How to convert a TCHAR array to std::string? - c++

Question

How do I convert a TCHAR array to std::string (not to std::basic_string)?

Answer 1

TCHAR is just a typedef that, depending on your compilation configuration, either defaults to char or wchar_t.
Standard Template Library supports both ASCII (with std::string) and wide character sets (with std::wstring). All you need to do is to typedef String as either std::string or std::wstring depending on your compilation configuration. To maintain flexibility you can use the following code:
#ifndef UNICODE
typedef std::string String;
#else
typedef std::wstring String;
#endif
Now you may use String in your code and let the compiler handle the nasty parts. String will now have constructors that lets you convert TCHAR to std::string or std::wstring.

Answer 2

My answer is late, I'll admit that, but with the answers of 'Alok Save' and some research I've found a good way! (Note: I didn't test this version a lot, so it might not work in every case, but from what I tested it should):
TCHAR t = SomeFunctionReturningTCHAR();
std::string str;
#ifndef UNICODE
str = t;
#else
std::wstring wStr = t;
str = std::string(wStr.begin(), wStr.end());
#endif
std::cout << str << std::endl; //<-- should work!

Answer 3

TCHAR is either char or wchar_t, so a
typedef basic_string<TCHAR> tstring;
is one way of doing it.
The other is to skip char altogether and just use std::wstring.

Answer 4

TCHAR type is char or wchar_t, depending on your project settings.
#ifdef UNICODE
// TCHAR type is wchar_t
#else
// TCHAR type is char
#endif
So if you must use std::string instead of std::wstring, you should use a converter function. I may use wcstombs or WideCharToMultiByte.
TCHAR * text;
#ifdef UNICODE
/*/
// Simple C
const size_t size = ( wcslen(text) + 1 ) * sizeof(wchar_t);
wcstombs(&buffer[0], text, size);
std::vector<char> buffer(size);
/*/
// Windows API (I would use this)
std::vector<char> buffer;
int size = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, text, -1, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL);
if (size > 0) {
buffer.resize(size);
WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, text, -1, static_cast<BYTE*>(&buffer[0]), buffer.size(), NULL, NULL);
}
else {
// Error handling
}
//*/
std::string string(&buffer[0]);
#else
std::string string(text);
#endif

Answer 5

Quick and dirty solution :
TCHAR str[256] = {};
// put something in str...
// convert to string
std::string strtmp(&str[0], &str[255]);
std::cout << strtmp << std::endl;

Answer 6

Simple!
std::string tcharToChar(TCHAR* buffer)
{
char *charBuffer = NULL;
std::string returnValue;
int lengthOfbuffer = lstrlenW(buffer);
if(buffer!=NULL)
{
charBuffer = (char*)calloc(lengthOfbuffer+1,sizeof(char));
}
else
{
return NULL;
}
for (int index = 0;
index < lengthOfbuffer;
index++)
{
char *singleCharacter = (char*)calloc(2,sizeof(char));
singleCharacter[0] = (char)buffer[index];
singleCharacter[1] = '\0';
strcat(charBuffer, singleCharacter);
free(singleCharacter );
}
strcat(charBuffer, "\0");
returnValue.append(charBuffer);
free(charBuffer);
return returnValue;
}