So, I’m working on a project, and have some code like this:
string blah="somefile";
ofstream fp;
fp.open(blah);
And it doesn’t work. Apparently, what you need to do when using ofstream’s open method:
fp.open(blah.c_str());
Yes, it looks like what it is. Apparently g++’s iostreams library (gcc 3.2) does not support things that have been part of the C++ standard for years–like C++ STL strings… You have to convert back to a C string.
Last I checked this was 2005, not 1999. You’d have thought someone would have overloaded this by now… I’ve only checked this in g++; will check with Intel’s C++ compiler and Microsoft Visual Studio later, though I’m not sure whether to expect better. What didn’t help me to find this out, of course, is g++’s totally wonderful (sarcasm) compiler error messages…
Samat Jain is a polymath of technology. Trained as a software engineer and biochemist, he keeps interests in computer programming, free & open-source software, open standards, semantic web, and entrepreneurship.
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Comments
g++’s iostreams library
g++’s iostreams library follows the standard, which says ofstream does not have such an open() overload. Blame C++, not g++.
The C++ standard library was gathered together from several adhoc libs, like HP’s STL and somedude’s iostreams, and practically no integrating was done. This will be looked at in the next C++ standardization release, C++0x.
THANK YOU!
I’m an experienced developer…but REAL new to using C++ (As in about 3 days of self-immersion). I’m trying to write a simple utility before taking a more structured approach to learning the language…and was having this EXACT problem! Thank You, this is the roadblock I was having this morning…I can now open files I’ve READ from the direcotry. I can finally continue with my simple utility and feel I’ve accomplished SOMETHING useful!
Oh, as for compiler, I’m using Bloodshed’s Dev-C on Windows XP.
Mike Dziedzic