FindFirstFile() and std::string

When I compile the following bit of code in VC++ 2008, I get the error, "error C2664: 'FindFirstFileW' : cannot convert parameter 1 from 'const char *' to 'LPCWSTR'"

Code:

---

...
WIN32_FIND_DATA data;
HANDLE hFind;
std::string path;
path = "C:\\*.*";
hFind = FindFirstFile(path.c_str(), &data);
...

---

The same code would work in VC++ 6, where FindFirstFile took a LPCTSTR, and not a LPCWSTR. Casting to a LPCWSTR doesn't do the trick, so how do I make this work?

Thank you in advance.

Use WIN32_FIND_DATAA and FindFirstFileA.

VS 2008 enables UNICODE by default for new projects I believe - which means "wide" API's are used instead ANSI API's.

gg

Enter project options, set character set to multibyte. Then there's no need to use XXXA.

My preference is to use the explicit API. Otherwise, your code *should* (in my opinion) support both ANSI and UNICDOE API's. Something like:

Code:

---

...
WIN32_FIND_DATA data;
HANDLE hFind;
#ifdef UNICODE
std::wstring path;
#else
std::string path;
#endif
path = TEXT("C:\\*.*");
hFind = FindFirstFile(path.c_str(), &data);
...

---

There's only one reason I can think of for coding in TCHARS - to support Windows 95, since it only supports ASCII API's.

gg

There's certainly no downside to either method. Coding in tchars gives the flexibility to switch between ansi/unicode without code changes, if you just want to test something or for whatever reason.
But the option in the config was meant to be used as the setting for what character set you are targeting, since everything in the header line up to match that setting.
Explicit use, I think, is good for when you need to use an ansi function in a unicode app or the other way around.