Symbian3/SDK/Source/GUID-80F2DEC8-152F-4681-A9D0-8EB776131313.dita
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     1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
       
     2 <!-- Copyright (c) 2007-2010 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies) All rights reserved. -->
       
     3 <!-- This component and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms of the License 
       
     4 "Eclipse Public License v1.0" which accompanies this distribution, 
       
     5 and is available at the URL "http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html". -->
       
     6 <!-- Initial Contributors:
       
     7     Nokia Corporation - initial contribution.
       
     8 Contributors: 
       
     9 -->
       
    10 <!DOCTYPE concept
       
    11   PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">
       
    12 <concept id="GUID-80F2DEC8-152F-4681-A9D0-8EB776131313" xml:lang="en"><title>String
       
    13 Conversions</title><shortdesc>In case the developer is developing applications where P.I.P.S.-based
       
    14 functionality is called from a Symbian/S60 application, the need for conversions
       
    15 between Symbian descriptors and different string types provided by P.I.P.S.
       
    16 is needed. </shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>
       
    17 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-1">       <title>Symbian
       
    18 descriptors and C strings compared</title>       <p>The main difference between
       
    19 Symbian descriptors and C strings is that the Symbian descriptors know how
       
    20 many characters are in a data array. A C string does not know its length,
       
    21 so when length is needed the NULL character that indicates the end of the
       
    22 string has to be scanned.  </p><p>Another difference arises with buffers.
       
    23 When C code reserves a buffer from the heap or stack, it has to keep the maximum
       
    24 length somewhere. Many C methods that alter the buffer contents do not respect
       
    25 the maximum size of the buffer and can override the reserved memory, causing
       
    26 unknown behavior. Some methods take the maximum length as a parameter but
       
    27 it is difficult to use those types in functions, since a pointer to an array
       
    28 and maximum length have to be passed separately. Buffer descriptors can tell
       
    29 the maximum length, and all the methods they provide respect the buffer limits.
       
    30  </p><p>When using neutral descriptor types there is no need to worry about
       
    31 character widths. In a C program, the programmer has to explicitly specify
       
    32 which method to use, for example <codeph>strcat</codeph> or <codeph>wcscat</codeph>.</p><p>The
       
    33 table below contains a comparison of standard C string functions and Symbian
       
    34 counter parts:</p><table id="GUID-0580FD76-A651-4F23-81FF-4460DAF1992E">
       
    35 <tgroup cols="3"><colspec colname="col1"/><colspec colname="col2"/><colspec colname="col3"/>
       
