Re: How to avoid using arrays for strings???
* mike3:
(I'm xposting this to both comp.lang.c++ and comp.os.ms-
windows.programmer.win32
since there's Windows material in here as well as questions related to
standard
C++. Not sure how that'd go over at just comp.lang.c++. If one of
these groups is
too inappropriate, just take it off from where you send your replies.)
Hi.
I'm writing a program for the Windows OS in C++. But it seems the
Windows
functions all accept string _arrays_ of type "TCHAR" (actually,
_pointers_ to
arrays), which can be toggled between the C/C++ primitive types
wchar_t/char,
the former of which is used for Unicode encoding. Will the C++ STL
classes
std::string/std::wstring work in this case?
Yes.
In particular, use std::wstring or std::vector<wchar_t> for Unicode
strings. std::wstring is recommended.
How does it clash with the
Unicode
encodings, if at all?
It doesn't clash, on the Windows platform.
That's because Windows is based on UCS-2 encoding, and so every C and
C++ compiler for Windows must (in practice) have 16-bit wchar_t.
I'd be mad with whoever comes up with the
standards if
it had a problem since UNICODE is used by all sorts of modern
operating
systems, not just Windows!
But with C++, it is said that arrays are "evil". Is it possible to use
the C++ STL
functions for all internal string manipulations _even while I want
Unicode support_
and then only convert to array when I need to send it to the Windows
functions?
You don't want to use standard library functions for everyting you can
imagine. Some times there are no appropriate standard library
functions, other times the ones that (more or less) apply might be too
complex or inefficient. But as a default choice, yes.
There is however no need to "convert" to or from array.
std::wstring and std::vector /are/ arrays, just packaged in an interface
that can be more safe and convenient if you let it.
If not, should I go and just use arrays up front, or at least write up
some custom
container that will bury the "evil" arrays of TCHAR, keeping them out
of the way
and packaged?
You haven't presented a use case, but in general there's no need to
reinvent the wheel: the standard containers suffice for most one would
like to do.
That said, some people are concerned with efficiency and elegance as a
/general/ problem and do write containers that e.g. avoid copying.
For example, see <url: http://alfsstringvalue.sourceforge.net/>. Heh, I
really should create a download package for that! This is just an
example, it's not something I (yet) recommend you use, although it would
be nice with some feedback on actual usage.
Cheers, & hth.,
- Alf
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