Send and receive <vector> data through network - c++

Question

I have a vector defined as follows:
std::vector<char*> rooms;
const int rows = 100;
const int columns = 10;
I need to send this vector as string buffer. And then receive and turn the string into another vector with same size.
This is how I send a string:
int SendData(std::string data)
{
s.SendLine(data);
return 0;
}
I just can't imagine a solution for that.

Answer 1

Since you already know how to send a string, and the vector is just a series of strings, then the most straightforward way to send the vector would be to simply send the strings, one after another.
Of course the devil is in the details: How will the receiver know how many strings to expect? And how will the receiver know where one string ends and the next string begins?
Answers: Before sending the first string, send some initial data indicating how many strings you intend to send. (If you want to keep things simple, this could be an additional string like "100" that the receiver will know to use as a hint; or you could send an integer as one or two or four bytes of binary data, if you prefer to do it that way [be sure to consider endianness issues if you send it as more than one byte])
As for the receiver knowing where one string ends and the next one begins, one way is to make sure to send a NUL/0 byte at the end of each string; then the receiver can look for that byte to know where each string ends. Another way is to send the number of bytes in the string before sending the string itself, and then the receiver can be sure to read in that many bytes for the string.

Answer 2

You say you know how to send a std::string, and that you want to send the vector as a single string. So all you need is to transform a vector of strings in a big string.
You can try to reinvent a way, or just use (or mimic) what others have already imagined :
Comma Separated Values
JSON
XML
All have their pros and cons. And the tricky part in all is the escaping of chars that are "special".

Answer 3

I need to send this vector as string buffer. And then receive and turn the string into another vector with same size.
This sounds that you solution to build a string from the data is a solution and your question goes to the point, where you want YOUR solution comes working. But there is a better way to transfer any kind of data without using manual coded string gymnastics.
If you only want to sent any kind of data like skalars, containers and custom build class instances over a network, you should think of using a library which do this for you without reinventing the wheel again and again. If this is your case search for serializer and you will get a ready to use solution for all kind of data!
Have a look at http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_58_0/libs/serialization/doc/index.html
or https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/