    36 <tbody>
       
    37 <row>
       
    38 <entry><p><b>C function</b></p></entry>
       
    39 <entry><p><b>Symbian</b></p></entry>
       
    40 <entry><p><b>Description</b></p></entry>
       
    41 </row>
       
    42 <row>
       
    43 <entry><codeph>sprintf, swprintf</codeph></entry>
       
    44 <entry><codeph>TDes::Format</codeph></entry>
       
    45 <entry><p>Write formatted data to a string.</p></entry>
       
    46 </row>
       
    47 <row>
       
    48 <entry><codeph>strcat, wcscat, strncat, wcsncat </codeph></entry>
       
    49 <entry><codeph>TDes::Append</codeph></entry>
       
    50 <entry><p>Append a string to another. </p></entry>
       
    51 </row>
       
    52 <row>
       
    53 <entry><codeph>strcmp, strncmp, wcsncmp </codeph></entry>
       
    54 <entry><codeph>TDesC::Compare</codeph></entry>
       
    55 <entry><p>Compare strings lexicographically. </p></entry>
       
    56 </row>
       
    57 <row>
       
    58 <entry><codeph>strcpy, wcscpy strncpy, wcsncpy </codeph></entry>
       
    59 <entry><codeph>TDes::Copy </codeph></entry>
       
    60 <entry><p>Copy a string to another. </p></entry>
       
    61 </row>
       
    62 <row>
       
    63 <entry><codeph>strchr, wcschr</codeph></entry>
       
    64 <entry><codeph>TDesC::Locate </codeph></entry>
       
    65 <entry><p>Find a character in a string. </p></entry>
       
    66 </row>
       
    67 <row>
       
    68 <entry><codeph>strrchr, wcsrchr</codeph></entry>
       
    69 <entry><codeph>TDesC:: LocateReverse </codeph></entry>
       
    70 <entry><p>Scan the index of the first character from a string that does not
       
    71 exist in the alphabet array. </p></entry>
       
    72 </row>
       
    73 <row>
       
    74 <entry><codeph>strspn, wcsspn</codeph></entry>
       
    75 <entry><p>None </p></entry>
       
    76 <entry><p>Scan index of the first character from string that doesn't exist
       
    77 in alphabet array. </p></entry>
       
    78 </row>
       
    79 <row>
       
    80 <entry><codeph>strcspn, wcscspn</codeph></entry>
       
    81 <entry><p>None </p></entry>
       
    82 <entry><p>Scan the index of the first occurrence of a character in a string
       
    83 that belongs to the set of characters. </p></entry>
       
    84 </row>
       
    85 <row>
       
    86 <entry><codeph>strstr, wcsstr</codeph></entry>
       
    87 <entry><codeph>TDesC::Find </codeph></entry>
       
    88 <entry><p>Find a substring. </p></entry>
       
    89 </row>
       
    90 <row>
       
    91 <entry><codeph>strtok, wcstok</codeph></entry>
       
    92 <entry><codeph>TLex::</codeph></entry>
       
    93 <entry><p>Find the next token in a string. </p></entry>
       
    94 </row>
       
    95 <row>
       
    96 <entry><codeph>strlen, wcslen</codeph></entry>
       
    97 <entry><codeph>TDesC::Length</codeph></entry>
       
    98 <entry><p>Get the length of a string. </p></entry>
       
    99 </row>
       
   100 <row>
       
   101 <entry><codeph>strcoll, wcscoll</codeph></entry>
       
   102 <entry><codeph>TDesC::CompareC </codeph></entry>
       
   103 <entry><p>Compare strings using locale-specific information. </p></entry>
       
   104 </row>
       
   105 <row>
       
   106 <entry><codeph>strftime, wcsftime</codeph></entry>
       
   107 <entry><p>Using <codeph>TDes::Format</codeph> and <codeph>TTime </codeph></p></entry>
       
   108 <entry><p>Format a time string. </p></entry>
       
   109 </row>
       
   110 </tbody>
       
   111 </tgroup>
       
   112 </table>     </section>
       
   113 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-2">       <title>How
       
   114 to convert <codeph>TBuf16</codeph> to a <codeph>char</codeph> buffer</title> 
       
   115      <p>A <codeph>TBuf16</codeph> buffer can be converted to a <codeph>char</codeph> buffer
       
   116 using the <codeph>wcstombs</codeph> API. The example below illustrates how
       
   117 the conversion can be done.</p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;e32base.h&gt;
       
   118 #include &lt;sys/types.h&gt;
       
   119 #include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
       
   120 #include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
       
   121 #include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   122 
       
   123 #define SIZE 20
       
   124 _LIT(KData,"hello");
       
   125   
       
   126 int main (void)
       
   127 {
       
   128     TBuf16&lt;SIZE&gt; buf(KData);
       
   129     size_t ret;
       
   130     char carray[SIZE];
       
   131    
       
   132     ret = wcstombs(carray, (const wchar_t *)buf.PtrZ(), SIZE );
       
   133     printf("TBuf converted to char buffer : %s\n",carray);
       
   134     getchar();
       
   135     return (1);
       
   136 }
       
   137 </codeblock>     </section>
       
   138 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-3">       <title>How
       
   139 to convert <codeph>TBuf8</codeph> to <codeph>wchar_t</codeph></title>    
       
   140   <p>A <codeph>TBuf8</codeph> buffer can be converted to <codeph>wchar_t</codeph> using
       
   141 the <codeph>mbstowcs</codeph> API.</p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;e32base.h&gt;
       
   142 #include &lt;sys/types.h&gt;
       
   143 #include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
       
   144 #include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
       
   145 #include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   146 
       
   147 #define SIZE 20
       
   148  
       
   149  int main (void)
       
   150  {
       
   151      TBuf8&lt;SIZE&gt; buf(_L8("hello"));
       
   152      size_t ret;
       
   153      wchar_t warray[SIZE];
       
   154   
       
   155      ret = mbstowcs(warray, (const char *)buf.PtrZ(), SIZE );
       
   156      printf("TBuf8 converted to wchar buffer : %ls\n",warray);
       
   157      getchar();
       
