Compare TCHAR with String value in VC++? - visual-c++

How to Compare TCHAR with String value in VC++ ?
My project is not Unicode.
I am doing like this :
TCHAR achValue[16523] = NULL;
if(achValue == _T("NDSPATH"))
{
return FALSE;
}
When achValue = "NDSPATH" then also this condition does not staisfy.
Any help is appreciated.

A TCHAR or any string array is simply a pointer to the first character. What you're comparing is the value of the pointer, not the string. Also, you're assigning an array to null which is nonsensical.
Use win32 variations of strcmp. If you use the _tcscmp macro, it will use the correct function for multibyte/unicode at compile time.
#define MAX_STRING 16523;
TCHAR achValue[MAX_STRING];
ZeroMemory(achValue, sizeof(TCHAR) * MAX_STRING);
sprintf(achValue, MAX_PATH, _T("NDSPATH"));
if (!_tcscmp(achValue, _T("NDSPATH"))
{
// strings are equal when result is 0
}

Related

How to convert string to LPSTR in WinAPI function which stores output in string

I am trying to store some contents into a string variable by passing it as a parameter in various types of Windows API functions which accepts variable like char *.
For example, my code is:-
std::string myString;
GetCurrentDirectoryA( MAX_PATH, myString );
Now how do I convert the string variable to LPSTR in this case.
Please see, this function is not meant for passing the contents of string as input, but the function stores some contents into string variable after execution. So, myString.c_str( ) is ruled out.
Edit: I have a workaround solution of removing the concept of string and replacing it with something like
char myString[ MAX_PATH ];
but that is not my objective. I want to make use of string. Is there any way possible?
Also casting like
GetCurrentDirectoryA( MAX_PATH, ( LPSTR ) myString );
is not working.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Usually, people rewrite the Windows functions they need to be std::string friendly, like this:
std::string GetCurrentDirectoryA()
{
char buffer[MAX_PATH];
GetCurrentDirectoryA( MAX_PATH, buffer );
return std::string(buffer);
}
or this for wide char support:
std::wstring GetCurrentDirectoryW()
{
wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
GetCurrentDirectoryW( MAX_PATH, buffer );
return std::wstring(buffer);
}
LPTSTR is defined as TCHAR*, so actually it is just an ordinary C-string, BUT it depends on whether you are working with ASCII or with Unicode in your code. So do
LPTSTR lpStr = new TCHAR[256];
ZeroMemory(lpStr, 256);
//fill the string using i.e. _tcscpy
const char* cpy = myString.c_str();
_tcscpy (lpStr, cpy);
//use lpStr
See here for a reference on _tcscpy and this thread.
Typically, I would read the data into a TCHAR and then copy it into my std::string. That's the simplest way.

Converting an int or String to a char array on Arduino

I am getting an int value from one of the analog pins on my Arduino. How do I concatenate this to a String and then convert the String to a char[]?
It was suggested that I try char msg[] = myString.getChars();, but I am receiving a message that getChars does not exist.
To convert and append an integer, use operator += (or member function concat):
String stringOne = "A long integer: ";
stringOne += 123456789;
To get the string as type char[], use toCharArray():
char charBuf[50];
stringOne.toCharArray(charBuf, 50)
In the example, there is only space for 49 characters (presuming it is terminated by null). You may want to make the size dynamic.
Overhead
The cost of bringing in String (it is not included if not used anywhere in the sketch), is approximately 1212 bytes of program memory (flash) and 48 bytes RAM.
This was measured using Arduino IDE version 1.8.10 (2019-09-13) for an Arduino Leonardo sketch.
Risk
There must be sufficient free RAM available. Otherwise, the result may be lockup/freeze of the application or other strange behaviour (UB).
Just as a reference, below is an example of how to convert between String and char[] with a dynamic length -
// Define
String str = "This is my string";
// Length (with one extra character for the null terminator)
int str_len = str.length() + 1;
// Prepare the character array (the buffer)
char char_array[str_len];
// Copy it over
str.toCharArray(char_array, str_len);
Yes, this is painfully obtuse for something as simple as a type conversion, but somehow it's the easiest way.
You can convert it to char* if you don't need a modifiable string by using:
(char*) yourString.c_str();
This would be very useful when you want to publish a String variable via MQTT in arduino.
None of that stuff worked. Here's a much simpler way .. the label str is the pointer to what IS an array...
String str = String(yourNumber, DEC); // Obviously .. get your int or byte into the string
str = str + '\r' + '\n'; // Add the required carriage return, optional line feed
byte str_len = str.length();
// Get the length of the whole lot .. C will kindly
// place a null at the end of the string which makes
// it by default an array[].
// The [0] element is the highest digit... so we
// have a separate place counter for the array...
byte arrayPointer = 0;
while (str_len)
{
// I was outputting the digits to the TX buffer
if ((UCSR0A & (1<<UDRE0))) // Is the TX buffer empty?
{
UDR0 = str[arrayPointer];
--str_len;
++arrayPointer;
}
}
With all the answers here, I'm surprised no one has brought up using itoa already built in.
It inserts the string representation of the integer into the given pointer.
int a = 4625;
char cStr[5]; // number of digits + 1 for null terminator
itoa(a, cStr, 10); // int value, pointer to string, base number
Or if you're unsure of the length of the string:
int b = 80085;
int len = String(b).length();
char cStr[len + 1]; // String.length() does not include the null terminator
itoa(b, cStr, 10); // or you could use String(b).toCharArray(cStr, len);

