C++ convert strings to char arrays

Question

I want to have 2 strings as input so I can use getline(cin,s) (so I can pick the whole line until '\n') and then I want to search the second array if it contains the word of the first array without using string::find() or strstr(). But I still can't find a way to either convert strings to arrays

int main()
{
    string s;
    string s2;
    char array[50];
    char array2[50];

    cout<<"Give me the first word"<<endl;
    getline(cin,s);

    cout<<"Give me the text"<<endl;
    getline(cin.s2);

    array=s;
    array2=s2;
}

The second way I was thinking was doing the job from the start with arrays:

char array[50];
cin.getline(array,50);

But if I use straight arrays is there any way I can find the length of the array like we do on strings?

//example
string s;
int x;

getline(cin,s);
x=line.length();

SingerOfTheFall · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-12 19:31:05Z

4

Just don't do it, because you don't need to do it.

You could use the c_str() function to convert the std::string to a char array, but in your case it's just unnecessary. For the case of finding elements (which I believe is what you need) you can use the string's operator[] and treat it as if it was an ordinary array.

edited Nov 12, 2012 at 19:31

user283145

answered Nov 12, 2012 at 11:40

SingerOfTheFall

30.1k9 gold badges74 silver badges107 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

R. Martinho Fernandes Over a year ago

You don't have to deal with the memory of what c_str returns.

SingerOfTheFall Over a year ago

@R., yes, my bad, it returns a const char *... I'll edit the answer.

Sergey Kalinichenko · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-12 11:44:10Z

3

You can use c_str member of the std::string and strcpy function to copy the data into the arrays:

//array=s;
strcpy(array, s.c_str());
//array2=s2;
strcpy(array2, s2.c_str());

However, you don't have to do that unless you must pass non-constant char arrays around, because std::strings look and feel much like character arrays, except they are much more flexible. Unlike character arrays, strings will grow to the right size as needed, provide methods for safe searching and manipulation, and so on.

edited Nov 12, 2012 at 11:44

answered Nov 12, 2012 at 11:39

Sergey Kalinichenko

729k85 gold badges1.2k silver badges1.6k bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

C++ convert strings to char arrays

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related