   158      
       
   159      return (1);
       
   160  }
       
   161 </codeblock>     </section>
       
   162 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-4">       <title>How
       
   163 to convert <codeph>TText16</codeph> to <codeph>char</codeph></title>     
       
   164  <p>The <codeph>wcstombs</codeph> API can be used to convert a <codeph>TText16</codeph> buffer
       
   165 to a <codeph>char</codeph> buffer. This is one of the examples of converting
       
   166 from a Symbian data type to a C data type.</p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;e32def.h&gt;
       
   167 #include &lt;sys/types.h&gt;
       
   168 #include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
       
   169 #include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
       
   170 #include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   171 
       
   172 #define SIZE 32
       
   173 
       
   174 int main (void)
       
   175 {
       
   176    TText arr[SIZE] = L"abcdef";
       
   177    char carray[SIZE];
       
   178    size_t ret;
       
   179 
       
   180    ret = wcstombs(carray, (const wchar_t *)arr, SIZE);
       
   181    printf("TText converted to char buffer : %s",carray);
       
   182    getchar();
       
   183 
       
   184    return (1);
       
   185 }
       
   186 </codeblock>     </section>
       
   187 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-5">       <title>How
       
   188 to convert a <codeph>char</codeph> array and a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array</title> 
       
   189      <p>To use both <codeph>char</codeph> and <codeph>wide char</codeph> pointers
       
   190 or array in the program, the user must convert buffers from a <codeph>char</codeph> to
       
   191 a <codeph>wide char</codeph> and vice versa. Wide character APIs provide methods
       
   192 to: </p><ul>
       
   193 <li><p>convert a <codeph>char</codeph> array to a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array</p></li>
       
   194 <li><p>convert a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array to a <codeph>char</codeph> array </p></li>
       
   195 </ul><p><b>Converting a <codeph>char</codeph> array to a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array</b></p><p>The <codeph>mbstowcs</codeph> API
       
   196 can be used to convert a <codeph>char</codeph> array to a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array.</p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
       
   197 #include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   198 
       
   199 #define ARRAY_SIZE 32
       
   200 
       
   201 int main(void)
       
   202 {
       
   203    char *carray = "char array";
       
   204    wchar_t warray[ARRAY_SIZE];
       
   205    size_t ret;
       
   206 
       
   207    ret = mbstowcs(warray, (const char *)carray, ARRAY_SIZE);
       
   208    wprintf(L"character array contents : %s\n",carray);
       
   209    wprintf(L"wide char array contents : %ls\n",warray);
       
   210    getwchar();
       
   211 
       
   212    return (1);
       
   213 }
       
   214 </codeblock><p><b>Converting a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array to a <codeph>char</codeph> array </b></p><p>The <codeph>wcstombs</codeph> API
       
   215 can be used to convert a <codeph>wide char</codeph> array to a <codeph>char</codeph> array. </p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;stdlib.h&gt;
       
   216 #include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   217 
       
   218 #define ARRAY_SIZE 32
       
   219 
       
   220 int main(void)
       
   221 {
       
   222    wchar_t *warray = L"wide array";
       
   223    char carray[ARRAY_SIZE];
       
   224    size_t ret;
       
   225 
       
   226    ret = wcstombs(carray, (const wchar_t *)warray, ARRAY_SIZE);
       
   227    wprintf(L"wide char array contents : %ls\n",warray);
       
   228    wprintf(L"character array contents : %s\n",carray);
       
   229    getwchar();
       
   230 
       
   231    return (1);
       
   232 }
       
   233 </codeblock>     </section>
       
   234 <section id="GUID-A6479BB3-0176-4321-8D33-1465DCCAB049-GENID-1-6-1-10-1-1-5-1-3-1-7-1-10-1-3-6">       <title>How
       
   235 to declare a <codeph>wide-char</codeph> string</title>       <p>To declare
       
   236 a <codeph>wide-char</codeph> string, prefix the string with 'L'
       
   237 [Capital L].  </p><codeblock xml:space="preserve">#include &lt;wchar.h&gt;
       
   238 
       
   239 int main(void)
       
   240 {
       
   241      wchar_t *wptr = L"This is a wide char string";
       
   242   
       
   243      wprintf(L"%ls\n",wptr);
       
   244      getwchar(); 
       
   245 }
       
   246 </codeblock>     </section>
       
   247 </conbody></concept>