[boost] boost.format(): Unexpected assert failure?

From: Jon Radoff (jonradoff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-09-07 15:25:02

The following snippet causes an assertion in debug mode on MSVC++ 8.

---cut---
    string Output;
    string Blank;
    format fmt("Blank string: %s");
    fmt % Blank;    // This line causes an assertion in MSVC8
    Output = fmt.str();
---cut---

Rather than cause an assertion, shouldn't the formatter properly deal with the case of a zero-length string?  Or is there a preferred way to handle this and/or parameter to pass to the formatter to handle zero-length strings?