C++ _findfirst and TCHAR - c++

Question

I've been given the following code:
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[]) {
_finddata_t dirEntry;
intptr_t dirHandle;
dirHandle = _findfirst("C:/*", &dirEntry);
int res = (int)dirHandle;
while(res != -1) {
cout << dirEntry.name << endl;
res = _findnext(dirHandle, &dirEntry);
}
_findclose(dirHandle);
cin.get();
return (0);
}
what this does is printing the name of everything that the given directory (C:) contains. Now I have to make this print out the name of everything in the subdirectories (if there are any) as well. I've got this so far:
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[]) {
_finddata_t dirEntry;
intptr_t dirHandle;
dirHandle = _findfirst(argv[1], &dirEntry);
vector<string> dirArray;
int res = (int)dirHandle;
unsigned int attribT;
while (res != -1) {
cout << dirEntry.name << endl;
res = _findnext(dirHandle, &dirEntry);
attribT = (dirEntry.attrib >> 4) & 1; //put the fifth bit into a temporary variable
//the fifth bit of attrib says if the current object that the _finddata instance contains is a folder.
if (attribT) { //if it is indeed a folder, continue (has been tested and confirmed already)
dirArray.push_back(dirEntry.name);
cout << "Pass" << endl;
//res = _findfirst(dirEntry.name, &dirEntry); //needs to get a variable which is the dirEntry.name combined with the directory specified in argv[1].
}
}
_findclose(dirHandle);
std::cin.get();
return (0);
}
Now I'm not asking for the whole solution (I want to be able to do it on my own) but there is just this one thing I can't get my head around which is the TCHAR* argv. I know argv[1] contains what I put in my project properties under "command arguments", and right now this contains the directory I want to test my application in (C:/users/name/New folder/*), which contains some folders with subfolders and some random files.
The argv[1] currently gives the following error:
Error: argument of type "_TCHAR*" is incompatible with parameter of type "const char *"
Now I've googled for the TCHAR and I understand it is either a wchar_t* or a char* depending on using Unicode character set or multi-byte character set (I'm currently using Unicode). I also understand converting is a massive pain. So what I'm asking is: how can I best go around this with the _TCHAR and _findfirst parameter?
I'm planning to concat the dirEntry.name to the argv[1] as well as concatenating a "*" on the end, and using this in another _findfirst. Any comments on my code are appreciated as well since I'm still learning C++.

Answer 1

See here: _findfirst is for multibyte strings while _wfindfirst is for wide characters. If you use TCHAR in your code then use _tfindfirst (macro) which will resolve to _findfirst on non UNICODE, and _wfindfirst on UNICODE builds.
Also instead of _finddata_t use _tfinddata_t which will also resolve to correct structure depending on UNICODE config.
Another thing is that you should use also correct literal, _T("C:/*") will be L"C:/*" on UNICODE build, and "C:/*" otherwise. If you know you are building with UNICODE defined, then use std::vector<std::wstring>.
btw. Visual Studio by default will create project with UNICODE, you may use only wide versions of functions like _wfindfirst as there is no good reason to build non UNICODE projects.
TCHAR and I understand it is either a wchar_t* or a char* depending on using UTF-8 character set or multi-byte character set (I'm currently using UTF-8).
this is wrong, in UNICODE windows apis uses UTF-16. sizeof(wchar_t)==2.

Answer 2

Use this simple typedef:
typedef std::basic_string<TCHAR> TCharString;
Then use TCharString wherever you were using std::string, such as here:
vector<TCharString> dirArray;
See here for information on std::basic_string.