why can't I use string???

[Bleech]

hello,
well I have been struggling with something that makes absolutely no sense to me for the past hour now.

for some reason, my compiler (MSVC++ 6.0) will not let me use the C++ string class. I have included the string header, but am guessing it is missing alot of declarations or something.

Firstly, I tried using a C-style null terminated char array for a string. then I found MSVC++ does not have the strings.h. so now I try to use the C++ string class, and get "undeclared identifier" on the line that my identifier exists on . please take a look at this and try to point out something that I am doing wrong (I am guessing I'll have to write my own string class and include it in a new header to fix it ):

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "resource.h"
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <commdlg.h>
#include <string>

BOOL CALLBACK DlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT Message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {
	string szFileName1("");
        string szFileName2("");

that would declare strings with the identifiers of "szFileName1" and "szFileName2"? correct???? I am using the ("") for safety and clarity purposes. so then I try this:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "resource.h"
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <commdlg.h>
#include <string>

BOOL CALLBACK DlgProc(HWND hwnd, UINT Message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {
	char szFileName1[] = "";
        char szFileName2[] = "";
        string F1(szFileName1);
        string F2(szFileName2);

and I still get the undeclared identifier error . I read up on the error and its description says its usually caused by a variable declaration with no type specified. but I don't see where there are ANY missing types (not unless they are in the included string.h like I said), the variables you see in first example should be of type string, and the second example should be null terminated char arrays (c-style strings) which then get defined as strings called F1 and F2. so can someone here please tell me what the heck I am doing wrong ????

thank you in advance

[SMurf]

A quick glance through the C++ forum tells me that the string class is in the std namespace. So, you either declare the variables as std::string or put "using namespace std;" underneath your includes.

[kryptkat]

dot h aka .h is a c string header not cpp. You have to compile the file as a cpp file for it to work.

char teststr1[] = { "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"  } ;

works fine for c.

edit to add

You can not use cpp in c.

[Bleech]

thanks kryptkat! that was my problem (didn't know .h made any difference for dev environment included headers ).

[JaWiB]

Firstly, I tried using a C-style null terminated char array for a string. then I found MSVC++ does not have the strings.h. so now I try to use the C++ string class, and get "undeclared identifier" on the line that my identifier

Try:

#include <cstring>

But if you're using C++ then it might be best to get used to std::string's

[bithub]

then I found MSVC++ does not have the strings.h

That's because the C header is <string.h>, not <strings.h>.

[dwks]

The standard C header files are available in C++. You just drop the .h and add a leading c. So <stdio.h> becomes <cstdio>.

A quick glance through the C++ forum tells me that the string class is in the std namespace. So, you either declare the variables as std::string or put "using namespace std;" underneath your includes.

Or you can use

using std::string;

which is what I prefer.