Convert String to Int with Stringstream - c++

have a little problem here:
int IntegerTransformer::transformFrom(std::string string){
stream->clear();
std::cout<<string<<std::endl;;
(*stream)<<string;
int i;
(*stream)>>i;
std::cout<<i<<std::endl;
return i;
}
I by calling this function with the string "67" (other values dont work too) i get this output:
67
6767

Did you notice there are two std::cout in the function itself?
Beside that also add this:
stream->str(""); //This ensures that the stream is empty before you use it.
(*stream)<<string;
By the way, why don't you use boost::lexical_cast?
int IntegerTransformer::transformFrom(std::string s){
return boost::lexical_cast<int>(s);
}

stream->clear();
This does not "empty out" the stringstream's contents. It resets the error flags that get set when reading from the stream fails (e.g. because the text is not in the right format to read an integer).
The simplest way to deal with this is to just create a new, locally scoped stringstream:
int IntegerTransformer::transformFrom(std::string string){
std::stringstream parser(string);
int i;
parser>>i;
return i;
}
Notice how you also no longer have to mess around with pointers (and, I'm assuming, dynamic allocation), and that you can just use the constructor to set the initial value.
Having streams as data members of a class is a bad idea in general. They really aren't meant for that kind of use.
The next easiest solution is to use the member function that's actually intended for the job, .str(), as shown by Nawaz.
As also mentioned by Nawaz, scrapping the whole thing and just using boost::lexical_cast is probably a better idea anyway. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Related

How can I send a struct of arrays into a function when using the String object?

I'm learning to code c++ and I've come to this problem:
I have this struct:
struct storeData
{
string name;
string username;
string fav_food;
string fav_color;
}data[30];
And I need to check if two usernames are equal so I made this statement:
for(i=0;i<c;i++){
if(data[c].username.compare(data[i].username)==0){
cout<<"Username already taken"<<endl;
}
}
And it works well, the problem that I have is that I'm required to make a function let's call it: isTaken that returns the error message, so I can use it whenever I need to for example delete a username so I don't have to copy/paste the code again.
So I began looking for an answer for that, many forums present a way to send the whole struct like this:
void isTaken(struct storeData *data)
which I understand but because I'm using string is not working, so I guess it's because string is an object? I'm using the library <string> I'm sorry if I'm not being that clear at the moment, I'm looking for a way to use isTaken(data[c].user); but I don't know how to declare the function, I think is also because string is not the same as C string but I'm not really sure I've been looking for a solution and could not find it.
I tried: void isTaken(struct storeData *data) but I got an error saying that I can't convert std::string to basic_string which makes sense if I'm correct about string I tried converting string into c string but could not get anywhere. I'm open to suggestions/corrections because I want to improve my code, also I could not find the answer here, so If someone's got a link to a problem like this please let me know.
Thank you so much for you time, have a good day.
Do you mean an array of structs instead of a struct of arrays?
In the example you are giving I see only an array of structs each of which has multiple string objects in it. You see, a string is a class coming from std and I wouldn't call it an array. If you want to know how to pass an array to a function, you should read about it (I'm sure you can find such a question in SO). If you want to have an array within your struct, then the struct will take care of the memory of the array, but you should definitely read about constructors.
You got an error because you are passing an string argument to a function which requires struct pointer
void isTaken(struct storeData *data);
...
isTaken(data[c].user);
but what you actually need is to have a function which takes an array of your users, its size and username you want to check
bool IsUsernameTaken(struct storeData data[], int dataSize, const string &username){
for(int i = 0; i<dataSize; i++){
if(username == data[i].username)
return true;
}
return false;
}
A C string looks like this
data
A C++ string usually looks like this
size
capacity
ptr
|
v
data
or if using short string optimization and the string is short enough
size
data
data
all are zero terminated.
Making a shallow copy a C string only cost the copy of the pointer to it. Where a copy of a might cost just copying the 3 members and possible an allocation of data, which is not ideal, therefor most C++ functions use a reference to a string making the cost equivalent to the C string.
All code is untested.
bool Find(const std::string& target);
Making a deep copy of a C string would also cost an allocation.
In C++ you have many options to do a search, for your struct it could look like this. In case your member variables are private you must use an access function
auto found = std::find(std::begin(data), std::begin(data)+c, [&target](const storeData& auser) { return auser.GetName() == target });
return (found != std::begin(data)+c);
The first two parameters are the range that is search, not including the 2nd. A lambda is used to check the name, a free function with the right declaration would also do.
std::string& GetName() { return name; }
The higher C++ protection schemes would advice adding 2 consts to that in case you don't need to change name.
const std::string& GetName() const { return name; }
Meaning the returned string cant be changed and the 2nd says it wont change anything in your class. This const version would be required as I used a const storeData& auser in the lambda to satisfy the constness of the struct.

C++ faster way to do string addition?

