Incompatible with parameter of type "LPCWSTR" - c++

Question

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <dos.h>
using namespace std;
class Dir
{
public:
char* cat;
Dir()
{
cout << "(C:/*)\n";
cat = new char[50];
cin >> cat;
}
void virtual ShowFiles()
{
}
};
class Inside : public Dir
{
public:
void virtual ShowFiles()
{
HANDLE hSearch;
WIN32_FIND_DATA pFileData;
hSearch = FindFirstFile(cat, &pFileData);
if (hSearch != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
do
{
// if ((pFileData.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
cout << pFileData.cFileName << "\n";
} while (FindNextFile(hSearch, &pFileData));
FindClose(hSearch);
}
};
int main()
{
Dir *obj1[2];
obj1[1] = new Inside;
obj1[1]->ShowFiles();
return 0;
}
So I have a program, I need to show with dynamic char cat all file in directory, but it is compilable in Borland C++ but in Visual Studio 15 + Resharper it doesn't work. Severity Code Description Project File Line
Error (active) argument of type "char *" is incompatible with parameter of type "LPCWSTR"

Answer 1

To compile your code in Visual C++ you need to use Multi-Byte char WinAPI functions instead of Wide char ones.
Set Project -> Properties -> Advanced (or. General for older versions) -> Character Set option to Use Multi-Byte Character Set
also see the screenshot

Answer 2

I actually found another way to resolve this error since above method did not work for me.
I casted all my constant character strings with (LPCWSTR). The solution looks like this
Earlier
MessageBox(NULL,"Dialog creation failed! Aborting..", "Error", MB_OK);
After casting to LPCWSTR
MessageBox(NULL, (LPCWSTR) "Dialog creation failed! Aborting..", (LPCWSTR) "Error", MB_OK);
So just copying the (LPCWSTR) and pasting wherever this error was generated resolved all my errors.

Answer 3

Another way to come by this issue, is to use the Lmacro in front of your string.
MessageBox(NULL, L"Dialog creation failed! Aborting..", L"Error", MB_OK);
See: What does the 'L' in front a string mean in C++?
or
L prefix for strings in C++

Answer 4

you can use wchar_t
class Dir
{
public:
wchar_t* cat;
Dir()
{
wcout << "(C:/*)\n";
cat = new wchar_t[50];
wcin >> cat;
}
void virtual ShowFiles()
{
}
};
In Visual Studio 2013 and later, the MFC libraries for multi-byle character encoding (MBCS) will be provided as an add-on to Visual Studio

Answer 5

It will work for any settings:
#include <tchar.h>
MessageBox(NULL, _T("Dialog creation failed! Aborting.."), _T("Error"), MB_OK);