strlen()

I tried in the c++ forum but no one apparantly knows what to do.

strlen() requires a const char, as in... strlen( const char );
so, what do you do if you have a char* ?
is there a way to get the text the pointer points to in to a const char?

This is what I am trying to do...

I need an array, lets say cText[256], to hold all the text in a text file. And I need to find strlen( cText ).


but cText becomes a pointer when opening a file stream to it, and you can't use that in strlen(). I get a compile error about how I can't convert from char* to const char.

:(

No one responded to me in c++ programming forum, This is depressing, lol. Someone help me.

If what I want can't be done exactly as I need, what are my alternatives?

Quote:

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but cText becomes a pointer when opening a file stream to it

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Huh? I really don't understand what you mean there. You should be using something like FILE * to point to your file stream...

Anyway, the strlen() thing is probably just a quirk with the compiler you're using (or maybe a C++ quirk?). Maybe you could try typecasting the buffer when you pass it to strlen (e.g. strlen((const char *)cText); )

If you posted your code then people would probably be able to help you better.

int maxClearText = strlen( (const char *)cClearText )

error: "cast to pointer from integer of different size"

source: http://www.simpleindesign.com/_encryption.cpp

I have a file named test.txt with "this is a test" in it on my desktop. compile with 1 arguement, just the filename.

i have no idea what i did, i threw around *'s and &'s and got it working some how....

yay?!

thanks though. you're tip did help me get started in the right direction.

What the parameters to strlen mean really is that strlen won't be chaning any values in the function itself. If you have a string, just pass it over to the function.

Code:

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char *foo = "hello world";
int x;

...

x = strlen( foo );

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It's that simple.

Quzah.

yeah, that does work, but it wasn't in the specific way I was using it.

I had to do this... which still is a little flakey...

( key is a pointer pointing to a var that has a string in it passed through a function ).

Code:

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char cKey[256];

  for( int i=0;i<strlen(key);i++ )
  cKey[i] = *(key+i);

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then i could do:

Code:

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maxCKey = strlen( cKey );

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hah. :D

I guess if for some reason anyone else gets in to the situation I did, that's one way of doing it.


edit:
in the line: for( int i=0;i<strlen(key);i++ )

sizeof(key) doesn't make all of the key show
and strlen(key) loops way past actual key and makes funky symbols show.

lol. awesome.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by exoeight

yeah, that does work, but it wasn't in the specific way I was using it.

I had to do this... which still is a little flakey...

( key is a pointer pointing to a var that has a string in it passed through a function ).

Code:

---

char cKey[256];

  for( int i=0;i<strlen(key);i++ )
  cKey[ i ] = *(key+i);

---

then i could do:

Code:

---

maxCKey = strlen( cKey );

---

hah. :D



I guess if for some reason anyone else gets in to the situation I did, that's one way of doing it.


edit:
in the line: for( int i=0;i<strlen(key);i++ )

sizeof(key) doesn't make all of the key show
and strlen(key) loops way past actual key and makes funky symbols show.

lol. awesome.

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First of all: you do realize that there is no such thing as a "string" data type in C, right?

All standard C library "string" functions (strlen(), strcpy(), etc., including printf("%s")) operate on a null-terminated sequence of chars.

1. The argument for strlen is (const *char), not (const char).

2. If you use the name of an array of char in an expression, it is treated as a pointer to char.

3. Your loop copies all of the chars up to but not including the terminating zero byte, so the result won't be useable with any standard C library string functions, including printf("%s"). So, your loop doesn't loop "way past the actual key", but trying to print the result with %s could go on forever.

4. If key points to a null-terminated sequence of chars and the the number of chars (including the terminating null) is not greater than the size of the char array cKey, then you can use this to copy the key into your array:

Code:

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  strcpy(cKey, key)

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Regards,

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by exoeight

Code:

---

char cKey[256];

  for( int i=0;i<strlen(key);i++ )
  cKey[i] = *(key+i);

---

then i could do:

Code:

---

maxCKey = strlen( cKey );

---

---

The first looks like a homebrewed strcpy except for the null termination that would make the subsequent strlen work correctly.

Evans, thanks for you're post, probably most helpful comments i've gotten yet.
What you said makes sense, and I have my program working better now as a result.

Gotta mess up to learn, at least I tried, lol.

Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by exoeight

Gotta mess up to learn, at least I tried, lol.

Thanks again.

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Been there --- done that. (No one was born knowing this stuff, you know.)

Regards,

Dave