I'm finding standard string addition to be very slow so I'm looking for some tips/hacks that can speed up some code I have.
My code is basically structured as follows:
inline void add_to_string(string data, string &added_data) {
if(added_data.length()<1) added_data = added_data + "{";
added_data = added_data+data;
}
int main()
{
int some_int = 100;
float some_float = 100.0;
string some_string = "test";
string added_data;
added_data.reserve(1000*64);
for(int ii=0;ii<1000;ii++)
{
//variables manipulated here
some_int = ii;
some_float += ii;
some_string.assign(ii%20,'A');
//then we concatenate the strings!
stringstream fragment;
fragment<<some_int <<","<<some_float<<","<<some_string;
add_to_string(fragment.str(),added_data);
}
return;
}
Doing some basic profiling, I'm finding that a ton of time is being used in the for loop. Are there some things I can do that will significantly speed this up? Will it help to use c strings instead of c++ strings?
String addition is not the problem you are facing. std::stringstream is known to be slow due to it's design. On every iteration of your for-loop the stringstream is responsible for at least 2 allocations and 2 deletions. The cost of each of these 4 operations is likely more than that of the string addition.
Profile the following and measure the difference:
std::string stringBuffer;
for(int ii=0;ii<1000;ii++)
{
//variables manipulated here
some_int = ii;
some_float += ii;
some_string.assign(ii%20,'A');
//then we concatenate the strings!
char buffer[128];
sprintf(buffer, "%i,%f,%s",some_int,some_float,some_string.c_str());
stringBuffer = buffer;
add_to_string(stringBuffer ,added_data);
}
Ideally, replace sprintf with _snprintf or the equivalent supported by your compiler.
As a rule of thumb, use stringstream for formatting by default and switch to the faster and less safe functions like sprintf, itoa, etc. whenever performance matters.
Edit: that, and what didierc said: added_data += data;
You can save lots of string operations if you do not call add_to_string in your loop.
I believe this does the same (although I am not a C++ expert and do not know exactly what stringstream does):
stringstream fragment;
for(int ii=0;ii<1000;ii++)
{
//variables manipulated here
some_int = ii;
some_float += ii;
some_string.assign(ii%20,'A');
//then we concatenate the strings!
fragment<<some_int<<","<<some_float<<","<<some_string;
}
// inlined add_to_string call without the if-statement ;)
added_data = "{" + fragment.str();
I see you used the reserve method on added_data, which should help by avoiding multiple reallocations of the string as it grows.
You should also use the += string operator where possible:
added_data += data;
I think that the above should save up some significant time by avoiding unecessary copies back and forth of added_data in a temporary string when doing the catenation.
This += operator is a simpler version of the string::append method, it just copies data directly at the end of added_data. Since you made the reserve, that operation alone should be very fast (almost equivalent to a strcpy).
But why going through all this, when you are already using a stringstream to handle input? Keep it all in there to begin with!
The stringstream class is indeed not very efficient.
You may have a look at the stringstream class for more information on how to use it, if necessary, but your solution of using a string as a buffer seems to avoid that class speed issue.
At any rate, stay away from any attempt at reimplementing the speed critical code in pure C unless you really know what you are doing. Some other SO posts support the idea of doing it,, but I think it's best (read safer) to rely as much as possible on the standard library, which will be enhanced over time, and take care of many corner cases you (or I) wouldn't think of. If your input data format is set in stone, then you might start thinking about taking that road, but otherwise it's premature optimization.
If you start added_data with a "{", you would be able to remove the if from your add_to_string method: the if gets executed exactly once, when the string is empty, so you might as well make it non-empty right away.
In addition, your add_to_string makes a copy of the data; this is not necessary, because it does not get modified. Accepting the data by const reference should speed things up for you.
Finally, changing your added_data from string to sstream should let you append to it in a loop, without the sstream intermediary that gets created, copied, and thrown away on each iteration of the loop.
Please have a look at Twine used in LLVM.
A Twine is a kind of rope, it represents a concatenated string using a
binary-tree, where the string is the preorder of the nodes. Since the
Twine can be efficiently rendered into a buffer when its result is used,
it avoids the cost of generating temporary values for intermediate string
results -- particularly in cases when the Twine result is never
required. By explicitly tracking the type of leaf nodes, we can also avoid
the creation of temporary strings for conversions operations (such as
appending an integer to a string).
It may helpful in solving your problem.
How about this approach?
This is a DevPartner for MSVC 2010 report.
string newstring = stringA & stringB;
i dont think strings are slow, its the conversions that can make it slow
and maybe your compiler that might check variable types for mismatches.

