Need help to understand where i am going wrong with strings - c++

Question

In c++ we have std::to_string which converts int/float/double to strings. So just to test my understanding of templates I tried the code below:
#include "iostream"
#include "sstream"
#include "string"
using std::cout;
template <typename T>
std::string getString(const T& data){
std::stringstream ss;
cout << '\n' << data << '\n';
ss << data;
std::string s;
ss >> s;
return s;
}
int main(int argc , char** argv){
cout << getString(1.0000011);
cout <<' '<<std::to_string(1.0000011);
return 0;
}
However, the output doesn't make sense, to_string gives me 1.0000011, whereas getString gets 1 and gives me 1. As I am using templates shouldn't getString get 1.0000011 as well and give me 1.0000011 too?

Answer 1

You can use std::setprecision in the <iomanip> header to set the precision that std::stringstream will use when formatting numeric data.
For example:
std::stringstream ss;
ss << std::setprecision(9) << data;
cout << ss.str();
Will print:
1.0000011
Here's a quick demo online: cpp.sh/9v7xf
As a side note, you don't have to create a string and output from the stringstream - you can replace the last 3 lines in getString() with:
return ss.str();

Answer 2

Numeric values are often truncated for appearance. You can supply the std::fixed manipulator from the iomanip standard header to avoid this issue.
#include "iomanip" // <- Add this header
#include "iostream"
#include "sstream"
#include "string"
using std::cout;
template <typename T>
std::string getString(const T& data)
{
std::stringstream ss;
cout << '\n' << data << '\n';
ss << std::fixed << data;
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Add this
std::string s;
ss >> s;
return s;
}
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
cout << getString(1.0000011);
cout << ' ' << std::to_string(1.0000011);
return 0;
}

Answer 3

<iomanip> needs included, and std::setprecision must be used when outputting float values to streams. Using your example, this looks like:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip> //include this.
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
template <typename T>
std::string getString(const T& data){
std::ostringstream ss;
ss << std::setprecision(8);
std::cout << std::setprecision(8);
std::cout << data << '\n';
ss << data;
return ss.str();
}
int main(int argc , char** argv){
std::cout << getString(1.0000011) << "\n";
std::cout << std::to_string(1.0000011) << std::endl;
return 0;
}
Which prints:
1.0000011
1.0000011
1.000001
Program ended with exit code: 0
Note how to_string alone truncates the floating point number!!! I suspect this is undesired behavior, but to_string cannot be manipulated directly, so...
If desired, you can fix this with the solution found here.
Otherwise, just use std:set_precision() when inserting into streams for precisely converted strings.