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A TCHAR style header file for STL strings and streams

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11 Feb 2006CPOL1 min read 103.7K   502   35   24
Presents a header file that allows a single source file that uses STL to be built in either ANSI or Unicode, without any changes or lots of #ifdefs.

Introduction

I had asked on the Visual C++ forum if there was a standard header file that would provide a way of declaring std::strings so that a single code source could be compiled in either ANSI or UNICODE builds without any changes, much in the same way tchar.h is used. The response I got back is that there is no standard way of doing this so I decided to write my own header file to accomplish this task.

The TSTL.H header file

The header file is a simple one that uses a series of typedefs to define new synonyms for some of the commonly used STL classes that use chars and wchar_ts. The idea being that you can now use new names wherever you would have previously had to use either one or the other of the standard names. For example, a piece of code may have been written:

#ifdef _UNICODE
   std::wostringstream stream;
   stream.setf(std::wios::fixed);
#else
   std::ostringstream stream;
   stream.setf(std::ios::fixed);
#endif

and can now be written:

std::tostringstream stream;
stream.setf(std::tios::fixed);

and it will compile in either ANSI or Unicode builds. The file is probably not complete as there may be other STL classes that I do not know about or did not think of that should be included in this file. If there are, let me know which ones and I can include them and update the file.

To use the file, simply include it in your precompiled header file (stdafx.h) or include it in any file that uses any of the STL string or stream classes. The file is listed here and it can be downloaded from the download link at the top of this article.

// tstl.h - header file for TCHAR equivalents of STL
//          string and stream classes
//
// Copyright (c) 2006 PJ Arends
//
// This file is provided "AS-IS". Use and/or abuse it
// in any way you feel fit.
// 
 
#pragma once

#include <string>
 
namespace std
{
#if defined UNICODE || defined _UNICODE
 
    typedef wstring         tstring;
 
    typedef wstringbuf      tstringbuf;
    typedef wstringstream   tstringstream;
    typedef wostringstream  tostringstream;
    typedef wistringstream  tistringstream;
 
    typedef wstreambuf      tstreambuf;
 
    typedef wistream        tistream;
    typedef wiostream       tiostream;
 
    typedef wostream        tostream;
 
    typedef wfilebuf        tfilebuf;
    typedef wfstream        tfstream;
    typedef wifstream       tifstream;
    typedef wofstream       tofstream;
 
    typedef wios            tios;
 
#   define tcerr            wcerr
#   define tcin             wcin
#   define tclog            wclog
#   define tcout            wcout
 
#else // defined UNICODE || defined _UNICODE
 
    typedef string          tstring;
 
    typedef stringbuf       tstringbuf;
    typedef stringstream    tstringstream;
    typedef ostringstream   tostringstream;
    typedef istringstream   tistringstream;
 
    typedef streambuf       tstreambuf;
 
    typedef istream         tistream;
    typedef iostream        tiostream;
 
    typedef ostream         tostream;
 
    typedef filebuf         tfilebuf;
    typedef fstream         tfstream;
    typedef ifstream        tifstream;
    typedef ofstream        tofstream;
 
    typedef ios             tios;
 
#   define tcerr            cerr
#   define tcin             cin
#   define tclog            clog
#   define tcout            cout
 
#endif // defined UNICODE || defined _UNICODE
} // namespace std

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
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Canada Canada
Father of two, brother of two, child of two.
Spouse to one, uncle to many, friend to lots.
Farmer, carpenter, mechanic, electrician, but definitely not a plumber.
Likes walks with the wife, board games, card games, travel, and camping in the summer.
High school graduate, college drop-out.
Hobby programmer who knows C++ with MFC and the STL.
Has dabbled with BASIC, Pascal, Fortran, COBOL, C#, SQL, ASM, and HTML.
Realized long ago that programming is fun when there is nobody pressuring you with schedules and timelines.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralNot so sure about adding to the std namespace... how about this solution. Pin
Ludvik Jerabek26-Sep-09 10:25
Ludvik Jerabek26-Sep-09 10:25 
The namespace below would allow you to have a special namespace "tstd". This way you keep your hands of the std namespace.

#include "tstdlibs.h"

using namespace tstd;

int main()
{
    tcout << _T("Hello") << tendl;
}


Below is a dump of "tstdlibs.h"

#ifndef _TSTDLIBS_H
#define _TSTDLIBS_H

#include <string>
#include <sstream>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <stdlib.h>

#ifdef _UNICODE
    typedef wchar_t tchar;
	#ifndef _T
		#define _T(s) L##s
    #endif
    #ifndef _TSTR
		#define _TSTR(s) L##s
    #endif
#else
    typedef char tchar;
	#ifndef _T
        #define _T(s) s
    #endif
    #ifndef _TSTR
        #define _TSTR(s) s
    #endif
#endif

namespace tstd
{
#ifdef _UNICODE
	typedef std::wstring			tstring;
	typedef std::wostream			tostream;
	typedef std::wistream			tistream;
	typedef std::wiostream			tiostream;
	typedef std::wistringstream		tistringstream;
	typedef std::wostringstream		tostringstream;
	typedef std::wstringstream		tstringstream;
	typedef std::wifstream			tifstream;
	typedef std::wofstream			tofstream;
	typedef std::wfstream			tfstream;
	typedef std::wfilebuf			tfilebuf;
	typedef std::wios			    tios;
	typedef std::wstreambuf			tstreambuf;
	typedef std::wstreampos			tstreampos;
	typedef std::wstringbuf			tstringbuf;