casting void* and put it in ostringstream

I have problem with void * I want to put what contain in a string to output it,I know that in compiling moment the compiler doesn't know what the pointer point to so I think to use a kind of cast(cast the *(void*) to string ) the static_cast:
std::string get_Info_Field (std::string nameTab,int IDF)
{ ostringstream os;
iter=Inst_Data.find(nameTab);
if(iter!= Inst_Data.end())
{ iterF=(iter->second).find(IDF);
if(iterF!=(iter->second).end())
{os<<*static_cast<std::string*>(iterF->second.value);}
else { os<<""; }
}
else { os<<"";}
return os.str();
};
here iterF->second.value is a void* that I want to get its value that can point to any type(int,string,float,long,char..), my question is :is that safe? will return the right value of the pointer whatever the type ? I tested with int it works but I'am not sure for the rest.
please any help will be appreciated.
If you know that the void* happens to point to a std::string then yes, it is safe.
You can't safely cast an pointer to an arbitrary value to a string and expect something sensible to happen; at absolute minimum you also need to know the size of the thing pointed to, and you may also need to watch out for embedded NULs and the like. If you know that it is always a std::string then you can cast to a std::string safely; but you do have to know with certainty, or you're courting a core dump or random output.
No you absolutely cannot do that and expect sensible results if the void* points to say int and you cast it to std::string. You will need to store type information somewhere, either by having a polymorphic class hierarchy to contain your data, by using boost::variant, by writing your own "discriminated union," or some other technique.
Absolutely not safe. How can you be sure that what you're pointing to is a string? How did you reserve this memory in the first place?
Sounds like a design issue - why do you have data blobs floating around whose type you don't know? Are you attempting to implement a variant type?

Conversion problems in C++ (string expected)

I have a function that I cannot touch, Is a "log maker", It puts something to print in a file an show it up when I run the file. The problem is that the function only gets const string so if I want to print something I have to convert everything in this data type (I cannot use cout).
itoa & atoi functions are not standard functions so I cannot use it neither. C++ is very "special" with data types and doesn't accept conversions really easy, so this is my question:
How can I convert everytype of data into string for the log purposes?
Probably I should check data type on a function to convert things and returning them into a stringstream (witch I have to convert into a string, of course).
So, any advice on how to do that?
boost::lexical_cast encapsulates the use of ostringstream, so you
could use that. Otherwise, the code isn't that difficult:
template<typename T>
std::string
toString( T const& object )
{
std::ostringstream results;
results << object;
return results.str();
}
(There's no reason to use stringstream here; ostringstream is largely sufficient.
You can use
std::stringstream
or
boost lexical_cast<>
Yes, if you want arbitrary type in string representation stringstream intermediate sounds like a solution.
I assume the functions expects a const std::string & ?
Your approach with std::stringstream is correct. Alternatively you could simply write a toString() method for the class you wish to directly output. However, usually when one wants to output objects to a file, overloads the << operator for that particular type.

Converting/parsing pointer strings and doubles

Assignment:
Read in info from text file (done)
Retrieve only parts of text file using substr method (done)
Store info into instance variables (need help)
Here is the code I am having trouble with:
string* lati;
lati = new string(data.substr(0, data.find_first_of(",")));
double* latDub;
latDub = new double(atof((char *)lati));
this->latitude = *latDub;
I need to store the latitude into the instance variable latitude.
The variable data is the read-in text file.
this->latitude is declared as a double.
I have tested and the variable lati is the correct value, but once I try to convert it into a double the value changes to 0 for some reason. I am specifically supposed to use the atof method when converting!
(char *)lati doesn't do what you think it does. What you're clearly trying to do there is get the char sequence associated with lati, but what you're actually doing is just squeezing a string* into a char* which is all kinds of bad.
There's a member function on std::string that will give you exactly what you want. You should review the documentation for string, and replace (char *)lati with a call to that function.
Why your code compiles, but gives meaningless results has already been explained by adpalumbo. There are two fundamental problems in your code leading to that error, on which I want to expand here.
One is that you use a C-style cast: (T)obj. Basically, that just tells the compiler to shut up, you know what you are doing. That is rarely ever a good idea, because when you do know what you are doing, you can usually do without such casts.
The other one is that you are using objects allocated dynamically on the heap. In C++, objects should be created on the stack, unless you have very good reasons for using dynamic objects. And dynamic objects are usually hidden inside objects on the stack. So your code should read like this:
string lati(data.substr(0, data.find_first_of(",")));
double latDub = /* somehow create double from lati */;
this->latitude = latDub;
Of course, latDub is completely unnecessary, you could just as well write to this->latitude directly.
Now, the common way to convert a string into some other type would be streaming it through a string stream. Removing the unnecessary variables you introduced, your code would then look like this:
std::istringstream iss(data.substr(0, data.find_first_of(",")));
if( !iss >> this->latitude ) throw "Dude, you need error handling here!";
Usually you want to pack that conversion from a string into a utility function which you could reuse throughout your code:
inline double convert3double(const std::string& str)
{
std::istringstream iss(str);
double result;
if( !iss >> result )
throw std::exception("Dang!");
return result;
}
However, since the very same algorithm can be used for all types (for which operator>> is overloaded meaningfully with an input stream as the left operand), just make this a template:
template< typename T >
inline T convert3double(const std::string& str)
{
std::istringstream iss(str);
T result; // presumes default constructor
if( !iss >> result ) // presumes operator>>
throw std::exception("Dang!");
return result;
}