C-Strings

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C-Strings

• C-string: sequence of characters stored in

adjacent memory locations and
terminated by NULL character
• String literal (string constant): sequence of
characters enclosed in double quotes " " :
"Hi there!"
H i t h e r e ! \0

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C-Strings
• Array of chars can be used to define storage for
string:
const int SIZE = 20;
char city[SIZE];

• Leave room for NULL at end

• Can enter a value using cin or >>
– Input is whitespace-terminated
– No check to see if enough space

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Initializing C-Strings
char mystring[ ] = "my name";
OR

char mystring[ ] = { 'm', 'y', ' ', 'n', 'a', 'm', 'e'};

char mystring[ ]; //error: size must be specified

mystring = "my name";
//error: expression must be modifiable lvalue
mystring[ ]="my name";
//error: const char* cannot be assigned to char.

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Taking c-string input
char inputstring[20];
cout<<"enter a string without spaces"<<endl;
cin >> inputstring;
//does not handle spaces and buffer overflow
cout << "you entered " << inputstring << endl;
cout << "enter a string without spaces" << endl;
cin >> setw(20) >> inputstring;
//handles buffer overflow, not more than 100 characters
cout << "you entered " << inputstring << endl;

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Taking c-string input
char inputstring2[20];
cout << "enter a string with spaces" << endl;
cin.get(inputstring2, 20); //reads string with spaces
cout << "you entered " << inputstring2 << endl;

cout << "enter multiple lines ending at $" << endl;

cin.get(inputstring2, 20, '$');
//by default third argument is \n
cout << "you entered " << inputstring2 << endl;
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Copying c-strings hard way
char sourcestring[]="i am source";
char deststring[50];
int length = strlen(sourcestring);
cout << "length of source string" << length << endl;
for ( i = 0; i < length; i++)
deststring[i]=sourcestring[i];
deststring[i] = '\0';
cout << sourcestring << endl;
cout << deststring << endl;
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copying string easy way

char newstring[ ] = "i am easy";

char deststring[50];

strcpy_s(deststring, newstring);
cout << deststring << endl;

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concatenating strings

char str1[80] = "tomato";

char str2[80] = "ketchup";
cout << str1 << endl;
cout << str2 << endl;

strcat_s(str1, str2);
cout << str1 << endl;

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Array of C-strings
const int elements=5;
const int elementlen=10;
char arrstrings[elements][elementlen] =
{ "abc","def","ghi","jkl","mno"};
//Array of strings as multidimentionsal array of chararcters
for (int j = 0; j<elements; j++)
cout << arrstrings[j] << endl;
//display every string

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C-Strings as class members
class student {
char name[20];
int rollnum;
public:
student();
student(char [], int );
void set(char[], int);
void display();
};
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C-Strings as class members
student::student() {
strcpy_s(name, "");
rollnum = 0;
}
student::student(char n[], int r) {
//name = n; error: expression must be a modifiable lvalue
strcpy_s(name, n);
rollnum = r;
}
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C-Strings as class members
void student::set(char n[], int r) {
strcpy_s(name, n);
rollnum = r;
}
void student::display() {
cout << "name is "<<name<<endl;
cout << "roll number is " << rollnum << endl;
}

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C-Strings as class members
int main() {
student s1("maria", 123);
s1.display();
student s2;
s2.display();
s2.set("saba", 456);
s2.display();
}

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 Library Functions for Working with
C-Strings

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Library Functions for Working
with C-Strings
• Require the cstring header file

• Functions take one or more C-strings as

arguments. Can use:
– C-string name
– pointer to C-string
– literal string

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Library Functions for
Working with C-Strings
Functions:
– strlen(str): returns length of C-string str
char city[SIZE] = "Missoula";
cout << strlen(city); // prints 8
– strcat(str1, str2): appends str2 to the
end of str1
char location[SIZE] = "Missoula, ";
char state[3] = "MT";
strcat(location, state);
// location now has "Missoula, MT"

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Library Functions for
Working with C-Strings
Functions:
– strcpy(str1, str2): copies str2 to str1

const int SIZE = 20;

char fname[SIZE] = "Maureen", name[SIZE];
strcpy(name, fname);

Note: strcat and strcpy perform no bounds

checking to determine if there is enough space
in receiving character array to hold the string it
is being assigned.

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 More About the C++ string
Class

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The C++ string Class
• Special data type supports working with strings
• #include <string>
• Can define string variables in programs:
string firstName, lastName;
• Can receive values with assignment operator:
firstName = "George";
lastName = "Washington";
• Can be displayed via cout
• Use cin >> to read an item into a string

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Assigning string objects
string s1("Man"); //initialize
string s2 = "Beast"; //initialize
string s3;
s3 = s1; //assign
cout << "s3 = "<<s3 << endl;
s3 = "Neither " + s1 + " nor "; //concatenate
s3 += s2; //concatenate
cout << "s3 = "<<s3 << endl;
s1.swap(s2); //swap s1 and s2
cout<<s1 << " nor " << s2 << endl;

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Input/output with string objects
string full_name, nickname;
cout << "Enter your full name : ";
getline(cin, full_name);
//reads embedded blanks
cout << "Your full name is : "<< full_name << endl;

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Input/output with string objects
string greeting("Hello, ");
cout << "Enter your nickname : ";
cin >> nickname;
//input to string object
greeting += nickname;
//append name to greeting
cout << greeting << endl;
//output: “Hello, Jim”

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Input/output with string objects
string address;
cout << "Enter your address on separate
lines terminate with ‘$’\n ";

getline(cin, address, '$');

//reads multiple lines
cout << "Your address is : " << address <<
endl;

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string Comparison
• Can use relational operators directly to compare string
objects:
string str1 = "George",
str2 = "Georgia";
if (str1 < str2)
cout << str1 << " is less than "
<< str2;
• Result is true or false

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Other Definitions of C++
strings
Definition Meaning
string name; defines an empty string object
string myname("Chris"); defines a string and initializes it
string yourname(myname); defines a string and initializes it
string aname(myname, 3); defines a string and initializes it with first 3
characters of myname

string verb(myname,3,2); defines a string and initializes it with 2

characters from myname starting at position
3

string noname('A', 5); defines string and initializes it to 5 'A's

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string Operators
OPERATOR MEANING
>> extracts characters from stream up to whitespace, insert
into string
<< inserts string into stream
= assigns string on right to string object on left
+= appends string on right to end of contents on left
+ concatenates two strings
[] references character in string using array notation
>, >=, <, relational operators for string comparison. Return true or
<=, ==, != false

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string Operators
string word1, phrase;
string word2 = " Dog";
cin >> word1; // user enters "Hot Tamale"
// word1 has "Hot"
phrase = word1 + word2; // phrase has
// "Hot Dog"
phrase += " on a bun";
for (int i = 0; i < 16; i++)
cout << phrase[i]; // displays
// "Hot Dog on a bun"

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string Member Functions
• Are behind many overloaded operators
• Categories:
– assignment: assign, copy, data
– modification: append, clear, erase, insert,
replace, swap
– space management: capacity, empty,
length, resize, size
– substrings: find, substr
– comparison: compare
• See Table 10-7 for a list of functions

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string Member Functions

string word1, word2, phrase;

cin >> word1; // word1 is "Hot"
word2.assign(" Dog");
phrase.append(word1);
phrase.append(word2); // phrase has "Hot Dog"
phrase.append(" with mustard relish", 13);
// phrase has "Hot Dog with mustard"
phrase.insert(8, "on a bun ");
cout << phrase << endl; // displays
// "Hot Dog on a bun with mustard"

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.