// declare an unnamed namespace as a superior alternative to the use of global static variable declarations.
namespace
{
    tostream& tcout = std::wcout;
	tostream& tcerr = std::wcerr;
	tostream& tclog = std::wclog;
	tistream& tcin	= std::wcin;

    std::wostream& tendl( std::wostream& output )
    {
        output << std::endl;
        return output;
    }

	tstring wstr_to_tstr(const std::wstring& arg)
	{
		return arg;
	}

	tstring str_to_tstr(const std::string& arg)
	{
		tstring res(arg.length(), L'\0');
		mbstowcs(const_cast<wchar_t*>(res.data()), arg.c_str(), arg.length());
		return res;
	}

	std::wstring tstr_to_wstr(const tstring& arg)
	{
		return arg;
	}

	std::string tstr_to_str(const tstring& arg)
	{
		std::string res(arg.length(), '\0');
		wcstombs(const_cast<char*>(res.data()), arg.c_str(), arg.length());
		return res;
	}
}

#else

	typedef std::string			    tstring;
	typedef std::ostream			tostream;
	typedef std::istream			tistream;
	typedef std::iostream			tiostream;
	typedef std::istringstream		tistringstream;
	typedef std::ostringstream		tostringstream;
	typedef std::stringstream		tstringstream;
	typedef std::ifstream			tifstream;
	typedef std::ofstream			tofstream;
	typedef std::fstream			tfstream;
	typedef std::filebuf			tfilebuf;
	typedef std::ios				tios;
	typedef std::streambuf			tstreambuf;
	typedef std::streampos			tstreampos;
	typedef std::stringbuf			tstringbuf;

// declare an unnamed namespace as a superior alternative to the use of global static variable declarations.
namespace
{
    tostream& tcout = std::cout;
	tostream& tcerr = std::cerr;
	tostream& tclog = std::clog;
	tistream& tcin	= std::cin;

    std::ostream& tendl( std::ostream& output )
    {
        output << std::endl;
        return output;
    }

	tstring wstr_to_tstr(const std::wstring& arg)
	{
		tstring res( arg.length(), '\0' );
		wcstombs( const_cast<char*>(res.data()) , arg.c_str(), arg.length());
           return res;
	}

	tstring str_to_tstr(const std::string& arg)
	{
		return arg;
	}

	std::wstring tstr_to_wstr(const tstring& arg)
	{
		std::wstring res(arg.length(), L'\0');
        mbstowcs(const_cast<wchar_t*>(res.data()), arg.c_str(), arg.length());
        return res;
	}

    std::string tstr_to_str(const tstring& arg)
    {
        return arg;
    }
}

#endif
}

#endif


Let me know what you guys think. I was reading some of the other comments about Ansi \ Unicode conversions. It's true when it comes to saving files in unicode the stream is converted to ansi. This requires you to manipulate your locale settings so overcome this issue.


Regards,

Lu
GeneralRe: Not so sure about adding to the std namespace... how about this solution. Pin
Stuart Dootson20-Oct-09 1:12
professionalStuart Dootson20-Oct-09 1:12 
Generalstd::string causes memory corruption on multi-processors PC Pin
ana_v12329-Aug-07 21:24
ana_v12329-Aug-07 21:24 
GeneralUseful, but Pin
dudeua15-Feb-06 0:17
dudeua15-Feb-06 0:17 
GeneralRe: Useful, but Pin
PJ Arends15-Feb-06 5:17
professionalPJ Arends15-Feb-06 5:17 
GeneralRe: Useful, but Pin
Nish Nishant15-Feb-06 15:55
sitebuilderNish Nishant15-Feb-06 15:55 
GeneralRe: Useful, but Pin
David Pritchard27-Mar-06 10:27
David Pritchard27-Mar-06 10:27 
GeneralNice. Just... Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic12-Feb-06 7:38
Nemanja Trifunovic12-Feb-06 7:38 
GeneralRe: Nice. Just... Pin
PJ Arends12-Feb-06 14:54
professionalPJ Arends12-Feb-06 14:54 
GeneralRe: Nice. Just... Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic13-Feb-06 4:47
Nemanja Trifunovic13-Feb-06 4:47 
Generaltypedef vs #define Pin
Nish Nishant12-Feb-06 3:18
sitebuilderNish Nishant12-Feb-06 3:18 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Rama Krishna Vavilala12-Feb-06 5:34
Rama Krishna Vavilala12-Feb-06 5:34 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Nish Nishant12-Feb-06 5:41
sitebuilderNish Nishant12-Feb-06 5:41 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
PJ Arends12-Feb-06 6:11
professionalPJ Arends12-Feb-06 6:11 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Nish Nishant12-Feb-06 8:14
sitebuilderNish Nishant12-Feb-06 8:14 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Rama Krishna Vavilala12-Feb-06 6:12
Rama Krishna Vavilala12-Feb-06 6:12 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Anders Dalvander12-Feb-06 21:18
Anders Dalvander12-Feb-06 21:18 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
toxcct13-Feb-06 0:29
toxcct13-Feb-06 0:29 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
Anders Dalvander13-Feb-06 0:35
Anders Dalvander13-Feb-06 0:35 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
toxcct13-Feb-06 0:38
toxcct13-Feb-06 0:38 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
PJ Arends13-Feb-06 6:43
professionalPJ Arends13-Feb-06 6:43 
GeneralRe: typedef vs #define Pin
HasAName28-Feb-07 0:25
HasAName28-Feb-07 0:25 
GeneralSome Remarks Pin
Roland Pibinger12-Feb-06 0:59
Roland Pibinger12-Feb-06 0:59 
GeneralRe: Some Remarks Pin
PJ Arends12-Feb-06 6:33
professionalPJ Arends12-Feb-06 6:33 

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