weak_ch = ch;
    //...
}

Watch out for lifetimes - will the shared_ptr go before the weak pointers that point to them?