How to convert std::string to LPCSTR?

c++ windows string
Cute picture Cute · Jul 29, 2009 · Viewed 201.7k times · Source

How can I convert a std::string to LPCSTR? Also, how can I convert a std::string to LPWSTR?

I am totally confused with these LPCSTR LPSTR LPWSTR and LPCWSTR.

Are LPWSTR and LPCWSTR the same?

Answer

Nick Meyer picture Nick Meyer · Jul 29, 2009

Call c_str() to get a const char * (LPCSTR) from a std::string.

It's all in the name:

LPSTR - (long) pointer to string - char *

LPCSTR - (long) pointer to constant string - const char *

LPWSTR - (long) pointer to Unicode (wide) string - wchar_t *

LPCWSTR - (long) pointer to constant Unicode (wide) string - const wchar_t *

LPTSTR - (long) pointer to TCHAR (Unicode if UNICODE is defined, ANSI if not) string - TCHAR *

LPCTSTR - (long) pointer to constant TCHAR string - const TCHAR *

You can ignore the L (long) part of the names -- it's a holdover from 16-bit Windows.

Related questions

How to convert a TCHAR array to std::string?

How do I convert a TCHAR array to std::string (not to std::basic_string)?

Read More
Convert WCHAR[260] to std::string

I have gotten a WCHAR[MAX_PATH] from (PROCESSENTRY32) pe32.szExeFile on Windows. The following do not work: std::string s; s = pe32.szExeFile; // compile error. cast (const char*) doesnt work either and std::string s; char DefChar = ' '; …

Read More
Windows C++: LPCTSTR vs const TCHAR

In my application i'm declaring a string variable near the top of my code to define the name of my window class which I use in my calls to RegisterClassEx, CreateWindowEx etc.. Now, I know that an LPCTSTR is a …

Read More