Parsing a string with varying number of whitespace characters in C

I'm pretty new to C, and trying to write a function that will parse a string such as:
"This (5 spaces here) is (1 space
here) a (2 spaces here) string."
The function header would have a pointer to the string passed in such as:
bool Class::Parse( unsigned char* string )
In the end I'd like to parse each word regardless of the number of spaces between words, and store the words in a dynamic array.
Forgive the silly questions...
But what would be the most efficient way to do this if I am iterating over each character? Is that how strings are stored? So if I was to start iterating with:
while ( (*string) != '\0' ) {
--print *string here--
}
Would that be printing out
T
h
i... etc?
Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
from http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstring/strtok/
/* strtok example */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main ()
{
char str[] ="- This, a sample string.";
char * pch;
printf ("Splitting string \"%s\" into tokens:\n",str);
pch = strtok (str," ,.-"); /* split the string on these delimiters into "tokens" */
while (pch != NULL)
{
printf ("%s\n",pch);
pch = strtok (NULL, " ,.-"); /* split the string on these delimiters into "tokens" */
}
return 0;
}
Splitting string "- This, a sample string." into tokens:
This
a
sample
string
First of all, C does not have classes, so in a C program you would probably define your function with a prototype more like one of the following:
char ** my_prog_parse(char * string) {
/* (returns a malloc'd array of pointers into the original string, which has had
* \0 added throughout ) */
char ** my_prog_parse(const char * string) {
/* (returns a malloc'd NULL-terminated array of pointers to malloc'd strings) */
void my_prog_parse(const char * string, char buf, size_t bufsiz,
char ** strings, size_t nstrings)
/* builds a NULL-terminated array of pointers into buf, all memory
provided by caller) */
However, it is perfectly possible to use C-style strings in C++...
You could write your loop as
while (*string) { ... ; string++; }
and it will compile to exactly the same assembler on a modern optimizing compiler. yes, that is a correct way to iterate through a C-style string.
Take a look at the functions strtok, strchr, strstr, and strspn... one of them may help you build a solution.
I wouldn't do any non-trivial parsing in C, it's too laborious, the language is not suitable for that. But if you mean C++, and it looks like you do, since you wrote Class::Parse, then writing recursive descent parsers is pretty easy, and you don't need to reinvent the wheel. You can take Spirit for example, or AXE, if you compiler supports C++0x. For example, your parser in AXE can be written in few lines:
// assuming you have 0-terminated string
bool Class::Parse(const char* str)
{
auto space = r_lit(' ');
auto string_rule = "This" & r_many(space, 5) & space & 'a' & r_many(space, 2)
& "string" & r_end();
return string_rule(str, str + strlen(str)).matched;
}

How to convert PUNICODE_STRING to bstr?

I'm calling a function which is in a ComVisible managed dll from a VC++ code. In the managed dll the function parameter type is string.
In the VC++ code i've the variable as PUNICODE_STRING. How can i pass it to the function? How can i convert it into BSTR?
Thank you.
NLV
The first thing to note is that PUNICODE_STRING's internal string buffer might not be null-terminated. So it would be best to go via a standard null-terminated wide string, that can then be passed straight to SysAllocString.
Try this:
BSTR PUNICODEToBSTR(PUNICODE_STRING pStr)
{
// create a null-terminated version of the input string
wchar_t* nullTerminatedString = new wchar_t[pStr->Length + 1];
memset(nullTerminatedString, 0, sizeof(wchar_t) * (pStr->Length + 1)];
wcsncpy(nullTerminatedString, pStr->Buffer, pStr->Length);
// create a BSTR
BSTR bstrString = ::SysAllocString(nullTerminatedString);
// tidy-up and return the BSTR
delete [] nullTerminatedString;
return bstrString;
}

LPCSTR, TCHAR, String

I am use next type of strings:
LPCSTR, TCHAR, String i want to convert:
from TCHAR to LPCSTR
from String to char
I convert from TCHAR to LPCSTR by that code:
RunPath = TEXT("C:\\1");
LPCSTR Path = (LPCSTR)RunPath;
From String to char i convert by that code:
SaveFileDialog^ saveFileDialog1 = gcnew SaveFileDialog;
saveFileDialog1->Title = "Сохранение файла-настроек";
saveFileDialog1->Filter = "bck files (*.bck)|*.bck";
saveFileDialog1->RestoreDirectory = true;
pin_ptr<const wchar_t> wch = TEXT("");
if ( saveFileDialog1->ShowDialog() == System::Windows::Forms::DialogResult::OK ) {
wch = PtrToStringChars(saveFileDialog1->FileName);
} else return;
ofstream os(wch, ios::binary);
My problem is that when i set "Configuration Properties -> General
Character Set in "Use Multi-Byte Character Set" the first part of code work correctly. But the second part of code return error C2440. When i set "Configuration Properties -> General
Character Set in "Use Unicode" the second part of code work correctly. But the first part of code return the only first character from TCHAR to LPCSTR.
I'd suggest you need to be using Unicode the whole way through.
LPCSTR is a "Long Pointer to a C-type String". That's typically not what you want when you're dealing with .Net methods. The char type in .Net is 16bits wide.
You also should not use the TEXT("") macro unless you're planning multiple builds using various character encodings. Try wrapping all your string literals with the _W("") macro instead and a pure unicode build if you can.
See if that helps.
PS. std::wstring is very handy in your scenario.
EDIT
You see only one character because the string is now unicode but you cast it as a regular string. Many or most of the Unicode characters in the ASCII range has their same number as in ASCII but have the second of their 2 bytes set to zero. So when a unicode string is read as a C-string you only see the first character because C-strings are null ( zero ) terminated. The easy ( and wrong ) way to deal with this is to use std:wstring to cast as a std:string then pull the C-String out of that. This is not the safe approach because Unicode has a much large character space then your standard encoding.

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